Authorpreneur Fm - Writing And Self Publishing Advice

As I wrote the outline and script for the show on value shifts, I realised that there is a smaller unit of story that I need to discuss that's integral to understanding value shifts or how a scene turns. So, I considered adding it to that episode but soon discovered that the final version of the episode would be too long. That's why I created this, hopefully, short bonus show where I discuss what is a story beat. And how you can use them to create better scenes.Course, Podcasts, Books, and Tools MentionedCheck Out the Show Notes ⇢ https://authorpreneurpodcast.com/tap047/The previous Episode ⇢ https://authorpreneurpodcast.com/tap046/TAP045, The Anatomy of a Scene ⇢ https://authorpreneurpodcast.com/tap045/TAP041, What is a Scene? ⇢ https://authorpreneurpodcast.com/tap041/Story by Robert McKee ⇢ https://amzn.to/49VnLAe *Plot and Structure by James Scott Bell ⇢ https://amzn.to/3Wcq8eN *Story Grid by Shawn Coyne ⇢ https://amzn.to/4aZNs3O *Suggest an Episode Topic ⇢ https://authorpreneurpodcast.com/reques

So you've probably read the title of this episode and thought, what do cliffhangers have to do with outlining? I'm so glad you asked. Let me explain. If you're the kind of writer who needs to outline every scene, then you need to be aware of the types of cliffhangers and how to effectively use them to create a page-turning effect and not turn readers away. In fact, there is more than one type of cliffhanger—there are four. So, in this episode, I'll unpack the four types of cliffhangers in fiction so that you can avoid the common pitfalls and end your scenes with cliffhangers in a way that keeps the reader turning the page.Without further ado, let's get into the episode.Course, Podcasts, Books, and Tools MentionedCheck Out the Show Notes ⇢ https://authorpreneurpodcast.com/tap046/The previous Episode ⇢ https://authorpreneurpodcast.com/bts057/TAP045, The Anatomy of a Scene ⇢ https://authorpreneurpodcast.com/tap045/TAP041, What is a Scene? ⇢ https://authorpreneurpodcast.com/tap041/Got a b

I'm back again. And yes, it's been sixteen weeks since I released an episode of the podcast. Between now and November, I took December and January off because it's a busy time of year and I tend to travel during these periods. When I got back from vacation at the end of January, I had caught the flu from a family function. Guess who didn't get the flu vaccine? But I was out of action for three weeks, and I wanted to wait until I got my voice back before I continued podcasting. In this episode, I look back on 2023 and discuss the highs and lows.  On top of this, I share the products and courses that I recommend and are still using in my writing and self-publishing business.Without further ado, let's get on with the episode.Show Notes and Links to Products and CoursesI'm really sorry, but I ran out of room to list all of the products and courses that I love. They're all on the blog post. Just click the link above to see the post.Support the showConnect with me on Social MediaT

So, how do you write a great scene? But not just a great scene but a scene that keeps a reader engaged and turning the pages, no matter what genre you're writing. The answer is in the details. In order to write great scenes, you need to pay attention to the anatomy of the scene. So, what do I mean by anatomy? I'm referring to the elements of a scene, which include the goal, tension, conflict and stakes of a scene. In this episode, I'm going to break down these individual elements and share tips on how you can incorporate this into your writing.Course, Podcasts, Books, and Tools MentionedCheck Out the Show Notes ⇢ https://authorpreneurpodcast.com/tap045/TAP041, What is a Scene? ⇢ https://authorpreneurpodcast.com/tap041/TAP009, The 5 Types of Story Conflict ⇢ https://authorpreneurpodcast.com/5-types-of-story-conflict/TAP010, How to add more conflict in a story ⇢ https://authorpreneurpodcast.com/create-conflict-in-a-story/Got a burning question that you would love me to answer on the podcast ⇢ htt

I'm back. And yes, it's been sixteen weeks since I released an episode of the podcast. Originally, I took the summer off because I needed to take a holiday from podcasting and writing. However, I did a bit of blogging during my break, where I discussed whether you should use AI-generated images in book covers. Also, I wrote a blog post on how to work with a book cover designer. This article was originally written to help potential clients and browsers for Le Villain Book Covers, but I shared the full article on authorpreneur podcast dot com because I believed it would be useful to you as well. While we're on the topic of book cover design, I discussed in another blog post the things you need to know before you design your own book cover. This episode isn't just about blog posts; I also discuss my struggles with writing and the epiphany I've had, which helped me make progress after chasing my tail for so long.Without further ado, let's get into the show.Courses, Podcasts, Books, a

