Welcome back to Alchemy for Authors!
In this week’s episode I interview author and Book Marketing Coach, Heidi McIntyre about her debut novel Sea Magic and tips and tricks for marketing your book. Some topics we discuss include:
- How marketing produce helped Heidi start her writing career.
- How to balance writing with marketing.
- Seven common mistakes authors make when launching a book.
- How to narrow down your target audience and get clear on your ideal customer avatar.
- The mindset shift you need to make when starting an author career.
- Why Heidi opted for Indie Publishing over Traditional Publishing.
- The benefits to starting &/or being a part of an author support group.
If you’re looking at upping your marketing game, this episode will get you inspired with how to start!
Visit Heidi’s website here: https://heidimcintyre.com/
Grab your copy of the 7 Mistakes Indie Authors Make When Launching A Book here: https://heidimcintyre.com/free-guide/
Check out Heidi’s novel Sea Magic here.
Follow Heidi on Instagram here.
Follow Heidi on Facebook here.
Resources mentioned in this episode:
- Jessie Cunniffe’s Book Blurb Magic Course (Use the coupon code ALCHEMY to get 10% off)
- Jessie Cunniffe’s 1:1 Blurb Audit (Use the coupon code ALCHEMY to get 10% off)
- Jessie Cunniffe’s Spicy Blurb Playbook (Use the coupon code ALCHEMY to get 10% off)
- Jessie Cunniffe’s Custom Book Blurbs (Use the coupon code ALCHEMY to get 10% off)
Please note: I am an affiliate for Publisher Rocket and Jessie’s Book Blurb Magic products. I use these products myself and highly recommend them. When you purchase via my affiliate links, I make a small commission that helps support the show.
If you enjoyed this episode please subscribe, rate and review. You can also support the show by buying me a coffee at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/jobuer. Your support helps me keep this podcast going and is greatly appreciated.
If you have a question you would like answered on the show, or a topic suggestion for a future episode, leave a voice message here: https://www.speakpipe.com/AlchemyForAuthors
Follow me on Instagram: @alchemyforauthors and @jobuerauthor.
Join my Alchemy for Authors newsletter and download your FREE copy of Manifestation for Authors here.
If you enjoy Gothic Suspense, you can join my reader’s newsletter and download a FREE copy of my short story collection, Between the Shadows, here. You can find all my books at https://jobuer.com or visit https://Books2Read.com/JoBuer for links to your favourite store.
Find the full transcript of this episode below.
Episode 84: Book Marketing with Heidi McIntyre
Jo: Hello, hello. Thank you for joining me for another episode of Alchemy for Authors. I am so excited to have you join me. I have a wonderful guest on today, who is talking all about book marketing. Marketing is always one of those things that most authors either love or loathe. So I am hoping that if you are one of the people who does not love marketing, then today’s episode might, if not have you change your mind, let you feel just a little bit more confident going forward.
So I am going to be chatting with Heidi McIntyre today, and we’re going to be discussing things like how marketing produce, fruits and veggies, people, helped Heidi start her writing career. How she balances writing with marketing. That is something that I know we all struggle with, myself included. Heidi is going to share the seven most common mistakes that authors make when launching a book and why we should be thinking of marketing as a long game, not a sprint. We’re also going to spend some time talking about how you can narrow down your audience and get really clear on who your ideal customer avatar is, who your target reader is. And I’m really excited for this because Heidi shared some insights that I hadn’t thought of myself, but makes such excellent sense. And I will be putting them into use myself. I’m looking forward to that. Heidi is also going to talk about the mindset shift that she had to undergo to transition into being an author, why she chose Indie publishing over Traditional publishing, and she’s going to talk about the benefits to starting and or being a part of an author support group. So we cover a lot of things in this episode that I hope is going to be really valuable for you.
On a personal note, I am having a short little break from the day job at the moment and I feel a bit bad saying this, but I’m really enjoying it. It has felt like it has been a long time since I’ve had any downtime this year. And so I’m really enjoying getting back into writing and learning because, you know, I am a big learner on my StrengthsFinder, and I’m listening to lots of podcasts at the moment. I’ve signed up for the digital version of Inkers Con. And I’m just like marinating in all the goodness of information out there on the writing life right now and am thoroughly enjoying it. I’m catching up on emails and just things I have not been able to get to because of the craziness of my day job. So I have been, yeah, just really enjoying myself, having lots of downtime, watching a bit of Netflix, doing some artsy things that I haven’t really done for a while. And yeah, so if you are finding that you are feeling a little bit burnt out, then I am going to redirect you back to listening to the Alchemy for Authors Minisode 4, where I talk about the importance of rest. Because if the last week has taught me anything, it’s been that reminder again, that rest is so important and really helps to fill that creative well and makes us more productive as well.
