Guest Interview

• May 8, 2025Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP499 – Interview with Ana Huang, Multi-Million Copy Bestselling Author (Classic Replay)

  Ana Huang is the #1 New York Times, #1 USA Today, and #1 Sunday Times bestselling author of fourteen contemporary romances, which have collectively sold over 21 million copies worldwide. Her subgenres range from sports to billionaire and suspense, but all of her books feature her signature blend of steam and swoon.

• April 23, 2025Guest Interview, Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP497 – Writing The Black Moment with Rachel Bailey (Classic Replay)

  In romance fiction, the black moment (also called the dark night of the soul) is the emotional low point—when it seems like all hope is lost, the relationship is broken beyond repair, and the characters may not find their way back to each other.

• November 13, 2024Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP474 – Interview with Kel Carpenter

  Kel Carpenter is a publishing powerhouse who has been a successful fulltime author since she was just 22 years old. With the goal of publishing 30 books by 30 years, she's achieved that and more! Kel has incredible business-savvy and a "learning" mindset that has helped her achieve multi-six figure pa success, manage burnout, and diversify her income streams.

• November 6, 2024Guest Interview, Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP473 – Interview with Cathy Yardley

  This is a fantastic episode for writers at all stages of their careers. Cathy covers writing in your unique voice, writing your truth and how to ROCK YOUR PLOT.

• October 23, 2024Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP471 – Interview with Juliette N. Banks

  Get ready to be inspired this week by our guest interviewee, romance author Juliette N. Banks. Juliette is a bestselling romance author who has taken the genre by storm with her popular series The Moretti Blood Brothers, The Dark Kings of NYC, and The Dufort Dynasty. She has written more than 50 contemporary and paranormal romances (on the same pen name). Juliette has a vast background in consumer marketing and brings her business savvy to her business planning, release strategies, reader relationships and mindset.

• October 9, 2024Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP469 – Marketing, Selling Wide & Direct Sales – with Rebecca Hefner

  Rebecca Hefner is a USA Today bestselling author who is a passionate advocate for authors to reach more readers through publishing their books across a wide number of retailers, as well as on their own store. This episode she shares how she juggles her writing over three pen names, creating a monthly schedule for easy marketing and social media wrangling, and lots more marketing advice for connecting with readers.

• October 1, 2024Guest Interview, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP468 – Short Romance Success with Lana Love

  Lana talks to us about how she has achieved success in short romance in less than two years using a mix of mindset, research and plain old stubbornness (her words, not ours...). We talk about what she did to level up, including the research she did and the tough decisions she made. It's a fascinating interview we know you'll love! 

• September 25, 2024Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Selling Direct To Readers

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP467 – Anne-Marie Meyer: Building a Multi-Million Author Career

  Sweet Romance Author, Anne-Marie Meyer is an Amazon and Apple Top 100 best seller and a 3x USA Today Bestselling author. With absolute intention Anee-Marie challenges herself to improve on how she sells. From Tik Tok to Direct sales she has hit heady heights, paticularly in the last 12 months. After her Amazon account was shut down for 48 hrs in 2022 for false reasons, she's decided that it would be best to bring her stories directly to her readers hands and it has worked! Listen up for all her tips. You won't be disappointed.

• September 11, 2024Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP465 – Theodora Taylor: Writing Buttery Blurbs

  Theodora Taylor is back! And she’s here to tell us how to craft our blurbs that hook readers and skyrocket sales through adding LOTS of Butter!

• September 4, 2024Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP464 – Switching Genres and TikTok Success with Alexa Rivers

  When she decided to write a palate cleanser novel in a completely different genre - with a brand new pen name - Alexa Rivers had no idea she would have a hit on her hands. In this interview she talks about why she wrote the book, how she picked the new pen name, the marketing she did, and how a book she wasn't expecting to do much at all... kinda did awesome. :) She also talks about the ups and downs of her journey with TikTok, and gives some great pieces of advice for everyone to use!

• July 24, 2024Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP458 – Interview with Historical Women’s Fiction Author Soraya Lane

  The decision to self publish her first historical women's fiction novel - after a career writing romance - turned out to be a lucrative one for today's guest, Kindle #1 bestselling historical women's fiction author, Soraya Lane. The same year she self-published the novel - one that her agent told Soraya she couldn't sell - she picked up a publishing deal (for the same book) with Amazon. The rest, as they say, is history. This week we talk about her journey into writing, what she's learned about writing historical fiction and how translations have transformed her career.

• July 17, 2024Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP457 – How To Understand Your Market on the Amazon Store – with Nat Connors, Kindletrends

  Nat Connors of Kindletrends returns to the SPA with a new analysis tool for indie authors - an interactive infographic to help us make sense of the book categories on the Kindle Store. Knowing where your book (or story idea before you’ve written it) fits into the market, and how it stacks up against the packaging (cover, pricing, categories etc), for the current top sellers in your specific genre is really important. It allows you to directly target the right readers and sell more books.

• July 11, 2024Goal Setting, Planning & Productivity, Guest Interview, Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP455 – Interview with Clare Connelly

  First published in 2014, romance author Clare Connelly hit success from her very first self-published book. Now with over 120 books published, she talks to us this episode about the pros and cons of hybrid publishing, balancing writing life with a young family, how to be focussed and productive plus the mindset new writers and self publishers MUST have!

• June 5, 2024Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP451 – Contracts for Authors with Maggie Marr

  If you’ve ever wondered how to deal with contracts and other business issues, this is the podcast for you! Maggie Marr the founder of Maggie Marr Legal PC and a USA Today Best Selling author of over 20 books. A former ICM motion picture literary and subsidiary rights (books to film/tv) agent, Maggie is the co-founder and legal advisor to the not-for-profit Women’s Fiction Writers Association and a member of Women In Film. The firm has negotiated deals with Netflix, HBO, Amazon Prime, Universal, Warner Bros, Disney. The firm provides services such as entertainment and publishing representation, trademark & copyright, packaging and sales, business legal affairs and corporate, production and distribution legal.

• May 29, 2024Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP450 – Interview with Melanie Harlow

  USA Today and #1 Amazon bestselling author Melanie Harlow talks branding, publishing strategy and building a strong readership!

• May 15, 2024Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP448 – Changing From Frontlist to Backlist Focus with Maggie Dallen

  This week we talk to regency romance and young adult author Maggie Dallen, who tells us how she changed her mindset and her author business model, with huge success! Maggie is a prolific author who was writing up to twenty books a year, but she was reaching a point where she wanted to slow down and diversify her writing skills by learning script writing. She realised she needed to find a system that would take advantage of her extensive backlist, and allow her more time for her other writing interests. In this fascinating interview, Maggie talks us through how she did it, what the major challenges were, and how you can do the same thing!  Maggie was a delight to interview, and gave us so much useful advice - you're going to love this one! 

• May 1, 2024Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Selling Direct To Readers

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP446 – Patreon, Kickstarter & Serials – with Tao Wong

  How do you build superfans and a sustainable income through patreon*, kickstarter, subscriptions and serial works? Bestselling author Tao Wong joins us this episode to reveal all the secrets of keeping readers begging for more (cliff-hangers anyone ?!), building a thriving community of superfans and, most importantly, diversifying your income streams.

• April 17, 2024Guest Interview, Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP444 – Five Steps to Being a Resilient Author with Patricia McLinn

  Being a resilient author means being able to bounce back after experiencing a knock - and we all know that being a self-published author can knock you around sometimes! This week we talk with Patricia McLinn, an author who's been writing for more than 35 years, and who knows a thing or two about how to keep going when the going gets tough. Pat gives us her top five pieces of advice so you can stay focused and keep the positivity flowing when it seems like everything is falling apart around you.

• April 10, 2024Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP443 – Book Marketing and TikTok with Kate Hall 

  Kate Hall is a paranormal romance and non-fiction author who has taken her marketing expertise and used it to kick butt on TikTok. She started Alyne Digital Solutions in an effort to help authors make a sustainable income from their books, and since starting has scaled two of her businesses and several others’ to six figure incomes. As well as discussing facts and figures for TikTok, we’re also delving into marketing for authors, and why you’re probably using the wrong hooks in your social media. A wonderful open and informative discussion that could unlock answers to questions we’re all asking right now!

• March 26, 2024Guest Interview, Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls – EP441 – Discovery Writing With Kimboo York

  In this podcast we talk to KimBoo York about her latest book Secrets of Discovery Writing. We dive into how you can successfully use discovery writing when crafting your novel. It's an awesome podcast and one the pantsers among us will really enjoy.

• March 20, 2024Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP440 – Launching a Successful New Pen Name with Melissa Pearl

  Our guest today, Kiwi author Melissa Pearl, has five pen names across multiple genres and has been learning about self publishing since she published her first book in 2011. Since then she's published more than 80 books, and shares with us some real and raw insights into the career of an indie author, including all the highs and the lows. When she launched her latest pen name last year, she made sure she used everything she'd learned over that time to ensure her new pen name was successful right from the start. Melissa generously tells us exactly what she did to create her latest pen name, and every step she took along the way to make it successful. Don't miss this information packed episode! 

• March 13, 2024Guest Interview, Mindset, Health & Writing Life, Self-Publishing Process & Tools, Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP439 – Using The Enneagram For Authors with Claire Taylor

  The Enneagram is a personality typing system, where each person falls into one of nine types. Today we're talking with author, educator and fiction strategist, Claire Taylor, about how understanding our enneagram type liberates writers from the "shoulds" and self-judgement, and helps us become more successful as authors.

• March 6, 2024Goal Setting, Planning & Productivity, Guest Interview, Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP438 – Overcoming Procrastination – with Kathryn Burnett

  Procrastination takes many forms for writers, and it holds us back from writing, publishing and promoting our work. We discuss how to get out of your own way with our guest today, Kathryn Burnett.

• February 28, 2024Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP437 – Facebook Ads For Beginners

  Creating and running Facebook ads has gotten a lot easier! Wondering how to delve into facebook advertising or had poor experiences in the past and wondering where you went wrong? This episode is for you!

• February 14, 2024Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – Episode 435 – Interview with Dan Wood from Draft2Digital

  Today we’re interviewing Dan Wood, Chief Operating Officer at Draft2Digital, one of the best known distributors for eBooks, print and audio books. We last spoke to Dan in 2019 and a lot has happened since then! D2D has not only merged with Smashwords to make their reach stronger, they build tools and services that let you focus on writing while they take care of layout, publishing, distribution, print-on-demand paperbacks, and more. If you’re a new author or simply want to level up and expand, Dan has lots of tips to help you, including promotional opportunities and Books2Read, an author promotions powerhouse that includes New Release Notifications, Universal Book Links (UBLs), B2R Author Pages, B2R Book Tabs, and so much more!

• February 7, 2024Guest Interview, Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP434 – Top 3 Mindset Tips For Authors with Heather Hildenbrand

  Your brain is a liar! Heather Hildenbrand is a bestselling author and business coach for creatives. This episode she demystifies how our results are determined by our beliefs first, and our efforts, second. Listen up for amazing (and do-able!) mindset tips for authors and how to overcome our blocks with less woo and more “do”!

• January 30, 2024Guest Interview, Mindset, Health & Writing Life, Self-Publishing Process & Tools, Selling Direct To Readers

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP433 – Selling Direct With Katie Cross

  In this episode we chat to YA Fantasy author Katie Cross. She has so much passion and enthusiasm for what she does, and loves her readers!  We talk about direct sales and how to relate to your readers, and these are just two of the topics we covered. It's action packed and full of information!

• January 17, 2024Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP431 – Graphic Design For Authors – with Book Brush

  This episode, we’re joined again by the effervescent Kathleen Sweeney from Bookbrush. She's is going to update us on best practices, new additions to Book Brush software and added service options that can save authors time and stress producing graphics.

• December 12, 2023Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP426 – How To Launch A Successful Series with Helen B. Scheuerer

  Are you dreaming of an easy approach to create successful book releases? Listen up, because we’re joined again by the bestselling fantasy author, Helen Scheuerer, who shares all the secrets of a Successful Series Launch, including:

• November 28, 2023Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP424 – BookFunnel Tips for Authors

  Most authors know what BookFunnel is these days (just in case: it's a platform that helps you deliver reader magnets, ARC copies, audio files, and so much more to your readers) but do we all know how to use it the best we can? I'm pretty sure the answer is no! That's why we spent this episode with Damon Courtney, creator and CEO of BookFunnel, going over all the functions, from the innovative ways that successful authors are using this platform to deliver ebook files, to using features like the one-on-one author swap tool, the group promo tool, certified mail, and the direct email integrations, to name a few. Because Damon is the creator of the platform, he knows every single thing about it, which means this episode is packed full of all the information you'll ever need to make BookFunnel work for you!

