Mouth Shut Head Down is a new, young adult novel that released today. It is already sporting a #1 New Releases in Teen & Young Adult Alternative Family Fiction on Amazon! That ranking is not surprising considering the time and attention the author Geraldine Donaher has given the subject matter - child sex trafficking and coercive control. The subject is heavy and uncomfortable but it is reality and the more we know about it as parents and citizens the better chance we have of saving our 12 to 15 year olds from it. Our children need to know that if they are in a coercive control (sex trafficked) relationship, that there is hope - that they have agency and autonomy.

Geraldine Donaher researched the subject of sex trafficking for six years before she attempted to a write this non-salacious, ya story about it. If kids read it and recognize it, that can learn how to stay away from it or get out of it, that they are not alone! Mouth Shut Head Down tells the story of two girls, Allee and Tanaya, who live in Philadelphia. Through their story, Donaher illustrates how coercive control can happen, what it looks like, what the warning signs are and how kids can use their agency and autonomy to get out. This is not a guess at what goes on in our very own American neighborhoods, it’s a very real, very frightening reality that society as a whole is finally learning about.

***For the writers writing about sensitive material, Gerri discusses her use of sensitivity readers***

Geraldine invites listeners/readers who are interested to join her at her book launch at Immaculata University this Sat, Jan 31st from 2:00 to 5:00. Please email Gerri at [email protected] for more information and to reserve a seat.

***Call to Action *** Also, if you would like to see Mouth Shut Head Down in your child’s school library, send a note to Geraldine’s Publisher at Parisian Phoenix Publishing - a popular demand push will get it there! Angel Ackerman at [email protected].

Resources Mentioned in the Podcast:

Covenant House

Soul Survivor Ink Organization

Clover Tattoo in Lancaster, PA - @Clovertattoopa (Instagram)

Geraldine Donaher Website with more information

Gerri’s first novel, Still (a Claudine favorite)

Sign Up For Gerri’s Substack Newsletter: The Writer’s Flashlight

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Claudine stuff:

Thank you for listening to this podcast episode!

*** Upgrade Your Subscription to get every one of my Substack Posts & Podcast episodes in your mailbox! Check out the goodies that you receive with a paid subscription (book marketing plan, book marketing map and much more..)

*** Please take a minute to rate the podcast - we want to spread this help and encouragement for authors and more ratings will help us get there!

If you know a writer or an aspiring writer, please share the podcast episode to help them with their dreams of getting successfully published.

In today’s podcast episode, I replay an interview that I recorded over the phone with best-selling author and actress Isabel Gillies back in 2020. Gillies had come out with her fourth book, a non-fiction book titled Cozy: The Art of Arranging Yourself in the World – A Wise and Inspiring Manifesto for Authentic Living and True Comfort. In the phone interview (forgive the less than perfect quality), Isabel harkens back to the reason that she was compelled to write the book.

When you’re looking for inspiration for your next project think of this interview and the ways that your everyday life can lead you to your next great book idea.

More Isabel Gillies Tidbits and Book Advice for Authors

* Isabel Gillies wrote two unputdownable memoirs about the collapse of her first marriage. One titled Happens Every Day and one titled A Year And Six Seconds. I was riveted by both books and reached out to her for an interview. Isabel responded to my email and even though she had no clue who I was she agreed to an interview. The lesson here is … ask! Shots on Goal, right? You have to take a shot to score.

* Isabel played Kathy Stabler, the wife of Elliot Stabler on Law and Order: Special Victims Unit. She recently had a return appearance on the show that you can see here.

* Isabel also wrote a young adult titled Starry Night and continues to write.

* In the interview, we chat about Isabel’s book Cozy. I reached out to Isabel’s publisher for a galley of the book, a pre-publication copy of the book for media and reviewers and loved the book. The publisher also agreed to send me out a copy of the hardcover version of the book when it released. The cover on the final copy of the book is absolutely gorgeous. I believe Isabel’s friend designed it for her. It sits on my coffee table to this day. (See Pic Above). Below is a picture of the galley.

