Create If Writing
132 episodes - Afar - Latest episode: almost 3 years ago - ★★★★★ - 96 ratingsCreate If Writing is a weekly podcast for writers and bloggers dealing with authentic platform building online. You will hear from experts on list-building, connecting through Twitter, and how to utilize Facebook. But tools for building an audience would feel empty without a little inspiration, so these training episodes are balanced with inspirational interviews with writers who share their creative process, ups and downs, and how they have dealt with success or failure.
Kirsten Oliphant is a self-published author with an MFA in Fiction who has been blogging for 11 years and is in the top 20 of Houston's Social Media Power Influencers. She has spoken at Blog Elevated, Houston Social Media Breakfast, Adventure Con, Houston Business Advancement Conference, and Social Media Day Houston. She created the Free Email Course and loves to get nerdy about all things email list.
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Episodes
205 - The End of a Season
May 22, 2021 22:19 - 25 minutes - 23.3 MBIt's time for a new season in my creative journey. Which means a pause on the podcast. Find out why and what's next!
204 - How to Write a Bestseller
April 23, 2021 03:43 - 35 minutes - 33.1 MBI've covered a lot recently on author platform this year, but I almost never talk about craft. It's time! If I wanted to rename this post, instead of How to Write a Bestseller it could be called Write Good Books to Sell More Books or Sell More Books with Your Craft. At least, a little. I literally have a master's degree in fiction, but craft isn't my favorite thing to teach. Mostly because it's subjective. I do sometimes work with authors one on one regarding craft, but I find the focus on...
203- Instagram for Authors
April 09, 2021 04:26 - 34 minutes - 32 MBI've talked recently on social media for authors, but wanted to highlight a specific platform that I've been using more and seeing results from and discuss Instagram for authors. I think that most social media platforms have potential to work for you if you understand how they work and make it your goal to connect with the correct audience. (As opposed to authors who accidentally gather an audience of other authors, rather than fiction readers, by posting author-y stuff.) This year, I dove...
202 - Lessons Learned in Three Years as an Author
March 26, 2021 04:03 - 31 minutes - 29.2 MBThe first month I published a book in 2018, I made $115. Which totally excited me! People were reading my book! I wrote and published a book! But the goal was always a CAREER. I joked (but not really) about building an Emma Empire. Three years later, I made $26k in February 2021 and am slated to make over $20k this March. Want some takeaways? I've got 'em! For the full show notes, head to http://createifwriting.com/202
201 - Advertising for Authors
March 12, 2021 06:18 - 27 minutes - 25.5 MBAs a part of my series on what authors need to sell books, I've covered the overall author platform, email, social media, and blogging/content strategy. Which leads me into another piece of the puzzle: ads for authors. Let's first rewind a bit to talk about author platform. I defined it in my post as the way that authors connect with readers. And while ads aren't NORMALLY what someone might think of when it comes to platform, it absolutely is a way to connect with readers. It's simply ... ...
200 - What Should Authors Blog About? Content Strategy for Authors
February 26, 2021 04:39 - 26 minutes - 24.3 MBAs a part of my author platform series, we've talked about overall platform, newsletters for authors, social media for authors, and now I want to talk about what authors should blot (and video and podcast) about: aka, content strategy for authors. Authors often aren't so familiar with that term... and I think it's because often we create content without the strategy. Let's start using the term more because we should be intentional with the content we create. Let's talk about what authors...
199- Social Media for Authors
February 07, 2021 00:30 - 57 minutes - 53 MBSocial media is often a dreaded piece of the author platform. There are so many different places to be and to post ... not to mention WHAT to post. Then there's the matter of how to handle social media while also writing books. Never fear! Authors can handle social media. You don't have to be everywhere or post a million times a day. Megan Ericson, a social media strategist, joins me for a conversation on social media for authors. Get the full show notes here: http://createifwriting.com/...
