SPA Girls Podcast

This is a powerhouse episode! Be warned – it’ll inspire you SO much to knuckle down and get to work, you may not come up for air for days!

KATHRYN LE VEQUE is a critically acclaimed USA TODAY Bestselling author, a charter Amazon All-Star author, and a #1 bestselling, award-winning, multi-published author in Medieval Historical Romance and Contemporary Romance.

Kathryn is also the President/CEO of Dragonblade Publishing, a boutique publishing house specializing in Historical Romance, and the President/CEO of DragonMedia Publishing, a publishing house that publishes the Pirates of Britannia Connected World series. She is a strong advocate for Independent Authors everywhere and gives frequent workshops on the subject to new and veteran authors alike.

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Kathryn is a force of nature whose incredible work ethic has seen her publish her 93rd book this week ( Bay of Fear (Battle Lords of de Velt Book 3) ). She has been self-publishing since 2012 and talks about how she initially launched her career with an incredible number of already-written manuscripts after being rejected by traditional publishers.

Kathryn writes 3,000 to 5,000 words every day in two writing sessions and she tells us how she is able to write that much consistently, how she schedules her writing and business life, and how she has a 5 year plus plan. She also discusses how she’s found success with facebook advertising and her recommended social media platforms.

Against the conventional “self-pubbing wisdom” Kathryn does not have an email newsletter – instead she connects with her readers through social media, her books and her blog.

“Don’t Listen To Rejections” ~ Kathryn LeVeque

Kathryn is a perfect example of throwing off writer doubt and “traditional rejections” and succeeding handsomely through talent, determination and sheer hard work.

Her advice to newbies?

Kathryn’s website:

Join the SPA Girls on Facebook and Twitter @spagirlspodcast

This week we put on our flame retardant suits and discuss how to define the heat level of your story – and why it’s important to know.

There is no standard or uniform code to heat levels, so writers and readers can face a few challenges: what one reader may consider “hot,” another might consider “mild” or vice versa. With books there’s no certified ratings system a la the movies.  And to further complicate things, if you’re looking at the hybrid route, publishers and agents also have different ideas about what constitutes a certain level of heat. Terms – especially sweet / clean can be used interchangeably by some folk, so take note of that when discussing cross promotions and newsletter swaps.  We discuss (and agree with) Sylvia Day’s widely referenced article on sexy romance heat levels – see the link below.

Defining your heat level is all about meeting reader expectations and in the podcast we also talk about conveying the heat level by your cover, title, subtitle and blurb.

Important note: Happy Ever After Ending is still a requirement for your standard romance regardless of heat level

Talking of definitions, here’s our SPA Girls Spice Index as we define the different heat levels in romance:

Helpful links:

http://cathymcdavid.com/tell-me-the-difference-between-sweet-and-clean-romances/

https://www.sylviaday.com/extras/erotic-romance/

https://allthekissing.com/2018/05/a-romance-writers-guide-to-heat-levels/

Join the SPA Girls on Facebook and Twitter @spagirlspodcast

Our fabulous guest this week is award-winning romance author Louisa George. We talk with Louisa about how she balances the demands of being a “hybrid” author, publishing traditionally (Medical Romance and Women’s Fiction with Harlequin Mills & Boon) and self-publishing her romantic comedies.

As Louisa says, self-publishing offers a creative freedom that we love, but that freedom can need some “structure” to ensure deadlines are met and, most importantly, reader expectations are met. Louisa’s successfully figured out what works best for her, and she shares her tips, launch plan and advertising course recommendations for beginning self-publishers and those looking to hybrid publish.

Louisa’s website: https://www.louisageorge.com/

Connect with Louisa on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LouisaGeorgeBooks/

Read Louisa’s Something Borrowed series starter for free here

This week Wendy, Cheryl and Shar talk about “the Kindness Factor” – how we can achieve more but put less pressure on ourselves. Impossible you say?  As we push ourselves to write more, to learn more and to get up to grips with this self-publishing world, there’s often an unwanted side effect: a lot of us are really hard on ourselves and we’re not enjoying our writer’s life. Research shows that the happier you are, the more productive you are, so with that in mind we have our SPA Girls Top Five Kindness Factor Tips:

1.Break it down

Do what works for video games: break your big projects/tasks down into small, manageable steps that give you path to reach milestones, goals and rewards. This will help you reach the “flow state” when you’re so engrossed in your work or learning that time seems immaterial!

