Secrets to Building a Successful Author Brand

00:20 - Lynn (Host)

Hi friends and future authors. This is Lynn Illiquidy Smarges, ghostwriter and book editor here at Write For you. Thank you so much for listening to today's episode. A big welcome back to my returning listeners. Thanks for joining me again and another big welcome to my new listeners. I am so glad that you are here to check out my podcast. Please make sure to hit the follow and subscribe button to get the latest edition of Publishing for Professionals dropped right to your podcast player every week. Okay, so today I have an incredible guest lined up for you.

01:00

I'm joined today by a wonderful young author. Her name is Bria Rose. Her book is the Author of Her Dark Promise. It came out last Halloween and she has journeyed along the path of self-publishing and she is going to ask me some questions about writing and publishing today. I'm so excited to find out what questions she has for me.

01:22

So Bria Rose is a Disney enthusiast turned dark romance author. She once dreamed of being rescued by a prince, but now yearns for a morally gray, six foot five inch alpha male who would burn the world for her and honestly, who doesn't? I love it when she doesn't have her head in a book. She is a boudoir photographer, scuba diver travels the world and is currently learning French. If you don book, she is a boudoir photographer. Scuba diver travels the world and is currently learning french. If you don't know what a boudoir photographer is, you're going to have to go to ria's website, which we're going to have up later, and hit her contact form and find out what a boudoir photographer is. It's an awesome, awesome, artistic, creative job.

01:59

Ria, welcome to publishing for professionals. Hi, thank you so much for having me. So let's start off by you have written this dark romanticist right, and why, like? How did you get into writing dark romanticist Like? Have you always been like a writer, like and? And also, do you have like a day job that complements this, or is your day job like, completely different from your writing job, like?

02:22 - Bria (Guest)

completely different from your writing. So, amal, if anybody has a job, I'm looking for one. I am definitely looking for a day job. So right now I can dedicate a lot of my time to writing, but currently on the search for that.

02:36

But to kind of take it back to how all this kind of came about, I started actually writing a book with a now ex friend of mine and we were kind of jumping off ideas and then we kind of set it down and then I picked it back up and set it, you know so, over the course of about 10 years, and I don't know what it was, but one day I decided I'm like you know what, I'm going to do this, I want to do this, I'm going to do this, let's do this. And I did. It took about three months for me to write, to write it, and I don't have a background in writing anything, I mean creatively. Sure, I'm creative, I, you know I there's a lot of things creatively that I enjoy doing. You know I did do poems or write poems and things like that, and but it just it never hit me, I feel. I always feel like I got bit by the writing bug exactly what I needed to get bit by this writing bug, I.

03:34

So I wrote the book in about three months and then I brought it back to the now ex friend and I said, hey, here you go. And she's like well, actually I don't have time for this right now. I'm like, okay, don't love that, but you know what? That's okay. That is okay Because I was actually just in the shower and I had a really good idea for another book. So let me do that and then we'll come back to this one. And she was like, okay, and so that's how Her Dark Promise came about. But I'm so happy I now actually have the rights specifically to that book.

04:08

opefully that's going to be a: 2027

04:57 - Lynn (Host)

So sorry, mom, that's okay, no.

05:02

I love that you like. Pursue that right, even though that's not like because a lot of my clients are like, well, I'm not a writer. It's like, okay, you don't, but you don't have to be a writer to write your book right like you. Can you have a passion for something and learn how to write right, because writing a lot of it right there is. Obviously there are things you need to know about writing. You can't just write if you don't know anything. But, um, a lot of it is just like basic grammar stuff that you've learned in school over the years and if you apply it correctly and you remember a lot of like the rules and things like that, it's really easy to just take your passion and write and turn it into a book and that you've written in three months. That's like incredible, that's so super fast. People take a year to 18 months to write a book. If they even finish it, like some people put their book on for seven, eight years and never come back to it.

05:46

Or one author I had on the show he had put his book away for 17 years and he did finally come back to it and publish it. He had to update it and things, but yeah, when he first tried to put his book out, it just wasn't the right time and so socially it just wasn't accepted enough. And then when he came back out with it, all the top content in it was like it's like there, so anyway. So that's awesome, congratulations that you pushed through all that and then, you know, overcame the challenges to publish your book. Now I know a lot of what we do on this podcast is nonfiction, but there's a lot of crossover with writing and publishing just in general, with fiction and nonfiction. So for people who don't know what a dark romance, romance, romanticist is like because everybody knows what a romance book is, but what is it Can you just really quickly explain, bria, just so people who are listening understand what you've written? What is a dark romanticist?