Unfortunately, I only have a couple more days before I’ve got to get back into prepping for the day job and getting ready to go back. But I am going to see if I can take some of the rest and goodness that I’ve had over the last week with me as I transition back into the day job. And see where I can maybe pull back a little bit more of my time because I’m getting a little bit antsy here to get back into really going all in with my writing and publishing. So I’m going to be looking at ways that I can devote a little bit more time and energy and creativity to those things that bring me joy. So I hope you are considering doing the same.
Just quickly in today’s episode, some of the things that Heidi will be talking about are some of the things that helps her to market a book such as having an awesome book blurb. We know this. And also using the Kindlepreneur software of Publisher Rocket. So, I have in the show notes affiliate links to Publisher Rocket as well as. Jesse Cunniffe who’s been on the show before and her Book Blurb Magic. I really love her Book Blurb Magic program, and it’s what I have used for my last book or so. And I just highly, highly recommend it. And if you check out any of Jesse’s offerings for writing book blurbs, if it’s something that you have difficulty with, or struggle with a little bit, then you can also use the coupon code ALCHEMY at the checkout and that will get you 10% off a lot of her offers. So I highly recommend that. But all those details will be in the show notes. And yes, they are affiliate links. They don’t cost you anything more to use my links. But what they do is they give me a little bit of a kickback that helps support this show and that is always appreciated. So you don’t have to use my links, but you have all my gratitude in the world if you do.
Anyway, it is time to get on with the show, my friend. So when you are ready, grab a drink, find a comfy chair, sit back and enjoy the show.
Hello, my lovelies. Welcome back to another episode of Alchemy for Authors. In today’s episode, I’m chatting with author and book marketing coach, Heidi McIntyre.
Always an avid reader, Heidi was inspired to write by her college professor who convinced her to switch majors to English. From then on, she harboured a secret wish to write a novel one day. Heidi spent most of her marketing career as a consultant specializing in fresh produce where she worked with a variety of growers, commodity boards, and associations. She currently enjoys working with authors as a book marketing coach. Sea Magic is her debut novel in the first of the Hidden Gems series, which was also a finalist in the 2022 Page Turner Awards.
Originally from New Jersey, Heidi lives in Florida with her husband, Tim, and their dogs, Pumpkin and Lizzie. She loves coffee, chocolate, yoga, and visiting historical places. So, welcome to the show, Heidi. I’m so excited to have you here.
Heidi: I’m glad to be here.
Jo: So, I love that you love chocolate too. As I’m reading that, I’m like, Oh, yep. I love that. Chocolate, visiting historical places. That’s me too.
Heidi: Yeah. Chocolate is an addiction and history is a passion for me.
Jo: Yeah. Me too. And I can see that come through in your book that I’ve just started reading. So that’s really exciting. So I would love if we could start with you just sharing a little bit of your background and how your writing journey began and how you came to be a book marketing coach.
Heidi: Okay, cool. Well, like you mentioned in my bio, I was an English major in college and I always aspired to be an author one day. I really wanted to write a book and I felt really passionate about that in college. But when I graduated, I went right into marketing. And I loved working in marketing as a field. And over time I switched over to produce marketing and I really enjoyed working with growers, shippers and commodity boards and associations. It was a really unique experience for me to really help them market their fresh produce, healthy items to supermarket retailers or food service outlets and things like that.
But there came a point in my life, it was about, I was in my mid-forties. It was about in 2012 when I started to feel like something was missing. You know, and I couldn’t figure out what it was. I hadn’t thought about my previous experiences in college or my experiences in writing before then. And it really bothered me.
And so about a year later, I began working with another marketing consultant, and we started to collaborate to the point where we decided to team up and form an agency. And I thought, this is great. This is what’s been missing. This is what I’m going to do. And a year into our collaboration, we had started our agency. Things were going really well. We were already hiring people, employees, and getting all set up. And I realized, oh my God, that’s not what’s missing. It’s something else. And I went through this whole experience. I was at a produce convention, a regional produce convention in the southeast, and I stayed up all night long, tossing and turning, trying to figure out what is it.
And I thought, maybe I need to look at writing again, because I remembered how passionate I was about that when I was in college. And I just had this epiphany, like, I want to write a book. And so right away I began doing some research. It was a historical romance. I decided not to publish that book. It’s still in my drawer. It was the book that I cut my teeth on and I learned a lot from. But right from the very beginning, it was exciting and new and challenging for me.