* Fun fact. I was reminded of Isabel Gillies recently after reading The Golden Couple by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen, one of the books that I featured on my Substack post titled, Seven Books: Which One Will Win? At the end of The Golden Couple, which I loved, the authors published an interview where they were asked their favorite books. Sarah Pekkanen shared It Happens Every Day as one of her favorites and I was reminded of my interview with its author, Isabel Gillies.

Thanks to Isabel Gillies for the interview!

Finally, what do you find cozy?

Claudine stuff:

Thank you for listening to this podcast episode. Please share it or leave a review, it helps to spread the word to other authors.

Upgrade Your Subscription to receive access to Tangible Resources to help you promote your books!

Check out the resources that you receive with a paid subscription to this Substack. (book marketing plan, book marketing map, book marketing folder system). Plus, as a founding member you will get the pdf downloads AND a paperback copy of my book, Get Your Book Seen And Sold, written with publisher, Julie Murkette!

If you know a writer or an aspiring writer, please share the post to help them with their dreams of getting successfully published.

Our guest today is the publishing and writing Firebrand Jane Friedman!

Jane Friedman has spent 25+ years working in the publishing industry, with a focus on business reporting and author education. Her book, The Business of Being a Writer, now in its second edition, is used as a classroom text by many writing and publishing degree programs. Publishers Weekly said that it is “destined to become a staple reference book for writers and those interested in publishing careers.’’

Jane served as the editor of every writer’s “magazine bible,” Writers Digest. Her influence and insight earned her the Publishing Commentator of the Year Award from Digital Book World in 2023, and her expertise is regularly featured in major media outlets.

Jane writes two popular newsletters for authors and publishing industry professionals - we talk about them in the interview - The Bottom Line and Electric Speed where she provides nuanced market intelligence and useful tools to thousands of authors and industry professionals. The newsletter was awarded Media Outlet of the Year in 2020.

You can find Jane at her website JaneFriedman.com

Jane’s upcoming class on September 25th at 1:00 PM is Effective Book Marketing For Any Author class with Writers Digest University

In this podcast interview, Jane shares/mentions:

* not oft-cited ways to get published: small press, university press, etc. (‘keep your options open, know your options)

* The AWP - Association of Writers & Writing Programs - the largest gathering of writers in the country

* Reframing the business side of writing for authors to make is more imaginative - this was actually mind-blowing to me!

* ‘Literary Citizenship’ what it means and how it can bolster book promotion efforts - this is also a great idea and so simple I wish I had thought of it!

* Booktok? Yea or Nay or Maybe

* Why Book Promotion is a Long-Game

* Jan Yager is the name of the author I mention whose book, When Friendship Hurts: How to Deal with Friends Who Betray, Abandon, or Wound You got new life by the publisher years after its original release.

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Claudine stuff:

Thank you for listening to this podcast episode!

*** Upgrade Your Subscription to get every one of my Substack Posts & Podcast episodes in your mailbox! Check out the goodies that you receive with a paid subscription (book marketing plan & book marketing map). Plus, with a founding member subscription you get the downloads AND a paperback copy of my book, Get Your Book Seen and Sold, written with publisher, Julie Murkette!

*** Please take a minute to rate the podcast - we want to spread this help and encouragement for authors and more ratings will help us get there!

If you know a writer or an aspiring writer, please share the podcast episode to help them with their dreams of getting successfully published.

Since 2008, Penelope Trunk’s blog (substack, too) has been my go-to place when I needed a reality check on most any subject. Reading her posts gave/give me power in all areas: writing, career, motherhood, marriage, child rearing - I could go on. Penelope agreed to be interviewed on a wide range of subjects and I am thrilled to share it with you, Writers! Buckle Up! Lots of Honesty and Laughs!

Penelope Trunk is an entrepreneur, start-up expert, author, columnist/essayist & expert blogger, teacher, life coach, homeschooling expert & a passionate mom. She specializes in many things, especially career choices for all ages, teaching the writing process and personal coaching - one of her stand-out skills is writing about controversial subjects with complete abandon that are personal, thought-provoking, honest, and real.