• November 15, 2023Guest Interview, Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP422 – Writing Side Characters – with Sacha Black

  Side characters - how do you make them memorable, but not over-take the spotlight? And what purpose do they serve in the story? This episode, the awesome author and educator, Sacha Black, gives us the scoop on developing incredible side characters that will take your story from blah to bleepin' amazing. She takes us through three different types of side character and how to create juxtapositions that SELL BOOKS.

• November 8, 2023Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP421 – Book Marketing With Carrie Elks

  This week we talk to contemporary romance author, Carrie Elks about amping up your book marketing. It's a fantastic and informative interview packed with great tips and advice that you won't want to miss!

• October 24, 2023Guest Interview, Mindset, Health & Writing Life, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP419 – The Best Mindset for Organisation and Productivity with Sarra Cannon

  Self-publishing since 2010, Amazon top 100 best-selling Amazon author with 1 million books sold, Sarra writes magical contemporary fantasy novels with both teen and college aged characters (and lots of twists you'll never see coming). Do you feel like a hamster on a wheel? Sarra talks to us about her solution to planning without all the heartache and leading us to be more joyful. “When we sit down to plan we see the perfect scenario. Then Life gets in the way.”

• October 18, 2023Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP418 – Publishing Wide, Selling Audiobooks Direct, Working With Your Spouse – Interview with author Sarah Piper

  We’re thrilled to welcome UF/PNR author Sarah Piper to the show today. Sarah has seen great success publishing across a number of genres, and we discuss her strategy moving from Amazon-exclusive to publishing wide, selling her audiobooks direct and working with your spouse!

• October 10, 2023Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP417 – How To Correctly Select Your Amazon Categories – with Alex Newton

  Amazon has moved the furniture again! This episode, Alex will help explain Amazon’s category changes, what they mean for authors, and how best to categorize your books now.

• October 5, 2023Guest Interview, Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP416 – Emotional Wounds with Angela Ackerman

  This week we chatted with Angela Ackerman, one of the authors of the classic writing book, The Emotion Thesaurus.  If you've never picked up one of the amazing thesauruses by Angela Ackerman and her co-writer, Becca Puglisi, you're missing out! Created especially for writers, the ten different thesauruses will help you add emotion, be more creative, and make your book sing!  In this particular episode (aside from Trudi and the other SPA Girls singing the praises of Angela's books) we talk to Angela about emotional wounds - what that means, why it's important for our characters and how we can add emotional wounds into our writing and give our characters more depth.

• September 20, 2023Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP414 – Publishing Powerhouse, Kathryn Le Veque

  Kathryn shares her unique publishing insights and forecast, historical romance trends, why she doesn’t have an author newsletter, and behind the scenes insight of running Dragonblade.

• September 7, 2023Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP412 – Being Successful as a Hybrid Author with Katlyn Duncan

  This week we talk to fiction and non-fiction author Katlyn Duncan, who wrote the non-fiction books The Successful Hybrid Author (all about being a hybrid author) and Take Back Your Book (all about how to get your rights back after being traditionally published). She shares her path to becoming a hybrid author, but also what you need to know about being hybrid, how it works, the pros and cons of traditional publishing versus indie publishing versus hybrid publishing, and how to get your rights back if you want to take up indie publishing.

• August 29, 2023Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP411 – YouTube for Authors with Jenna Moreci

  Author Jenna Moreci is a YouTube sensation! With almost 300k subscribers on her YouTube channel "Writing with Jenna Moreci", ten years of making videos, and over 28 MILLION views, she's produced an incredible body of work and large community. So how has this impacted her writing and publishing, especially as her audience is both writers AND readers?

• August 16, 2023Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP409 – Six Figures with Short Romance – with Sadie King

  USA Today Bestseller, Sadie King has grown her publishing business from zero to six figures in less than four years, writing short instalove romances. Learn how she's done it ...

• August 1, 2023Guest Interview, Self-Publishing Process & Tools, Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP407 – Making Your Books Addictive with Alessandra Torre

  What is it EXACTLY that makes a book addictive? How do twists and turns come into play? And how do you create these elements with any genre of books?

• July 26, 2023Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP406 – Subscriptions For Authors & Ream

  Today we’re joined by two dynamic guests - author Emilia Rose and Michael Evans, co-founds of the REAM subscription service for authors. We cover a LOT in this episode - from “what is the Creator Economy” to making subscriptions work for authors, so settle in for a great listen/watch!

• July 12, 2023Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP404 – Interview with Ana Huang

  This week we go in-depth with USA Today, international and #1 Amazon bestselling author of new adult and contemporary romance, Ana Huang. Aside from being very successful (check out her Twisted series!) Ana is a super smart and hardworking author with a tonne of great advice that she generously shared with us in this information-packed episode. Check it out now!

• June 21, 2023Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP401 – Lynn Raye Harris, Let’s Talk Series!

  Today we talk to the amazingly talented author Lynn Raye Harris about series. Everything from multiple connected to branding. This is a must listen podcast!

• June 7, 2023Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP399 – Diversification with Rachael Herron

  How can a writer diversify their income? In this episode Rachael Herron shares her advice for maximizing your income as a writer!

• May 23, 2023Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP397 – Marketing Audiobooks with Rebecca Hefner

  USA Today bestselling author Rebecca Hefner is passionate about marketing audio books wide. After several years of struggling early on, her audiobook sales now surpass her ebook sales most months. As Rebecca says, “I had an excruciating learning curve with wide audio and want to save other authors from this torture!” She shares her best practices and tips for wide audiobook success in this must-listen episode.

• May 17, 2023Guest Interview, Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP396 – The Secrets of Story with Matt Bird

  If you've been working on amping up your characters and writing a more compelling novel, this is the episode for you. We talk to Matt Bird - the Amazon bestselling author of The Secrets of Story: Innovative Tools for Perfecting Your Fiction and Captivating Readers and The Secrets of Character: Writing a Hero Anyone Will Love - about characters and other secrets involved in writing an awesome story your readers will love. Matt talks to us about what readers expect from characters and how to ensure they connect and fall in love with your characters early in your novel. He also gives practical examples of techniques that will engage your readers by helping you create flawed, vulnerable and compelling characters. We loved having Matt in the SPA and we know you'll enjoy this episode too!

• May 10, 2023Guest Interview, Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP395 – Conquer your Author Career with Erin Marcus

  Get ready to be encouraged! Erin Marcus is a business coach who helps authors take charge of their career and get results. 

• May 3, 2023Guest Interview, Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP394 – Career Sustainability with Brenna Aubrey

  From mindset and productivity, to branding, social media and your writing community – we cover the gamut of how to sustain your author career long term.

• April 19, 2023Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP392 – Translations with Skye MacKinnon

  Skye MacKinnon is a USA Today and International Bestselling Author whose books are filled with strong heroines who don't have to choose. She embraces her Scottishness with fantastical Scottish settings and a dash of mythology, no matter if she's writing about aliens in kilts, Celtic gods, cat shifters, or the streets of Edinburgh. She's also doing great with German translations and this week in the SPA she breaks down everything she's been doing, including how to get started with a translator, what to watch out for, how and where to load your translated book, and how to market them once they're up!

• April 12, 2023Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP391 – How to Successfully Publish Wide with Erin Wright

  USA today bestselling author of Western Romance, Erin Wright, has worked every job under the sun, including library director, barista, teacher, website designer, and ranch hand, helping brand cattle, before settling into the career she’s always dreamed about: Author.  Despite starting out in KU in 2016, she went wide on all platforms in 2017 when she discovered she couldn’t get her books in libraries if she was exclusive to Amazon. She started the Wide for the Win Facebook group in 2019, to help other authors find information about being wide, and now the group has grown to a community of 14,390.  Erin breaks it down and lists the reasons why she made this decision. She uses serial apps, website direct sales, multi-author promotions, as well as many platforms that we had never heard of. If you are keen to diversify and find more ways to reach readers, this is the episode for you.

• April 4, 2023Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP390 – Thrifty Tips For Authors with Vanessa Vale

  When her facebook ad account was shut down, Vanessa had to learn how to sell books WITHOUT paid ads and she shares how she came up with her solid marketing strategies in the episode.

• March 29, 2023Guest Interview, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP389 – Small Town Romance with Kait Nolan

  Kait is a USA Today best selling, RITA® Award-winning Mississippi author of smart, sassy, small town Southern romance. She calls everyone sugar, honey, or darlin', and can wield a 'Bless your heart' like a Snuggie or a saber, depending on requirements.

• March 14, 2023Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP387 – TikTok For Authors With Brighton Walsh

  Award-winning USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author Brighton Walsh spent a decade as a professional photographer before taking her storytelling in a different direction and reconnecting with her first love—writing. After getting a publishing deal Brighton went on to become a hybrid author and is now mainly indie. She started on TikTok in January 2022 and used mainly page flips back then and went viral immediately. She has since developed her own brand of TIKTOKing which continues to impress. Today she brings you plenty of tips and tricks to start you off on the right foot.

• February 22, 2023Guest Interview, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP384 – Write And Plot Faster with Plottr

  Wanting to speed up your plotting and writing time? Or have an easy way to keep a series bible? We've got just the answer today ...

• January 25, 2023Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP380 – Facebook Ads with Mark Dawson

  If there’s one person in the self publishing world who’s considered a bit of an expert at advertising… it’s Mark Dawson. This week Mark joins us in the SPA to talk about Facebook ads – how to set them up, what to do if they’re not working, and some of his best tips and advice to get them running well for you. He’s a genuine guy, and he still does all his own ads – which means he knows exactly what works and what doesn’t! Join us for another awesome podcast in the SPA.

• January 17, 2023Guest Interview, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP379 – How To Make a Trailer with Bookbrush

  Kathleen Sweeney is Bookbrush’s Customer Service Manager & Marketing Lead. She brings over 17 years of client service experience, business assurance, strategy and problem solving to Book Brush. Kathleen loves creating images and is happy to share her knowledge. We’re talking trailers for TiK Tok Instagram and other social media, as well as QR codes and where to use them. And so much more!

• January 11, 2023Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP378 – Be A Newsletter Ninja with Tammi Labrecque

  Ready to up your newsletter game in 2023? Listen up, because Tammi's got the very latest best practices for author newsletters ...

• December 14, 2022Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP374 – 6 Tweaks To Improve Your Books Sales

  If your book is not selling, what can you do? USA Today Bestseller, romance writer Leanna Morgan is here to day to help us sell more books PLUS offer wise ideas on advertising.

• November 30, 2022Guest Interview, Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP372 – SciFi Romance with Honey Phillips

  Join us for another deep dive into an intriguing genre that's doing well for indie authors. USA Today bestselling author Honey Phillips joins us in the SPA to talk about Science Fiction Romance - what it is, what readers are looking for, and how to make sure they get it! Honey was a delight to interview and there are definitely a few gems in here for everyone, whether you write in this genre or not!

• November 22, 2022Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP371 – Interview with Dionne Lister

  Today we’re talking to Dionne Lister about how she made the leap from part-time to full-time in one year, writing in two genres.

• November 16, 2022Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP370 – Running A Successful Kickstarter – with Steffanie Holmes

  Steff ran an incredibly successful kickstarter in 2022 to fund limited-edition hardcovers of her books - in fact, it was fully funded in just FIVE HOURS! Join us in this episode to find out how she did it!

• November 2, 2022Guest Interview, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girl Podcast – EP 368 – Monster Romance With Lillian Lark

  In this fun episode with Lillian Lark, we learn about monster romance - what it is, how it's defined, who's writing it well, and how to write one for yourself! Not only is Lillian doing well in the genre of monster romance, she's also doing amazing things on TikTok, so we were able to quiz her on her tricks and techniques for the social media platform as well.

• October 12, 2022Guest Interview, Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  SPA Girls Podcast  – EP365 – Write To Riches with Renee Rose

  In this episode we talk to the amazing Renee Rose about her new release Write To Riches!  15-time USA Today bestselling romance author Renee talks to us about the power of abundance mindset, manifesting your desires, and attracting wealth. She's an amazingly inspirational speaker and this is one episode you don't want to miss!