06:42 - Bria (Guest)

I think the definition of a dark romance dark romance to see would be pushing the boundaries of what makes people comfortable, and that's actually the best definition I could probably come up with for dark romance is just pushing the boundaries, whether that's stepping a little more into the taboo side of things. You know you have like stepbrother, stepsister, where some people are like, oh, that's icky, Some people think that's really like it, you know. So it's. It's more. Uh, I don't know exactly what I can and can't, but kinkedy friendly.

07:17

Uh, I don't want to push with certain words but you know so there's a lot of like kink, friendly, but also really hard conversations. I'm not saying that YA or nonfiction or other things can't have hard conversations, but it takes it in from a fantasy standpoint or even a contemporary, just like romance. In general, it's these hard conversations and you have these people who are broken or they're, um, traumatized they're, they're depressed and down and they have to either rise above or they become villains or that. You know. There's just so many ways. These characters are so dynamic where I feel as though a normal story. Which huge stories. We got star trek, we got harry potter, we got, um, they all have a dark element to it percy jackson.

08:08

Yeah, it's like hero versus evil. There's a clear evil, clear villain, a clear hero.

08:14 - Lynn (Host)

But in dark romance you're here like things to be flipped and things are not always as they seem lines are definitely blurred, so I like that, because I think, yeah, I feel like it brings an extra level of like uh, what am I gonna say? Like um, almost like um, it brings an extra level of like oh, this is really interesting and I'm blanking the word for it right now. But it brings like an extra level of like character and like character development and like just all of those really, and it adds to like the plot point. I feel like it like kind of deepens the whole feeling of like the book when you're reading it.

08:50 - Bria (Guest)

And of course, we can't forget about smut. I mean, that's a big difference, you know so, and I feel like, when done correctly, cause that's the difference between erotica and then dark romance. In my opinion, erotica centers around the smut, whereas dark romance to me is plot plus that it adds to it. And I mean, if I'm wanting this type of a book, yes, give it to me, I'm ready for it, but I want this much to be involved. So, like with my book, there's 10 plus smutty scenes, and but I have a good, thick, juicy plot. I'll definitely show you the book later if you guys would like. But she's thick, she's a thick book and definitely is to me equal plot to smut. Like it, it flows. It's not just okay, let's do this thing and then go back into the plot. Okay, we have to have a funny scene. Okay, let's go back to the plot. You know it definitely flows. So that is what I would say. Dark romances.

09:51 - Lynn (Host)

Nice, okay, so let's jump in with the first question. So what is the first question you have for me, bria, today, on writing and or publishing?

10:00 - Bria (Guest)

So I am. I don't know if I'm coining the term or if it's already around, but I consider myself a puzzle writer. To me, that means I write all the big scenes before I get to. I call them the boring bits or the linking scenes, like the transition. Okay, we have this really big thing and we have this really big thing. Now, how do we get there? What is this boring bit going to? I think I called the boring bit because it could be a conversation that you know, I know to me, I have to remind myself every single scene, every single word has to invoke some kind of emotion.

10:38

They either have to be, so you have to be involved, whether they're sad, you're angry, you're happy, you're has to be interesting. You know, if we're going to walk through the woods, okay, we're walking through the woods, okay. So what are the sites? And so you know like, okay, I'm getting away from the question, but that's how I'm saying. I'm a puzzle writer, so outlining I would like to be a little bit better with outline. Do you have any uh recommendations on how best to outline if you're not a good outliner?

11:12 - Lynn (Host)

Yeah, yeah, right, yeah. So there, um, there's a couple of ways that you can do it. So one way is just like, um, if you have, if you know, like what you call the exciting scenes, right, I would say, put those down, like either in a document or if you want to write it on a physical piece of paper, like I like outlining on a physical piece of paper. So, however, you want to outline that. So, and there's also a tool it's called Plotter and that is specifically made for people who want help with. It's an app that helps you outline things. So you can do that. Made for people who want help with. It's a big, it's an app that helps you outline things. So, um, you can do that, um, and it it's really great for timelines too, and so, um, that's another one. There's also, um, not Atticus.

