BEHIND THE SCENES DIARY
One Author shares her journey to publication.
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Episodes
BTS059: Writing Wins, Book Piracy, Self-Publishing Struggles, and AI Tools for Translating Books into French
In this episode, I discuss my writing updates, book piracy, and how I’m using AI tools for translating books into French, adapting titles and jokes for cultural clarity. Spoiler alert, its more complicated than a single click.
BTS058: Burnout, Thyroid Issues and Other Health Scares, and Returning to Podcasting After Burnout
After 14 months away, I’m returning to podcasting after burnout. In this blog post and podcast episode, I share what caused the break and what’s coming next on The Authorpreneur Podcast.
BTS057, A Year in Review and Self Publishing Products I Loved in 2023
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. In this episode, I look back on 2023 and discuss the highs and lows. On top of this, I share the self-publishing products and writing courses that I recommend and are still using.
BTS056, AI-Generated Images, Designing Your Own Book Cover, Declining Free eBook Downloads, and Struggling to Write Book Three
In this episode, I discussed whether you should use AI-generated images in book covers, how to work with a book cover designer and the things you need to know before you design your own book cover. But, 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.
BTS055, My Experiment with Tempting Readers to Impulse Buy the Second Book in a Series. Did It Work?
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 decided to embark on a book marketing experiment where I tempt readers to impulse buy the second book in a series.
BTS054, Changes to the KDP Print Pricing, New Categories in KDP, and A Solution to My Series Mistakes | May Author Diary
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, including changes to the KDP print pricing, the new KDP categories, and selling direct with WooCommerce.
BTS053, The 100th Podcast Episode: Ask Me Anything on Writing, Revision, Editing, and Self Publishing
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.
BTS052, I Screwed Up My Series and Reaching a New Level of Appreciation for Draft2Digital
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.
BTS051, Writing a Locked Room Mystery, Author Book Readings, and Tech Issues Galore
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. Also, I discuss a few things I did for the podcast, plus a marketing experiment I did this month. And I share my experience writing a locked room mystery
BTS050, More Experiments with Ad Stacking
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. In this episode, I will share more of my experiences with Ad stacking.
BTS049, A Year in Review and Self Publishing Products I Loved in 2022
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.
An Update on My Three Act Structure Scrivener Template
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.
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Tools I Love + Use
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I’ve been using Blubrry to host the Authorpreneur Podcast since 2018.
I’ve been a proud Divi Theme user since 2015.
A great website host for WordPresss sites and Divi Theme users.
A great writing tool that I’ve been using since 2014 or possibly earlier.
A course that I use and recommend that helps you get the most out of Scrivener.