198 - Creating an Author Newsletter
January 22, 2021 04:35 - 27 minutes - 25.4 MBI have long been a fan of email lists. I think I started mine in ... 2010? Long, long ago in a galaxy far, far away. That's how it feels, anyway. Mostly because I was growing a newsletter as a blogger. Now? I'm growing one (or several, actually) as an AUTHOR. Some principles are the same. Some are different. Let's dive in and take out some of the intimidating factor of what I still believe should be the cornerstone of your author platform. CREATING AN AUTHOR NEWSLETTER Why am I s...
197 - Author Platform in 2021
January 08, 2021 05:41 - 31 minutes - 29.3 MBLet's get real-- what do you need for an author platform in 2021? After a few years of selling fiction, I can tell you that it's less than you might think. Let's dive in! Author platform. Did you shudder when you read that? For some authors and creatives, the idea of building a platform to connect with an audience is daunting. Others might like it, but almost all would agree that it's easy to lose focus worrying about follower counts and other stats. FOR THE FULL EPISODE, HEAD TO HTTP:/...
196- A Tale of Two Launches
December 04, 2020 08:21 - 36 minutes - 33.9 MBTwo book launches, one month apart. Both alike in dignity, in fair Verona where we lay our scene. Oh, enough Shakespeare. Let's dive into the nitty gritty of two different launches I had this fall. Book launches don't just come in one size. That's something I've found in my own experience. AND in listening to other authors and watching launches. I'm always testing, always trying, and never think launches should go JUST one way. The takeaway from this post should NOT be: follow my launch...
195 - 2020 Updates Authors Need to Know
November 20, 2020 03:15 - 29 minutes - 27.6 MBFacebook Facebook SEEMS to have emerged from its crazy banning ad accounts time period. But maybe not. If your ads or account got banned, you weren't alone! Try to get through to their chat or on the phone with someone to get this fixed. They are finally shoving all people into the new Facebook look, which I hate, along with most other people. We'll forget old Facebook by next year. For now, we mourn. Amazon's KDP Publishing Series pages can now be managed right from your KDP dashboar...
194 - Why Isn't My Book Selling?
November 06, 2020 04:15 - 34 minutes - 32 MBThis is a question I hear and get a lot: Why isn't my book selling? In this post, we'll dive into a simple checklist to help you look at why your book isn't selling and how you can get those sales moving. Maybe you've been there. You put in the hard work and wrote a book. You carefully picked a cover and wrote a blurb and did all the things to push your baby book into the world. And... crickets. Or, at least, not the sales you hoped for. Let's look at some very simple reasons your...
193- Should You Publish Wide or Exclusive?
October 23, 2020 19:50 - 30 minutes - 28.5 MBWhen you're publishing your books, you have a big choice to make: Should you publish your book exclusively with Amazon or put your book up on all the retailers? We'll break down the options in this post to help you make the right choice for yourself. Are you wide? Or exclusive? Uh, I'm ... unsure? These terms (wide and exclusive) are often thrown about in author groups, and I get asked about them a lot. Since I have books published that are exclusive to Amazon and ones that are avai...
192- Big Book Launches or Low-Key Book Launches
October 09, 2020 03:21 - 24 minutes - 22.6 MBI've talked before about book launches and share a simple book launch framework. But I wanted to focus here on the tale of two launches: the big, splashy book launch and the low-key, chill book launch. But wait, isn't there just one way to launch a book? Go big or go home? No. I'm not really into one-size-fits-all for most things, and book launching is one of them. I'm going to go over some reasons why you might choose one over the other and end with some encouragement no matter which la...
191 - How to Plan Your Novel
September 25, 2020 05:18 - 31 minutes - 29.4 MBWe all have different ways of writing and planning. Learn to embrace what works for you! Pick up a free guide to help you plan: http://createifwriting.com/novelplanning
190- How to Choose a Book Cover
September 04, 2020 03:00 - 23 minutes - 22.1 MBIn a recent post, Nate Hoffelder shared four mistakes you might be making with your book covers. Because book covers are so important, I wanted to create a companion post on how to choose the right cover and give some recommendations. Why do we need to are about book covers? We're writers! Right. But if you want people to READ your words, you need to get them in the door. The book is the MAIN way to get them in the door. The blurb, cover, ads, and other things factor in, BUT the cover ...