I remember going to the library doing all this historical research and I was so excited. It was like this door had opened from deep inside of myself and something began to blossom that maybe I had tamped down or kept hidden. I became more of an executive and less of a creative in my life and that really felt like the missing link. And so over time, and it took about 10 years before I switched completely out of working in marketing into writing and then doing coaching. But in that time period I wrote a book and I started my second book. And when I started to write paranormal women’s fiction, I realized that this is really who I want to be. This is my identity as an author. And eventually I took the leap of faith and went out on my own. And I’ve never looked back. I really love it. And the funny part was, I’ve always told other people throughout my career that at some point I’m going to switch careers and the marketing will help me do that, and this was it.
Jo: That is really cool. I just love that idea. Because I think we all have that moment in our life where we’re questioning if we’re on the right path or if we should be doing something different. And I think many of us push that down and tend to ignore that, and not get curious about that. But you did get curious about that.
Heidi: And it took me years because I was so invested in what I was doing and I had an agency, I had employees and all of this. So it took me a while, but eventually I just knew that you sort of have to honour that calling, the inner calling and it made me happy again.
Jo: Yeah. Yeah. There’s something to be said for that when you can find that thing that really makes you happy. So that’s fantastic. So how has your background in marketing, how has that helped you with your books? And now you’re doing book marketing, so it obviously has helped you, but what was that like transitioning into writing and also helping other authors?
Heidi: Yeah, those 10 years when I was working on my first book and then really kind of looking at where I was as an author, I also did a lot of research into the publishing industry. I wanted to understand the publishing business because I knew that eventually that’s where I would land or end up. And so I went, I joined the local Romance Writers Association chapter here in Orlando. I went to a bunch of, um, a lot of meetings, I went to their national convention. I started doing a lot of research. And so when I was ready to publish my first book, and then over time, I took classes and did other stuff, I really felt like I knew and understood the industry in a deeper way. I spent a lot of time and energy looking into that.
And so, so it was easy for me to switch over from produce marketing to book marketing. There’s a lot of similarities. For example, in produce we worked with influencers and bloggers and things like that, you know, it’s a commodity and, you know. So there was a lot of things that sort of crossed over with marketing, so it was very easy for me to make the transition. And because I love marketing, I really invested a lot into marketing my book. To the point where I also had to remember that I needed to continue writing book two, because all my time marketing and been very happy with it. But I had to commit to also writing the second book in the series.
Jo: Yeah. So how did you find that balance then? Because I know for me, I tend to go all in, in one area, whether like if I’m writing, then I’m just writing, or if I’m marketing, then the writing’s pushed well aside. So how did you find that balance?
Heidi: Well, I had to really look at my time and how I build out my time. And at first I tried to do a half day writing and then a half day marketing in the same day. And I realized it was just too much of a switch going from, I called it like the creative to the executive. And so what I did was I did it every other day where I would fully write one day and the next day I would do marketing and do my administration and my publishing stuff. And then the next day I would do a full day of writing. And that really helped me strike a good balance. And I recommend to my clients, when they look at how much time they should spend marketing, I think in this marketplace, which is saturated right now where there’s so many books out there, it’s more important than ever to really put yourself out there and market your book. So I recommend they spend at least 30 percent of their time, you know, marketing their book in addition to the writing and you just have to figure out how to create that balance in your schedule.
Jo: I like that 30 percent time, that’s kind of cool. I like those stats that you can kind of start from and then work out from. So that’s really cool. So you had mentioned, I think in your emails and on your website and that, that there are about seven common mistakes that authors make when they’re marketing their book. Can you talk about some of those mistakes and things that we could do instead?
Heidi: Yeah, and this is also around the book launch. So this is the mistakes I see in my clients after they launch their book, or they’re getting ready to launch their books. So in the beginning, we talk about, you know, making sure that they get down to the basics, making sure their book is well edited, making sure their cover is good and professional, and it’s on point with their genre. I think that’s the really the basic fundamental point about that, especially in this marketplace. Readers want to read a book that has good quality. They don’t want to see a lot of proofreading errors and other stuff, and they’re going to be attracted to a cover that reflects their genre and that looks professional.
But I also see a lot of issues with their book sales page, their Amazon page, for example. I think it’s again more critical that authors have a killer blurb, that they invest a lot of time in their energy and working on the blurb. And the blurb is not a synopsis of your novel. It’s not a long form detail of the step-by-step points in the novel. It’s really sales copy oriented. So I really work with them to refine their blurb and get it to the point where a reader will click on it and buy the book. And then there’s important things on the sales page that they need to pay attention to. Categories and keywords are critical. I use Publishers Rocket and I work with my clients on Publishers Rocket to get to really hone in on those things.
We also work together on making sure that when they put, you know, quotes from other authors on their sales page that they’re not putting 3 paragraphs of quotes. That it’s really a short, punchy line, you know. And that readers can easily digest it without having to wade through a lot of paragraphs of information.