You can find Penelope’s writing and consulting offerings at her websites:

PenelopeTrunk.com

And her Substack (Penelopetrunk.substack.com)

Penelope Trunk is an OG in the online writing space - call it blogging, article posting, newsletter, whatever - Penelope was there at the beginning, sharing in the career and writing advice space but also, and sometimes more prominently, in the personal sharing space. She invited readers into her life and offered her unfettered and sometimes controversial opinions on everything that she encountered in her life while she raised her two boys and juggled her career which included creating (and selling) four Start-ups. One of Penelope’s finest qualities is her unbridled enthusiasm, research prowess and her unbridled, raw honesty. She always gets me thinking.

In this podcast, Penelope and I talk about everything from empty nesting to the writing process to book marketing to motherhood to womanhood.

Penelope has a book deal for her second book (with HarperCollins) and we hope she will return to discuss her new book at Pub Time!

Here are some specific topics and links when mentioned in the podcast:

** The One Thing Every Author Can Do To Promote A Book (that I bet you never heard before)

** Penelope’s book proposal prowess

** Blueprint For A Woman’s Life

** Research and your reader’s ability to “take it in”

** How Penelope deals with cranky reader comments

** What is “enmeshment” as it relates to parenting?

** “the endless lesson of what is love”

** the truth about motherhood and why women are shamed into having big careers

** Penelope’s lesson from being there on 9/11

** How your brain changes when your kids go off to college

Penelope invited listeners to email her directly with questions at [email protected].

Thanks for listening as always.

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Claudine stuff:

Thank you for listening to this podcast episode!

*** Upgrade Your Subscription to get every one of my Substack Posts & Podcast episodes in your mailbox! Check out the goodies that you receive with a paid subscription (book marketing plan & book marketing map). Plus, with a founding member subscription you get the downloads AND a paperback copy of my book, Get Your Book Seen and Sold, written with publisher, Julie Murkette!

*** Please take a minute to rate the podcast - we want to spread this help and encouragement for authors and more ratings will help us get there!

If you know a writer or an aspiring writer, please share the podcast episode to help them with their dreams of getting successfully published.

Matty Dalrymple is a true advocate for writers who want to fulfill their dreams of publishing and selling their books. Matty writes, speaks, and consults on the writing craft and the publishing voyage as The Indy Author Podcast host and on her award-winning website, TheIndyAuthor. Matty is also a fiction writer - it’s how she got started in the business and what she continues to do today. You can find details of her fiction books at her author website: mattydalrymple.com. Here are just a few of her titles: the Lizzy Ballard Thrillers, the Ann Kinnear Suspense Novels, and the Ann Kinnear Suspense Shorts, including CLOSE THESE EYES.

In this podcast episode, we focus on Matty’s help for authors. Her new book, written with co-author Mark Leslie Lefebvre, focuses on podcast guest expert advice and is titled: The Podcast Guest Playbook: Turning Conversations into Connections and Community.

In Podcast Guest Playbook, Matty shares her best advice and downloadable playbook for planning, pitching and promoting every appearance with her co-author Mark Leslie Lefebvre. Mark is a fellow podcaster at Stark Reflections on Writing and Publishing. In this podcast interview, we chat about:

* How to pitch yourself as a podcast guest

* How to prepare for an interview once you secure it

* How to help your host make a great interview that reaches listeners

* How to promote the interview once completed

and much, much more…

Matty also consults with authors one-on-one with her pod pro author coaching in addition to her program, chart your course. Contact her if you would like to connect with her expertise and wisdom.

Matty mentioned great websites/organizations that offer help for writers:

self-publishingadvice.org

Alliance of Independent Authors

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Claudine stuff:

Thank you for listening to this podcast episode!

*** Upgrade Your Subscription to get every one of my Substack Posts & Podcast episodes in your mailbox, Authors! Check out the goodies that you get with a paid subscription (resource downloads) or a founding member subscription (copy of my book, Get Your Book Seen and Sold)!

*** Please take a minute to rate the podcast - we want to spread this help and encouragement for authors and more ratings will help us get there!