189- How to Get the Most Out of Free and Paid Book Promos
August 21, 2020 03:25 - 30 minutes - 27.8 MBThis post is going to dive into how to get the most out of free book promotions or 99-cent sales (which will include KDP countdown deals). You'll walk away with a better idea of the strategy behind these kinds of promotions. Two of the tools used frequently by authors are free book promotions or 99-cent sales. If you're exclusive to Kindle by being in their Kindle Select program, you'll have a free book promotion or a Kindle Countdown deal per each enrollment period. (The enrollment period...
188 - How to Keep Consistent Book Sales
July 31, 2020 04:33 - 31 minutes - 28.8 MBIn this post I'm going to talk about how to keep consistent book sales over time. You might also want to look at my post, Sustaining Your Book Sales... and Yourself, as well as my latest episode about getting a Bookbub ad, which will tie into this information. So ... you've written a book. Congratulations! For real. It's a big undertaking, and you should be proud of yourself. Then you launch the book--time for more celebration! (And if you need a simple launch plan, check out my post...
187 - Behind the Scenes of a BookBub Featured Deal
July 17, 2020 02:00 - 29 minutes - 27.1 MBI recently secured my first BookBub Featured Deal! There are a few options with BookBub--ads, new release featured deals, preorder alerts, and featured deals. Featured deals must be applied for and are the most expensive and most effective--or at least, they have been in the past. Are they still effective? Let's take a look! Applying for a BookBub Featured Deal can feel sometimes like an exercise in futility. And frustration. Especially when you see some of the books that DO get chosen. Bo...
186- How to Format Your Book (without losing your mind)
June 26, 2020 14:52 - 29 minutes - 26.9 MBFormatting your book -- sounds boring, right? Turns out there are a lot of things to know when it comes to formatting your ebook and print book. This post will break down what you need to know! Formatting doesn't have to be scary, complicated, or expensive! So, let's find out what you need to know. Formatting might sound boring. But it's super important and can be very simple. Let's dive into the whys and hows. First of all, formatting is usually the last thing you're doing, after you...
185 - Facebook vs Amazon Ads
June 12, 2020 05:16 - 29 minutes - 27.6 MBI wanted to do a quick post talking about the two big ads platforms most authors use: Facebook and Amazon ads. There are some major differences between them, and it takes some work to figure them out. This is by no means a big overview, but a few key differences as well as some things they have in common. A lot of people will debate the merits between one and the other. Usually people don't champion both, but find one that works for them and then use that. For me, that's mostly Facebook a...
184 - How to Avoid Bad Author Collaborations
May 23, 2020 15:46 - 36 minutes - 33.4 MBAuthor collaborations can be fantastic ... except when they aren't. In this post, we'll look at how to avoid bad author collaborations and the questions you should answer before you dive in! It's no secret that I'm into collaborations. I wrote a whole book on working with others called Creative Collaborations. And yet ... I've had some bad ones. I still recommend working with others, but I've learned a lot and am way better at choosing good projects and good partners. I hope this helps...
183 - Starting Out with Audiobooks
May 08, 2020 06:32 - 23 minutes - 21.6 MBEveryone's saying go audio: should you? The buzz is all about audiobooks. The audio boom. Audio is the future. But are audiobooks for everyone? Let's find out by diving deep into the reality of audiobooks in 2020. SHOULD YOU AUDIO? THE SKINNY ON AUDIOBOOKS IN 2020. Why is everyone talking about audiobooks? Simple. Audio is growing. People are consuming more things by audio, from podcasts to audiobooks. Even if YOU DON'T, other people ARE. I'm going to link to more articles with da...
183 - Starting Out with Audiobooks
May 08, 2020 06:32 - 23 minutes - 21.6 MBEveryone's saying go audio: should you? The buzz is all about audiobooks. The audio boom. Audio is the future. But are audiobooks for everyone? Let's find out by diving deep into the reality of audiobooks in 2020. SHOULD YOU AUDIO? THE SKINNY ON AUDIOBOOKS IN 2020. Why is everyone talking about audiobooks? Simple. Audio is growing. People are consuming more things by audio, from podcasts to audiobooks. Even if YOU DON'T, other people ARE. I'm going to link to more articles with da...
