Podcast Episodes
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.
read moreSPA 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.
read moreSPA Girls Podcast – EP393 – Genre Expectations
Today we’re covering reader expectations for romance and it’s subgenres and mystery. Let us help you define where your book should sit on the virtual book shelves!
read moreSPA 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!
read moreSPA 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.
read moreSPA 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.
read moreSPA 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.
read moreSPA Girls Podcast – EP388 – Getting the Words Down
The number one thing you need to produce as an author is WRITTEN words, but sometimes that’s the hardest thing to do.
So when words are hard to come by, when you’re avoiding the blank screen or finding yourself doing housework for hours instead of sitting your butt on the office chair (or couch) with your laptop, you need a cheerleader, an advocate, and champion… a human cattle prod, if you will.
And that’s where we come in.
This week we’re sharing our best tips and advice on how to get yourself motivated, beat resistance and get your $#@!! words down.
read moreSPA 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.
read moreSPA Girls Podcast – EP386 – Productivity Hacks For Writers
Ten proven productivity hacks for self-publishing authors!
read moreSPA Girls Podcast – EP385 – How to Write a Compelling Hero
Alpha, Beta, Tortured or Bad Boy? How do you like your heroes? This week Cheryl, Wendy and Shar discuss how to write a great hero (in their opinion) complete with controversial examples!
In particular we cover:
Character Connection
Creating Conflict from Character
Main Characters Should Be Equals
Characters Should Have Complementary Strengths
Hero should Show Vulnerability
Different hero types including Alpha, Beta, Bad Boy, Tortured and Playboy
Don’t miss out on our take on writing a great hero!
read moreSPA 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 …
read moreSPA Girls Podcast – EP383 – Our Valentine To Writers
Who says Valentine’s Day has to be about couples? We think it should be about all kinds of love and this year we’re promoting a little self-love.
Go on, you deserve it!
Treat yourself to a craft course or something else you would enjoy – find a course and do it!
Do something awesome for your body – manicure, pedicure, massage, facial.
Regular exercise – walk, run, bike, swim, yoga, pilates, sport.
Combat stress – read, listen to music, have a bath, meditate – try Paul Mckenna and Youtube videos.
Breathing exercises – breathe in for seven, hold for seven, out for seven.
Eat healthy and drink more water.
Try something different – puzzles, a new hobby like knitting, crochet or miniatures.
Have a wonderful Valentine’s Day!
read moreSPA Girls Podcast – EP382 – Which Course Is Right For You?
This week Trudi and Shar go rogue … and discuss courses along with our writing friend and writing tutor Tania Hutley / Talia Hunter.
read moreSPA Girls Podcast – EP381 – Marketing Biases
So many times we’ve heard authors say that they don’t like this or that when it comes to promoting themselves. So how can we work with our biases and not fight against them?
read moreSPA 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.
read moreSPA 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!
read moreSPA 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 …
read moreSPA Girls Podcast – EP377 – New Year New You
Happy New Year from the SPA Girls !!
In this episode we talk about what goals and plans we have for 2023, Rom Com style using Billy Mernit’s book, Writing The Romantic Comedy. We work through his story beats.
Set Up. Catalyst. Turning Point. Midpoint. Second Turning Point. Crisis Climax. Resolution.
The SPA Girls open a vein and talk about what we want to impliment and change in 2023.
(there will be no fries with this, ignore Trudi)
The SPA Girls podcast is sponsored by everyone who supports us on Patreon!
read moreSPA Girls Podcast – EP376 – Top Tips from 2022
This is an awesome episode just for you! We went through all of our episodes from 2022, and picked out the best pieces of advice, the most actionable tips, and the things we definitely think you should be doing for your writing career in 2023 and gave them to you here in one easy episode. You’re welcome. 🙂
read moreSPA Girls Podcast – EP375 – Celebrations And Things We’re Grateful For
The Spa Girls wish you a wonderful Christmas and today we’re sharing our celebrations and things we’re grateful for.
From Shar’s first taste of travel in three years and reaching 1000 subscribers on Youtube, all Wendy’s historical books hitting the top in that category and doing German translations, Cheryl achieving her goal of four books for 2022 and opening a store, Trudi finally finished a series and found a course that resonated more than she could have hoped for, there is plenty celebrate.
