Send us a text If you're new to writing, you've probably read the title of this episode and thought, "Oh, great, my scenes need to turn, now." Or perhaps you're not new to writing, heard this term before, and you're thinking, "I don't think so." Before you hit the pause, please hear me out. Value shifts are a great way to ensure that each scene moves the story forward and pulls its weight. I also realise that I'm not the first person to discuss turning a scene or value shifts in the...

Send us a text Today, I'm bringing you my 2024 writing update, and honestly, it's been quite the year. I've got some wins to celebrate, like writing nearly 60,000 more words than last year and finishing two books in a completely new genre. But I've also hit some roadblocks that have left me questioning everything from Facebook ad strategies to whether I should keep writing at all. We're going to dive into my venture into cozy mysteries, my ongoing battle with Google Play Books over mysterious...

Send us a text What can Aristotle teach modern novelists? In this episode, I chat with Douglas Vigliotti about his book Aristotle for Novelists: 14 Timeless Principles on the Art of Story. I loved talking to him about Aristotle for Novelists because it reminded me of my screenwriting roots, and it was nice to look back on my writing journey. Also, I loved his book because it was short enough to read in one sitting, but still contained timeless principles that I could walk away with and apply ...

Send us a text In this episode, I chat with Douglas Vigliotti about getting into reading, its hidden benefits and the Books For Men Podcast. Please note that this is the first part of a two-part interview with Doug. In the second part, I discuss his book, Aristotle for Novelists. I felt that this chat about his podcast and reading was long enough to warrant its own episode. Also, I wanted to avoid clickbaiting because this interview is nineteen minutes long, and the second part is around fort...

Send us a text Its been a while—fourteen months and a few days to be exact. In this hopefully short, update-style episode, I'll share the decision behind my podcast hiatus, discuss a few non-writing and publishing updates, then share my plans for the upcoming podcast episodes. Also, I'm podcasting during a heat-wave in London, so you might hear Hector my Dyson fan humming away in the background. But hopefully, you're thinking "I don't hear a fan." Course, Podcasts, Books, and Tools Mentione...

Send us a text 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, Podca...

Send us a text 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 clif...

Send us a text 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. ...

Send us a text 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 elemen...

Send us a text 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...

Send us a text 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 attempt...

Send us a text 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 Mentioned Chec...

Send us a text 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...

Send us a text 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 s...

Send us a text 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 Mentioned Check O...

Send us a text 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...

Send us a text 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 we...

Send us a text 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...

Send us a text 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 ...

Send us a text 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 shari...