Episodes

When you hear the words “fact” and “fiction,” I’m guessing you consider them mutually exclusive. I also bet you would wonder why I suggest to all my author clients that they conduct fact research before they write their books. Here’s the...

Something I think all writers struggle with during the writing process is striking a balance between dialogue and narrative. It’s something many of my coaching clients have come to me worried about. But the reality is, there’s no hard and fast...

Thinking of writing a novel series? Series are highly popular with publishers, agents, and readers because, after all, who doesn’t love to find a great new book then find out the characters and the story aren’t quite finished yet. But as writers,...

Have you ever thought about co-authoring a book? If you’re wise, you’re active in at least a couple online communities for writers, which allows us the opportunity to connect with writerly folk we might never have met in the “real world.” So,...

As authors, our ultimate goal when sending our writing out into the world, should not just be to sell as many books as possible or even for readers to simply love our work. What we should be aiming for is for the reader to not just enjoy our stories...

Welcome to season two of Write Your Best Book! This season, we’re shifting focus slightly. Last season, we sat down with some of the biggest/best influencers in the writing community. This season, we’re still discussing all the struggles every...

Y’all…Joanna Penn is in the house!! Need I say more? But seriously…who better to have as a guest host on our final episode of season one for this podcast than THE Joanna Penn, The Queen of all things creative! I’m sure you all know her as the...

What exactly is a marketing platform? As our guests host this week, James Blatch of The Self-Publishing Show, explains, it’s all the things you do to promote your book both before and after you publish it. Yes, that’s right. There are several...

If you’re anything like me (and most authors, to be honest), you’ve found yourself in this position before – you get all excited about your new book idea, you sit down and start typing away like a madman (or woman), and then after a few...

Many authors, I included, don’t realize there’s a difference between marketing and publicity. And publicity is a huge part of your book launch efforts, and we should all be doing our best to find moments in the spotlight when we can feature our...

Every author I’ve ever met has, at some point, felt the pressure of perfectionism, even if we didn’t know that was the deal! But if you have ever compared yourself to other authors, felt like you or your writing aren’t good enough, or generally...

Everyone loves a good Netflix binge these days, and the book world equivalent is finding a wonderful, well-written book series you can bury yourself in for weeks, months, or even longer. Readers love series novels because they grow so attached to the...

I know. I know. If you’re anything like me, you’re sick and tired of hearing about this pandemic. But since it’s starting to rear it’s ugly head again this winter, and we have no idea how long it’s going to last, a lot of authors are voicing...

It’s not enough to write a great book if you want to sell as many copies as possible. One of the other crucial steps you must take to achieve selling success is to have a beautiful, stunning, and appropriate cover design made. Your cover will give...

One of the best thing’s I’ve ever done to improve my writing was to stop pantsing it. A couple of years ago, I learned about the Hero’s Journey as a plotting method. I was curious, so I dug in and learned all I could. I wasn’t sure it would...

One of the most important decisions you’ll have to make before you begin writing any novel is how many points of view you want to include in your narrative. Essentially, you have three choices. You can write your novel in single, dual, or multiple...

One of the most important steps in your book launch will be getting as many good book reviews as possible lined up for release week. But how do we go about finding and working with ARC reviewers? Many authors struggle with this issue, so this week,...

Regardless of where you are in your writing journey, you need to give serious thought to building your author brand. But many authors overlook this crucial step on their journey. What is author branding? Branding deals with everything you put together...

Whether you’re a newbie writer or a veteran author, you’ve likely heard of the writing platform, Scrivener. And, if you’re like me, you love the concept and want to find a way to write your book using this amazing program, but it seems a bit...

How many of you cringe at the thought of getting in front of a video camera? I know I’m not the only one. But, you guys, there is no better time to be live (or recorded) in front of your readers than now! Especially during this pandemic, when...

Many authors, especially those writing memoirs, find they have to dig deep within themselves and revisit painful memories during the writing process. This can be a cathartic practice, but it can also be very upsetting if you’re not prepared to...

One thing a lot of newer authors struggle with is dialogue. Even veteran authors sometimes struggle with balancing the right amount of dialogue with narrative or how to handle certain dialogue situations with multiple characters. So, this week, I sat...

Most authors know by now that we should have a website to promote our books and that the site should include a blog, but I don’t think all authors know the WHY behind needing a blog. I also am asked quite often how to start a blog and what to write...

Last week, we talked about how to work with book marketers. So, this week, we’re following up with a discussion about how to build and work with your book launch team. My guest this week, Nick Loper, is the Founder of Side Hustle Nation. And as you...