182- How to Foster Facebook Community
April 24, 2020 03:31 - 22 minutes - 21.3 MBI've covered Facebook groups before to the point that I wasn't sure what else there was to say. But, right now, many of us are turning to the internet and online communities, so learning to foster that is more important than EVER. The thing is? Fostering community can be HARD. It's tricky. And sometimes we miss the line we need to walk. I've covered much about Facebook groups before. If you haven't checked out these posts first, you might want to. Or, circle back after you finish this one...
181 - How to Position Your Book for Better Sales
April 03, 2020 04:39 - 23 minutes - 21.9 MBI've already covered writing to market in episode 174 and this post, but this is a big topic! In this post, I want to look at the concept of writing to market backwards. This post will be all about how to position a book you've already written into the market for better sales. Reminder: What is writing to market? As I've talked about, writing to market is not a way of selling out just to make money. Writing to market simply means writing and marketing a book in a way that meets reader ex...
180 - Someone Out There Needs YOUR Voice
March 20, 2020 00:34 - 10 minutes - 9.49 MBEven--maybe especially--in times of chaos and crisis, people need your voice. Your story. Your message. But you can't give if you're empty. Feed yourself, then feed others with your words and your creative work. Join the community: http://createifwriting.com/community
179- Stop Wasting Time and Money on Your Book Launch
March 06, 2020 04:13 - 37 minutes - 34.4 MBDoes launching a book sound stressful to you? You're not alone. Here's the thing: a book launch has a lot of moving parts, but it doesn't have to be INSANE! And it all starts with me telling you to stop wasting time on your book launches. Specifically? On things that DON'T SELL BOOKS. A HUGE CAVEAT ON DEFINING "WHAT WORKS" I need to give a big caveat before I dive into things that people waste time on with their book launches. Why? Because things an vary widely depending on genre. Wha...
178- Tips to Increase Writer Productivity
February 21, 2020 06:14 - 33 minutes - 31.1 MBI have avoided this topic for ... as long as I've been writing and podcasting. I do not like teaching productivity. I do not think that I should be doing it. That said, I've consistently written at least one novel a month for the past two years, while also running this site and podcast (with some podcast breaks here and there), and being a full-time mom to kids who are ages three to eleven. So, fine. I'm productive. I guess I'll talk about it. But the reason I've been hesitant is that ...
177- How to Set Up a Simple Author Platform
February 07, 2020 04:23 - 31 minutes - 29.2 MBThis post may be a review to some or completely new to others. But I wanted to get super basic on how to set up the very basic author platform. If you don't have much time, money, and experience, but want to do this for the long haul, here's the best foundation. WHAT IS PLATFORM? Your platform is your people. It's not made up of numbers but actual people who follow you and will (to a greater or lesser degree) support you and your writing. Platform matters if you want to traditionall...
176 - The Light and Dark Side of Success Stories
January 24, 2020 03:58 - 21 minutes - 19.6 MBWhen authors share success stories publicly, it can be incredibly encouraging and provide a great resource for other authors. There is also a dark side to this. Namely: backlash from posting, misinformation or missing information in posts, copycats, and comparisonitis. Questions to ask before sharing your success and questions to ask before READING success stories.
175 - Sustaining Your Book Sales and Yourself
January 09, 2020 20:38 - 32 minutes - 30.3 MBI'm getting a little bit real in this post about what it takes as an author to sustain your book sales and yourself. Earlier in 2019 I wrote a post celebrating my success--going from making $30 a month to over $8000 in a month just from digital book sales. I'm still totally in awe of that! (Read this post if you want to know how I did that.) I don't tend to talk about income a lot, because that's just ... not something I want to do. But I also wanted to address what happened after my gi...
174 - Writing to Market and Writing to Trend
September 06, 2019 02:31 - 30 minutes - 28.5 MBI hear a lot of confusion about writing to market and writing to trend. In this post, I'm going to explain MY personal view and my experience with both writing to market and writing to trend: how they're different, how they're related, and help you figure out what's right for YOU. WHAT WRITING TO MARKET IS Chris Fox coined the term "write to market" and talks about it in his book called ... (wait for it) ... Write to Market. In the Introduction, Fox states that the book will teach yo...
