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Welcome to the award-winning 5 Minute Author, the only short form podcast to get you informed about writing and self-publishing. I’m Sonja Dewing, award-winning creative writer, CEO of Women’s Thriller Writers Association, and happy dog mom to giant puppy Bo. Let’s get started.
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You have an idea in the back of your mind for a book. Great! But how do you get it from idea to paper?Starting a novel is like embarking on a grand adventure. Are you going to write your ugly first draft and then your next draft and then your next one and then your final and then your final final on for those of us who have published there’s always the final final final draft. But you can’t have any of those things, unless you write it all down. Here are some tips and tricks to get...
Welcome to the first episode of a new year. I’m your host, Sonja Dewing, and today I’m diving into the realm of Amazon Ads and sharing the top tips to help you make the most of this powerful marketing tool.With millions of books available on Amazon, standing out from the crowd can be a daunting task. Amazon Ads allow you to target potential readers directly, increasing the visibility of your book and, ultimately, boosting sales.Over the last three years I’ve learned a lot about Amazon ads by ...
Today I’m going to explore the strategies and tactics that can help you break through the noise and make it onto the news. A lot of public relations people will tell you that in order to get on the news or be interviewed you really need to...Find show notes on my website at https://womensthrillerwriters.com/blog-2/
Today I’m diving into Marketing 101 for authors. Whether you're a seasoned writer or just starting out, understanding the basics of marketing can make a significant difference in getting your book into the hands of the right readers. It’s going to be a lot of work, unless you’re Britney Spears and already have a huge following of people who will buy your book. First up, let's talk about author branding...Find show notes on my website at https://womensthrillerwriters.com/blog-2/
Let’s talk about AI. Tons of people are talking about it and mostly about how AI is going to negatively affect so many people and industries. I’m really relived that organizations like SagAFtra, Writer’s Guild of America, and the Authors Guild have taken on the issues to protect creatives. Definitely, in the hands of people who have no ethics AI will just be a bad thing. However, we have to acknowledge that AI is not going to go away. Our competitors are going to use AI ...Read the rest on my...
Today, I’d like to talk about scam advertisers. Now, when they take your money they will do what they promised. They’re going to put your book on their website, they’re going share your book to their social media. The problem is nobody is looking…Find show notes on my website at https://womensthrillerwriters.com/blog-2/
Setting can be an antagonist in the story, standing in the way of your main character or characters in getting what they want. It can also have a wealth of tools your protagonist can use. So your setting can live and breath just like any of your other characters and react along with the story.For example, As an antagonist, Hogwarts doesn’t just give away it’s secrets. It’s dark and old and you usually have to know what you’re looking for in order to find it. However, if you’re worthy it will ...
Imposter Syndrome and WritersThis last weekend, I played roller derby with my team, Elevated Roller Derby. You want to talk about imposter syndrome? It hits hard when I'm supposed to be a jammer. I've been skating for 6 years and I still feel like I'm a complete newbie sometimes. I think that as I focus on the basics of roller derby (strength, speed, and skating) I'll get better. So, I'm going to focus on those things before our next game and see if I can't kick that imposter...
Today, I want to talk about persevering as a writer. I know it can be hard to keep going, so I want to share some stories. I wrote Toy of the Gods in 2010. I knew back then it wasn’t ready for publishing. So I put it through a critique group, I traveled to the Amazon for research, and in 2013 I spent a month at an Airbnb rewriting it. It went through another critique group and then I felt it was ready.I started researching agents and publishers and started the whole process for publishin...
Here are some common self publishing questions whether you’re publishing it yourself or handing it off to a company that self publishes for you.I know when I took my book back from my publisher I had to take a step back and look at what my workflow should be.My first step was to find a good editor because I knew the publisher hadn’t done much work on my book at all, and being my first novel it needed plenty of work. I also didn’t have a lot of money so I had to find someone who would be willi...
Getting your book in the book stores doesn’t have to be complicated. But the number one rule as for most things and for being an author is just don’t be a jerk.Bookstores don’t need your book what they need is to get people in the door and to make money and to make their customers happy.When I was going to be in Farmington, New Mexico for a conference, I thought I’d see if I could also do an author event, so I reached out to Amy at Amy’s bookcase, especially as my novel Gamble of the Gods is ...
Before I get into the does and don’ts of prologues remember, this is your book, you can have a prologue if you want to. Just make sure you’re using it to the best possible advantage for your story and your reader....Find show notes on my website at https://womensthrillerwriters.com/blog-2/
I have a lot of characters in my Idol Maker series. So how did I and how do you keep all of those characters as distinct as possible so that readers don’t get confused. First, I introduced just a few characters in the first chapters so that the reader gets grounded with the main characters. Then when I introduced all of the other cast, they each have their own distinct name (in other words try to keep names as different as possible), they have their own way of talking, and some have a sp...
On Amazon hopefully someone’s clicking on your book cover and going to your book page. That’s where they’ll find your book description. Is it telling them what they need to hear and is it capturing your readers? How in the world do you take a 70,000 word novel and break it down into a description?Hopefully, this episode will help you figure that out.Find show notes on my website at https://womensthrillerwriters.com/blog-2/
My friend and fellow author Dita asked me to talk about pen names. What is the process? Is it beneficial to have several pen names for different genres? I’ll share my own experiences, as well as why other others use pen names.I write most of my work under my own name - Sonja Dewing. That’s my adventure thrillers and my fractured fairy tales and...Find show notes on my website at https://womensthrillerwriters.com/blog-2/
An author is a business (author as business; author mindset)_Last night I was at a startup event pitching my business alongside other new businesses. My pitch is about how I help people with their books from start to finish. I had a lot of people come up and talk to me about it and a few new clients sign up for my help.Then I had someone approach me with this very confused look on their face to ask me why I was there, as if coaching someone on writing a book or publishing or marketing their b...
It’s week two of November and maybe you were thinking of writing a novel this month but you haven’t started or maybe you’ve only written a hundred words. IT’s ok! You’re not the only one. I’m going to share some ideas on how to get those words written as well as surviving National Novel Writing Month...Find show notes on my website at https://womensthrillerwriters.com/blog-2/
Let’s say you opened up Amazon and you’re looking for the perfect next book to read. You narrow it down to your favorite genre and now you’re scrolling through lines of book cover images to pick something.The book covers are about twice the size of a postage stamp and you’re only taking a few seconds to scan them. You stop and finally click on one that entices you to learn more....Find show notes on my website at https://womensthrillerwriters.com/blog-2/
My friend and fellow writer Dita wanted to know about writing ebooks, what are the best tools to write them in and platforms to publish on?Let’s say you want to make your life easier and you just want to publish an ebook and not worry about print. I get it, I do want to mention that there are some books that don’t lend themselves to ebook. My nonfiction books on writing and self-publishing are available as ebooks, but people tend to buy the paperbacks more. And a children’s book I published t...
There are techniques for creating thriller books that readers just can’t put down. That page-turning story that they’ll stay up all night to read.Here are the tips to do just that: Page turning books are those that create suspense. You can do that by having a ticking clock (in other words something bad is going to happen unless the characters solves the problem fast) show the reader important things that the protagonist doesn’t know (that can come from a point of view of your antagonist)...
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