• October 5, 2022Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP364 – Superfans with Steffanie Holmes

  Ever wondered how authors create a reader base full of raving superfans... and how you could do it too?? Well, wonder no more! This week we have bestselling paranormal and contemporary romance author Steffanie Holmes on the show to talk about how to create superfans for your books. Steff talks about the methods she's used to create stronger connections with her readers, including having a strong author brand, newsletters, interconnected stories, and so much more! We love having Steff in the SPA, and she's super smart with her marketing, so this is an episode you don't want to miss!

• September 27, 2022Guest Interview, Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP363 – World-building with Nalini Singh

  A long-time friend of the SPA Girls, multi NYT Bestseller, Nalini Singh, is here to talk about world-building, and if anyone knows how to do this–it’s Nalini!

• September 14, 2022Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP361 – Mia Brody and Instalove Short Romance

  This week we talk to the amazing Mia Brody all about how she makes a fulltime living writing instalove short romances. It's an amazingly informative episode with plenty of wow moments, that you won't want to miss!

• August 31, 2022Guest Interview, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP 359 – Film & TV Options for Authors with Michele Scott

  It was our great pleasure to interview Michele Scott, a NYT, Wall Street Journal and Amazon bestselling author of over forty novels and the CEO/owner of equestrian sports medicine company Professional’s Choice, Inc. Michele has written in various genres including thrillers, mysteries, young adult mysteries, fantasy, and women’s fiction. Her thriller Daddy’s Home from her Holly Jennings’ Thriller series written under her pen name of AK Alexander has sold over one million copies and was the #1 bestselling book in the UK Amazon. Her thriller Mommy, May I? was number 2 on the Amazon list. Her Wine Lover's Mysteries are currently optioned, and a movie version is projected to begin filming this year.

• August 24, 2022Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP358 – Six Figures through Subscriptions with Emilia Rose

  Learn how Emilia Rose started her publishing career through posting chapters on Wattpad, and monetized through Patreon subscriptions!

• August 17, 2022Guest Interview, Self-Publishing Process & Tools, Selling Direct To Readers

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP357 – Direct Selling with Morgana Best

  Do you want to have an author store and don't know where to start? USA Today bestselling author Morgana Best takes us through the process of setting up your store and best practices. This is an episode you won't want to miss!

• August 2, 2022Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP355 – Six Figure Amish Romance and Cozy Mystery Author Samantha Price

  Samantha Price is a USA Today bestselling author of Amish romance books and cozy mysteries. She was raised Brethren and has a deep affinity for the Amish way of life, which she has explored extensively with over a decade of research.  Focused and organized, Samantha's the results speak for themselves, but it will amaze you how prolific she is and how she built her career in a relatively small niche. Listen in to the episode for all the details of how understanding that niche inside and out made her such a popular and successful author.

• July 13, 2022Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP352 – Interview with Dave Chesson from Kindlepreneur

  Dave Chesson joins us in the SPA to chat about some of the awesome apps that he's designed for authors on the Kindleprenuer website.  Dave is a smart guy, and he knows his stuff when it comes to self publishing, so the apps are all super useful and on-point. This includes the free apps, such as the Book Description Generator and the Hashtag Generator (if you've ever struggled with finding good hashtags on any of the socials, that's the app for you!) and his two powerful paid apps, Publisher Rocket and newbie Atticus.  Join us for Dave's insider tips and tricks on how to get the best use out of the apps, and hear some of his best insights into marketing for indies.

• July 5, 2022Guest Interview, Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP351 – The Calm Entrepreneur, Corinne O’Flynn

  When you feel the frantic need to achieve and you don’t, it’s easy to get stuck or suffer burnout. If that’s happened to you, then Corinne O'Flynn has some ideas to get you through. The Calm Entrepreneur was born out of a series of aha moments over the past several years. It's about getting back to basics and re-assessing and re-securing the foundational practices. We know you'll love this awesome episode with Corinne!

• June 16, 2022Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP348 – Millionaire Author Mindset with Lee Savino

  USA Today best-selling author Lee Savino is a bubble of energy, and this week's podcast with her left us all feeling motivated and inspired. We know you'll love this episode too! Lee talked to us about how the mindset of an indie author is vitally important, more important than any other aspect of writing and publishing, including all the tactics and systems we hear about all the time. If you can get your mindset right, you can achieve anything. We talk with Lee about all the mindset changes she had to make, and as well as her tips and tricks around mindset, all of which helped her to become a successful, million-dollars-a-year indie author.

• June 1, 2022Guest Interview, Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP346 – Interview with Julia Roberts, Creativity Coach

  Today we're joined by Julia Roberts, MSc, writer, creativity coach, and soon-to-be Ted Talker. Julia is going to talk us through procrastination and the tools we can use to manage it. Goodness knows we all need this help!

• May 25, 2022Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP345 – How To Write A Successful Series

  Do you want to learn how to design a series that will hook and keep readers, AND set you up for long term success? Helen Scheuerer joins us today to tell all!

• May 10, 2022Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP343 – Interview with Asa Maria Bradley

  Bestselling Author Asa Maria Bradley suggests collaboration as a way to get creative again. Growing up in Sweden surrounded by archaeology and history steeped in Norse Mythology, inspired her sexy and paranormal romance series. She also writes urban fantasy about empowered heroines who kick ass while saving the world. Her work has received a double nomination for the Romance Writers of America’s RITA contest, a Reviewers Choice Award nomination, a Holt Medallion win, and Bookseller’s Best Award win. The last couple of years were rough on Asa’s creativity, and almost by chance she joined a bunch of collaboration projects. With different strategies and aims, working with other writers gave her the creative spark needed to enjoy writing again. Besides providing accountability, the projects validated and inspired her work. Today she shares the challenges and rewards that she experienced from writing for and promoting several collaborations.

• May 4, 2022Guest Interview, Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP342 – Interview with Mary-Theresa Hussey

  One of the most experienced editors in the industry joins us in the SPA! Prior to becoming a freelance editorial consultant, Mary-Theresa (known as Matrice) worked at Harlequin for more than 25 years, editing nearly a thousand titles. As editor, senior and executive editor, she read, acquired, revised, rejected and critiqued triple that. Many of the books she has edited went on to find places on both the NYT and USA Today bestseller lists.

• April 5, 2022Guest Interview, Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP338 – Psychology Tools For Authors

  This episode we cover plot development AND character development and you’ll come away (hopefully!) with some awesome tips to improve your story telling and create compelling characters that your readers will love – or love to hate!

• March 30, 2022Guest Interview, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP 337 – Creating Audio Books

  In the Spa this week we talked to the talented Naomi Barton. With more people listening to audio books now, there has never been a better time to learn about this side of our industry. Naomi has produced audio books for our very own Cheryl, under CA Phipps, her cozy mystery pen name. We talk about processes, cost, and the industry. You won’t want to miss this one! 

• March 23, 2022Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP336 – PR for Authors with Lilian Sue

  This week we talk to long-time PR coach and publicist Lilian Sue about how authors can successfully use PR to help with their author business. Her aim is to help authors fulfill their potential and become global industry leaders by focusing on how to build a healthy PR mindset above any strategy. We talk about authors can develop strong and healthy PR mindsets (by busting down fear and imposter syndrome) and how to use the right tools, knowledge, and resources to fulfill their goals. It's another awesome episode!

• March 15, 2022Goal Setting, Planning & Productivity, Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP 335 – Romance Your Goals with Zoe York

  Today we welcome back for a record 3rd time, Zoe York, to talk about Romancing Your Goals. Like so many authors it was hard to read and write during 2020 which was the last time Zoe was with us. Yet, her latest book Romancing Your Goals was written during the pandemic and highlights how to treat your business and is full of wonderful tips to build a marketable genre fiction series. Join us to find out more about Romancing your Goals!

• March 9, 2022Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP334 – Amazon Ads with Deb Potter

  Many of us have tried different methods to get AMS Ads to work: from creating hundred of ad variations to wrangling spreadsheets with thousands of keywords to try. And then there’s the whole bid price – how do we know what to bid? Can we trust auto ads? 

• March 2, 2022Guest Interview, Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP333 – MM Romance With Jay Hogan

  Jay Hogan writes character driven mm romances with lots of humour, a good dose of reality and a splash of angst.

• February 23, 2022Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP332 – TikTok Tips with AK Mulford

  This week we talk to fantasy author AK Mulford about how she got started on TikTok! We cover TikTok for authors in depth: how to start, who to follow, how to get your follower count up, best length of videos, what to post, how to create the videos, hashtags, sounds, dealing with comments, batching, duets, stitching, etiquette plus differences from other social media platforms. And most importantly: does it sell books? If you've ever considered jumping on TikTok, this is the episode for you! 

• February 2, 2022Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP329 – Success With Short Romance

  Going from zero to $3k per month in just a few months is a dream for many of us and today's guest achieved just that. Ella Barnard is here to talk how she did it, how she meets reader expectations, and most importantly, how we can still enjoy the process!

• January 4, 2022Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP325 – All About Kobo with Tara Cremin

  In this episode Tara brings us up to speed on Kobo’s new audiobook platform, other updates from Kobo including Kobo Plus, and top tips for marketing your books and audio.

• November 24, 2021Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP319 – Reader Reach with Written Word Media

  It’s no secret that we use Written Word Media for ads and while we don’t have affiliate links, we can’t think of a reason not to try Freebooksy and Bargainbooksy. But what would you say to them running Facebook ads for you? Today we talk to Clayton Noblit, Senior Marketing Manager, along with Grant Shepherd, Ad Fulfilment Manager at Written Word Media about their new advertising offering, Reader Reach. Reader Reach is a data-driven all-in-one ad solution that allows authors to reach thousands of readers on Facebook as efficiently as possible. Learning how to build ad images, audience research, or writing ad copy, the setting up and running ads can be time-consuming, costly, and stressful. Reader Reach does all the heavy lifting for you. The Reader Reach team handles everything, from ad creative and copy to audience targeting and bidding. Their goal is to help you find the right audience for your book, and let you focus on what matters most: writing your next book!

• November 11, 2021Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP317 – StoryOrigin

  Evan Gow is the indie developer of StoryOrigin, a marketing tool and community of authors that work together to find reviewers, build mailing lists, increase sales, and stay on top of deadlines.

• November 3, 2021Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP316 – Interview with Nicholas Erik

  Wondering how to get started with Facebook ads, but not sure where to start? Join us for today's podcast with Facebook ads guru, Nicholas Erik! Nicholas is a science fiction author with more than 20 books to his name. He's also written books for authors including The Ultimate Guide to Book Marketing and The Ultimate Guide to Productivity, as well as running courses about Facebook Ads, Amazon Ads and BookBub Ads for authors. He was awesome to talk to and gave a huge amount of useful information for authors - this is one of those episodes you really don't want to miss!

• October 27, 2021Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP315 – Interview with Theodora Taylor

  After logging time as a music journalist, playwright, and radio writer, Theodora Taylor fell in love with penning hot books with heart. Since deciding to become an author, she’s published 54 books in a range of genres—but with one thing in common—universal fantasies.  She's here to tell us what they are, and how you can use them to get your books on the bestseller lists!

• October 20, 2021Guest Interview, Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  SPA Girls Podcast- EP314 – Interview with Linda Pucci

  Today Linda is here to talk about how we as creatives can overcome our limiting beliefs, fears of success, failure, being an imposter et al and how we can STOP being our own worst enemy!

• October 6, 2021Goal Setting, Planning & Productivity, Guest Interview, Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP312 – What To Do When You’re Stuck In A Creative Rut

  We love our Irish guests and are super stoked to welcome author and writing coach, Bryan Collins, to the SPA today! If you've been feeling BLAH about your writing lately, this is the episode for you ...

• September 22, 2021Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP310 – The Power Of Clever Copywriting with Jacob McMillen

  We often struggle with what to write in our newsletters and social media posts in a way that's authentic and reaches the right readers. And then there's the copywriting skill needed for our book blurbs and advertising. So we're thrilled to have an expert in the SPA today!

• September 15, 2021Guest Interview, Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls – EP309 – Writing trilogies in successful settings with Jayne Castel

  Today we talk about writing successful trilogies, and successful settings with award-winning epic Historical Fantasy and Fantasy Romance author Jayne Castel.

