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Oh, how the world of fiction publishing has changed! What used to be Mom’s tea party (with agents and traditional book contracts and demure, knees-together seating) has become a wild house-party of bold self-publishing, mystical Amazon algorithms, seat-of-the-pants marketing and promotions. Experienced romance novelist and book coach Meredith Bond walks Pru Warren, her wide-eyed and unpublished co-host, through the real life of an author from the craft of writing and editing, through publishing and marketing, and finally into building a GLOBAL PUBLISHING EMPIRE! Grab a drink, pull up a chair, and get ready to start your weekend with the Writer's Block Party Podcast. Tune in every Friday.
Episodes
Friday Jan 22, 2021
Goal, Motivation, and Conflict
Friday Jan 22, 2021
Friday Jan 22, 2021
This is the Holy Trinity of the romance-writing world; if you don’t have your “GMC,” you don’t have a readable book. Meredith walks Pru through the fundamentals using (so entertaining!) “The Wizard of Oz” as an example. Then we answer Merry’s CRITICAL FIVE QUESTIONS for “The Princess Bride.” Two GREAT storytelling examples!
Friday Jan 15, 2021
Getting Reviews for Your Hard Work
Friday Jan 15, 2021
Friday Jan 15, 2021
Meredith explains to Pru how to get reviews of a book onto Amazon and other book-buying sites. Spoiler alert: It’s not just begging your mom! Smart, practical information that any author can use. Phew!
Friday Jan 08, 2021
Uploading Pru's Masterpiece
Friday Jan 08, 2021
Friday Jan 08, 2021
Pru describes the confusion, excitement, and error messages involved in uploading her novel to Amazon…and IngramSpark…and Kobo…and Draft2Digital…and Apple. Well, not really Apple, since Apple now needs two full weeks to verify her taxpayer ID number, which, are you freaking KIDDING ME??
Friday Jan 01, 2021
A Look at the Hero's Journey
Friday Jan 01, 2021
Friday Jan 01, 2021
Classic, timeless, unbelievably consistent across cultures, the hero’s journey is all about transformation. After hearing Meredith describe the sequence, Pru figures she’s on about step two of her hero’s journey, and is grateful for the Merry who gives her the gift of wisdom. Maybe by step twelve, she’ll be worthy of the gift!
Friday Dec 25, 2020
Your Author Website
Friday Dec 25, 2020
Friday Dec 25, 2020
Having been studying about author websites, Pru volunteers to lead this podcast, trusting (correctly!) that any novice ignorance will be corrected by the wise Meredith. And then—o! Marvelous!—Pru actually tells Merry one tiny detail that Merry didn’t know! What are the odds?!
Friday Dec 11, 2020
Building Characters
Friday Dec 11, 2020
Friday Dec 11, 2020
What makes a character pop off the page? Can you just have a nice guy who treats people well and had a happy childhood? MUST there be trauma there somewhere?? The answers make Pru unhappy, but Merry is DETERMINED! Get your characters up that tree and THROW ROCKS AT THEM! Make them miserable!
Friday Dec 04, 2020
How do you define success?
Friday Dec 04, 2020
Friday Dec 04, 2020
How many ways can you measure your success (or failure)? At what point do you know if you’re doing well…and does that answer change over time? Does a novice author value the same things as an experienced author? Lots of questions from Pru (as usual!) along with calming wisdom from Merry.
Friday Nov 27, 2020
Finding Your Beta Readers
Friday Nov 27, 2020
Friday Nov 27, 2020
How do you find beta readers? What do you say to them? Why would they help you? And how do you find reviewers? Pru gasps at her lack of knowledge and Merry soothes the wrinkled brow. All the answers are right here. Phew!
Friday Nov 20, 2020
Your Marketing Budget
Friday Nov 20, 2020
Friday Nov 20, 2020
In which things start simply with actual dollar signs and concrete goals and then spiral wildly out of control, leaving Pru slack-jawed (as usual). Book Bub, Amazon and Facebook ads, boosting posts, web hosting and email service providers--Merry walks Pru through it all. Knowledge is power, after all!
Friday Nov 13, 2020
Self-Editing, Part 2
Friday Nov 13, 2020
Friday Nov 13, 2020
In which Pru and Merry find common accord on the subject of the Oxford comma but nearly come to blows over the concept of “theme,” which is (so far) WAY above Pru’s pay grade. Also: at last! A reason to justify the purchase of all these delicious highlighters!