From Hollywood Sets To Award-Winning Page-Turners

What happens when Hollywood decides smart, fearless women don’t sell? We sit down with Kay A. Oliver, award-winning author and former industry insider, to explore how she turned that “no” into twelve page-turning novels, a loyal readership, and growing momentum toward the screen.Kay shares a writing process built for consistency and flow: visualizing the opening and ending, stopping mid-scene to avoid writer’s block, and using novellas to test ideas, master KDP formatting, and later expand into full-length novels. She explains how deep research fuels her globe-trotting mysteries, why accuracy builds reader trust, and how Road to Elysium weaves grief, mentorship, and second chances with the emotional resonance of Gran Torino and A Man Called Ove.Then we get tactical. Kay breaks down a repeatable indie marketing system: submitting to the right book awards for credibility, investing in press releases that can generate 40k–60k impressions, and running targeted ads where readers already are. We talk platform choice by audience and timing, tracking ROI through the Amazon dashboard, creating cinematic book trailers, and using BookFunnel and KU promos to grow your newsletter through shared audiences. If you’re an indie author looking to write faster, market smarter, and build a catalog that lasts, this conversation delivers practical guidance and mindset shifts you can use immediately. Send us Fan MailSupport the show📬 JOIN THE NEWSLETTERThe Storyteller Quest is  a weekly letter on writing,publishing, and the business of books.Subscribe, and I'll send you Traditional, Self, or Hybrid? —11 pages on what each publishing path really costs, plus a7-question worksheet that tells you which one is yours.Subscribe here.