The 5 Minute Author

Hello! I am coming to you again from my motel room in Tucson, right before the Tucson Festival of Books.And today I want to talk about how not to let scammers take your money.Now, I'm talking about those emails that you are or will be inundated with as soon as you publish something on Amazon...Find show notes on my website at https://womensthrillerwriters.com/blog-2/

All right, well, first of all, this recording is coming from my motel room at Tucson, just before the Tucson Book Festival. I'm really excited to go. So, no editing here.But I want to talk about how frustration is growth in disguise. Right? It's something that's part of every good writer's journey. Frustration. And I want to start with a quote from Frederick Douglass. One of those truths that hit a littlehard sometimes. "If there is no struggle, there is no progress." And I know some people like to think that you are born a great writer. Not true. I mean, maybe some people are, but most of the time we need to learn what an audience likes and what they don't. The best way not to stereotype characters, etc. So let's talk about that frustration....Find show notes on my website at https://womensthrillerwriters.com/blog-2/

Today I'm diving into something we all need - especially if you're feeling overwhelmed, distracted, or maybe the state of the world is seeping into your creative space.Yep, I'm talking about how to de-stress as an author - and find your way back to the joy of writing...Find show notes on my website at https://womensthrillerwriters.com/blog-2/

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 you started...Find show notes on my website at https://womensthrillerwriters.com/blog-2/

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 running them for Gracepoint Publishing and other authors and I’m happy to share some of what I’ve learned.My first tip...Find show notes on my website at https://womensthrillerwriters.com/blog-2/

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 website: https://womensthrillerwriters.com/using-ai-for-authors/Find show notes on my website at https://womensthrillerwriters.com/blog-2/

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 give you the room of requirement. Or in...Find show notes on my website at https://womensthrillerwriters.com/blog-2/

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 syndrome to the curb. What does that have to do with writing?   Many writers get imposter syndrome. I've certainly felt it a few times. But how do you get over that worry - that you're not good enough? Here's the secret steps (not really so secret, but this is my formula) and I’ll go over each of these: 1. Go outside your comfort zone 2. Get great advice: Join a group of writers and start or join a critique/review group, and...Find show notes on my website at https://womensthrillerwriters.com/blog-2/

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 publishing the traditional way. I had bites but no one seemed to want to take it. So, I planned on going to a thriller conference and talking one on one with agents...Find show notes on my website at https://womensthrillerwriters.com/blog-2/

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 willing to work on it for me within my budget ...Find show notes on my website at https://womensthrillerwriters.com/blog-2/

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 based near Farmington and other parts of New Mexico...Find show notes on my website at https://womensthrillerwriters.com/blog-2/

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 specific prop....Find show notes on my website at https://womensthrillerwriters.com/blog-2/

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 book isn’t a business. Coaching and teaching is definitely a business. And, if I hadn’t had Women’s Thriller Writers Association as a business, I could have been there as an author and pitched my books...Find show notes on my website at https://womensthrillerwriters.com/blog-2/

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 through my publishing company, Gramita’s Tortillas, 95% of sales are paperback. If your book is none of those, then ebook is going to be just fine for you...Find show notes on my website at https://womensthrillerwriters.com/blog-2/

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) - maybe we see them scheming their evil plans unbeknownst to our hero or heroine...Find show notes on my website at https://womensthrillerwriters.com/blog-2/

Someone once said to me, I could write a short story, but I wouldn’t know what to do with it. Well, here are some ideas on what to do with and why to write short stories.First, if you are going to write novels, having a short story that leads readers into your world is a great use for a reader magnet. That's something you can offer when people sign up for your email list (and by the way, yes, you should have an email list)...Find show notes on my website at https://womensthrillerwriters.com/blog-2/

Wether you’re writing a short story or a novel, having a list of early readers who are going to leave you a review, also known as a group of ARC readers is essential if you want to hit a best selling list.All of my short stories have hit best selling status with a miniature version of ARC readers, and if you’ve heard of Kiersten Modglin, she uses a really smart, targeted use of ARC readers to hit those best selling lists for her novels.So, how do you do it?  ...Find show notes on my website at https://womensthrillerwriters.com/blog-2/

You might’ve heard me mention a couple times that I write a novel in November. And I’m not the only one. But why is that?I believe it all started with National Novel Writing Month. The idea is that you set up the time in that dark boring month to write your novel. And even if a novel sounds a little too much it’s a great idea to set aside those dark days to do something more interesting and why not start on that story or novel that you’ve been thinking about?But how do you even get started? Here are some tips to prepare and make the most of November.First, find some books...Find show notes on my website at https://womensthrillerwriters.com/blog-2/