If you know a writer or an aspiring writer, please share the podcast episode to help them with their dreams of getting successfully published.

Can Writers create a business they love? Sharon Woodhouse, author and consultant, believes that they can! In this podcast interview, Sharon offers advice and ideas from her many years in the publishing and book marketing industry to help authors - yes, sell books - but also create a long-term business that they love AND that turns a profit.

Sharon’s new book: The Profitable Author: 1,001 Ways to Build a Business You Love Around Your Books is a fabulous tool for authors to learn how to market their book AND build a business that is profitable and long-lasting. We chat about her book specifically: how it helps, how to use it, why it works, and some specific ideas that have worked for Sharon and/or clients over the years and could work for you!

Get ready to get motivated, authors!

Here are just some of the sites that are mentioned in the podcast:

ConspireCreative.com - Sharon’s website

Sharon’s Substack - The Profitable Author - a business that you love

[email protected] - Sharon offers a free 30 minute chat with authors - send her an email to request the link to schedule a chat with her.

More Great Stuff In The Podcast Episode That Sharon Shares For Authors:

Sharon has a site dedicated to her new book: (1) a dedicated site is a great idea to highlight your own book (2) it’s full of information about how you can use the book to its fullest potential for you!

What’s an author business template and how it might pertain to your author business

Sharon’s 5 things strategy for book promotion

Sharon isn’t just teaching book promotion, she is doing it herself and documents her outreach on her substack!

Why “finding the thing in the thing” brings author satisfaction

Why “Done is better than Perfect”

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Claudine stuff:

Thank you for listening to this podcast episode!

*** Upgrade Your Subscription to get every one of my Substack Posts & Podcast episodes in your mailbox, Authors! Check out the goodies that you get with a paid subscription (downloads) or a founding member subscription (copy of my book, Get Your Book Seen and Sold)!

*** Please take a minute to rate the podcast - we want to spread this help and encouragement for authors and more ratings will help us get there!

If you know a writer or an aspiring writer, please share the podcast episode to help them with their dreams of getting successfully published.

Keith Kopka is the recipient of the 2019 Tampa Review Prize for his debut collection of poems, Count Four (University of Tampa Press, 2020). His poetry and criticism have recently appeared in publications such as Best New Poets and mid-American Review among many others.

Keith is also the author of the critical text, Asking a Shadow to Dance: An Introduction to the Practice of Poetry (GRL 2018) and the recipient of the International Award for Excellence from the Books, Publishing & Libraries Research Network.

Currently, he directs the low-res MFA Program at Holy Family University in Philadelphia. He spent many years touring the country in punk and hardcore bands.

In the interview, Keith shares the behind the scenes look at book marketing and book publishing of poetry through his personal experience - experience that he brought directly into his poetry.

Keith shares:

* The place poetry award programs play in poetry publishing and marketing

* His successful book review outreach for his book “Count Four”

* Why MFA programs are important for writers

* How publishing in other places: literary magazines, et al is a great help to market your books

* Two site resources for writers: Duotrope and Submittable

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Thank you for listening to this podcast episode!

*** sign up to get every one of my Substack Posts & Podcast episodes in your mailbox and check out the goodies with a paid subscription or founding member subscription!

If you know a writer or an aspiring writer, please share the podcast episode to help them with their dreams of getting successfully published.

Joe Walter’s started his book review website, Independent Book Review, in 2018 after his extensive experience in publishing unearthed a need - a need for speed - no, I mean a need for Indy authors to get honest book reviews. His popular book review service has helped countless authors and readers as well. You see, his site is for readers, too, a community to help readers to learn about great books to read.

Now, he helps even more with his new book, The Truth About Book Reviews: An Insiders Guide to Getting and Using Reviews to Grow Your Readership. It is available NOW for pre-order and launches officially on July 10th.

Enjoy this interview where I ask everything from Joe’s tips on gathering book reviews to how he applies his creativity on writing his novel to creativity in book marketing. Joe is an example of the experts that I love to feature on the Get Your Book Seen and Sold Podcast - people who care about authors and provide reasonably priced solutions for them to give their books the best chance to be seen and sold. I thoroughly enjoyed his new book, The Truth About Book Reviews, gave it a rave review, and feel that it is the perfect resource to help authors with one of the most important aspects of successful book publishing - gathering book reviews, blurbs and endorsements.

