SPA Girls Podcast

Cathy Yardley is an award-winning author of romance, chick lit, and urban fantasy, who has sold over 1.2 million copies of books for publishers like St. Martin’s, Avon, and Harlequin. We met Cathy at the 2024 Romance Writers of New Zealand conference, and immediately knew we had to get her on the show!

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.

Books mentioned in the episode:
Debra Dixon’s GMC (Goal, Motivation & Conflict)

Jack Bickham’s Scene & Structure

Cathy Yardley’s Will Write For Shoes

About Cathy:

Cathy Yardley is an award-winning author of romance, chick lit, and urban fantasy, who has sold over 1.2 million copies of books for publishers like St. Martin’s, Avon, and Harlequin. She writes fun, geeky, and diverse characters who believe that underdogs can make good and that sometimes being a little wrong is just right.

She likes writing about quirky, crazy adventures, because she’s had plenty of her own: she had her own army in the Society of Creative Anachronism; she spent a New Year’s on a three-day solitary vision quest in the Mojave Desert; she had VIP access to the Viper Room in Los Angeles.

Now, she spends her time writing in the wilds of East Seattle, trying to prevent her son from learning the truth of any of said adventures, and riding herd on her two dogs (and one husband.)

You can find Cathy at : www.rockyourwriting.com (for writers) and cathyyardley.com

💗 The SPA Girls podcast is sponsored by everyone who supports us on Patreon. Thank you so much, we love our listeners and our patrons!

⭐ Join us at the $10 tier, and you’ll be invited to our private Self-Publishing Mastermind group for authors, where we discuss all things self-publishing, marketing and writing PLUS answer all your burning questions.

All the info is at http://www.patreon.com/spagirlspodcast

✍️ Visit http://www.SelfPublishingAuthorsPodcast.com for our FREE self-publishing resources, podcast episodes and info

😊Watch our weekly show on YouTube @‌spagirlspodcast

Make sure to subscribe wherever you listen, so you don’t miss an episode!

Comparison is the thief of joy

-Theodore Roosevelt

Today we talk about comparisonitis in the SPA. A topic we’re sure is dear to many hearts.

We live in a world where we can see what everyone else is doing online. Successes and failures. We are the ‘instant gratification’ generation, and have a need for success, so we compare ours with others! So sit back with your favorite beverage and let’s dive in, and see if we can work through a few things that may help.

💗 The SPA Girls podcast is sponsored by everyone who supports us on Patreon. Thank you so much, we love our listeners and our patrons!

⭐ Join us at the $10 tier, and you’ll be invited to our private Self-Publishing Mastermind group for authors, where we discuss all things self-publishing, marketing and writing PLUS answer all your burning questions.

⭐ Get personal online coaching with the SPA Girls each month through our $100 tier. Spots for this are strictly limited and on a first-come-first-served basis.

All the info is at http://www.patreon.com/spagirlspodcast

✍️ Visit http://www.SelfPublishingAuthorsPodcast.com for our FREE self-publishing resources, podcast episodes and info

😊Watch our weekly show on http://www.youtube.com/c/SPAGirlsPodcast @spagirlspodcast

Make sure to subscribe wherever you listen, so you don’t miss an episode!

Get ready to be inspired this week by our guest interviewee, romance author Juliette N. Banks.

“In 2020 I wrote a book, pitched it to a few agents, got rejected three times, and waited another 35 seconds before deciding to self-publish. One of the best decisions of my life.” ~ 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.

This is an incredibly inspirational episode and we cover everything from approaching self-publishing with a “business” mindset, combining genres on the one pen name, release strategies, getting regular bookbubs, building a a loyal audience, and encouragement for those starting out, as well as experienced authors.

You can find Juliette at:

www.juliettebanks.com

Read her guest post for Bookbub : https://insights.bookbub.com/maximize-first-featured-deal/

💗 The SPA Girls podcast is sponsored by everyone who supports us on Patreon. Thank you so much, we love our listeners and our patrons!

⭐ Join us at the $10 tier, and you’ll be invited to our private Self-Publishing Mastermind group for authors, where we discuss all things self-publishing, marketing and writing PLUS answer all your burning questions.

⭐ Get personal online coaching with the SPA Girls each month through our $100 tier. Spots for this are strictly limited and on a first-come-first-served basis.

All the info is at http://www.patreon.com/spagirlspodcast

✍️ Visit http://www.SelfPublishingAuthorsPodcast.com for our FREE self-publishing resources, podcast episodes and info

😊Watch our weekly show on YouTube @‌spagirlspodcast

Make sure to subscribe wherever you listen, so you don’t miss an episode!

This episode we discuss Book Signings and Book Fairs – in person events where authors get out of the writing cave and actually (gasp!) interact with readers and fellow authors. These can be great fun – and a little intimidating. Wendy’s just returned from RARE Edinburgh so we grilled her on how she prepped, her table “set up”, how preorders worked, what merchandise she took and how she handled the signing. Cheryl’s done a number of book fairs in New Zealand and there is a definite benefit to starting locally and finding your feet at smaller events.

