SPA Girls Podcast

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 definitely knows 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! 

My favourite quote from the interview: 

“Covers are a language, and every genre has its own dialect. You have to learn that dialect. You have to learn what language bestselling covers in your genre are using to communicate with the readers, and then you have to use that language to communicate with your readers as well.” 

Where to find Rebekah Haskell: www.vividcovers.com

Facebook’s The Cover Clinic: https://www.facebook.com/groups/thecoverclinic/

We love the idea of visualising a word to describe how you’ll be in 2020.

What difference could a word make?

The answer is, it won’t unless you put it into play every day.

If it’s a word that speaks to you, then make the most of it. Use it. Journal about it. Post it somewhere you can see it. Put it in your phone and calendar.

You can find out our words and what we intend to do with them in this week’s episode of the SPA Girls Podcast.

Helpful resources:

How to Craft an Inspirational Mantra to Use All Year Long from Inc.com : “Rather than focus on new year’s resolutions that don’t stick, I prefer to focus on things that help me reach my goals in a more mindful and holistic way.”

How To Choose Your Word For The Year from Cultivate What Matters blog : “Open a dictionary and thesaurus. Take your brainstorm list and use an old-fashioned dictionary/thesaurus to start researching your words! Look at the definition of each word, it’s origin, and synonyms and antonyms. You may be amazed at what you discover!

“I HAVE MY ONE WORD, NOW WHAT?
USE IT
Make the most of it. Use it. Journal about it. Post it somewhere you can see it. I wrote it on my whiteboard at work so I see it every day. Likewise, I refer back to the page in my bullet journal often.” ~ via Intentional Pieces.com

Are you ready to make 2020 YOUR year?! This week we talk about the importance of physically writing down your goals to make them happen.

Wendy is a perfect example of the power of writing them down: In 2006, superstar author Debbie Macomber, attended our Romance Writers of NZ conference where she gave each attendee an index card to write their wildest writing dreams down. Wendy kept her goalcard over the years and as she achieved each goal, she marked it off. Now her entire card has been checked off!

As Debbie says in her blog: “One of the best ways to stick with your goals is to write them down. Over the years I’ve used a simple goals worksheet, and kept it in a place that I would see it regularly.”

The science behind the power of writing goals down is explained in many books and blogs.  Shar’s favorite is Henriette Anne Klauser’s book  Write It Down Make It Happen.

https://www.amazon.com/Write-Down-Make-Happen-Knowing/dp/0684850028  From Amazon: published in 2000, Henriette Anne Klauser, Ph.D. is a leading expert on communications and writing productivity. While she has written several books intended for writers, Write It Down, Make It Happen is an excellent resource for people struggling to achieve their goals, whatever those goals might be.

In Write It Down, Make It Happen, Klauser explains, “The right side of the brain traditionally governs the feeling, non-verbal part of you, while the left hemisphere handles rational thought and logic. When your goal is not working, determine which side you are operating from, and make a conscious shift to the other.” For someone struggling to achieve any goal, understanding the psychology behind how you are experiencing a situation helps you refocus your efforts, rather than becoming mired down in self-pity.”

What if you write it down and it doesn’t happen?

The first thing to stop and consider is, maybe it did happen! Klausner reminds us that maybe it just did not happen the way you intended. Go back and look at the outcome of the outcome, the benefit of the benefit of the benefit. What was it that you wanted out of that goal? You may have gotten what you wanted after all, from a different avenue.

So get writing and let’s check back at the end of the year and see how we Made It Happen!

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Resources:
Debbie Macomber’s site: 
https://blog.debbiemacomber.com/2020-goals
Her free 2020 goals worksheet: https://cdn2.hubspot.net/hubfs/5001323/Goals%20Worksheet.pdf

https://www.forbes.com/sites/markmurphy/2018/04/15/neuroscience-explains-why-you-need-to-write-down-your-goals-if-you-actually-want-to-achieve-them/#56c6a94d7905

This episode we are honored to chat with NYT Bestseller, Laurelin Paige, specifically about how we can REVIVE OUR BACKLIST (she defines backlist as a book that’s more than 12 months old).

Top tips she discussed in this podcast CRAMMED with amazing

1. Keep a calendar for the upcoming year and write in your

2. The easiest thing to recharge a book is designing a new cover – even if the old cover is good, people want to look at something new. Don’t be precious with your covers.

3. Change your mindset from traditional book marketers: lean

When considering her backlist, Laurelin first looks at making cover changes (for entire series ideally – if you can’t afford to do them all at once, then save up rather than doing one at a time). She tries to pair a cover change with a bookbub / freebooksy / blog tour etc – treat the book like it’s a new thing

4. Experiment with lowering the price. A sale can attract

Timeframe – it’s never too early to have a sale. Laurelin likes to wait to get the full price audience to see the book first, then reaches a new audience with a sale. For books in KU, she also prefers using five free days rather than a countdown deal.

5. Free Prequels – experiment with these (cliffhangery endings leading into the first book of the series) Need to be wide (can be just Nook for price matching) if you’re in KU. Can do these before AND after release.  Laurelin plans prequels ahead of time.

6. REPACKAGE – especially if getting rights back from trad pubbed books, re-edit, retitle (with a note for readers), recover, always tell readers where to go to the next book.

7. Front and back matter: Laurelin has her full backlist listed in the front matter with a newsletter signup (free book monthly given away thanks to newsletter swaps with similar authors); backmatter focuses on the next step you want readers to take – ie next book.

8. Work your newsletter – send 2 / 3 times per month. Mention your other books frequently. Don’t release then forget them – people need reminding. In every newsletter feature one of your backlist.

9. Marketing is cumulative. You have to keep pushing your

10. Consider moving in and out of KU if you have more than one book. Treat the move as a new release – do a blog tour etc.

11. Connect books in series, even if there’s no connection

12. Change Titles – is there a catchier way of reaching new readers? Ask what your title tells you about the book.

13. Make your book look new in a different way. Put it in a boxed set? If wide, look at what is ranking well in the Apple charts for your genre and examine cover trends; if KU, look at Amazon. 

14. Bundle with other authors – eg “Hot for the holidays” multi-author bundle

15. Don’t shy away from reworking (editing / rewriting / repackaging) existing backlist if they’re not selling

Don’t take these tips in isolation. It’s important to ask yourself the overarching question “What can I do to make people find this particular book?”

Stop focussing on release week and measuring your success (or failure!) with that. Get out of that mindset!

About Laurelin Paige

With millions of books sold worldwide, Laurelin Paige is a New York Times, Wall Street Journal and USA Today Bestselling Author. She is a sucker for a good romance and gets giddy anytime there’s kissing, much to the embarrassment of her three daughters. Her husband doesn’t seem to complain, however. When she isn’t reading or writing sexy stories, she’s probably singing, watching Killing Eve, or dreaming of Michael Fassbender. She’s also a proud member of Mensa International though she doesn’t do anything with the organization except use it as material for her bio.

https://laurelinpaige.com/

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Happy New Year! 

This episode is a round-up of the goals and visions that we, the SPA Girls, have for 2020. It’s gonna be a big year! It’s the year of opening ourselves up to all the opportunities out there, being efficient, and focusing on the daily wins. 

We talk about having the right mindset for achieving your goals, how we’re going to make everything happen for us, and how you can make it happen for you too. 

It’s going to be a great year. Bring on 2020!