Here are just some of the advice authors will find in the book:

* Sample book review request pitches, sample blurbs

* What to NEVER put in a book review pitch email subject line

* The three different kinds of book reviews

* Example of spreadsheet to keep track of pitches and results of your outreach

* Where to place your precious blurbs and reviews on your book’s Amazon page

Here is part of my blurb for what I am sure will be a best-selling resource for writers!

The Truth About Book Reviews is available for pre-sale today - launch date, July 10th!

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Thank you for listening to this podcast episode!

*** sign up to get every one of my Substack Posts & Podcast episodes in your mailbox.

If you know a writer or an aspiring writer, please share the podcast episode to help them with their dreams of getting successfully published.

Jump That Hurdle Authors!

(Don’t miss the limited time deal for my eBook at the end of the post!)

You are listening to the audio version of this post: I Hate It Too: Why Selling Yourself Sucks, Is So Hard.

I include tips for asking and gathering endorsements (blurbs) for pre-publication review of your book. Gathering endorsements is a part of your book marketing plan, pre-publication. Getting over the horror of asking your friends and colleagues for endorsements is a huge hurdle. I hope this post gives you the strength to go for it.

I mention Tally.so as a free tool to use to collect book blurbs/endorsements. It was a lifesaver for us. You create a form - not too hard - and then you upload your book’s pdf. Once created, you simply have to add the link from the Tally.so form your created to your endorsement pitch email to friends and family. They can download at their leisure and post blurbs/endorsements at their leisure, (hopefully by your deadline.) You then go to one place! tally.so collects all the info in a spreadsheet - an easy way to see all of your endorsements.

Note: I am not an affiliate for Tally-so, I simply highly recommend it!

Good luck and remember, you are not selling yourself, you are providing valuable information and/or entertainment to the readers who already desire your message!

Go get ‘um!

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Thanks for listening to this podcast!

Don’t forget to sign up to get every one of my Substack Post & Podcast episodes in your mailbox. There are paid subscription options (I truly appreciate your support) that comes with a fill-in-the-blank book marketing plan, founding members also get a free book. If you know a writer or an aspiring writer, please share the podcast with them.

The Get Your Book Seen and Sold book (eBook, paperback & audiobook) by Me and Julie Murkette includes additional information on gathering endorsements and blurbs as well as publishing and getting started in book marketing the.. right.. way! Fun, easy graphs and explanations are included.

**limited special ** Get Your Book Seen and Sold eBook is Now $.99. **

You are listening to the audio version of this post- Book Promotion Strategy - Book Industry Reviews. You can find pics and links mentioned in the podcast at the link.

Have you considering submitting your pre-publication book to book industry reviewers for review? You will love this quick, informative podcast episode that introduces you to book industry review outreach and how and why you should try it for your book.

Book Industry Reviewers require your galley/book/ARC 4-6 months in advance of your book’s publication.

Here is a picture Midwest Book Review’s review of Get Your Book Seen and Sold. See? It works!!!!

Link to the reviewers who selected and reviewed Get Your Book Seen and Sold.

Midwest Book Review

City Book Review

REMINDER: Get Your Book Seen and Sold ( has a chapter and charts that details Book Industry Reviewers with links and submission requirements as of the book’s printing), Purchasing a copy of the book (eBook, paperback or audio) may be worth your precious time.

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Thanks for listening to this podcast!

Don’t forget to sign up to get every Substack Post & Podcast episode in your mailbox. There is a paid subscription option that comes with a fill-in-the-blank book marketing plan, founding members also get a free book. If you know a writer or an aspiring writer, please share the podcast with them.

The Get Your Book Seen and Sold book (eBook, paperback & audiobook) by Me and Julie Murkette includes additional information on publishing and getting started in book marketing the.. right.. way! Fun, easy graphs and explanations to get started.