In this festive episode of the Indie Writers Club, James Blatch and Cara Clare discuss the challenges of taking downtime during the holiday season while managing their writing businesses. They reflect on sales trends during Christmas, share personal experiences with marketing strategies, and delve into the impact of TikTok's algorithm changes on book promotion. The conversation also highlights success stories in indie publishing, the implications of AI in translations, and innovative book launch strategies. Finally, they share their favourite Christmas movies, emphasising the nostalgia and comfort these films bring during the holiday season.


Takeaways

Taking downtime during the holidays can be challenging for business owners.
Sales trends often dip during the holiday season, particularly for eBooks.
Marketing strategies need to adapt to changing platforms like TikTok.
Success in indie publishing often comes from direct engagement with readers.
AI can be a useful tool for translations, but it requires careful management.
Book launch strategies are evolving, with influencer marketing gaining traction.
Nostalgia plays a significant role in holiday movie preferences.
The pace of change in the publishing industry is accelerating.
Personal experiences can inform marketing decisions and strategies.
Finding a balance between work and downtime is essential for creativity.

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Chapters

00:00 Christmas Reflections and Business Challenges
03:03 Marketing Strategies During the Holiday Season
05:48 Navigating TikTok's Algorithm Changes
08:47 Celebrating Success: Sasha Black's Journey
11:34 The Future of AI in Translations
14:35 Book Launch Strategies and Influencer Marketing
21:06 Christmas Movie Nostalgia
26:46 The Comfort of Familiar Films
31:06 Jane Austen and Holiday Humor

In this week's episode Cara and James are joined by Robin Bennett-Freebairn whose non-fiction gift books are flying off the virtual Etsy shelves. This has big implications for special editions and box sets, especially at this time of year.

USEFUL LINKS:
Get 15% of annual plans at our sponsor ProWritingAid by using code IWC15
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In part two of a look back at 2025, Cara and James discuss where we are with AI acceptance (spoiler, a dwindling band of holdouts very much exist). We also discuss direct selling as one of the big expansion areas for indies.

USEFUL LINKS:

Get 15% of annual plans at our sponsor ProWritingAid by using code IWC15

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 Join our Patreon for exclusive access including Live Q&As with James & Cara and your chance to discuss your writing career.

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In this episode Jame & Cara start to look back on a fast moving year for indie publishing. They touch on AI Translations, one of the big breakthrough areas, the mythical A10 Amazon Algorithm and plenty of other chat!

USEFUL LINKS:

Get 15% of annual plans at our sponsor ProWritingAid by using code IWC15

https://www.prowritingaid.com

 Join our Patreon for exclusive access including Live Q&As with James & Cara and your chance to discuss your writing career.

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We are joined by the multi-talented Adam Beswick (AP Beswick) to talk empire building.

Adam has used TikTok to build a loyal following of readers and he now focuses on selling direct to them, using TikTok Shop and TikTok Lives. He's an evangelist for the platform and he has a fantastic mindset. It's a great chat!

USEFUL LINKS:

Get 15% of annual plans at our sponsor ProWritingAid by using code IWC15

https://www.prowritingaid.com

 Join our Patreon for exclusive access including Live Q&As with James & Cara and your chance to discuss your writing career.

https://www.indiewritersclub.com/support

It's NovelNovember and we're both drafting a new novel!

USEFUL LINKS:

Get 15% of annual plans at our sponsor ProWritingAid by using code IWC15

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 Join our Patreon for exclusive access including Live Q&As with James & Cara and your chance to discuss your writing career.

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This week Cara & James touch on the subject of influencers and how to use them. James also talks about the coming AI storm for ads, he reports on AuthorNation and rants about the cost of living!

USEFUL LINKS:

Get 15% of annual plans at our sponsor ProWritingAid by using code IWC15

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 Join our Patreon for exclusive access including Live Q&As with James & Cara and your chance to discuss your writing career.

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In this week's episode, James reports from AuthorNation, indie publishing's largest conference. The talk is of new technology, a recent slump in ads effectiveness and the possibility of more seismic changes to come!

USEFUL LINKS:

Get 15% of annual plans at our sponsor ProWritingAid by using code IWC15

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 Join our Patreon for exclusive access including Live Q&As with James & Cara and your chance to discuss your writing career.

https://www.indiewritersclub.com/support

This week we delve into the intriguing world of ghost writing. You might know Cara is/has been, a professional ghost writer and she spills the beans on this industry that takes place largely in the shadows.

We also touch on the sudden epidemic of author scams using AI to highly personalise the first approaches.

USEFUL LINKS:
Get 15% of annual plans at our sponsor ProWritingAid by using code IWC15
https://www.prowritingaid.com

Join our Patreon for exclusive access including Live Q&As with James & Cara and your chance to discuss your writing career.

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This week we have a bona fide guest! Cissy Mecca is a close friend and fellow author whose work I'm constantly admiring—she's brilliant at finding innovative ways to streamline our publishing workflow. (And she's an incredible writer, too.)

We recently stayed together in Florence, and I was fascinated watching her receive her daily structure from her assistant "Pedro." Turns out Pedro isn't a person at all, but an AI she's trained to organize her entire work life, freeing her up to focus on the creativity she loves.

I've already started training my own AI, Princess Leia, and I'm loving it.

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USEFUL LINKS:

Get 15% of annual plans at our sponsor ProWritingAid by using code IWC15

https://www.prowritingaid.com

 Join our Patreon for exclusive access including Live Q&As with James & Cara and your chance to discuss your writing career.

https://www.indiewritersclub.com/support