11:58

One of my thing is Scrivener, which is a book writing tool that can also help with outlining.

12:02

But whatever way you outline it, if you like to move, like, plan your story around those big pieces, I would say, outline those big pieces and then say like, and then just put it on like a board visually, and you can even be like a dry erase board, right, because when you do that and you look at everything together, like for me, and how I think and I think a lot of creatives think this way too is that you can see all of the things and then your brain can start making connections.

12:26

And I think doing that, like outlining it that way, you can totally do it. That way you don't have to start, like from the beginning and then move all the way through to the end. But if you put up all the big pieces first, then your head can kind of wrap the idea around what's your 30,000 view picture like what's your overall picture, and then start filling in the little things. And having a visual of it and actually physically writing it out helps you with developing ideas, whether as like, as opposed to like. If you're typing it on the computer, that's fine, but typing doesn't do the same work for your brain as like physically writing it out. So so whatever way you choose to do it, you can outline it, does. It does assist you in like getting more ideas, especially if you're physically writing it out, and that can help with like developing your book either quicker or developing your book better, because you'll get more ideas for those plot points, those character developments, the story arcs, things like that.

13:20 - Bria (Guest)

Okay.

13:21 - Lynn (Host)

That's a really good idea.

13:23 - Bria (Guest)

Does that make sense? No, yeah, it makes sense because that's how I started for the first book. We started with names and we're like, okay, this person that we'd circle up like, okay, this is who these people belong to, this is their family. Okay, now let's link oh, they're, these are brothers and sisters. Okay, so this is their family.

13:37 - Lynn (Host)

Yeah, yeah. And the thing with outlines is like there's no correct way to start an outline. Right, like you said before you did it started with the characters and and then some. But you, when you did your book that you published, you like to start it with like the big, you know events, so you can start it from the events. You can start it from locations, you can start it from characters, so there's no right place to start, but just start wherever you're at.

14:00 - Bria (Guest)

And if you're finding that's not working, just switch it up and do it something differently. Yeah, I know that's true, because the book I'm currently working on uh, not the one with one more chapter, but the uh, it's a Klaus and Caroline inspired retelling from Vampire Diaries. I feel like they should have been end game and they were not, so I am writing their end game. I don't know if you're a Vampire Diaries fan.

14:25 - Lynn (Host)

I have read a couple of the books. I know I have not read all of them, but my kids were very much into Twilight when that was really big years ago, and so I was a Twilight fan by default.

14:38 - Bria (Guest)

Okay, okay. So the books Vampire Diaries and the TV show. This is the only situation to where the TV show is so much better than the actual books.

14:48

So definitely for those who I mean who are listening or watching or whatever, those who know they know.

14:54

So I am definitely writing their retelling and I'm kind of sitting here being like, oh, because I'm planning on this to be a universe, I'm planning on this being maybe like a seven to 10 book series and it's definitely more than I've over that I've taken on, cause it was. I mean, so far I've only written. The three stories I'm currently working on are just one book, okay, and so there's not as much planning as opposed to planning out this big universe situation and making sure I have foreshadowing in the first book that happens in the seventh book and I'm like, oh man, that's definitely a huge undertaking that. You know I'm happy that I do have my editor, that I do have to help kind of navigate me through something as momentous as what I'm trying and attempting to do. So right now I am a little stuck, but I think my motto is just start writing, just start writing and ideas will pop up. And when I have a big idea, then write that scene and go back to certain things. And you know I don't want to lose that momentum.

16:00 - Lynn (Host)

Right, right. And then what is your next question, Bria, that you have for writing and publishing?

16:06 - Bria (Guest)

Let's see. Let's see has writer's block ever led you to uncover something valuable about your process or your story that you wouldn't have found otherwise? Most of the time when I have writer's block or when my writing isn't flowing, that means I need to go down a different direction with the story, dialogue or anything else related to the story. But sometimes I've gone months of doing nothing because of writer's block or lack of motivation, and I need to find a way to push through it, find a way to still be productive.