• September 8, 2021Guest Interview, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP308 – Interview with Virginia Milner from Kindle Vella

  If you've been considering taking the plunge into Amazon's new serials platform, Kindle Vella (and yes, Wendy asked if they'd named it after her), then this is the episode for you! We talked to Virginia Milner, the principal product manager for Kindle Direct Publishing, and leader of the Kindle Vella project, all about the new platform. She explained how Kindle Vella - which launched in July 2021 to readers - works, how authors are already using it to their advantage, and the possible ways that Kindle Vella could be used by authors in the future to broaden their readership, and sell more books.  It was an awesome episode, and we really enjoyed having Virginia on the show to explain it all first hand!

• September 1, 2021Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP307 – Step Up Your Marketing Strategy with Roseanne Cheng (Pt 2)

  From Pinterest to Amazon Ads, Roseanne is back in the second part of our extended interview to help you step up your marketing!

• August 25, 2021Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP306 – Finding Joy In Book Marketing with Roseanne Cheng

  How do you decide what to do when people tell you to "Do All The Things"?! When the hustle is just too much, Roseanne has guidance for what works and what doesn't.

• August 18, 2021Guest Interview, Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP305 – Talking Police Equipment For Fiction Authors

  We talk to Veteran Police Detective Adam Richardson about Police equipment for fiction authors today. Adam spent seventeen years of his almost 25-year law enforcement career as a detective.

• August 12, 2021Guest Interview, Mindset, Health & Writing Life, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP304 – Interview with Rachael Herron

  International bestselling author Rachael Herron joins us in the SPA today to talk to us about her writing journey, how she has created a career with multiple genres, how she deals with procrastination and blocks in her writing, and the main differences she sees between having books traditionally published and being an indie. It's an awesome interview, and we loved having Rachael in the SPA! 

• July 27, 2021Guest Interview

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP302 – Writing Cozy Mysteries with Nancy J. Cohen

  If you’ve wondered whether writing a cozy is for you, then this episode will answer that question! Alongside her fiction, Nancy has also written the acclaimed “how to” for cozies “Writing The Cozy Mystery”, so we’re thrilled she agreed to give us the scoop on all things cozy.

• June 30, 2021Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast- EP298 – Interview with Lucy Lennox: Success with MM Romance

  Lucy saw extraordinary success straight out the gate, from when she first published her MM romance, Borrowing Blue, in November 2016. In fact, by her second month of publishing, Lucy was earning five figures per month! This episode she shares all her incredible writing and business advice for writers of all genres.

• June 23, 2021Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP297 – Fallyn Briggs, Writing To Trend V Writing To Market

  Dive into this amazing episode with six-figure author Fallyn Briggs, where she discusses the hot top of writing to trend v writing to market. Fallyn says, "writing to market may have hungry readers, but writing to trend is hitting on a hot button trope, idea, theme, niche, or genre that has VERY voracious readers gobbling up that particular kind of book on a likely more limited time frame. Like Veruca Salt, they want it and they want it NOW."

• June 8, 2021Guest Interview, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP295 – How To Build Your Author Village – with Celeste Barclay

  Celeste Barclay joins us to discuss finding your village and what doing so did for her. Celeste has published an incredible 27 books since 2017 primarily in historical romance. Celeste says her author village "made her career" and today she talks to us about what that means to her, how to find and build your own village, and why it's so important.

• May 26, 2021Guest Interview, Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  SPA Girls – EP293 – Abundance Mindset for Authors with Renee Rose

  You're worth it and your work is worth it. This episode will blow your mind! USA Today Bestselling author Renee Rose is passionate about helping authors and creatives get their mindset dialed to SUCCESS. So many nuggets of creativity and business wisdom in this episode, you'll want to listen more than once.

• April 28, 2021Guest Interview, Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP289 – Writing Romantic Comedy with Annika Martin

  Writing bestselling romance with incredible character chemistry is something that NYT Bestseller Annika Martin excels in, and today she joins us in the SPA to give ALL THE TIPS! Annika, who also publishes romantic suspense as Carolyn Crane, has seen incredible success writing two books a year (on average) and publishing wide. This episode, she reveals her plotting and writing process, getting the most "comedy" in her writing, editing tips for deepening characterization, what point of view to choose for best results, cover trends and how she approaches her newsletter and advertising. This is a wonderful discussion, deserving of a long episode, where Annika reveals some absolute nuggets of GOLD that we hadn't heard before. You'll love this one, even if you're not a "funny" writer - trust us!

• April 21, 2021Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP288 – TikTok and Instagram with Anne Malcom

  We have a terrible confession to make. We have no idea what we're doing when it comes to Instagram (well, Shar does, but the rest of us have no idea) and TikTok.  So we got in an expert. Someone who could tell us everything we ever wanted to know about how to post on social media to engage with readers and develop a deeper connection. (Because that's what it's about!)  Anne Malcom is an awesome Kiwi author, kicking butt and taking names in the Dark Romance genre. She's also genuine, savvy, and smart and knows all about connecting with readers in an authentic way. Which is why you need to listen to this episode! 

• April 1, 2021Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP285 – Interview with Janie Crouch : Launching a romance series

  Get ready to be inspired! Our guest today, USA Bestseller, Janie Crouch, writes passionate romantic suspense (both traditionally published and self-published) and she's recently launched her indie Linear Tactical series to six-figure success.

• March 24, 2021Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP284 – Lucy Score talks Reader Groups, Releases and Relationships

  If you've ever considered starting up a Facebook reader group, then you need to listen to this episode. Lucy Score's group is an example of a well run group that is positive, supportive and fun - everything you want in a reader group. She talks to us about how she set it up, and what makes it so great, as well as why she loves her readers so much. Lucy also gives us insight into her most recent book launch, how she connects to readers and why relationships are such an important part of her very successful Indie career. The best thing about Lucy? She's awesome, genuine, and super smart. We love having her on the show, and we know you'll get a whole bucket load of useful information for your author career in this podcast. Enjoy!

• March 16, 2021Guest Interview, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP283 – Interview with Kaye Kennedy

  Today we’re talking with Kaye Kennedy who had the successful experience we all hope for when we start out. Using her business experience and spending years studying how to do it right, Kaye managed a million page reads in 6 months and she’s going to tell you how she did it! You don't want to miss this episode!

• March 11, 2021Guest Interview, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast- EP282- Interview with Helen Scheuerer

  Making six figures a year while publishing one book a year, isn't the usual career path for most indies, but for our guest today, it absolutely is!

• March 3, 2021Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP281 – Kindletrends with Nat Connors

  Today we're delighted to welcome fellow Kiwi, Nat Connors. Nat has recently launched KINDLETRENDS (www.kindletrends.com) - the research newsletter for authors so you can find out what's trending immediately in the kindle store in major categories, covering what's trending with new releases, covers, blurbs, keywords and a whole lot more. The SPA Girls have got the scoop on Kindletrends, so listen up! ...

• January 27, 2021Guest Interview, Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP276 – Character-centric Plotting with Alexa Rivers

  Today we're joined by fellow Kiwi romance author - and one of the SPA Girls' star pupils from their self-publishing workshops - ALEXA RIVERS. Alexa has written and published nine small town romance to date and has really nailed her plotting process, starting with a character. If you've been struggling to find a way to plot and love the idea of starting with those characters who are burning a hole inside your head, this is the episode for you!

• November 18, 2020Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP266 – Nail Your Keywords With Dave Chesson

  Why does Amazon choose someone else's book over yours to show in a search? And how can we make sure to use the best keywords for sales? Well wonder no more! We've got the answers for you in this info-packed episode ...

• October 14, 2020Guest Interview

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP261 – Imposter Syndrome with Amira Alvarez

  Today we're delighted to welcome back mindset coach, Amira Alvarez after such an amazing response to our earlier episode with her. Today, we're taking a deeper dive into Imposter Syndrome - something that a lot of us experience! BONUS - here's how to win a FREE ticket to the Unstoppable (Virtual) Summit in November!

• October 7, 2020Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP260 – Interview with Danielle Romero

  This week we have an intriguing chat with author Danielle Romero (Danielle Annett), who has recently switched genres from Urban Fantasy to Contemporary Romance, with some amazing results. She talks us through the decision to change genres, and what she did to make it a success, including some of the big decisions she had to make, such as whether to create a new pen name, how to market it, and what kind of social media/website and newsletter presence she wanted to have with the new genre/name. 

• September 23, 2020Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP258 – Nail Your Newsletter with Holly Mortimer

  This episode is a DOOZY! We're thrilled to interview author and marketing expert, Holly Mortimer. We talk all things email marketing with Holly, and get you some 'next level' tips that'll have your author newsletter nailed!

• September 16, 2020Guest Interview, Mindset, Health & Writing Life, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP257 – Juggling Writing & Family Life with Connie B. Dowell

  Today we're going to talk with author Connie Dowell about juggling family responsibilities, pandemic postponements, and upheaval, with the responsibilities of being a working writer.

• August 26, 2020Guest Interview

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP254 – Interview with Tamsin Ley

  Today we're joined by fabulous Alaskan author, Tamsin Ley, who is seeing great success writing SciFi Romance! We talk about Tamsin's writing journey, marketing strategies, paranormal romance quirks and her advice for self-publishers.

• August 18, 2020Guest Interview, Mindset, Health & Writing Life, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP253 – Maximize Your Mindset with Amira Alvarez

  Amira Alvarez is the founder and CEO of The Unstoppable Woman, a global coaching company helping entrepreneurs, empire builders, athletes, creatives, and rising stars in all fields achieve their dreams and goals in record time. Today we're going to talk to Amira specifically on how we can find focus in this chaotic time, and be productive without burning ourselves out.

• August 5, 2020Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – Ep251 – Alana Terry, Facebook Ads for Authors

  Alana Terry is a 6-figure, USA Today bestseller with more than forty published Christian suspense novels. She hosts the Successful Writer Podcast which is a  fabulous marketing-focused podcast for indie authors of any genre. Alana has also created several highly regarded courses to help authors reach their dreams of achieving creative and commercial success. Today we're going to talk with Alana about how she uses advertising to grow her readership and how authors can navigate the sometimes confusing waters of Amazon ads and Facebook ads!

• July 22, 2020Guest Interview, Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP 249 – Interview with Story Coach Lisa Cron

  Having trouble getting to 'the end' of your work in progress then this is the podcast for you! Lisa Cron is a story coach and the author of Wired for Story: The Writer’s Guide to Using Brain Science to Hook Readers From the Very First Sentence and Story Genius: How To Use Brain Science to Go Beyond Outlining and Write a Riveting Novel (Before You Waste Three Years Writing 327 Pages that Go Nowhere) both published by Ten Speed Press.

• July 1, 2020Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP246 – Chirp Audiobooks Promotion

  The delightful Carlyn Robertson from Bookbub returns to the SPA today to talk all things Chirp and audiobook promotion!

• June 24, 2020Guest Interview, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP 245 – Interview with Urban Fantasy author Keri Arthur

  In this podcast, we speak to the wonderfully talented and successful Urban Fantasy author Keri Arthur. She talks to us about transitioning from traditional publishing to self-publishing and shares tips and processes from her writing journey.

• June 18, 2020Guest Interview, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP244 – Alex Newton From K-lytics

  Knowing as much as you can about your category, genre or sub-genre is vitally important if you're going to succeed as a self publisher, and Alex Newton is keen to help you with that. He's the creator of K-lytics (www.k-lytics.com) a website where you can get in-depth reports on various genres and sub-genres on Amazon that will help you find your niche, boost sales in your chosen genre, and basically give you the information you need to stand out in this crowded publishing space. In this episode Alex explains the reports and how to use them, talks about the Amazon environment and how it works, and also dishes the dirt on the romance genre, giving us some helpful tips along the way! This is a must listen episode!

• June 10, 2020Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP243 – Interview with Ines Johnson (Part Two) : Seven Screenwriting Secrets for Authors

  Ines is back to give us great advice for incorporating screenwriting techniques to make our writing stronger and improve read through!

• June 3, 2020Guest Interview, Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP242 – Interview with Ines Johnson (Part One) : Pen Names & Productivity

  This is a special two-part series with the awesome Ines Johnson, a highly successful indie author who has an extensive background in television writing, media production and college education. In this episode (Part one), we cover Pen Names and Productivity...

• April 29, 2020Guest Interview

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP237 – Deep Editing For Beginners

  In this episode, we talk with the wonderfully talented author Louisa George. She takes us through the editing process for those starting out in their publishing journey, or those of us who need a refresher on what should be done before we publish our books.

• April 15, 2020Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP235 – Interview with Alessandra Torre

  We're joined in this episode by NYT Bestseller, the fabulous Alessandra Torre, to talk All Things Goodreads. Some authors are wary of Goodreads due to harsh reviews, but there are good reasons to use this platform and in this episode, Alessandra explains why.