I also really emphasise with them on how to really understand and learn who your target audience is. And I can speak more to that as well. And also getting early reviews is, I think, really important. Having your advanced reader copies out there before your book launches. I think it’s kind of like the wind beneath the book’s wings. It gets more attention early on. And then relying on more than just in person events. I see a lot of authors set up in person events, but don’t do much more than that. I think it’s really important to do a lot of digital marketing where you reach a much larger audience, in addition to doing in person events and other activities.
And then don’t limit your marketing to the first 30 days of the launch, which I see a lot of people do, then they stop completely. I see it marketing as a long game. It’s not a sprint. And that first year, at the end of my first year, my sales were much bigger than my first month. I began to really create momentum and each month I sold more and more books. So it wasn’t a month long program for me. It was a yearlong experience, and I saw it build and grow from there.
So those are some of the mistakes. I think people make and some of the things I think are important to keep in mind.
Jo: Yeah, I really like it. Thank you for sharing that. The target audience that you were talking about. So how do we narrow down who our target audience is?
Heidi: There’s a couple of key ways to do that. Things like social media sites are a great way to hone in on the target audience. Sites like Goodreads or Facebook and Instagram is a really good place to start. I tell authors to look for books that are similar to yours with the same genre or niche. And then if you have, if you find a comparable author that has a reader group on Facebook, for example, join it and learn from the readers who are posting. Also, things like general readers groups that are in your genre are good. Instagram book clubs, Facebook reader groups are good. Look at the readers and what they’re saying, look who they are and really study them and find out what engages them as well. I think those are really key to really learning who your target audience is. For me, personally, I use Goodreads to find my audience. And what I did is I studied the reviews on the books that were very similar to mine on Goodreads, and then I researched the reviewers’ profiles so I could gain insights to things like their gender, their age, their interest. And that helped me identify two separate audiences for my novel.
So I had an older audience and I even created a profile for it where I named my older audience Dawn. It was around the age 60, the average age was 60 in that audience. And I kind of profiled what the interests were and what the hobbies were and things like that. So, just from looking at all these different Goodreads profiles. But I found a secondary audience, which I named Ashley, that was more of a millennial 35 average age, 35 audience, and I looked at their profile as well. And so, when it came to really looking at my marketing and what platforms or channels I wanted to focus on, I made sure I had platforms where it was perfect for an older audience, like doing a lot on Facebook, for example, but also doing tours on Instagram and other platforms that reach a younger audience. So it became a nice blend. And then, when I started to do Facebook advertising, it was very clear that over time, I started to see that my books were attracting both those two main audiences. So that was really validating for me.
Jo: I really like that. I like how you went in depth with creating that ideal customer avatar. I think that’s really important. And yeah, and I hadn’t thought of using Goodreads or something to do that, but it makes perfect sense. So yeah.
Heidi: Yeah, I think a lot of authors review Goodreads with trepidation, you know, you get some tough reviewers there. But it’s also a great place to mine information and to do research from. And these are like your most avid readers are on Goodreads, so you can really learn a lot from them.
Jo: I really like that. Like that’s something that I’m going to definitely look into a little bit more with my books. I’m excited to do that. That’s cool. So if somebody was booking a coaching session with you, what would just a general basic book marketing session look like?
Heidi: Well, what I like to do is I like to start with a survey. So I’ll have them fill out a survey so I can get to know who they are, what their strengths are and what they’re looking to do, what their goals are. And then we’ll do like a, what I call a free session where we’ll get to know each other, make sure it’s the right fit. And I can learn about what they’re struggling with or what their interests are and what they’re trying to achieve. And then I can recommend a program or a planning program from there. So, sometimes it’s helping them to develop a marketing plan. Other times, it’s helping them to get the basics down and prepare for their book launch. I work now with a lot of clients on their Facebook advertising and things like that. So I provide like a range of services, but it’s always customized to the needs of the client and what they’re trying to achieve.
Jo: I like that. That’s really great. And we’ll make sure too, that we’ve got all the details in the show notes at the end of this episode as well, so that people can connect with you with that. So it’ll be cool. Yeah. So I’m wondering, your author career really took off later in life. Like, you went and you did other life things and the produce marketing and everything like that. Was there a bit of a mindset shift that you had to undertake to move into the world of writing and publishing?
Heidi: Yeah, it was huge. It definitely was huge. I had to really look at where am I going? What is my plan? What am I going to do? How will this work out? So I had to sort of open up my mind and say, there is another avenue here. I don’t have to stay in a career that’s not… that I enjoy, but it’s not really who I am anymore. I think I outgrew my marketing career. And so I had to sort of step into a new identity and that identity shift took a little bit of time. It took a full year after I retired from the marketing career, the produce marketing career. I called it a detox, where I had to detox from my identity as the marketing executive and really embrace the role of creative writer and that my lifestyle changed. I wasn’t traveling all the time. I didn’t have employees and tons of stress. So I had to really embrace a new lifestyle. So I think it was really stepping into it. And I really believe that mindset is critical in anything you do, but especially when it comes to writing. So I really had to learn to embrace a new mindset and step into a new identity. And it took me a little while. People would ask me in the beginning, what do you do? And I would want to say, I work in marketing, no, I’m a writer. And so eventually now I feel comfortable saying I’m a writer, an author, and I also do marketing. But in the beginning, that was a leap for me to do that.