173 - How to Establish Healthy Relationships with Your Readers
August 30, 2019 03:44 - 28 minutes - 26.8 MBI'm tackling a question that I think more authors (blogger, creatives, and influencers) should ask before they establish their online platform. If they don't ask before, they for SURE should ask soon after. The question is: how close should authors be to their audience? You might be wondering what this question even means. Stick with me. I think you'll understand why I feel like this is so important. FROM THE IVORY TOWER TO INSTAGRAM We are living in a glorious digital age, where more ...
172 - Marketing for Authors Who Hate Marketing
August 23, 2019 03:49 - 30 minutes - 27.8 MBIt's a well-known fact that many authors hate marketing. But more and more, marketing is something authors must understand and take part in, EVEN if you're doing the traditional route. My goal? Is to help teach marketing for authors who hate marketing. First of all, we need to reframe the conversation about marketing. What comes to mind when you think of marketing? A sleazy car salesman? That person who is constantly shouting BUY MY BOOK! BUY MY BOOK! on Facebook and Twitter? Maybe the ...
171 - How to Market Your Book While You Write
August 02, 2019 04:26 - 35 minutes - 32.4 MBAfter sharing how my co-author and I wrote and launched a book in (almost) thirty days, I wanted to have a simpler episode geared toward YOU. Here are some ways to market your book while you write and where to stop wasting your time. You want to write a book. You want to self-publish (or, as I like to say, publish independently) on Amazon and/or other retailers. But marketing? Ick. Overwhelm. No. Help! If that is YOU, then I want to help make this a little more accessible. Ready...
170 - How I Wrote and Launched a Book in (almost) a Month
July 26, 2019 04:13 - 36 minutes - 34.1 MBWhen I wrote this post, I got overwhelmed. You might too! Fair warning. But in the moment, this was FUN. Not overwhelming. I'm going to share what I did with my co-author and then will have follow up posts that are more geared toward a practical-for-YOU way to launch. There will still be takeaways here for you in the details. Just pinky swear you won't read and then get overwhelmed and stop writing? Please? Okay. Great. Let's go! Over the past 18 months, I've written more books than I ever...
169 -Everything Authors Need to Know about Pen Names
July 12, 2019 03:21 - 31 minutes - 28.8 MBHave you ever wondered if should write under a pen name? Or why some authors choose to write using a pseudonym? In this post, you'll learn why you might want to write under a pen name (or not) and how to navigate having multiple pen names. A year ago, I tried an experiment. I found a genre that was selling well where I thought I could find success. I didn't really want to use my already-established email lists and social media, so I started almost completely from scratch. You can see ho...
168 - Why Your Email List Isn't Growing
June 28, 2019 02:34 - 19 minutes - 18.2 MBIf you're having trouble growing your list, it's like a matter of eyeballs (traffic) and hooks (creating relevant, attractive content). Learn more in this episode or check out resources at http://createifwriting.com/168
167- Best Paid Book Promos for Your First Book
June 21, 2019 03:45 - 17 minutes - 16.2 MBWhich paid promos should you use when it comes to your FIRST book? For more links and details on paid promos, check out episode 142 and the show notes: http://createifwriting.com/142
166 - Should You Ditch Mailchimp for Another Email Service Provider?
June 14, 2019 04:25 - 18 minutes - 16.8 MBThis post comes after the news that Mailchimp is making some big changes in 2019. I'll break down what these changes mean for YOU and whether or not you should switch. Spoiler alert: YES. I'd recommend changing. When I very first got started with email in 2013, I used Mailchimp. I heard a speaker talk about the importance of an email list and that's what she recommended. They had a free plan for up to 2000 emails and were a trustworthy company. I stayed with them until 2015, when my goals...
165 - Should You Promote Your First Nonfiction Book?
June 07, 2019 03:57 - 11 minutes - 11 MBSHOULD YOU PROMOTE YOUR FIRST NONFICTION BOOK? The answer here is a little bit (maybe a LOT) different. I feel like there is a vast difference in how promotion looks for fiction and nonfiction. I've found WAY more free options for promoting nonfiction books. Why? Well, nonfiction books (other than creative nonfiction, like memoirs) often contain information that can be parsed out and packaged into other content. For example: I have a book on email lists. I have written a TON of ...