16:34 - Lynn (Host)

Yeah, no, that's. I get that question a lot from different people. I actually have a whole Substack article on getting past writer's block which I can send you. But anyway, what I always tell people with writer's block is all it is is just like, typically, your head just gets overwhelmed with all the things you have going on, and so you need to free up that space, and the best way to do it is like literally just go outside and take a walk, like a 10 minute walk, even if it's like around your apartment complex, your house and a park, whatever. It doesn't have to be, you know, an hour hike, or it doesn't have to be some crazy like CrossFit, whatever it. Just getting out and doing that it just really clears your head. That like taking a shower, just going for a drive in your car for like 10, 15 minutes. Or if you just want to get on a train, if you don't have a car, just get on a train ride for like 10, 15 minutes and just sit there and don't think about anything. Just look out the window, right, because what you need to do, what writer's block actually is, is just all of that information getting stuck in your processing part of your brain, and because it's there's so much there you can't, you can't and you can't move it out, and so the things from behind all your ideas are stuck. And so once you get your front cleared out, then all the other ideas should come up and and like and to.

17:44

The other thing is, like you know, in the winter I tend to be it's much harder for me to be creative because there's not as much sunlight. So I finally got sunlamps from this company called this company in Canada, that are like really high intensity sunlamps, and that has definitely helped. But I know, like certain things, like when my health challenges come up or something like that, that all of those little things play into my productivity and my just even my creative availability in my space, right, like it's very hard to be creative when my frozen shoulder is like freaking out, right, and it's very hard to be creative when I'm worried about my daughter, right, or anything like that. So anytime you have stress, right, that just completely eliminates any type of creative thing.

18:28

And then I want to tell people is like, don't be hard on yourself, you can't always be creative, right, it's hard to just be creative 24 seven, Like that's just really not even realistic. And so don't like be really upset with yourself. You may go through a period where, like a week, two weeks, three months where you don't have any ideas, and that's okay. But, like you said, you can just sit, still sit down and write right, like you don't have to write the book that you're writing, you don't have to work on that specific thing, but just even sitting down, and sometimes journaling will do it too, like I know, sometimes I get out my journal, I'll just start writing like all my frustrations out and then, boom, my head is so much more creative. So whatever way works for you to just get out of that stuck space, just work, just take that and then keep running with it.

19:16 - Bria (Guest)

That's a really good idea, because what I'm currently doing for writer's block is I do go on daily walks I'm trying to be better about that and then I watch, actually, anime. Anime gives really good ideas. I love the character developments in anime is incredible. I love the different types of characters. Some are just so unhinged and every villain most of the villains have like a backstory and it just kind of shows. I'm like oh, I really liked this person's backstory. Let me try to see if I can mold it into. You know, so it's reading. You know, people say that I don't read in my genre or I don't read so like my book is a beauty, so her dark promise is a beauty in the beast retelling read so like my book is a beauty, so her dark promise is a beauty in the beast retelling. I heard another author say oh no, if they're writing that, oh, I don't read beauty in the beast retellings then it's like well, I don't want to copy.

20:09

I'm like, well, it's not a copy, you're not copying, it's not a word for word. No, so everyone is going to have a different opinion. I like reading into my genre and be like oh, I like that. Take, let's see if I can change it up and kind of have the same type of. You know, I don't, I don't believe that there are a lot of original thoughts anymore.

20:30 - Lynn (Host)

Everyone does.

20:32 - Bria (Guest)

Who did this to you? So enemies to lovers, I mean, that is a classic quote that people, you know, put in their books, you know. So, yeah, I just don't think it's stealing, you know, so it's not stealing.

20:50 - Lynn (Host)

So a lot of people, like, even in the nonfiction space, right, a lot of the theories that are out are all built on theories that have come up before. Like it's like you said, it's very rare that someone comes up with a completely original idea. A lot of times it's just a thought leader taking, like a theme or a process and just editing it up and like making it their own, right, and so, yeah, it's not stealing, you're just literally doing another version of it, like Disney's done so many versions of Sleeping Beauty and Snow White, right, and like you can do a dark Snow White, you can do a happy Snow White, you can do, like there's so many different versions we can make of these stories and it's just, it's all just a different way to express the storyline, right, like, and what feelings you want to evoke in your audience. So to your point yeah, like we do that in nonfiction and in fiction. So that's not like a new thing and it's definitely not stealing. So don't worry about that piece.