We’re all pretty good at creating To Do Lists, but it’s really important that you note your “Ta Da’s” too! According to Shawn Anchor in The Happiness Advantage, when you write (or talk) about a positive experience you had at the end of your day, “your brain stamps it as meaningful”. If you’re not a daily journaller, try writing down your writing and self-pubbing accomplishments (no matter how small) at the end of each week. That way you help train your brain to think happier!  It’s so easy to focus on the stuff we need to do or haven’t yet mastered – give yourself a written “pat on the back” at least weekly.  You’ll be amazed at what you’ve accomplished when you look back at this in future months / years. 

Trust yourself! Yes, there are a lot of experts out there telling you what to do and how to do it, but really listen to your inner intuition. You know yourself best and if all the advice is pointing you in one direction, but you really, really don’t jibe with it, then follow your instincts. If you’re stuck on a problem, or especially when you find yourself procrastinating, go to yourself for advice!  It sounds a little whacky, but it works!  (It’s okay to talk to yourself too, just saying) . According to the experts, this fires up your prefrontal cortex and who doesn’t want a red-hot cortex?

Banish that negative self-talk about how you’re “not a tech minded person” and all this self-publishing stuff is too hard to learn. We all can be challenged by learning new skills, but don’t make it worse by seeing it as a roadblock, rather than as obstacles to success.  According to Carol Dweck, the author of Mindset, the main thing that separates successful people from those who are unsuccessful, is whether or not they feel their abilities and intelligence are fixed. Embrace a growth mindset and remember you never stop growing or learning.

Rewarding yourself is so important to solidify good habits and make your author journey fun. Life’s short, so treat yourself kindly and remember to reward yourself. Side note – looking at cute animals can boost your cognitive and motor performance, so all watching all those cute kitten videos on facebook are good for you!

Do come chat to us on social media:  Twitter @SpaGirlsPodcast   |   Facebook

Further Resources:

The Productivity Project, Chris Bailey

The Happiness Advantage, Shawn Anchor

Mindset: The New Psychology Of Success, Carol Dweck

This week we talk about self editing, and how to get your manuscript to the highest possible standard before sending it to your professional editor.

Everyone will have a different style, focus and ideas on the best way to do self editing, and it’s the kind of thing that’s different for different people. No one does it the same, and that’s okay.

But as always, we give a load of tips and advice on how we do it, what works and what doesn’t.

Find your own style

SPA Girls different editing levels : high altitude – developmental / structural; sense checking – consistency; nuts & bolts level – sentence level, grammar, punctuation, typos

Makes sense to us that plotters and pantsers self-edit different. Plotters do almost preemptive self-edit at developmental level when they’re plotting the beats / story arc / key scenes

Seven Sexy SPA Girls Self-Editing Tips:

1) Read your work aloud, or use a text to speech programme on your computer. You’ll pick up awkward phrases and sentences.

2) Use a grammar programme such as Grammarly, ProWriting Aid or AutoCrit

3) Put your manuscript into a programme that creates a word cloud to see your most used words.

4) If you know you overuse certain words or phrases do a “find” search for that particular word, to assess it through the document.

5) Read your book in a different format. If you’ve been working on it in word or scrivener, consider printing it off, or putting it onto your kindle to read in a different format. You’ll be amazed how much more you pick up.

6) Read difficult pages backwards. By reading backwards, you pick up the words by themselves, and make sure they’re spelled correctly, rather than relying on your brain to skim over the words and correct them in your head instead of on paper.

7) Show others – you can swap with friends or other authors or find some BETA readers (they will pick up some stuff, but they won’t be as good as a professional editor.)

Links:

Grammar Girl: https://www.quickanddirtytips.com/…/3-tips-for-creating-sen…

Books: https://www.amazon.com/Line-How-Edit-Your-Writ…/…/0395393914

James Scott Bell’s free webinar: http://www.writersdigest.com/…/meet-james-scott-bell-author…