Links: https://rarettes.wordpress.com/

💗 The SPA Girls podcast is sponsored by everyone who supports us on Patreon. Thank you so much, we love our listeners and our patrons!

⭐ Join us at the $10 tier, and you’ll be invited to our private Self-Publishing Mastermind group for authors, where we discuss all things self-publishing, marketing and writing PLUS answer all your burning questions.

⭐ Get personal online coaching with the SPA Girls each month through our $100 tier. Spots for this are strictly limited and on a first-come-first-served basis.

All the info is at http://www.patreon.com/spagirlspodcast

✍️ Visit http://www.SelfPublishingAuthorsPodcast.com for our FREE self-publishing resources, podcast episodes and info

😊Watch our weekly show on YouTube @‌spagirlspodcast

Make sure to subscribe wherever you listen, so you don’t miss an episode!

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.

Rebecca’s has also created an amazing tools for authors:

The website is BuyDirectFromAuthors.com. Here are the FAQs for authors who want to list their stores: Buy Direct From Authors FAQ

Romance Audiobookworms – Stuff Your Earbuds events. The website is RomanceAudiobookworms.com. Here are the FAQs for authors who want to participate in the event: Romance Audiobookworms FAQs.docx

Indie Audiobook Deals. There are lots of opportunities for authors to promote their wide audiobooks here: For Authors

The 3 apps Rebecca finds most helpful on Shopify are: Selleasy (upsell app), King Linked Options (allows authors to combine separate product pages so they appear as variants on the same page), and Frequently Bought Together.

Rebecca’s bio:
USA Today bestselling author Rebecca Hefner writes steamy Romantasy and Dystopian Romance with sexy silver-fox heroes and the badass women who bring them to their knees. She also writes steamy Contemporary Romance under Ayla Asher, mostly with main characters over 35, because people of all ages deserve steamy romance too.

Rebecca’s other passion is teaching authors how to be successful with wide audio and direct sales. She believes wide and direct selling is the future, and thinks corporate retailers have too much control over authors’ catalogs and readers. Join her as she chips away the big retailers’ market share one day at a time.😊

Find her at: rebeccahefner.com, buydirectfromauthors.com and her facebook group Marketing Audiobooks Wide

The SPA Girls podcast is sponsored by everyone who supports us on Patreon. Thank you so much, we love our listeners and our patrons!

⭐ Join us at the $10 tier, and you’ll be invited to our private Self-Publishing Mastermind group for authors, where we discuss all things self-publishing, marketing and writing PLUS answer all your burning questions.

⭐ Get personal online coaching with the SPA Girls each month through our $100 tier. Spots for this are strictly limited and on a first-come-first-served basis.

All the info is at http://www.patreon.com/spagirlspodcast

✍️ Visit http://www.SelfPublishingAuthorsPodcast.com for our FREE self-publishing resources, podcast episodes and info

😊Watch our weekly show on YouTube @‌spagirlspodcast

Make sure to subscribe wherever you listen, so you don’t miss an episode!

Join us as we talk to Lana Love, the USA Today bestselling author of short romances featuring curvy heroines and the powerful men who can’t live without them. 

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! 

Find Lana Love at: https://loveheartbooks.com/

And in her facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/746330989530967

💗 💗 💗 The SPA Girls podcast is sponsored by everyone who supports us on Patreon. Thank you so much, we love our listeners and our patrons! 💗 💗 💗

⭐ Join us at the $10 tier, and you’ll be invited to our private Self-Publishing Mastermind group for authors, where we discuss all things self-publishing, marketing and writing PLUS answer all your burning questions.

⭐ Get personal online coaching with the SPA Girls each month through our $100 tier. Spots for this are strictly limited and on a first-come-first-served basis.

All the info is at http://www.patreon.com/spagirlspodcast

✍️ Visit http://www.SelfPublishingAuthorsPodcast.com for our FREE self-publishing resources, podcast episodes and info

😊Watch our weekly show on YouTube @‌spagirlspodcast

Make sure to subscribe wherever you listen, so you don’t miss an episode!

Anne-Marie Meyer is an Amazon and Apple Top 100 best seller and a 3x USA Today Bestselling author.
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, particularly 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.

Find her at  https://authoranne-mariemeyer.com/

Building a Book Empire facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/buildingabookempire

Writing Gals facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/170375933609063

💗 The SPA Girls podcast is sponsored by everyone who supports us on Patreon. Thank you so much, we love our listeners and our patrons!

⭐ Join us at the $10 tier, and you’ll be invited to our private Self-Publishing Mastermind group for authors, where we discuss all things self-publishing, marketing and writing PLUS answer all your burning questions.

⭐ Get personal online coaching with the SPA Girls each month through our $100 tier. Spots for this are strictly limited and on a first-come-first-served basis.

All the info is at http://www.patreon.com/spagirlspodcast

✍️ Visit http://www.SelfPublishingAuthorsPodcast.com for our FREE self-publishing resources, podcast episodes and info

😊Watch our weekly show on YouTube @‌spagirlspodcast

Make sure to subscribe wherever you listen, so you don’t miss an episode!

Your book cover is the “shop window” of your hard work, and it has to do the heavy lifting to attract potential readers to go on and read your blurb. So how do you figure out which cover is the best for you?