• April 1, 2020Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP233 – Ricci Wolman, Written Word Media

  We're joined by the awesome Ricci Wolman, founder of Written Word Media today. A marketing-tip-filled episode that covers how authors can best use promotions companies/mailing lists to boost their brand and their sales.

• March 25, 2020Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP232 – Interview with Lucy Score

  If you've been wondering about how to make the most of being in KU...this is the episode for you!  Lucy Score is the bestselling author of romantic comedy and contemporary romance novels and she's been doing super well in KU. We asked her to be on the show to tell you how to make the most of being exclusive to Amazon as well!   Lucy is smart and savvy, and gave us some fantastic tips, so be sure you have a pen and notepad with you as you listen to this one! She also has one of the best author taglines we've seen to date: "Writing romance so steamy, her family can't look her in the eye!"

• March 11, 2020Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP230 – Interview with Cora Seton: The Organised Author

  This week, we are absolutely delighted to talk with romance author and superstar, Cora Seton, about writing organisation, branding, mindset and having a stellar strategy. We had the privilege of hearing Cora speak at last year’s Romance Author Mastermind, and we knew immediately she was someone we desperately wanted on our podcast and to share her wisdom with you, our listeners.

• February 26, 2020Guest Interview

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP228 – Interview with Elana Johnson – PART TWO

  In this second episode with bestselling author Elana Johnson, she gives us all the juicy details of how she has created her bestselling career...  From the new release strategies that she uses, to the kind of advertising she does, and even the right mindset for being successful - Elana talks about it all.  She talks openly about her career, tells us about the mistakes as well as the successes, and gives us all the details on how she managed to have her first 100K month in January 2020.  This is another amazing episode with a talented and hardworking indie author! 

• February 19, 2020Goal Setting, Planning & Productivity, Guest Interview

  SPA Girls Podcast – Ep 227 – Elana Johnson Part One – Productivity

  Ever wondered how you could get more writing time in your day? Today in the SPA, we talk to uber-productive USA Today bestselling author Elana Johnson, about what she does to get her writing goals completed. She writes adult contemporary beach romance and christian cowboy romance under two different pen names and is currently publishing at least one book a month. And just so you know that her work ethic is paying off... in January 2020 Elana hit a 6 figure month for the first time. Join us for another excellent interview with a top indie author!

• February 12, 2020Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP226 – Romance Your Brand with Zoe York

  We are delighted to welcome back NYT and USA Today bestselling romance author, Zoe York. Zoe is not only a fabulous writer, but she's a marketing whizz who talks to us today about building a marketable genre fiction series.

• February 4, 2020Guest Interview, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP225 – Amazon Decoded with David Gaughran

  Is Amazon just one big mystery that you're struggling to unravel? Then this is the podcast for you! David Gaughran gives us some tips and advice from his soon to be released non-fiction book, AMAZON DECODED.

• January 29, 2020Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP224 – Amazing Covers with Rebekah Haskell

  Are you about to get your cover organised? Or is there something wrong with the cover you currently have?  This is a must listen episode for all authors, but especially for anyone who's struggling with their covers.  Rebekah Haskell is an illustrator and cover designer who has been doing graphic design since she was a kid. She was on the covers panel at 20Books Vegas 2019, and definitely knows what she's talking about. She's got some amazing insights into covers, and how to make sure your covers are the best they can possibly be. Learn how to figure out the best cover for your genre, how to work with designers and what your cover needs to be doing for you.  I took copious notes, and we all learned something new about covers! 

• January 8, 2020Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP221 – Reviving Your Backlist With Laurelin Paige

  This week we talk with NYT Bestseller and marketing superstar, Laurelin Paige, about how we can revive and reinvigorate our backlists. Even if you're still building your publishing empire, this is a must-listen for Laurelin's marketing genius! Click read more for our show notes with Top Tips!

• November 21, 2019Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP214 – Interview with Lindsay Buroker

  I (Trudi Jaye) was VERY EXCITED to get to interview super-successful fantasy author and fellow podcaster Lindsay Buroker at 20BooksVegas, and (OMG!!) she didn't disappoint. Lindsay's doing really well in the genres of Fantasy, Sci-Fi Romance, Fantasy Romance, and is about to publish a new Urban Fantasy series next year - so she talks about how she makes writing in multiple genres work so well for her career, how and why she switches between fantasy to sci-fi and, of course, how she's so productive.  Even if you're not like me and a total fangirl, this is a must-listen episode from a super-smart self-publishing author.

• November 13, 2019Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP213 – Small Changes, Big Results With Bryan Cohen

  This episode we talk with author, podcaster and coach Bryan Cohen about making small changes that can add up to big results for authors.  We talk about why authors often overlook making small changes and how they can be just as important as big ones. We also discuss some of the most common tweaks that Bryan sees authors making that have made a difference to their success.

• October 23, 2019Guest Interview

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP210 – Slow & Steady to Six Figures with Serenity Woods

  Serenity Woods is a New Zealand self-publishing superstar with more than 70 books published (both traditionally and indie). She's a USA Today bestselling author of sexy contemporary romances, most of which are set in the sub-tropical Northland of New Zealand, where she lives. Serenity joins the SPA Girls again this week to discuss her publishing strategy and the road to six figures - hint, it's a marathon, not a sprint!

• October 15, 2019Guest Interview, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP209 – Editing with Anne Victory

  Confused about the editing process? Today we talk with talented editor Anne Victory, founder of Victory Editing. Anne has always been a stickler for grammar, and at every job she was “volunteered” (or volun-told) to either write or proofread everything from menus to game manuals to advertising copy. That business writing and editing experience came in handy when she started to work in fiction. She enjoys reading, and polishing the written word. Common wisdom says do what you love and you’ll live a long and happy life. With her background in English literature, grammar, and library science, it was a fairly easy decision to work with authors. We discuss what it takes to work with an editor. What you need to think about when you are editing your manuscript and much more.

• September 25, 2019Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP206 – Interview with Chris Fox: Ads For Authors Who Hate Maths

  This week we have the pleasure of talking with Chris Fox, author of 20+ SFF novels and very popular non-fiction books for writers including his latest, Ads For Authors Who Hate Math. In this episode we talk about how to run your ads in 30 minutes a day; how to run profitable advertising campaigns using a simple aggregate sales model; and how not to stress out over figuring out your read-through and cost per click numbers.

• August 28, 2019Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP202 – Bookbub Ads With Melissa Storm

  If you've been thinking about trying out Bookbub ads, then this is the episode for you!  Melissa Storm was at the RWNZ conference in Christchurch with us, and we stole her away and made her tell us all about Bookbub ads just for you, our lovely listeners...  From what Bookbub ads actually are, to what you'll need to set one up, and all the tips and tricks in between, Melissa gives us everything you'll need to be successful.  Don't miss this episode, it's a doozy! 

• August 7, 2019Guest Interview, Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP199 – Interview with Adam Croft

  Want to hear how a world-wide bestselling author got to where he is today?  Join us as we talk to UK crime novelist Adam Croft about his writing career, including how he generates his ideas, how he writes, and how he creates those amazing hooks that he's so well known for. (No, really, would you murder your wife to save your daughter? And what would happen if you were married to a serial killer?)  He also discusses the mindset shift he had to have before he could become a bestselling author and why he believes the best way to be successful as an Indie is by having a long term, organic, business-minded view of publishing.  We loved talking to him for his sensible, rational view of publishing, and also for his smooth British accent...and you will too! 

• July 31, 2019Guest Interview, Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP198 – Find Your Sparkle With Julie Schooler

  Has your sparkle gone soggy?  Are you wondering why you're not happier?  Have you lost your creativity?  Then this is the episode for you! We talk to fellow Kiwi author, Julie Schooler, about how to find your sparkle, and wake up happier!  Many of us have lost the ability to dream big. We're dealing with problems at every turn. It's actually harder to be happy than it is to be sad. So in this episode, Julie gives us a whole bunch of really cool ways to actively be happy and turn our lives around.  In fact, she gave us so many great ideas on how to tap into our creativity and imagination by becoming happier, that our minds were blown. In the kindest way possible, we hope yours are too!  

• July 25, 2019Goal Setting, Planning & Productivity, Guest Interview, Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP197 – Hack Your Muse With Kelly McClymer

  This week we talk to Kelly McClymer about "Hacking Your Muse", or how to convince yourself to sit down and write when you don't seem to be able to do it…  We all give ourselves excuses for why we can't write, and Kelly breaks down the thoughts we have around writing, and how to change them so we can more easily get into the chair and write. She talks through why she used to sabotage herself, and how she learned to change that around, and get more words. If you're someone who struggles to write, despite loving it when you do, this is the episode for you!

• July 16, 2019Guest Interview

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP196 – Public Speaking for Authors

  Terrified of public speaking?  Don't know what to say on Facebook Live?  Wondering how to keep your cool in that podcast interview? This is the episode for you!  Public speaking for authors is about more than just talking in front of fans at your local bookstore. These days we're also expected to do online speaking such as Facebook Live events, videos for our newsletter, podcast interviews, and YouTube discussions.  Our guest today has ALL THE TIPS for any kind of public speaking you may have to do as an author! Alena Van Arendonk is an actor, speaker, writer, costumer, and expert cosplayer who was a guest at Geysercon this year. She's been public speaking since she was a teenager doing debates, and has a whole range of advice for authors who are thinking of public speaking, but are terrified of it! Turns out it's more than just learning not to be scared. It's about posture, preparation, and practice! Listen to the episode to find out more about how you can dial up your next speaking engagement to rockstar level...

• June 18, 2019Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP192 – Seven-Figure Success With Skye Warren – Part 2

  This is the second episode in the interview series with bestselling author and Facebook guru, Skye Warren. Skye has had a fascinating author journey, and in this second episode she talks to us about the changes she had to make with regards to her mindset before she could become successful as an author. If you've ever said that you can't do something that you know you need to do for your career, then you have to listen to this episode (and you probably need to have a look at your mindset, and what you're subconsciously telling yourself). And finally, she talks about Facebook Ads, and gives us some tips on how to make our own ads successful.

• June 12, 2019Goal Setting, Planning & Productivity, Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP191 – Seven-Figure Success With Skye Warren

  Ever thought that if only you had more time in your day, you'd be successful? Rich? How you'd get all your writing done?  Well, this is the podcast for you!  When romance author Skye Warren went from being able to work all hours of the day to only being able to manage two hours every day, she had to figure out how to keep money from her writing coming in. And fast. She had a mortgage and other bills to pay.  What she learned was that by focusing her efforts, she was able to concentrate on the small percentage of actions that made her the most money - writing and facebook ads.  This is the story of how Skye went from struggling to earn five figures while working all day, to earning over a million dollars a year working only four hours a day.  This is part one of two parts you don't want to miss! 

• June 4, 2019Guest Interview, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP190 – Dictation With Scott Baker

  Are your wrists giving you problems? Thinking you need to get out and walk more?  But still have to write all those books??  Then this episode is for you... We talk to dictation expert Scott Baker about all aspects of dictation, from the right software to get, the products and technical knowledge you need to get started, and how to train that dragon to within an inch of its life!!  Scott talks to us about everything from how to set up the dictation equipment correctly, the different ways you can dictate and how to make it as accurate as possible.  He's hugely knowledgeable, and is very generous with his information, so if you've ever wondered about dictation, or are considering getting it set up (or even tried and couldn't get it to work properly!) then make sure you listen to this episode!  

• May 29, 2019Guest Interview, Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP189 – Pantsing with Patricia McLinn

  If you're a writer who hates to outline, you'll love this week's podcast! We talk to Patricia McLinn, a mystery and romance author who is also a pantser who writes out of sequence. She's here to tell you that it doesn't matter how you write it, as long as it comes together in the end! Patricia worked at the Washington Post for more than 20 years, is a past president of NINC, and has published more than 50 novels (at least that's how many we could count on her website...) so she's an experienced writer and editor who knows what she's talking about. She talks about how she writes first and subsequent drafts, her techniques for ensuring she has the right structure, and how her characters talk to her until she writes their stories... Are you worried that you can't outline, and that you're not following the latest advice on how to write faster, better or smarter? Join us to hear Patricia's take on how to succeed as someone who writes by the seat of their pants and still keeps producing many, many books.