Jo: Yeah. I find for, I think a lot of us, that’s a real leap getting to the point where we’re comfortable enough to say that we are a writer or that we are an author. And that comes for different times for different people. But I know I really, I had to keep saying it and force myself to say it until I felt it. Because if I was just going to wait until I felt like I was an author or a writer, I’d probably never say that. So yeah, I had to really reverse engineer and make sure that I was saying it before I believed it.
Heidi: Yeah, and that was true for me. About a year and a half before I launched my first book, I created my website and it was like, if you built it, it will come, kind of philosophy. Like I had to plant, you know, put that plant in the ground and say, I’m planting this flag. This is what I’m creating. This is who I want to be. And that was really important for me to put out my brand and my image and really, you know, get that started early on in the process. So I could begin to embrace that new mindset over time.
And I was used to marketing other people and helping them with their brands. And so I had to figure out who am I? I was the one behind the scenes, not in front of the camera. And so I really had to like hone in on what is my brand? What do I stand for? Who am I as a writer? And that took some time and energy.
Jo: Yeah, for sure. But I like that you did that. I like that you got yourself set up as to how you wanted to progress. I did something similar with that. I think I started my website and my newsletter well before I’d written my very first novel. But it was with the intention that there was going to be a novel, and yeah. And so there’s a little bit of accountability that we have to hold ourselves to there as well, I think when we’re telling an audience or we’re telling a readership that we’re going to be writing books, well, we have to, at some point, actually write those books.
Heidi: Exactly. If you’re going to invest time and energy, then it sort of, you know, pushes you to really get that book done and get that book out there.
Jo: Yeah, absolutely. So what was your biggest challenge then with writing your first book?
Heidi: I think the biggest challenge was I really wanted to know for sure that this was who I was and what I wanted to do. So I just sat down, I did some research and I sat down and I did a very rough outline and I just started writing immediately. Because I didn’t want to get to the end of the book and go, Oh, this is not me. So I didn’t invest in classes, which I probably should have looking back on it, or read other books about writing. I was just like, let’s just get it done. Let’s see if I can do it. And then if not, I’ll look at plan B to figure out what I want to do. So I spent a ton of time editing that book and then a lot of time going back and working with an editor and then really kind of creating a real outline and then figuring out how to write a book. And so, it took me about 4 to 5 years altogether, I think 2 years to write and 3 years to edit and then it ended up in the drawer, but it was a great, huge learning experience for me.
Jo: So you’ve got a new book now. So Sea Magic came out beginning of last year, I think. And I’ve just started reading it. I’ve been reading it for the last couple of days, but I’m a bit of a slow reader. I don’t have a lot of time in my schedule, but I’m really enjoying it. Can you talk a little bit about Sea Magic and your process for writing that as well?
Heidi: Yeah. And what was great about this book was I learned from the previous one. So I really spent a lot more time prepping my outline and I did a lot of work on character development, which really helped me. But Sea Magic is about Madeline. She owns an antique shop on the coast of New England, and she has these psychic abilities where she can touch a vintage or an antique object and feel the essence of the previous owner. And so she goes to an estate, but she’s in denial of those abilities. And she goes to an estate sale with her hippie aunt. And they find this box that’s hidden in the far corner of a bookshelf, and it’s got these old coins and a ring in it. So she buys it really cheap because they don’t really know at the sale what it is. And then she takes it home, and that night she starts dreaming about a woman from the early 18th century. And her name is Maria. And from then on, it’s a dual point of view between Madeline and Maria. And then over time as Madeleine keeps having these nightly dreams about Maria, she begins to lose it, because she’s trying to figure out what is going on in her life. And then her friend introduces her to a good-looking history professor who agrees to trace the items in the box. And they trace back to an actual real-life shipwreck. And Maria was actually, Maria Hallett was actually a real person who lived in that time period. So it’s really about Madeline’s relationship with Evan, the history professor, and Maria, who was engaged to one of the most notorious pirates in US history. So it’s her relationship with Black Sam Bellamy. So that’s kind of how it goes back and forth.