Carl Sagan, the voice for Cosmos, and a prolific writer, would dictate his ideas and stories, and later type them up. Luckily, these days we have Star Trek level technology to take our spoken words and turn them into text. My friend and fellow writer Dita asked me about dictation apps (and Dita - I will get into Android options at the end) and I’m so glad she did. It gave me a chance to really look at what I was using and explore other options - which is especially important as we’re approaching November which is when many of us sit down to write a novel.I do use dictation on my phone but it’s clunky. Basically, I open my iPhone, open a note, and use the microphone that takes my words and turns them into text. But, sometimes that option does a terrible job of translating...Find show notes on my website at https://womensthrillerwriters.com/blog-2/

Critiques and reviews can hurt. So I’m going to hopefully get you thru the hard stuff so you can get on with the business of writing.If you listened to episode 2 I talked about the power of a review group for your novel, I mentioned that being part of a review group was where I’ve learned the most about being a better writer. But you’ve put your heart and soul into writing a story and hearing critiques feels like someone is critiquing you as a person.So, I want to encourage you to go into this with a different mind set...Find show notes on my website at https://womensthrillerwriters.com/blog-2/

If you’ve been away from writing for awhile, well maybe it’s time to get back to it and I’m going to share tips on how to do that.I know I’ve stopped a couple of times in my writing career. The latest was when I was caretaking a house for a friend and covid broke out. There I was, isolated with no one to talk to.For three months I sat on the couch, binge watching Netflix, and ordering delivery food. I just couldn’t get myself to write. Before I could do that I had to pull myself out of the dumpster I was in. I started walking every day, I connected with friends and family, I adopted a dog. Once I didn’t feel so isolated I was able to start writing.So, if you’re in a bad place right now, it could be really difficult for you to write. Hopefully, you’re not in that place and instead you’re ready to write, you just don’t know what to do about that...Find show notes on my website at https://womensthrillerwriters.com/blog-2/

If you have a book on Amazon with very few reviews, this episode is for you.When I was struggling to get reviews for my book I put my book for free and advertised in reputable newsletters – businesses that actually do connect with readers. I went from 20 reviews to now having 123 reviews. That’s led to better return on my amazon ads.I tried out 7 programs. When I break down the costs, I figured out how much money I was spending for every download.My first was...Find show notes on my website at https://womensthrillerwriters.com/blog-2/

Do not advertise your book with these companiesLet’s say you’ve published your book to Amazon and you’re not seeing sales, you want more downloads, sales, reviews, etc. You receive an email out of the blue from - let’s call them Give us your money dot com. They say in their email, Hello author! We saw your book on Amazon and we love it! We wanted to let you know that we have room on our newsletter and social media for a book just like yours, but you have to act fast! For $39 we’ll share your book to our millions of followers.You’re tempted, right? ...Find show notes on my website at https://womensthrillerwriters.com/blog-2/

You’ll hear it from 90% of writers - write every day. But I’ll tell you, do not beat yourself up or get discouraged if that doesn’t work for you. Because you don’t have to write every day.There are advantages to writing every day, but if you’ve got kids, dogs, cats, a normal life, it can be hard to squeeze that time in. So, if you can’t write ever day, here are some tips to help you find some time to write as well as what can help you get back into your story if you can’t write every day. My first tip is to find a writing buddy. Have you ever...Find show notes on my website at https://womensthrillerwriters.com/blog-2/

I took a college level creative writing class with a friend, and the teacher was reviewing some of the stories. She never got to mine so I asked her if she could tell me what she thought of mine. She turned to me in this dramatic sweep (at least, that’s what seemed to me) and said, “My dear, your grammar was so bad, I just couldn’t read it.” I was so mortified, sitting among my peers and my friend while a teacher said that to me. As a professional instructor, I know that it would have been much more useful for her to reach out via email and say, hey I see you could use some help on grammar, here are my suggestions on working on that. Instead she had to be a drama queen. And because of her drama, I held off writing for about two months because I was so embarrassed about my grammar skills. That is, until I mentioned it to my friend who had been in the class and he said to me, “Yeah that was weird. You’re grammar isn’t that bad at all.”If only he had said something sooner. I wanted to share that because...Find show notes on my website at https://womensthrillerwriters.com/blog-2/