• May 22, 2019Guest Interview, Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP188 – Cozy Mysteries With Morgana Best

  Morgana Best is the best-selling author of over 40 Cozy Mysteries, and she joins us in the SPA to tell us everything she knows about writing Cozies. From word counts to reader expectations, and even her writing process - which involves using Dragon Dictate, and is totally fascinating - Morgana gives us insider information on how to put together a bestselling Cozy Mystery. She also talks about her daily schedule, her marketing techniques and how she chooses her victims... If you love Cozy Mysteries, or you've ever thought you'd like to write a Cozy Mystery, this is the episode for you!

• May 15, 2019Guest Interview

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP187 – Interview With Forensics Expert Geoff Symon

  Want to figure out how to create the perfect crime for your cozy mystery character to solve?  Or find out how your investigator protagonist would investigate a murder?  Perhaps you just want to find out what investigators look for at a crime scene so you can figure out what to plant at your fictitious scene?  Well, your questions will all be answered during this in-depth chat with Federal Law Enforcement Special Agent, Geoff Symon.  A forensics expert with 20 years of experience, Geoff gave us his expert guidance on crime scenes for authors, giving us the correct language (it's spatter not splatter, people) as well as explaining jargon like 'crime scene integrity' and 'crime scene cross-contamination', and even what an investigator might get wrong when you need them to make mistakes for your story.  He also debunked popular stereotypes, and gave us a behind the scenes glimpse into forensics investigations in the US, all in his charming, personable style...  Another fantastic guest for Mystery May, giving you valuable insight into crimes and the people who solve them.  

• May 8, 2019Guest Interview

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP186 – What Authors Get Wrong About Weapons of Mass Destruction

  Have you ever wondered whether your character would survive holding highly enriched uranium metal in their hand? What about if they'd handled that green goo from the barrel marked with a radiation symbol?  That's the kind of knowledge that you'll get from listening to this hilarious episode of the SPA Girls Podcast. We talk to Natasha Bajema, an expert in national security issues, especially weapons of mass destruction (WMD), nuclear proliferation and emerging technologies. She's worked at cool places like the Pentagon and the National Defence University during her career (and yes, you can find out what she says to security every time they insist on searching her at the Pentagon).  Using examples from television shows like Madam Secretary, House of Cards and Jack Ryan, Natasha talks about how WMD like radiation, biological weapons, and chemical bombs really work, and how authors can avoid making terrible WMD faux pas... 

• May 1, 2019Guest Interview

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP185 – Interview with the Writer’s Detective, Adam Richardson

  It's the start of Mystery May, and we have a doozy to start you off with! The SPA Girls spent time with Adam Richardson, an American cop who helps authors and screenwriters with their crime-fiction questions through his website and podcast called the Writer's Detective Bureau. He knows his stuff - Adam spent seventeen years of his 20+ year law enforcement career as a detective - and he was able to answer all our silly/strange/just-plain-dumb questions about being a cop in the US. We talk about everything from what writers need to know about law enforcement in the US, how the police and sheriff departments' work, how detectives approach a crime scene and deal with witnesses and suspects, and a myriad of other interesting details. Whether you write romance with a mystery subplot, or are a fully fledged suspense or mystery writer, this episode is for you.

• April 10, 2019Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP182 – Facebook Ads with Maria Luis (Part One)

  Not sure about how Facebook Ads work? Need to learn the basics? Join the SPA Girls as bestselling author Maria Luis breaks down Facebook Ads for us, from the beginning steps, to how to choose the best images; plus what to do, and what not to do, and everything in between!  This is the first part of a two part series on Facebook Ads from an author who has been successfully running her own ads for the last two years. It features loads of tips and advice for running ads, how to tell if it's a good ad, and how to scale up once you've got an ad that's working for you.  If you've been thinking about trying out Facebook ads, or have previously tried them only to be disappointed, then this is the episode for you! 

• April 3, 2019Guest Interview, Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP181 – Learn Dictation With Kilby Blades

  If you've ever thought you'd like to try dictation, this is the episode for you. We talk to award winning indie author Kilby Blades about how she amped up her writing rates by learning dictation.  It's the ultimate skill - being able to use that time in the car, on walks, or even as you're doing the dishes to keep writing.  The SPA Girls were all enthralled as we pumped Kilby for information, and she didn't disappoint! Learn about her methods, her tips and tricks and just what you need to do to become a dictation expert. 

• March 27, 2019Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP180 – Book Descriptions with Brian Meeks

  Ever wondered if your book description could be better? Ever thought it should sell more books? Then this is the episode for you. Brian Meeks, description-writer extraordinaire, talks with us about how to write a kick-ass description that will sell more books, and help amp up your advertising sales. Turns out, it's all about copywriting. And writing the best hooks you possibly can. Lucky for us, Brian takes us through every aspect of writing hooks to help you write your next description. In fact, we get him to do it on the fly, by giving him a description to fix, on air, as we listen.  This is raw, honest, and exciting copywriting at its best, and you can listen in as the master creates a new blurb in less than 30 minutes!

• March 20, 2019Guest Interview, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP179 – Interview with Tara Cremin from Kobo

  This week we talk to Tara Cremin, Author Experience Manager from Kobo Writing Life. It's always great to chat to someone from each of the platforms for the real insider information, and Tara doesn't disappoint! For those of you who've never loaded a book to Kobo, Tara talks us through the process and why you should load direct instead of through one of the other aggregators. She also gives us the down-low on boxed sets, pricing, and promotions through Kobo, and how to make sure you get the best results. Then she talks about some of the exciting new opportunities, including their brand new audiobook service, which is super exciting! "We're just a bunch of book-nerds," was our favourite quote from the interview, and sums up Kobo quite nicely, we think. :)

• March 12, 2019Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP178 – Newsletter Strategies with Larissa Reynolds, Part 2

  What's the one objection you have to overcome to get readers to buy your book? That question is the cliffhanger that Larissa Reynolds left us on in part 1. And now, here it is! The episode where you get to find out the answer... In this second episode about newsletters, Larissa Reynolds talks to us about how to sell your books consistently via your list. She's been writing newsletters for more than 20 years, and says it's about more than just sending regular emails. It's about knowing your readers, and making sure you're approaching them in the right way. She talks to us about how to get the right mindset with regards to your newsletter, how to focus the newsletter in the right direction, and how to ensure you're connecting with your readers so they want to go out and buy your books.

• March 6, 2019Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP177 – Successful Newsletter Strategies with Larissa Reynolds

  Have you been worrying about whether your author newsletter is working as it should? Or perhaps you're wondering if you should even start one? This is the SPA Girls episode for you! Today we're talking to Larissa Reynolds - a marketing guru with years of experience working with authors on their newsletters - about what you need to have in your author newsletter. It can be overwhelming when you first start out, and a newsletter can sometimes seem like a step too far. And while some people swear by them, others say they're a waste of time. So who do you believe? Personally, I believe Larissa. In her calm and measured way, Larissa breaks it down into five simple steps that will ensure your newsletter is going out to the right people, with the right content, at the right time. Perfecto! This is the first episode in a two part series on newsletters, so be sure to listen again next week as well!

• January 30, 2019Guest Interview, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP172 – Interview with Dan Wood from Draft2Digital

  The delightful Dan Wood joined us in the SPA today to talk about the Indie distribution channel Draft2Digital. It's an informative hour-long interview with Dan, who attends 20 plus author conferences a year, and has his finger on the pulse of Indie publishing. He not only explains everything that Draft2Digital offers indie authors - from free formatting for your ebooks and Universal book links to audiobooks and print books - he also talks knowledgeably about the industry, gives advice on how to be successful, and offers his thoughts on the future of self publishing.

• November 29, 2018Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP163 – Interview With Kelly St Clare

  The delightful USA Today bestselling author Kelly St Clare talks to the SPA Girls this week about how she moved from being a physiotherapist in a busy clinic to her current career as an Amazon bestselling author of young adult fantasy novels.  Kelly was fascinating because as well as all her fantastic tips on writing, time management and marketing, she was also able to give us some great advice on how to stay healthy as an author.  We all had some epiphany moments in this episode, from Kelly's tips on how she improves her craft with every book, how she makes sure that she is proactive and motivated with her writing, and how she monitors the fine line between passion and health to ensure she stays at her best at all times.  Another great interview with a talented, hardworking and super-smart author doing very well on the international stage! 

• October 31, 2018Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP159 – Interview With Kathryn Le Veque

  This is a powerhouse episode! Be warned - it'll inspire you SO much to knuckle down and get to work, you may not come up for air for days! Kathryn is a force of nature whose incredible work ethic has seen her publish her 93rd book this week ( Bay of Fear (Battle Lords of de Velt Book 3) ). She has been self-publishing since 2012 and talks about how she initially launched her career with an incredible number of already-written manuscripts after being rejected by traditional publishers.

• October 17, 2018Guest Interview

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP157 – Interview with Louisa George

  Our fabulous guest this week is award-winning romance author Louisa George. We talk with Louisa about how she balances the demands of being a “hybrid” author, publishing traditionally (Medical Romance and Women’s Fiction with Harlequin Mills & Boon) and self-publishing her romantic comedies.

• September 12, 2018Guest Interview, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP152 – Interview with Tina Dietz About Audiobooks

  This week we have the fabulous Tina Dietz, an expert in the area of audio, podcasting and audiobooks, who talks to us about the ways we can be using audio in our writing careers.  She gives us the low down on audiobooks, how to get them recorded, how they fit into the marketing of your other book formats, and how to promote/market them to your audience.  She also talks about the expanding audiobook industry and why we should all be considering adding audiobooks to our inventory of books.  Tina gave us some amazing ideas for how to promote audiobooks, or even just using audio to promote your print or ebook versions of your book. She's a very smart marketer, with a strong grasp of the audio market, and this is a must-listen episode for anyone who's thinking of getting into audiobooks, or who already has audiobooks on sale. Or in fact anyone who thinks they could use audio in any way to help with the marketing of their books. :) 

• September 5, 2018Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP151 – Interview With Grace Burrowes

  This week we have the delightful Grace Burrowes on the show, chatting to Cheryl and Wendy about her career, why she started writing, how she stays authentic, and why she uses blogging to connect to readers. A New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author, Grace says she's a recovering child welfare attorney, who for years turned to the reliable HEA of romance novels to balance out the stress in her life as a litigator.  This is a delightful interview with a smart, savvy author who is very open about her writing, her world view, and her career. 

• August 22, 2018Guest Interview

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP149 – Killer Interview with Damon Suede and Geoff Symon

  This week Wendy and Cher sit down in a fairly noisy cafe with Indie author Damon Suede and his partner, Geoff Symon. The f-bomb went off fairly early in the piece, so if you're offended by swear words... you should still listen, because all the rest of the words out of their mouths are gold... :) Damon published his first novel, Hot Head, in 2011, which has since been named one of 'Top 100 Romance Novels of All Time' on Goodreads. He's currently on the board of directors for Romance Writers of America, and is well known for the way he unbundles characters when writing his books. His partner Geoff Symon is a US federal agent, and has now written three non-fiction books all about how to write forensics for fiction authors. He's full of fantastic information about crime scenes, and because he's lived with a writer all these years, he can translate it in a way that makes sense for authors. Between the two of them, they kept Wendy and Cher on their toes, talking at double speed, and giving off gems of information like they were sand at the beach. From characterisation, to stepping up in the author community, to the best way to write crime scenes - this interview has it all.

• August 15, 2018Guest Interview

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP148 – Interview with Indie Superstar Bella Andre

  Today's interview is a must-listen interview with... Indie Superstar Bella Andre! We were super excited to be able to chat to Bella, who it turns out is the most lovely, down-to-earth person we've interviewed so far, plus being super inspirational. She was in New Zealand for the Romance Writers of New Zealand conference, and we were able to kidnap and interview her about self-publishing, how she made it as an Indie, and her advice for people aiming to follow in her footsteps...  We had such a great time chatting to her, that we tried to adopt her and convince her to move to New Zealand, but she was a little resistant to the idea... :) 

• August 1, 2018Goal Setting, Planning & Productivity, Guest Interview

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP146 – Interview with Becca Syme on Writing Better Faster

  We had a fantastic guest this week in the form of Becca Syme, Cosy Mystery author, writing coach, teacher of the Write Better-Faster course, and podcaster at the Smarty Pants Marketing podcast.  Becca talks to us about how we can all write better-faster in our writing careers, using our own unique skills to improve your chances of success. It's not about tips and techniques for getting more words per hour - it's about understanding who you are as a writer, your strengths within that, and using those talents in the best way to ensure you are successful.  Aside from the fact the she was great fun, the most important takeaway we had from our conversation with Becca is that you don't have to do everything exactly the same way as other people are doing it to be successful. In fact if it's the wrong methodology for you, then you're more likely to fail and feel bad about it, and that creates the opposite outcome from what you were trying to achieve. If you understand who you are, how you think things through and understand the world, then you can use that to create a system that will work for you and totally kick butt!  She was a fabulous guest and very thought provoking in terms of our own systems and thought processes, and we know you'll feel the same way. 