164- Should You Promote Your First Book?
May 31, 2019 03:30 - 15 minutes - 14.2 MBFor the summer, I'm doing short episode answering community questions! This week's question: Should you pay to promote your first book? In short: yes. But also: it depends. Listen to find out more! This week is fiction. The next episode will be nonfiction. Join the community to ask questions: http://createifwriting.com/community
163 - How to Handle Social Media in 2019
May 16, 2019 18:20 - 14 minutes - 13.3 MBSocial media is an ever-changing beast. We are over the hype of social media and maybe a little burned out. But it's still important. So how should you handle social media in 2019? I want to put a big caveat into this post. I'm writing it from a place of social media privilege. I have a solid following on several platforms. When I'm not locked out of my account, I have just shy of 10k followers on Twitter. I have something like that also on Pinterest, last I looked. (Note: I haven't look...
162- What Do You Do When You Get Bad Reviews?
May 10, 2019 04:52 - 27 minutes - 25.2 MBThis is a topic that comes up every week day in Facebook groups: What do you do when you get a one-star review? (Especially on Goodreads...) So, what's the answer? I'm not going to give you ONE, but a few options when you're dealing with low reviews on your books. FIRST UP: EVERYONE GETS BAD REVIEWS We've all been there. And if you haven't yet, you WILL. Even great classics have one-star reviews. I promise. Just for funsies, here are some screenshots of actual reviews of Jane Eyre by Ch...
161 - Creating Content for Love or Money
May 03, 2019 03:24 - 23 minutes - 21.4 MBWhen you start creating content, whether that's writing a book, blog, podcast, or something else, you may not think about your reasons beforehand. But you should. Most importantly, you need to think about whether you are creating content for love or for money. Let's explore why that matters! I don't have one single reason why I do the things I do. My reasons why are many and sometimes my reasons switch in the middle. That's probably true for you as well. But it's hugely important to stop...
160 - How to Find Time to Write
April 26, 2019 02:00 - 26 minutes - 24.2 MBThe question I get asked most is something along the lines of: How do you write with five kids? Sometimes I ask myself this question too! The specific ways that work for me may not work for you, but I'll share some tips to help you learn how to find time to write. HOW TO FIND TIME TO WRITE Whether you have small children, a job, or any number of other things going on, finding time to write is HARD. Writing is an art, but it's also a practice. A skill. It takes brain power, energy, an...
159 - Book Launch Disasters
April 19, 2019 04:16 - 34 minutes - 31.7 MBI've shared a lot about my publishing experiences over the last year, and just in case I've made it sound like a walk in the park, today I'm sharing book launch disasters. Though I'm sharing things I've experienced, I think many of these are common, so hope that they will help you when you face book launch disasters of your own! This post contains affiliate links! At no extra cost to you, I may make a commission on purchases made after clicking links. Book Launch Disaster: Amazon Gl...
158- How to Get Reviews for Your Book
April 12, 2019 13:58 - 27 minutes - 25.1 MBThis post deals with something super important: how to get book reviews for your book. I don't have a magic formula or some ninja trick for this. It's a long game, over time. Are you ready? Let's dive in. Getting book reviews sometimes seems like a ninja trick. It's a struggle in the beginning and feels like a chicken and egg problem. Reviews help you sell books (and secure some of the paid promos), but you can't get reviews without selling books. If you're frustrated, you aren't alon...
157 - How to Create a Launch Team
April 05, 2019 02:42 - 15 minutes - 14.7 MBIn the last post/podcast episode, I talked about beta and ARC readers, but didn't touch on the launch team. There are slight differences in the ARC team and the launch team, so I wanted to fully address what a launch team is and why authors might (or might not) want one. REWIND: WHAT ARE BETA AND ARC READERS? To refresh, I want to go over terms. When I talk about beta readers, these are a handful of readers who see the book in its finished, but not yet proofread form. They help catc...