So, I have a confession to make. Actually, I've been struggling to sell paid books. Sure, I can give them away for free, but paid is a different problem altogether. I've been struggling to sell Duplicity, the second book in my James Lalonde Amateur Sleuth Mystery Series. A few days before my forty-second birthday, I realised that FreeBooksy had a spot open on my birthday, the 29th of May. In this episode, I'm going to share with you the results of that experiment and my attempts to re-create the results with a Fussy Librarian Promotion.Without further ado, let's get into the show.Course, Podcasts, Books, and Tools MentionedCheck Out the Show Notes ⇢ https://authorpreneurpodcast.com/bts055/May Behind-The-Scenes Author Diary ⇢ https://authorpreneurpodcast.com/bts054/FreeBooksy ⇢ https://secure.writtenwordmedia.com/featuresThe Fussy Librarian ⇢ https://www.thefussylibrarian.com/advertising/Support the show by buying me a coffee ⇢ https://www.buymeacoffee.com/authoradhayGot a burning question

In the April Behind the Scenes Author Diary, I mentioned that I screwed up my amateur sleuth mystery series; well, a solution might be at hand. So, in this episode, I discuss my plans for my James Lalonde Amateur Sleuth Mystery series books three and four and a new shiny object. On top of this, I discuss a few self-publishing updates and selling direct with WooCommerce.But without further ado, let's get on with the episode.Course, Podcasts, Books, and Tools MentionedCheck Out the Show Notes ⇢ https://authorpreneurpodcast.com/bts054/April Behind-The-Scenes Author Diary ⇢ https://authorpreneurpodcast.com/bts052/Dave Chesson's Royalty Calculator ⇢ https://kindlepreneur.com/kdp-royalty-calculator/Changes to the paperback pricing on Amazon ⇢ https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/topic/GPGVYM9KWTYLD2GDWooCommerce ⇢ https://woocommerce.com/marketplace-sale/DIVI Theme ⇢ https://www.elegantthemes.com/affiliates/idevaffiliate.php?id=66529 *My Author WooCommerce Shop ⇢ https://authoradhay.com/shop/ **Le Villain Bo

Honestly, I can't believe I made it this far; it's mind-blowing. I know that's cliche, but it's how I feel when I see that episode number. Let's just say it has been a wild ride, a ride that is not yet over, and I'm glad I stuck with podcasting through those difficult times. And I've dabbled with a few great interviews and had my first-ever guests. It's been both challenging and fun all at once.In the spirit of celebrating the 100th episode milestone, I'm going answer the top questions asked by my Blog Readers, YouTube Subscribers, and Podcast Listeners, and questions asked through my Ask A Question form on my website.Course, Podcasts, Books, and Tools MentionedCheck Out the Show Notes ⇢ https://authorpreneurpodcast.com/100th-episode/TAP033, The Case for Outlining, Outlining Pitfalls, and Overcoming Writing Obstacles ⇢ https://authorpreneurpodcast.com/tap033/TAP034, From Idea to Outline: How to Outline a Novel (Part 1 of 3) ⇢ https://authorpreneurpodcast.com/tap034

Welcome to the ninety-ninth episode of the Authorpreneur Podcast. Yes, I'm doing the countdown thing—I know, it's super dorky, but I'm embracing it anyway. At present, I'm struggling to sell book two in my amateur sleuth mystery series, and I'm going into detail about my experiments to get this bookselling and my issues with publishing direct to Barnes and Noble upon the advice of going wide webinar. Let's just say that I regret leaving Draft 2 Digital. And I discuss how I've screwed up my amateur sleuth mystery series. Just saying that out loud gives me anxiety.But without further ado, let's get on with the episode.Course, Podcasts, Books, and Tools MentionedCheck Out the Show Notes ⇢ https://authorpreneurpodcast.com/bts052/Course on Writing into the Dark by Dean Wesley Smith (WMG Publishing) ⇢  https://wmg-publishing-workshops-and-lectures.teachable.com/p/writing-into-the-darkBook on Writing into the Dark by Dean Wesley Smith ⇢ https://amzn.to/3LUjkNV *Course on Writi