• July 25, 2018Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP145 – Newsletter Ninja Tammi Labrecque

  This week we're joined by the Newsletter Ninja, Tammi Labrecque (of IndiePubIntensive.com), who talks to us about creating an amazing author newsletter that will help amp up your writing career.  She talks about why every author needs a newsletter, and how to turn the people who sign up for your list into super-fans who will buy every book you write. Tammi also gives us a whole heap of tips on what kind of content to put into your newsletter, how to find the perfect subscribers for your books, and when to cut subscribers from your list.  It's another tip-packed episode that you'll want to listen to carefully. I know Shar took heaps of notes (She even broke out the shorthand...) and you will too! 

• July 11, 2018Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP143 – Interview with Carlyn Robertson from BookBub

  This week we were lucky enough to talk to the delightful Carlyn Robertson from BookBub, all about how the email advertising platform works, and how it can help you as an author. For some authors, BookBub has literally been a game changer, and it's well known in the Indie community as a way you can get a massive boost in sales. The downside is that every man and his dog wants to get a BookBub ad, and they get hundreds of applications every day, making it really freaking difficult to get a BookBub ad. Happily for all of us in the SPA, Carlyn takes us through exactly how it works, how to apply, what to expect when you apply, and some of the ways to make sure your application is more likely to succeed. She was also able to give us insights into the way they write their amazing blurbs, and how they decide what content to provide to their millions of readers. (Hint: it's all about data and testing). It's an information packed episode, so make sure you have your notebooks out!

• July 4, 2018Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP142 – Personal Branding for Authors with Lauren Clemett

  This week we were privileged to have personal branding expert Lauren Clemett with us to discuss how to create your personal author brand, and why it's so important. Based in Australia, Lauren has a wealth of experience with advertising, marketing and branding from a distinguished career in England, New Zealand and Australia. She now helps entrepreneurs understand their personal brand, and how they can use that to amp up their business, and find the right clients. For us, she talks about how to create a personal brand for you the author, and how to figure out who your readers are, and why they should love you! (Hint: it's all about them)  If the thought of branding gives you hives, then you need to sit down and have a listen to this episode! Lauren takes us through the basics, explains how to create a brand that represents you and your books, and talks about the ways that you can use this information to amp up your books and your author business.  This is another tip-packed episode, so make sure you have your note book handy! 

• June 14, 2018Guest Interview

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP139 – Kelly Lytle from Findaway Voices

  This week we have Kelly Lytle from Findaway Voices with us in the SPA to talk about creating audio books for Indie authors. If you've ever considered creating an audio book, but were concerned about the price, the technology or the difficulty involved, then this episode is a must listen. Kelly takes us through the whole process of creating and distributing an audio book with Findaway Voices, from the very moment an author contacts them, to finding the perfect narrator, to pricing, and then to the recording and approval process. He demystified the whole process for us, and showed us how doable it actually is!  He also gave us some fantastic ideas for how we might market and promote a newly published audio books to our readers, both new and old. It's a fascinating subject, and Kelly was a great sport about answering all our silly questions, and giving us the kind of in-depth information on audio books that we've all wanted to know, but have been too afraid to ask. (Or maybe just too lazy? It's a close call. It's nice and cozy in the SPA.)  It's a great episode - especially if you're thinking of diversifying your income by doing audio books at any time in the future (which you should be!).

• May 31, 2018Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP137 – Talking about Facebook LIVE with Toni Kenyon

  This week we chat to Toni Kenyon, a New Zealand indie author of Pacific rockstar and billionaire romances. She gives us the inside scoop on some of the new techniques she's using to attract and engage with her readers. About two months ago, she decided to try two new ideas: firstly to do a regular weekly Facebook LIVE session, and secondly to write a weekly serial, where she gets reader input to decide what happens next.  She talks about what she's doing, why she decided to do it, and how it's all working out for her after more than two months of putting this type of content out to her readers. (HINT: It's going well!) 

• May 16, 2018Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP135 – Interview with Maria Luis

  We were lucky enough to have contemporary romance author Maria Luis talking to us this week. She's super marketing-savvy, and talked on a range of topics, from how her launches have changed as she's learned more about the industry, to what kind of advertising she's been doing and her pricing strategy.  She's done some great reader engagement activities, including a serial on her website where she allows her readers to vote on what's going to happen next, and she talks about that, as well as diving deep into her techniques for Amazon Ads and Facebook Ads.  You'll want to break out the notebooks this week, I know we sure did!!

• May 9, 2018Guest Interview, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP134 – Interview with Kevin Tumlinson of Draft2Digital

  We’re delighted to welcome Kevin Tumlinson, bestselling thriller author, and Director of Marketing for Draft2Digital into the SPA today! Kevin talks us through using Draft2Digital to format and publish your books on line, the best practices for keywords and a host of other tips for indie authors.  For many of us living outside the US, Draft2Digital is the way to access online retailers who don’t allow us to upload directly, and all the SPA Girls are D2D fans.  As a company D2D are continually innovating and bringing out new tools for authors (listen out for Cher’s suggestion mid-podcast!).  

• May 2, 2018Guest Interview

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP133 – Interview With Sara Rosett: Writing Cozy Mysteries

  This episode we are thrilled to talk with USA Today bestseller, Sara Rosett, about the wonderful, (sometimes) wacky and hugely popular sub-genre of Cozy Mysteries. Cozies have a rabid audience, but writers need to be sure that they’re meeting reader expectations and delivering a great puzzle, compelling characters and intriguing setting. Sara has not only been writing a number of successful cozy-mystery series since 2006, but she also teaches an online How To Outline A Cozy Mystery course -  so she’s the perfect person to talk through crafting cozies.

• April 18, 2018Guest Interview

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP131 – Interview with Ricardo Fayet from Reedsy

  This week we talk to Ricardo Fayet, one of the founders of Reedsy, a curated site for matching authors and publishers to industry professionals like editors, designers, marketing professionals, or website designers. He explains to us how the site works, what kind of services indie authors can find on Reedsy, and how to find the best person to work with you. Reedsy is highly curated - they only accept around 3% of the industry professionals who apply to be listed - so they're confident in the quality of the service providers on their site. And that's nice to know when you're planning to spend your hard-earned money on getting your baby (ie your book) published. :) It's a fascinating interview - as well as demystifying Reedsy for us, Ricardo also gives some tips for authors that he's picked up from the many indie conferences he's attended, and talks about some of the changes he's seen since Reedsy first started in 2014.

• March 15, 2018Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP126 – Smarter Artist Summit 2018 Debrief

  This week we have extra-special guest Jami Albright on to talk about the 2018 Smarter Artist Summit, which she attended along with SPA Girl host Trudi Jaye.  Trudi and Jami talk about their highlights of the summit including listening to presentations from Michael Anderle, Michelle Spiva, Honoree Corder, as well as getting to meet the huge array of smart and savvy self publishing people who all gather every year to network, connect and learn.  They also talk about the presentation by BookBub representatives Carlyn and Julianne, getting to interview Michael Anderle, chatting to other self publishers, and basically just getting to immerse themselves in self publishing for a couple of days.  Join us as Jami Albright and Trudi Jaye break down their experiences at the 2018 Smarter Artist Summit and find out the big epiphany moments they had from the many presentations over the two days of the summit. 

• March 12, 2018Guest Interview, Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP125 – SAS Special Interview with Michelle Spiva

  This week we have another special episode from the 2018 Smarter Artist Summit, where Trudi Jaye sat down with the first male Deputy SPA Girl, Michael Anderle, and marketing guru and storyteller Michelle Spiva.  Michelle tells us how to amp up your connection with your readers via your characters, so that you're writing stories they can't put down - not even to go to the  bathroom... She covers everything from using narrative arc, pacing, and other storytelling techniques, to understanding how to choose the right emotional tone for your characters and the story, in order to capture and keep your readers.  Michelle is a very smart author who manages to balance both the analytical and creative sides to her personality, and she's able to use it in her writing career to great effect. She looks at storytelling in a different way to many people, and it's fascinating to hear her talk about the techniques she uses, and understand how we could be using them for ourselves.  Another don't-miss episode of the SPA Girls Podcast!

• February 28, 2018Guest Interview

  SPA Girls Podcast – Episode 123 – Interview With Nate Vella

  This week we talk with elite sportsman, Nathan Vella, about using tools from sports psychology to help writers. Nate has been a professional rugby player for the last seven years. In that time he has played in both New Zealand and Europe, and has amassed over 100 first class games, winning several championships. His strength besides his physical ability is his mental toughness. Nate talks with Wendy, Cheryl and Shar about applying what he has learned in the competitive high-performance environment he thrives and works in.

• January 31, 2018Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP119 – Interview with NYT Bestselling Author Nalini Singh

  This week we were lucky enough to convince the lovely Nalini Singh to come on the show. A fellow Kiwi, Nalini is also a very smart, savvy author who's been on the NYT Bestseller list an incredible 27 times, and has hordes of ravenous fans the world over. Nalini is also the kind of pioneering author who knew that she would need to do more than simply write great books (you know, cause that's easy, right?)  if she was going to make this writing malarky her career. She knew she would need to connect with her readers and give them something more. With this in mind, she started a popular blog when she first set out to conquer the writing world, and then created a massive organically grown newsletter when the time was right, and finally conquered Facebook, where her current page has over 70,000 readers regularly interacting with her. She gives us the low down on how she's created such a strong reader connection, the kind of content she thinks is vital for authors to give their readers and her secret sauce for interacting with all kinds of people. This one is a little long, but it's well worth the listen for the various wise gems of knowledge that Nalini drops on us throughout the show. (I did say she's a smart cookie, didn't I?)

• December 12, 2017Goal Setting, Planning & Productivity, Guest Interview, Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP112 – Interview with Honoree Corder and Ben Hale

  This week we were lucky enough to interview Honoree Corder and Ben Hale who've recently released a new book: Write Like a Boss, all about how to have the right mindset for being a successful author.  They talk about creating winning writing habits, how to train yourself to think and be successful, and how to write when you have six kids who are constantly demanding attention (ie Ben). They're both very inspiring individuals, and gave us some fascinating insights into their lives and the way they have ensured their success in the Indie environment. It's a fun interview, and we learned a lot from these two highly successful and motivated individuals. We know you will too! 

• November 30, 2017Guest Interview, Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP110 – Interview With Screenwriter Kathryn Burnett

  This week we were lucky enough to have a fantastic repeat guest - Kathryn Burnett, the well-known New Zealand playwright and screenwriter. With over 20 years of experience in the industry, Kathryn is chocka full of useful knowledge on the craft of writing as well as the mental game of staying focused and being productive. Today she talked us through doing an end-of-year Writing Audit, as a prequel to setting our goals in the new year. We found it hugely helpful to answer the questions she posed, and to look back on our year in order to critically assess what went right, and what went wrong, and why. If you're wondering why on earth you'd want to look back in this way, just listen in... Kathryn also tells us how to use this kind of analysis to set us up for an awesome 2018! 

• November 15, 2017Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP108 – Interview with Author Zoe Dawson

  For prolific author, Zoe Dawson, it's all about the happily ever afters. Zoe writes across several genres including romantic suspense, small town romance, new adult, urban fantasy and romantic comedy. We talk with Zoe about the challenges and rewards of writing across so many genres, how to juggle writing projects, reader expectations and the key that unlocked her being able to dramatically write faster (a book in three weeks!).

• September 27, 2017Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP101 – Interview with Katie Cross

  This week we talk to fantasy and young adult author Katie Cross about being a military wife, learning to be a nap-time authorpreneur, and making every moment count. She also gives us some amazing productivity tips for authors who are trying to squeeze their writing career into already busy lives. Katie impressed us right from the start of the interview when she talked about having done some writing before we got on the call. My paraphrasing summary of her words: "It was a choice between going on Facebook for ten minutes, or doing some writing. I decided to do some writing, and managed to get almost a thousand words done in that time." It's always good to be reminded of the things that we can achieve if we pay a little more attention to what we're doing, and how we choose to spend our time!  It's a great interview, Katie is hilarious, and we loved chatting to her. (And we're totally impressed by everything she's able to achieve in her day!)