I’m going to try and share all of the self-publishing steps in five minutes. Step one is to  get it in front of a review group. For me this is a group of writers who are going to give you honest feedback. This will definitely give you great ideas on making your story better.Step two is to start finding ARC readers. I am telling you right now you must get a group of readers who will give you reviews the day your book gets published on Amazon. That’s the best way to try to hit the best selling list as well as get momentum on sales.Step three - You also want to start building your email list. These are different than your arc readers. These are people who will buy your books and are your fans but maybe they don’t have a social media following or maybe they don’t have access to Amazon to put a review for your book but they’re going to still buy your book. This step includes creating a freebie to offer to your readers - maybe a short story that leads into your book universe.Step four - once you’ve made edits from the review group do you want to send it to an editor. Step five - while it’s at the Editor...Find show notes on my website at https://womensthrillerwriters.com/blog-2/

Recently the Independent Book Publishers Association released new guidelines that define a hybrid publisher. This is in an attempt to keep vanity publishers or those companies that are really just help you self-publish from calling themselves a hybrid publisher.Define a mission and vision for its publishing program.I’m going to use my company as an example here - The mission at Plot Duckies Publishing is to empower women of all ages through great role models in stories. Our vision is to publish underrepresented authors in their works with strong female characters. You can tell that by having a mission and a vision, that the company has a specific focus and that I’m not looking for every kind of book or every kind of writer. Plus, I think it’s important that you find a publisher that connect with you as a writer.2. Vet submissions. Hybrid publishing company is not going to take just any book. They’re going to look at if you are going to fit their mission and their vision. But then we’re also looking at if the book is finished. In my case, it needs to be finished, and I don’t look at books unless they’ve been through a review group and edited. 3. Commit to.. Find show notes on my website at https://womensthrillerwriters.com/blog-2/

Inspiration for most of my characters comes from real life, and as I’ve mentioned before I keep a notebook and it has a section for characters. Anytime I come up with an idea for a character I write it in the notebook. I especially add in strong personalities, unusual behaviors, and weird tics. Things that will help a character stand out.Now, award-winning author Katy Hammel had this to share with me about coming up with  characters.“Listen to the voices around you. Strike up conversations with strangers. I once sat on a courtroom bench and talked with a man who had been convicted of the arson deaths of his wife and child. He won a new trial. If you're not as bold as all that, sign up for situations where others talk without you having to interrogate them: college tours, garden shows, the dog park. And, that reminds me...Find show notes on my website at https://womensthrillerwriters.com/blog-2/

Cheryl Cryer asked me to talk about what to do when you have too many writing ideas. Oh boy do I know the feeling. I have so many story ideas right now. So, hopefully these practical types for an unpractical problem will help.Make sure to write them all down (the organized notebook)Is there one idea calling to you more than the others? Then work on that one!What I’m doing - finishing book 4 of the Idol Maker Series because readers are waiting for it, then I’ll be working on a new stand alone novel because I’m most interested in that story....Find show notes on my website at https://womensthrillerwriters.com/blog-2/

How do you go about finding ideas for your stories?I’d say first, keep an open mind. We can be bombarded by ideas every day, all around us.From a snippet of a conversation on the train, to a piece of art you glimpse in a gallery.I was watching a documentary about the Amazon river when I had a spark of an idea for my first novel. I imagined what kind of ship could make it down the amazon and if it could, who would be on that ship?That simple idea sent me down the road of four novels.So for me, it’s taking something in the real world and mixing it up with characters and plot in a made up world.Looking around my living room I see all sorts of things that could be starting points for stories. A picture of my great grandfather holding a tuba in front of a circus tent, he was a band member for a traveling circus. Just think of the stories I could come up with for him. So look around at your old family photos and see if anything comes to mind. Look at art and think of the characters in the art, what might their story be if they really existed. ..Find show notes on my website at https://womensthrillerwriters.com/blog-2/

Recently, I was on a book marketing panel at Killer Nashville , and I wanted to share with the audience some quick tips. So I was thinking about the most important things to sell a book. Besides having a great story and cover.And I wanted to share that with you.Number one is having ARC readers. Those are readers that get an advanced copy of your book. You give it to them in the hopes that they will leave you a review and even better, share about it on social media. If you haven’t published a book yet, and you want to help your sells, then getting a great list of ARC readers is your best bet. I only started doing that with my third novel and it definitely made a difference. On the marketing panel with at Killer Nashville was Kiersten Modglin who writes one off books and part of her success...Find show notes on my website at https://womensthrillerwriters.com/blog-2/

Some creatives, like me, can find it a challenge to stay organized. But I’ve found that being organized makes for a much better and less stressful situation when you have a lot to do and you don’t have to go searching for what you need.Miriam Ortiz y Pino, a simplicity expert and owner of More than organized shared this with me. “Organizing your space isn’t about stifling your creativity. It’s about putting enough flexible structure in place to support your work flow and your creativity. It’s the constraint that keeps things from going off the rails and keeps you supported and productive. Knowing where everything is eliminates frustration and quiets the mind enough to solve problems.” When I have clutter, it tends to give me more stress. I’ve done my best to keep back the clutter and have specific spaces for the things I have in my place...Find show notes on my website at https://womensthrillerwriters.com/blog-2/