Jo: Yeah, it’s so much fun. I love books that blend history with the supernatural or a little bit of magic and something like that. And even in the, very, very early on in one of the, maybe the opening chapter or something, there’s a little bit of a hint of, Oh, was it a mermaid that young Madeline saw, or something like that anyway. So, you know, so there’s, yeah, there’s some real fun in this book that I’m really enjoying. So I’m looking forward to finishing it. But this is book one in a series, correct?
Heidi: Yes. Yeah. It’s kind of like the Ghost Whisper. In every book Madeline will have an object that will come into her antique shop, and then she has to solve the mystery surrounding that object. So the second book is called Dark River Magic. And I’m about 60,000 words into it. My plan is to finish it at the end of this summer and start the editing process and put that out next year. And so I’ve been busy working on that. And so every book after that will be another paranormal mystery based around her antique store.
Jo: Oh, I love that. And because I loved Ghost Whisperer too when I was growing up. So like, this is, yeah, this is just perfect with the antique store and the history embedded into the story and everything too. So how has Dark River Magic been different, like the writing process and everything? How’s that been different? Or has it been different at all from writing Sea Magic?
Heidi: It has been, yeah, every book it’s like has its own unique imprint and its own unique identity. And with Sea Magic, it was really about Madeline learning how to embrace her psychic abilities. And by the end of the book, she really learns to do that, and she decides she wants to use them to help other people. Whereas Dark River Magic starts with a paranormal mystery and she’s there ready to solve it. She’s accepted who she is and she’s ready to start working on it. Although she is a little bit resistant because she thinks helping people is giving psychic readings out of her shop instead of solving psychic mysteries. And so that’s a little bit of a resistance there that she still has to overcome in the novel, which is kind of funny. But she’s able to do that. And so that’s what really begins her second career as both an antique shop owner and then helping the people in her community or the people that come into her store solve paranormal issues that they’re facing. So it’s kind of fun.
Jo: Yeah. So much fun. Has the process been easier this time round or have you met other challenges with writing it?
Heidi: I’d love to say, Oh, it’s so much easier. I think every author would love that. But there’s, to me, every book is like climbing a mountain, and so with this book, it was a little bit different. I still spend a lot of time working on the outline and the character development, but I do a very loose outline, because I know as I start writing, it’s going to go off the rails, and so I don’t try to stick to a heavy-duty outline of my book. I do it sort of step-by-step. But I have a new character that comes in, and her name is Sparrow, and she’s from New Orleans, and she ends up in Penbroke, which is my fictional town off the coast of New England. And I had her outline perfectly planned. I knew her to a tee, I figured out who she was, and then I started writing, and it completely, it was like this resistance from her. And it sounds kind of woo woo, but she was like, uh, this is not me. That’s not who I am. And I’m like, no, I planned you. You’re supposed to, these are supposed to be your strengths and your weaknesses. And so I had to go back and really look at her and redevelop her character in a way that worked for her as a character. And so sometimes characters go with the flow and other times they don’t. And it’s sort of like I had to get beyond those mental blocks and say, okay, cause always, I think when that happens, it deepens the novel. It makes it more significant and it makes it better, but you just have to get over your preconceived notions of this is how I planned it. What the hell?
Jo: Absolutely. And that’s so fun though. Like, I absolutely love that moment where the characters kind of rebel against what you want them to do or who you want them to be. And I think that’s part of the fun and the excitement of writing because even the best plan doesn’t usually turn out how you’re expecting it to. The characters like to drive the show. Just a little bit. So yeah, that’s fun. That’s really fun. So it looks like you’ve gone the Indie Publishing route. Can you talk a little bit about, about that and what that’s been like for you and why you chose Indie Publishing?
Heidi: Well, from the beginning, I knew if I was going to invest so much time and energy writing my book and marketing my book, that I wanted to own the rights to it. And I wanted to own my brand and I wanted to be able to direct my marketing. So I knew early on that that was my path. I didn’t really spend any time like pitching it to agents or anything like that. I was just ready to do it and get started. And I’m really glad I did because it’s given me a lot more versatility. I was able to do a lot more with the marketing, especially with the pricing and how I wanted to promote it and where I wanted to promote the book. That really helped me a lot. So I just felt like for me, that was the better path. And I noticed in ALLi, they had a survey out this past year that said that now today, because I think people have this notion that Indie authors couldn’t get their book published and they had no other choice but to publish it themselves. And in the ALLi survey, it actually said the opposite, that most Indie authors today choose that path early on. So that also was very validating for me as well.
Jo: Yeah. I think that’s fantastic. I was the same. I knew right from day one that I wasn’t going to spend any time putting it to traditional publishers, I didn’t want to do that. I’m too much of a control freak. I wanted all the control over it and to grow it as my own business, writing my books and publishing them. And I’d had like short stories and that published, kind of traditionally like just in anthologies and things like that, but it just wasn’t, yeah, I had no intention and I still don’t. I have zero interest in actually being traditionally published. And that might change one day, but I’m just enjoying this too much and yeah, just the learning curve because the industry’s changing all the time, and you have to have your finger in so many different kinds of pies and know so many different, you know, aspects of the industry and that, that I actually find that really challenging, but exciting as well.