• September 13, 2017Guest Interview, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP99 – Interview with Arianna Golden

  This week we have authorpreneur and automation expert Arianna Golden. She's great at helping authors set up systems in their business, to amp up their productivity, and enhance their ability to write. She talked to us about some basic automations that are simple for authors to put in place, and gave us some fantastic tips on how to save time.  Automation doesn't have to be a scary word. As Arianna says, think of it as a tool, like a cheese grater. Used correctly, a grater can get you yummy grated cheese to go on top of a baked potato. It's only if you don't use it correctly that you might get into trouble... (I'm scared of graters, but not of automation, so I'm not sure where that leaves me...) It's another fascinating interview, and hopefully a good introduction to automation for people who don't know much about automation. Enjoy! 

• August 30, 2017Guest Interview

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP97 – Interview with Shayne Silvers

  This week we interview best selling urban fantasy author Shayne Silvers, who gives us the inside scoop on his writing processes, his beta reading team, and how he markets his popular Nate Temple series. (Spoiler warning: Shayne works really hard, set everything up to work as it should and has amazing blurbs. ie it's no wonder he's doing so well!) We loved hearing his story, because he had two books up and nothing much was happening, and it was only when he realised that he had to take his writing seriously, and start treating it like a real business instead of a part time hobby, that things started to change for Shayne. These days he's doing rather well, thank you very much. :)  NOTE: His book Beast Master (number 5 in the series) was also recently nominated for a Dragon Award, which is fantastic news for Indie authors everywhere (and also Shayne)! If you've read the book and loved it, be sure to head over to the Dragon Con website and vote for him! 

• August 23, 2017Guest Interview

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP96 – Interview with Christie Craig

  This week we're live from the Romance Writers of New Zealand conference here in New Zealand, and we're talking with New York Times bestselling author Christie Craig. Christie writes humorous romantic suspense under her real name, and young adult paranormal under the pen name CC Hunter. She talks honestly with us about her writing process, the challenges she's had to overcome in her writing career, and gives some amazing craft advice for everyone. The one big take away from this interview? Never give up!  

• August 14, 2017Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP95 – Interview with Brian Meeks

  This week we have a fantastic interview with the delightful Brian Meeks, who talked to us about creating and making money on Amazon Ads. Brian recently published a book on how to master Amazon ads, and runs a very successful Facebook group on the same topic. He was kind enough to break it all down to the simple version for us, and run through the basics of creating and running a successful Amazon ad. If you've never been on the inside of an Amazon ad, this episode will give you enough information to get you clicking over to the Amazon Marketing Services website. If you're a bit more experienced, don't worry, the insights on copywriting and the tips for creating successful ads will be enough to keep you listening. We learned so much from talking to Brian, and we know you will too. :) 

• August 10, 2017Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP94 – Interview with Monica Leonelle

  In this week's interview Shar and Trudi have to soldier on in rainy old New Zealand while Wendy and Cher continue swanning about in Orlando. Happily we managed to score a fantastic interview with the lovely Monica Leonelle who chatted to us about marketing for indie authors, and the lessons she's learned since starting out. Knowing what to write about in your newsletter or on Facebook, or even how to connect with your readers can be a big problem for writers. (I know I struggle with it!) Monica took us through some of the psychological triggers that she's come across over her years as a marketer and copywriter, and explains how you can sprinkle them into your marketing content to make it more compelling and persuasive to the reader.  This interview is filled to the brim with fantastic tips on how to amp up your connection to your readers, find new super-fans, and generally improve your ability to promote your books. Yay!  Note: There is a small echo problem in the first five minutes of this recording - but don't give up, it gets better. And you won't want to miss this content!

• August 3, 2017Guest Interview

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP93 – Interview with Roxanne St. Claire

  Cheryl and Wendy are still at RWA in Orlando, and this time they managed to score an interview with the wonderful Roxanne St. Claire, an uber-successful Indie author who opens up about her writing and how she's been able to create such a successful career. Roxanne started out in traditional publishing, where she learned all about the publishing process, before she made the decision to move into self publishing. These days she's fully self published, with 17 self published books under her belt to add to 30+ traditionally published books. Roxanne talks with Wendy and Cheryl about the benefits of self publishing, how she's been able to use her marketing savvy to move her career ahead, what to think about when creating series that your readers will love, and how to stand out from the crowd. This is another don't-miss episode, with multiple insights to help your writing career.

• August 1, 2017Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls – EP92 – Interview with Mark Dawson

  Before I say anything else, let me get this out of the way... Sqeeeeeee! We interviewed Mark Dawson! OMG! *coughs* Right. Now back to the regularly scheduled blurb about this episode... This week we have a very special episode all the way from the Romance Writers of America conference where Cheryl and Wendy just spent the week schmoozing and mingling with romance writers from all over the world. They were lucky enough to tie down...er...interview a couple of great Indie authors while they were there, and this Mark Dawson interview is the first of our RWA special episodes this week. Mark was, according to Wendy and Cher, a lovely, gracious interviewee, and despite being completely starstruck, they managed to squeeze out a fantastic episode full of great advice, tips and insider information from the great man himself. :)

• May 23, 2017Guest Interview, Writing Craft & Editing

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP82 – The Black Moment Featuring Author Rachel Bailey

  Australian author and writing tutor, Rachel Bailey, joins us this week to discuss the Black Moment: that point in your story when all hope is lost, when crisis peaks, when things seem bleakest and we start to think the characters won’t be able to find their HEA. We discuss the different types of Black Moment, how to identify which one works best for your story and how to make this crucial element of Story both powerful and believable.

• May 11, 2017Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP81 – Interview with Jami Albright

  This week we interview the delightful Jami Albright, a new author who has just successfully launched her first book. She's done such a fantastic job of it, we wanted to get her on the show to talk about how she got into writing, how she learned to do such a great job of launching a book, and where she goes for inspiration. She's such a fantastic person, we could have chatted to her all day! Hope you enjoy the show, we sure did. :)

• March 28, 2017Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP75 – Writing A Kick-Butt Book Blurb with Glenna Mageau

  This week we have a very special guest - Glenna Mageau, book blurb coach and writer extraordinaire - who takes us through how to write a blurb that sells more books. Glenna has a proven system she uses to improve her own book blurbs and she's been teaching other authors how to do the same thing as well. This is a fantastic episode - we really enjoyed chatting to Glenna, she's a lovely lady with a wealth of knowledge. We all picked up loads of useful blurb writing tips and we're sure you will too!

• January 18, 2017Guest Interview

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP65 – Interview with Zoe York

  This week we were lucky enough to talk to Zoe York, USA Today and New York Times bestselling author of contemporary romance, and all around lovely lady. She gave us some fantastic tips on writing in series, including craft considerations, marketing ideas, and some best practice tips for making it work. Zoe really knows her stuff, so it's yet another don't-miss episode!

• December 21, 2016Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP61 – Interview with Joanna Penn

  This week we had the honour of interviewing the one and only... Joanna Penn! She's a best-selling author, an international speaker, a podcaster, and a trainer, and one of our role models in this industry. We were super-excited to have her on the show, and she didn't disappoint. She gave us a huge amount of self publishing advice in this information-packed episode - making it an episode that you don't want to miss!

• November 1, 2016Guest Interview

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP54 – Writing Advice From the Trenches

  This week the SPA Girls chat to three experienced authors - two Indie authors, and one traditionally published author - about their writing tips, their favourite technology as a writer, and why they all say you need to find your writing tribe to succeed. Join us as we get the inside story from contemporary romance author Talia Hunter, pacific billionaire romance author Toni Kenyon, and author of 35 Harlequin romances Yvonne Lindsay in this hilarious, informative, and insightful episode into the life of an author. If you don't come away from listening to this episode with a grin on your face, I'll eat my hat.

• October 18, 2016Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP52 – Interview with Kelly McClymer

  This week we're joined by the lovely Kelly McClymer, an indie author who writes in multiple genres, including historical romance, fantasy and cosy mystery. She tells us the story of how she got into self publishing, the kind of marketing and promotion she does for her books, and talks about what she's been doing in the last week or so in an attempt to get her book onto the USA Today Bestseller list, for her historical romance book, The Next Best Bride. This is a fantastic interview with another smart, savvy indie author!

• September 19, 2016Guest Interview

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP49 – Interview with Tracey Alvarez

  This week we're still without the lovely Cheryl, so we decided to do another interview, this time with Tracey Alvarez, who lives in Wellington, New Zealand and writes contemporary romance based in New Zealand. I (Trudi Jaye) met Tracey in person at RWA in San Diego this year, and had a great time hanging out with her and Talia Hunter. As you'll see from the interview, Tracey is also a very knowledgeable indie author, with heaps of pro tips to share. This is another 'don't-miss' episode!

• September 10, 2016Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales, Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP48 – Interview with Steffanie Holmes

  This week we interview paranormal romance author Steff Green, who writes as Steffanie Holmes and fantasy as SC Green. Steff was a speaker at the recent RWNZ conference and we were keen to get her on the podcast to give us the inside information on her self publishing career. She was a fantastic guest, and talked to us about her journey toward self publishing, and some of the ways that she's been able to make self publishing work for her, including topics like box sets, writing in series, and cliffhangers.

• August 28, 2016Guest Interview

  SPA Girls – BONUS Episode – RWNZ16 short interviews

  This is another bonus episode from the SPA Girls - a collection of three short interviews that we did at the RWNZ16 conference in Auckland, New Zealand. Firstly bestselling author Heather Graham talks about how she wants to take us all home with her (we didn't say no...); agent Courtney Miller-Callihan gives a few tips on the kind of books she likes best; and the incomparable Michael Hauge talks about how to create a story that works.

• August 15, 2016Guest Interview, Marketing, Advertising & Sales

  SPA Girls – EP44 – Conference episode with Leeanna Morgan

  This week we bring you a special episode direct from the Romance Writers of New Zealand conference in Auckland, New Zealand. Wendy Vella and Trudi Jaye snuck out of the workshops, grabbed the incredibly talented Leanna Morgan along the way and hid out in one of the conference rooms, making her spill her guts on her self publishing career. And boy, does she deliver. This is a must listen episode for our listeners - Leanna knows what she's talking about. :)

• August 4, 2016Guest Interview, Mindset, Health & Writing Life

  BONUS EPISODE – Trudi Jaye and Talia Hunter at RWA

  This is a special bonus episode of the SPA Girls Podcast, hosted by Trudi Jaye and Talia Hunter and recorded live at RWA in San Diego. We recorded this little snippet on our last day in an attempt to give SPA Girls listeners a sense of what it was like to attend the conference. At the start of the recording we're joined by Allyson, a Harlequin editor that we harangued into joining us in the recording. :) We talk about some of the workshops that we attended, the people we met, and what we learned while we were there. I hope you enjoy it!

• January 25, 2016Guest Interview

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP019 – Interview with Trudi Jaye

  This week we're up to episode 19, and it's an interview with paranormal romance author Trudi Jaye, yet another member of the SPA Girls.

• December 15, 2015Guest Interview

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP013 – Author Interview with Cheryl Phipps

  This week was lucky thirteen, so we decided to do an interview... with one of our own. The lovely Cheryl Phipps talks about her writing journey, from right back when the kids were little, to now, with eight books published, and more on the way! Cheryl's the wise member of the group, so be sure to listen in and get some self-publishing and writing gems!

• November 16, 2015Guest Interview

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP09 – Interview With Author Toni Kenyon!

  This week's episode was a huge amount of fun for us... We did our first ever proper interview (if you don't count the one we did with SPA Girl Wendy Vella) with author Toni Kenyon! Toni was a delight to have on the show, and she was a wealth of information on being a self publishing author

• October 2, 2015Guest Interview, Self-Publishing Process & Tools

  SPA Girls Podcast – EP03 – Interview With Author Wendy Vella

  This week we have an interview with one of our own - SPA Girl member Wendy Vella. Wendy has been self publishing since 2013, and she now has 14 titles and has been included in three box sets. She's sold over 100,000 copies of her books, and at the beginning of this year took the plunge and went full time as an indie author. We interview her on her road to success, where and when she writes, and what it took to make it all happen.