Welcome to the ninety-eighth episode of the Authorpreneur Podcast. Honestly, I can't believe that my podcast has come this far. But, back to the matter at hand. Toward the end of March, I started working with my editor on the Locked Room, and in this episode, I share the mistakes that were found in that manuscript in comparison to the previous stories that I've written.So, without further ado, let's get into the episode.Course, Podcasts, Books, and Tools MentionedCheck Out the Show Notes ⇢ https://authorpreneurpodcast.com/tap043/Got a burning question that you would love me to answer on the 100th episode ⇢ https://authorpreneurpodcast.com/question/Course on Writing into the Dark by Dean Wesley Smith (WMG Publishing) ⇢ https://wmg-publishing-workshops-and-lectures.teachable.com/p/writing-into-the-darkBook on Writing into the Dark by Dean Wesley Smith ⇢ https://amzn.to/3LUjkNV *Course on Writing a Locked Room Mystery by Dean Wesley Smith (WMG Publishing) ⇢ https://wmg-publishing-workshops-and-lec

In February, I finished writing the Locked Room into the Dark, and I'll discuss how I achieved this, along with the response of my favourite beta reader. As you've come to expect, I will share my writing stats, days, time, word count and the step-by-step process that I used. Now that I've mentioned that, it's crucial that I point out that I'm following Dean Wesley Smith's Writing Into the Dark method, which he teaches in a course and in a book. I highly recommend that you check out both of these options if you're interested in learning how to discovery write.Without further ado, let's get into the episode.Course, Podcasts, Books, and Tools MentionedCheck Out the Show Notes ⇢ https://authorpreneurpodcast.com/tap043/Course on Writing into the Dark by Dean Wesley Smith (WMG Publishing) ⇢ https://wmg-publishing-workshops-and-lectures.teachable.com/p/writing-into-the-darkBook on Writing into the Dark by Dean Wesley Smith ⇢ https://amzn.to/3LUjkNV *Course on Writing a Locked

In this episode, discuss what I've been doing in February. I also share my frustrations about a tech fail and newfound thoughts on this product and delve into why I've changed my mind.It's important to discuss the positives and negatives of products I use and recommend because I've discovered something stupid that needs to be addressed or I feel like I need to talk about it. So, perhaps this is, in part, a bit of therapy for me. And I'm coming off a rather super frustrated week where I feel like I've wasted my time. But, in the spirit of fairness, I'm all up for wasting my money in terms of experimenting and trying things than letting you know about it because that's the point of me doing this. I waste my money trying stuff, so you don't have to, but I digress. Also, I discuss a few things I did for the podcast, writing-related tasks, plus a marketing experiment I did this month.Podcasts, Books, and Tools MentionedCheck Out the Show NotesThe Previous EpisodeBook Ed

So, I decided to list Suspicion for free and promote it using various newsletter book promotion services ahead of the release of the second book in the James Lalonde series. The promotions I booked were with AuthorsXP, Fussy Librarian, Kobo, and Free Booksy; altogether, these promotions cost me £176.67 or US$209.96. I used the Google exchange rate from the 19th of November, just in case you're interested. So, in this behind-the-scenes author diary, I will discuss the results of my experiments with Ad stacking on my first-in-series novella or short novel.But first, let's discuss my expectations.My ExpectationsTo be honest, my expectations were relatively low in terms of download numbers. Still, I expected around 2,000 downloads from the Free Booksy promotion only because of an experience in the past. But I was hoping some people would download Suspicion like the store and either follow me on Amazon and buy the next book when it's released or even purchase the preorder. Even though I was hoping f

This year, I've decided to start my podcast by looking back at everything I achieved in 2022. After that, I will discuss the products I loved in 2022 and will continue to use in 2023. I will also not dive too deeply into metrics like hours or word count because that's not helpful. In fact, as a coach, I hate metrics because it doesn't contribute anything of value, especially in the writing space. Everyone writes differently. Some people need to write slowly, think and research as they write. And if that's you, it's okay to write that way and slowly build your backlist. But I'll hop off my soap box now.Podcasts, Books, and Tools MentionedCheck Out the Show NotesThe Previous EpisodePhotoshop, Illustrator + InDesignCanva *Deposit Stock Photos *iStockVector StockStripeWooCommerceWordPressThe Divi Theme *Gravity FormsSiteground *Blubrry *Ecamm LiveFinal Cut ProGaragebandBlue Yeti Microphone *BookFunnel *PayHipVellumDraft2DigitalNaturalReaders (Premium)Scrivener *Grammarly PremiumProWr