This episode we give tips and tricks for choosing your cover and the elements that will connect with YOUR right readers.

Resources mentioned (just put the episode number in your podcast app, or our website search bar)

SPA Girls Podcast #457 Kindletrends

SPA Girls Podcast #464 Alexa Rivers

SPA Girls Podcast #206 Chris Fox

SPA Girls Podcast #224 Rebekah Haskell

SPA Girls Podcast #404 Ana Huang

SPA Girls Podcast #221 Laurelin Paige

💗 The SPA Girls podcast is sponsored by everyone who supports us on Patreon. Thank you so much, we love our listeners and our patrons!

⭐ Join us at the $10 tier, and you’ll be invited to our private Self-Publishing Mastermind group for authors, where we discuss all things self-publishing, marketing and writing PLUS answer all your burning questions.

⭐ Get personal online coaching with the SPA Girls each month through our $100 tier. Spots for this are strictly limited and on a first-come-first-served basis.

All the info is at http://www.patreon.com/spagirlspodcast

✍️ Visit http://www.SelfPublishingAuthorsPodcast.com for our FREE self-publishing resources, podcast episodes and info

😊Watch our weekly show on YouTube @‌spagirlspodcast

Make sure to subscribe wherever you listen, so you don’t miss an episode!

Theodora Taylor is back! And she’s here to tell us how to craft our blurbs that hook readers and skyrocket sales.

Theodora Taylor is the bestselling author of the 50 Loving States Series. Despite writing within a niche genre (interracial romance), she has earned six KDP All-Star bonuses and grown a fanbase of rabid readers through the power of Universal Fantasy.

Her book, 7 FIGURE FICTION: How to Use Universal Fantasy to SELL Your Books to ANYONE was an instant #1 non-fiction bestseller in the Writing Category on Amazon and has since been certified as Great by the world’s largest online bookseller. Most importantly, this book has become a valued and treasured resource for writers around the world.

Theodora has been invited to give presentations on Universal Fantasy by NINC (Novelists Inc.) Conference, RAM (Romance Author Mastermind), and Inker’s Con. She’s also a highly sought-after podcast guest. She’s made appearances on The Creative Penn (hosted by Joanna Penn), Six Figure Authors, #AmWriting, Wish I’d Known Then, and SPA Girls (now twice!).

For writers:

Butter Blurb Master Class

https://universalfantasycourse.thinkific.com/courses/butter-blurb-master-class

https://7figurefiction.com/

For readers: https://theodorataylor.com/

Links mentioned:

Theodora’s Universal Fantasies Episode with the SPA Girls EP#315

BOOKS Mentioned in recording:

Ali Hazelwood: Check & Mate, Love Theoretically

Sally Thorne: The Hating Game

Deborah Harkness: A Discovery Of Witches

Rebecca Yarros: Fourth Wing

Lindsay Devin – Wolf King

💗 The SPA Girls podcast is sponsored by everyone who supports us on Patreon. Thank you so much, we love our listeners and our patrons!

⭐ Join us at the $10 tier, and you’ll be invited to our private Self-Publishing Mastermind group for authors, where we discuss all things self-publishing, marketing and writing PLUS answer all your burning questions.

⭐ Get personal online coaching with the SPA Girls each month through our $100 tier. Spots for this are strictly limited and on a first-come-first-served basis.

All the info is at http://www.patreon.com/spagirlspodcast

✍️ Visit http://www.SelfPublishingAuthorsPodcast.com for our FREE self-publishing resources, podcast episodes and info

😊Watch our weekly show on YouTube @‌spagirlspodcast

Make sure to subscribe wherever you listen, so you don’t miss an episode!

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! 

SHOW NOTES:

About Alexa

Alexa Rivers writes about genuine characters living messy, imperfect lives and earning hard-won happily ever afters. She shares a house with a neurotic dog and a husband who thinks he’s hilarious.

When she’s not writing, she enjoys traveling, baking, eating too much chocolate, cuddling fluffy animals, drinking excessive amounts of tea, and absorbing herself in fictional worlds.

Find her at alexarivers.com

Resources mentioned in the episode:
Kate Hall’s Tik Tok Course: https://www.alynedigital.com/?aff=103

SPA Girls Episode #443 with Kate Hall

SPA Girls Episode #276 Character Centric Plotting with Alexa Rivers

💗 The SPA Girls podcast is sponsored by everyone who supports us on Patreon. Thank you so much, we love our listeners and our patrons!

⭐ Join us at the $10 tier, and you’ll be invited to our private Self-Publishing Mastermind group for authors, where we discuss all things self-publishing, marketing and writing PLUS answer all your burning questions.

⭐ Get personal online coaching with the SPA Girls each month through our $100 tier. Spots for this are strictly limited and on a first-come-first-served basis.

All the info is at http://www.patreon.com/spagirlspodcast

✍️ Visit http://www.SelfPublishingAuthorsPodcast.com for our FREE self-publishing resources, podcast episodes and info

😊Watch our weekly show on YouTube @‌spagirlspodcast

Make sure to subscribe wherever you listen, so you don’t miss an episode!