Heidi: It is. I feel the same way. I think the hardest part for me was the publishing process, really learning that and all the little things you had to do. And how to publish a book and where, what were the right platforms and what were all, there were so many choices to make. But it’s also a great, huge learning experience for people, so. And you really understand you’re not just a writer and a marketer, but you are the publisher too. You have like three separate identities.
Jo: Yeah, exactly. And the success of your books really at the end of the day comes down to you, then. So you’ve got a little bit more control of how your books are going to sell by doing the things that you’ve already mentioned with your finding your target audience, and doing that research and deep diving into what methods work and what don’t, and promoting your book. And I know you’ve got to do a bit of that with traditional, anyway, but this just gives you so much more autonomy really to create the author life and the success that you want.
Heidi: Yeah. And I’ve talked to many authors who are traditionally published and they spend just as much time on their marketing as I do because they understand that they have to do that. They can’t rely on the publisher to do everything like they did in years and years ago, that they have to do a lot of the heavy lifting themselves. There’s no easy out when it comes to marketing. Either way you have to step into that role.
Jo: Yeah, absolutely. But I think retaining your rights, to your work. I think, you know, why wouldn’t you want to do that?
Heidi: Yeah. You own your brand. You are your brand and you own it. And that’s important.
Jo: Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Oh, that’s cool. So what is next for you? I know you’ve got this new book that you’re looking at and getting out next year, but anything else that you’re on to, starting to brainstorm book three, or what else do you have coming up?
Heidi: Yeah, as soon as this goes to the editor, that’s when I typically start brainstorming the next book. So I think this fall I’ll be working on brainstorming and getting ready for book three. I’d also like to do more group classes with my coaching business. There’s a lot of topics that I’m putting together that I could see where authors need help with. And so I’m just going to start offering some classes in addition to one-on-one sessions, because I like to be able to reach, you know, more authors in one sitting. And I have a limited number of time for the coaching. And so I kind of want to build that into the coaching business too. I really, really enjoy working with authors a lot, and seeing them and helping them become more successful is really satisfying for me. I think that was like one of the biggest things that I missed in being a consultant was those close relationships I had with my clients. I really love that. And we all know that being an author is a very singular business. And so it was really good for me to begin to have these great relationships with other authors and seeing them grow and learn and get inspired. So I love that.
Jo: That’s wonderful. And will you be doing those classes online or in person?
Heidi: I think I’ll be more on zoom. Yeah. Cause I have, you know, there’s authors who are all over, so it makes it easy for them to join in on a class.
Jo: Oh, that’s great. And I’m just remembering too, you’d mentioned, I think in one of your emails, that you started a women’s fiction author support group. Can you talk a little bit about that? Cause that sounds wonderful.
Heidi: Yeah. I started it about a year before I launched Sea Magic. I knew that there was so much to learn when it came to publishing that I wanted to get some support. And that the Women’s Fiction Writers Association had something similar, but they were all traditional authors and they didn’t allow Indie authors into their group. And I thought, well, this is a great idea. I’m going to start an Indie author group. And we started out with about 15 people. We’re now up to about 25 in our group. The intention is to keep it small, though. We want to kind of really get to know each other and build relationships.
But early on, I saw it as an opportunity to bring in guest speakers, which we did on a regular basis. And so we learned a lot from the guest speakers about all aspects of marketing and publishing. We help support each other’s book launch as well. So when a book launches, we’re all there to help that person. And we become the street team for each other. And then we also do joint promotions and other programs together. So it’s been a wonderful experience because we’ve come so far in the beginning. We were all getting ready to launch our first book. Now, some of us have launched four or five books. I’m still on book two. But I’m seeing all of us sort of grow and learn, and we get involved in different programs as we grow as an author.
In fact, this past year, we’ve really been honing in on author mindset. We’ve had both Claire Taylor, come, which was awesome. And Becca Syme did a Strengths thing with us. So, you know, as we become more established, we realized the importance of mindset and that’s something that you really have to continue with as you begin to grow in your career. So it’s been, it’s been a wonderful experience and I recommend that to anybody to really, you know, if you can establish a support group, it will go a long way in helping you.
Jo: Oh, I just love that idea. And of course I’m a huge fan of Becca Syme and Claire Taylor. Like just love them both. That’s awesome.
Heidi: They were great.
Jo: Yeah. So what’s your advice for somebody then who was thinking of starting a similar kind of group? Do you have any advice?