In an upcoming episode of the authorpreneur podcast, I discuss how I stopped supplying my three-act structure Scrivener template to my email list and the reasons that led to the decision. As I was editing that episode, I had an idea.I'm considering supplying a free ebook on three-act structure, a cheat seat, and possibly a video on how you can create your own Scrivener template.Is this something that you're interested in signing up for or downloading? Let me know by sharing your thoughts below the blog post.Podcasts, Books, and Tools MentionedInterested in the mini-course on how to outline a novel?Want the podcast straight to your inbox?My ServicesTry The Formatting Wizard Book Formatting Services for FREE **The Formatting Templates offered by my services.Le Villain Book Covers (Affordable Premade Book Covers) **Support the showConnect with me on Social MediaTwitter: https://twitter.com/writeradhayFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorpreneurpodcastInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/authorprene

A few weeks ago, I received an email from Plottr letting me know they were interested in chatting with me on my podcast about plotting and story organisation techniques and how Plottr can benefit both Plotters and Pantsers. Because Plottr is a story organisation tool, I thought the interview would be great for this season of The Authorpreneur Podcast because I'm discussing outlining and the pre-writing phase. Also, if you've been thinking about trying Plottr this might help you decide whether the software is right for you. So, in the show, I'm chatting with Troy Lambert about plotting and story organisation techniques with Plottr.I did stray from the topic and talk about why I'm transitioning from writing with an outline to writing into the dark and my feelings about revision and working with a professional editor. Troy Lambert, who is also a developmental editor, gave me some great advice about these topics. I considered moving this content to a separate interview, but the interview didn&

Are you confused about scenes and chapters? Do you write scenes that aren't working, and you wonder why?In this first instalment of this mini-series on scenes, I will discuss the difference between scenes and chapters. Define what is a scene in the context of novel writing. I will answer the age-old question: what is the perfect length of a scene? And I will share how to end a scene and know when a scene has reached its natural end. About the Mini-SeriesYou'll probably have noticed that I've mentioned that this is a part of a mini-series but haven't said how long this series will last. That's because I honestly don't know. I want to leave it a little open-ended so I can give the series as many episodes as it needs. Why? Because I want this episode to help you write better scenes. And in the spirit of that helpfulness, I've also included another writing exercise in this show as well.So stay tuned for all of this and much more.Podcasts, Books, and Tools MentionedCheck Out the

It's been a while since I filmed or recorded a Behind the Scenes Author Diary Update—so that's what I'm going to do. In this episode, I will discuss what I've been doing since January 2022. And this episode isn't going to be scripted, mainly because if I start scripting these episodes, it will take a long time to produce them. Let's face it: I know what I've done this year, so I shouldn't have to rely on a script to discuss that. It's not like I want to say something in a certain way because it's super important for me to communicate it. I'm just simply talking about my year.So, in this show, I'm going to come clean about why I've trademarked my podcast's name. Honestly, this isn't the first time I considered discussing it. The last time, I chickened out. Also, I will discuss the books I published this year and my mixed feelings about using Advanced Reader Services. And I'm going to come out of the closet as a book cover designer.

Now that you've chosen the right point of view for your story, you're finally ready to put pen to page and start writing or outlining your novel, right? No, there is a little more to Point-of-View than first, second or third person. And that's what we're going to discuss in this show.When planning out season three of the podcast, I split the episodes covering Point-of-View into several parts. The first instalment, episode TAP039, discusses Point-of-View in writing fiction and the things to consider when choosing the right point of view for your novel. In this second instalment, I will discuss writing from a character's point of view and share how to overcome the biggest mistake many first-time writers make. I'm not saying that I've mastered this technique in any way, shape or form, but I've made mistakes and learned valuable lessons that I want to share with you.So stay tuned for all of this and much more.Podcasts, Books, and Tools MentionedCheck Out the Show NotesThe P

Before you put pen to page, you need to decide which point of view is right for your story. In this show, I will discuss point-of-view in writing fiction and the things to consider when choosing the right point of view for your novel. But I will not discuss second-person because I don't understand its mechanics. And I will not be delving too deep into third-person omniscient point-of-view for similar reasons.While researching for this episode, I received contradictory advice on how to write in the third-person omniscient, especially about whether head-hopping is permitted. In light of this, I'm considering interviewing an editor on my podcast and asking questions about point-of-view in fiction. So, let me know if you are interested in listening to this interview. However, I have experience writing in first-person and third-person point-of-view.So stay tuned for all of this and much more.Podcasts, Books, and Tools MentionedCheck Out the Show NotesInterested in the mini-course on how to outline a nove