Today I’m going to share with you the different types of publishing, and what to watch out for when you’re looking for a publisher. Traditional publishing - You’d start searching for agents, until you find one that fits your genre and is interested in representing your book. Then they would see if they can get one of the big 4 to pick up your book. Then it might take the publishing company about a year to publish your book. If you’re comfortable waiting to get your book published, then this is certainly an avenue to pursue. You’d want to start researching agents, and make sure you’re sending your information to the right agents. I think a misconception with traditional publishing is that people think they help market, and they do a little bit, but the truth is that the best marketing comes from the author themselves. So you don’t see a lot coming from publishing companies.Self publishing, which as a self-published author, obviously I’m partial to. Self publishing is taking your book, doing the work that a traditional publisher would do, like editing, picking out a book cover, formatting, and publishing it to the various platforms...Find show notes on my website at https://womensthrillerwriters.com/blog-2/

I don’t want you to regret not writing that story.  but I’ve seen it too many times when someone I meet tells me that they regret not sitting down to write a story. And it could have been either they were waiting for that perfect moment or maybe they were waiting for retirement. Neither is a good idea.Or maybe they just found there were hurdles in their lives and didn’t do the work to get around them.But writing is a process and it takes time. Many of those people I’ve met decided to wait until they were retired to start writing. Now, let’s say you make to retirement age. Who’s to say you’ll be healthy enough to work at a computer and spend your days typing. Or maybe that story that you wanted to write has slipped away and you don’t remember it anymore...Find show notes on my website at https://womensthrillerwriters.com/blog-2/

Tools for writersI’m going to share with you all the tools that I use for writing and publishing.Let’s start out with what to do with all those ideas you have. I’ve tried many ways but the best I’ve found is an old fashioned notebook. And yes, once upon a time I had a stack of notebooks with all sorts of ideas, but I’d never know where certain ideas were. So I got a little organized and it’s definitely helped me.What I do is I put tabs throughout my notebook. For example, my tabs on my notebook are Sci-fi, thriller, humorous, mystery, characters, next novel. So these are genres that I write in.If you’re like me you probably have a nice stack of clean, unused notebooks. Pick one out, put some tabs in it, mark them with the genres you write in, and start using it...Find show notes on my website at https://womensthrillerwriters.com/blog-2/

When you get into the business of writing, you might think that your fellow authors are your competition, but the truth is they are really an opportunity to grow your business and make some new friends.Unless you’re a big name, when you have a book signing, it generally brings your own friends and family. If you combine forces with others, including other authors, you can bring in a bigger crowd and you can get some cross interest in your books.If you have an email list, which if you don’t have one yet then you should really start one, then you can find other other authors to do a newsletter exchange. Basically, sharing to your audience a similar author that they might enjoy...Find show notes on my website at https://womensthrillerwriters.com/blog-2/

At one time self publishing was considered the last ditch effort for those unfortunate souls not able to get a traditional publishing deal. But that’s not the case anymore. Self publishing is for authors who want to take charge of their own process.Not only that but for women and other marginalized individuals who’ve hit roadblocks in traditional publishing, self-publishing Is an asset.Speaking of roadblocks, when I tried to publish my book in 2014 I had agents say no one would ever buy an adventure book with a main female character. Guest what, they were wrong. Find show notes on my website at https://womensthrillerwriters.com/blog-2/

A review group (also known as a critique group) is a group of writers who will give you honest feedback on your story or novel so that you can fix your mistakes. Let’s be honest, you know your story inside and out, but if a reader doesn’t understand it, you’ve missed your mark. That’s where a review group shines.And, a review group should get a look at your book, after you’ve made it as clean as possible but before you give it to your editor and definitely before you publish. I know that I’ve learned more about being a better writer from a review group than any creative writing class...Find show notes on my website at https://womensthrillerwriters.com/blog-2/

Writing a novel can be a daunting task. It can be even made harder by the people around us, or by how we work on it. So I’m going to get into all the ways to get that novel done. Let’s say you just have a nugget of an idea. Where do you start?From that point you have to figure out what kind of writer you are. If you need an outline to follow your story or do you prefer to just start writing. For either of those you need to set time side to try out each possibility. (Pantsers vs planners)Find show notes on my website at https://womensthrillerwriters.com/blog-2/