The grateful list was long and included our guests who keep things real, listeners old and new who make us want to continue, doing what we love, family and author friends who support and get us, and on to entrepreneurs who build products and supply services which make our lives easier – we thank you all.
Listen in to for a more comprehensive list and maybe there are some things that resonate with you too.
Take care and make sure to recharge over the season.
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.
read moreSPA Girls Podcast – EP373 – Lightbulb Moments of Writing Advice
Lightbulb moments about writing and publishing that have turned you from gloomy to galloping along – have you had them? We have and today we’re sharing the nitty gritty self publishing and writing tips that positively impacted our craft and careers – plus, of course, the mentors who’ve given us great advice.
read moreSPA 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!
read moreSPA 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.
read moreSPA 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!
read moreSPA Girls Podcast – EP369 – Make Luck Through Belief
Today in the SPA we talk about not relying on luck to build your career.
We believe you can make your own luck, but don’t wait for it to happen!
Ron Weasley (or not, we’re not really sure) says believing in yourself is 100% more powerful than luck!
Overnight success may happen for some, but if you dig deeper often, what appears to be a lucky break is actually from years of hard work to get to that point.
read moreSPA 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.
read moreSPA Girls Podcast – EP367 – How To Self Edit Your Second Draft
There are many types of editing and today we’re discussing how the SPA Girls approach a second draft. Plus, don’t miss out on the Second Draft Checklist, an amalgamation of all our processes in one handy spot.
read moreSPA Girls Podcast – EP366 – How To Recover When You Screw Up
This episode sees the SPA Girls sharing their own Big Oops and how they recovered / learned from them. Inspiration plus for indies at all stages of their careers 🙂
read moreSPA 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!
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!
read moreSPA 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!
read moreSPA Girls Podcast – EP362 – Book Marketing Organization Made Easy
Looking for tips to make your marketing tasks more organized and less stressful? This is the episode for you! From marketing bibles to free online tools, your book marketing should become a whole lot less overwhelming.
read moreSPA 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!
read moreSPA Girls Podcast – EP360 – How To Find What Works For You
One size doesn’t fit all – we’ve all heard that saying, but how do you know what DOES work for you?
In this episode, we discuss how to identify what best works for you in three areas:
– Your Writing Process
– Your Publishing Strategy
– Your Marketing Strategy
and share tips and resources that we’ve learned along the way.
read moreSPA 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.
read moreSPA 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!
read moreSPA 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!
read moreSPA Girls Podcast – EP356 – Running With Your Ideas
This week we talk about how to find new ideas, and how to use those ideas in new ways. How to find them in the everyday hustle and bustle of our lives, and how to turn them on their heads to create something intriguing and interesting to our readers.
We go through a series of story starters, of intriguing kernels that you can use to create an awesome story that your readers will love to read…
read moreSPA 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.
read moreSPA Girls Podcast – EP354 – It’s Time To Question The “Hustle”
This week we discuss burnout, protecting our creativity, being productive and not buying in to the hustle culture.
read moreSPA Girls Podcast – EP353 – Book Launch Strategy
All about book launch strategy – from pre-orders, why publishing print books before ebooks makes sense, wrangling an ARC team, paid and free advertising and lots more!
read moreSPA 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.
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!
read moreSPA Girls Podcast – EP350 – Let’s Celebrate!
This week we broadcast our 350th episode and in complete contrast to how laid-back Kiwis generally approach milestones, we’re celebrating the heck out of it!
read moreSPA Girls Podcast – EP349 – How To Build Reader Connection With Your Characters
Building a deep connection between your characters and your readers is what
creates raving fans, books that stick like glue to the sales charts and fuels word-of-mouth recommendations. So how do we do this?
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.
read moreSPA Girls Podcast – EP347 – The Power Of Writing Sprints
Are you struggling to get your words down each day? Why not give writing sprints a try? You can do them alone, however, you might find they work better with others like we did.
Listen to the podcast for more tips regarding:
• training yourself
• how to set up a sprint group
• the power of structure
• what length of sprint?
• top of the hour sprints
• tracking
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!
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