Heidi: Yeah, I went on to a, they had a Facebook page for the Indie Women’s Fiction Writers. And so, I went on there and I started asking people, Hey, I’m a debut author. I’m starting a debut group. Are you interested? And I got an immediate response. And so that would be a good place to start. Go on some author pages or author groups and begin to sort of announce and ask for if anybody’s interested. You’ll be surprised at the response you get. Cause it was great. And then I began to see it as a platform in itself. And so don’t feel shy about inviting guest speakers to come on. And in many cases, they were more than willing to join us and talk to us and then begin to learn how you can support each other in so many different ways.
Jo: Fantastic. Oh, that’s yeah, that’s just so cool. I love that. Yeah, I love that. That’s really awesome. So we have just covered so many different topics in this conversation, and I love that. How can people connect with you? How can they work with you? Where can they find your book?
Heidi: Yeah. My author site is https://heidimcintyre.com/. That’s H E I D I M C I N T Y R E. And then my coach page is on there. It’s just backslash “coach”. I’m also on Facebook and Instagram as well. And so that’s the place to go. And then I have a downloadable guide on the Seven Mistakes Indie Authors Make When Launching Your Book. So if you go to my coach page, you can download that guide as well.
Jo: Amazing. That’s so cool. And from what I have read so far, I am highly recommending that people go check out Sea Magic as well if they enjoy a little bit of paranormal woman’s fiction. I’m having lots of fun reading it. So yeah.
Heidi: I’m so glad.
Jo: Well, thank you so much Heidi for coming on the show. It’s been such a blast chatting with you.
Heidi: You too. I really enjoyed it. I really appreciate it. Thank you.
Jo: Here are some takeaways from today’s show:
1. Heidi’s suggestion is that in today’s marketplace, try and block 30% of your book business time for marketing.
2. If you want your book to sell, make sure you do the basics well. Have a professional cover on point with your genre and make sure your book is professionally edited.
3. Invest time and energy in creating a blurb that sells. My personal recommendation is to check out Jessie Cunniffe’s Book Blurb Magic. You’ll find discounts on her courses and services in the show notes.
4. Ensure you have a strong Amazon page with punchy author quotes and you’ve used targeted categories and keywords. Publisher Rocket is great for this. And you can find a link in the show notes.
5. Try to get early reviews ready for when your book launches by using the likes of advanced reader copies.
6. Use a mix of in-person events and digital marketing to grow your reader audience.
7. Extend your marketing efforts beyond the first 30 days of your book launch. Marketing is a long game.
8. Consider using Goodreads and social media to get really clear on your ideal customer avatar, i.e. your target audience, to inform the marketing strategies you use.
9. If you don’t have access to joining an author support group, consider starting your own.
So there we have it, my friend. I hope you got something juicy out of today’s episode, something that you can take away with you, put into action. I know I did. I’m going to be looking through my Goodreads reviews and reviews of other similar books to mine and seeing if I can really pinpoint who my ideal customer avatar is. I’ve got a good idea, but I just want to double check that I’m actually on the right track with that.
So as always, if you enjoyed today’s episode, please consider supporting the show. I say this every time, but it really does mean the world to me. It doesn’t have to cost anything, honestly, just by leaving a review or tagging me on Instagram or Facebook or anything like that. Sharing yourself listening to this podcast or telling a friend, all of that makes such a big difference to me keeping the show going and helps to reach new listeners as well, which I really, really appreciate. If you’re feeling super generous, you can make a donation through https://buymeacoffee.com/jobuer. That is really appreciated. I do spend quite a bit of money on putting each one of these episodes together, the software and the apps and that, that I use, um, the subscriptions and that, that I have to pay for. So that all does help me out and is really appreciated.
Another way is if you are looking at purchasing Publisher Rocket, because you don’t have it already, or if you’re needing a little bit of extra help with your book blurbs, using my affiliate links in the show notes just gives me a little bit of cash back, which again helps support this show and is so, so appreciated. So thank you.
On a final note, I am still reading Sea Magic by Heidi McEntire. And if you enjoy women’s fiction and you think this is something that might appeal to you, then go check it out on Amazon or go visit her website for more details. I’m enjoying it. I love these kinds of stories with a little bit of history and magic, and so you might find that you really enjoy it too. So go check that out.
Thank you again for listening, my friends. I hope you’ve enjoyed this episode. I hope you have an amazing week ahead. Keep in mind, like I mentioned in the intro, that if you’re feeling a little bit burnt out, if you’re feeling like your creative well is a little bit dry, make sure that you schedule in some rest for yourself. It really honestly does make a world of difference. So until next time, my friend, happy writing.
author mindset, Book Blurbs, Book Marketing, Indie Publishing, Marketing, Publisher Rocket, writing a book