21:43

All right, my friends. So we're going to take a break right here and we come back. We're talking. Actually, bria Rose is going to talk more to me about questions she has on her book. Hey friends and future authors, it's Lynn Aliquity and we're back with Bria Rose, author of Her Dark Promise. So, bria, you've got. I think we have time for one more question. So what is your next question that we can answer? I can answer for you today on this book. Book Blueprint episode.

22:27 - Bria (Guest)

So quick summary I feel as though I've done everything correctly. You know, I send out numerous emails to people to get my books into book boxes, which I was successful. I do have a special edition with Probably Smut. I have done 10 book signings this year, literally December through August. I did one every single month. I have signed a contract with One More Chapter, which is a division of HarperCollins, to write a book for them.

23:00

I was on my local news. I've been on about 24, 25 podcasts. I just feel as though when authors say, okay, what's the next step to try and be successful? Okay, let's try to get on the news, let's try to get on some kind of public platform to reach a wider audience. So I feel as though I am doing everything correctly. I'm on social media. I do need to be a little bit more. Uh, I need to post. You know, posting every day. It's just, it's a whole thing. So I guess my question is do you have any out of the box marketing? Things Are there. I mean, cause I always also ask this to people after the after I get done with podcasts is do you have any other ideas?

23:45

You know, someone says oh, what if you did an audio book? Have you thought about doing an audio drama? I'm like no, but I'm going to look into it, you know.

23:51 - Lynn (Host)

So I would love your um opinion on marketing things Right, yeah, so so my specialty isn't marketing, but I know a lot about options you can do with book marketing. So what I always tell people, no matter what you're doing, whether it's book marketing, writing your book, doing your outline the first thing you need to do, we need to reverse engineer it, right? So you say what do we need to do to to be a successful author? But what does successful mean to you, bria? Because it means a different thing to everyone.

24:25 - Bria (Guest)

Like what is the ultimate dream.

24:28 - Lynn (Host)

So like so. When you say I want to be a successful author, does that mean selling a million copies of your book? Does that mean like getting on the Oprah Winfrey show? What does that mean for you?

24:38 - Bria (Guest)

It means to be able to reach out to certain companies, like Kelly Clarkson, and saying, hey, I'd love to come on your show. They're like, oh my God, I read your book. Yes, please, you know, I want to be mainstream, you know.

24:51

I want my name, I want people. I want those hundreds of thousands, maybe even a million followers. I want one day to have the networking opportunities to say, oh hey, loved your book. I would love to adapt that into a movie. I do in credibility, you know I I am working really hard to make this into a full-time gig. Do I need to be JK Rowling successful? Not political wise, but this is success, right, I'm like I don't need negative negativity, but Jesse level of success he has is astounding. I mean, it really is like a phenomenon. It's a cultural phenomenon for sure, it's people's religions.

25:28

at this point I'm not saying I need to be there, maybe one day, but I'm talking just at the level of. I'd like to be well-known, I would like to have movies made and I would like to have, one day, a team behind me to help me with certain things. I don't want to be well known. I would like to have movies made and I would like to have one day a team behind me to help me with certain things.

25:43

I don't want to be a woman one woman show, um, and I feel as though I'm slowly gaining momentum. This is also my first year. I just uh, celebrated my one year anniversary of being a published author and October on Halloween. Thank you, congratulations, yeah.

25:58 - Lynn (Host)

So I would say so much yeah.

26:01

So, also my. My first tip would be if that's your goal, my first tip would be when you're getting on podcasts, don't just get on podcasts. Just get on podcasts Like, look for podcasts who have the audience that would buy your book, right? So, like you like this podcast, some of my clients might buy your book, but it's not going to be where there's going to be a lot, right? Like you want to get on podcasts that obviously have a big female base, that like the dark, romanticist stuff. So maybe even on like things like BDSM podcasts, things like that, so that has those types of topics. And if you want to get really good exposure, be on podcasts that are on the Apple top 200, because they're going to get you exposure to the most people, the most audiences.

26:46

Another thing I would recommend if you want to be's just going to promote your book, but like help, help you to figure out like, where, what channels are good for you. Like Mary O'Donohue does this, but she does it for a nonfiction female authors. So I'll ask Mary, like, who would she recommend for someone like you? That's a female author, that you that, but you're fiction, right, that you want to do. You want to elevate your status as an author, so that your household name like who would, who would she recommend, but someone like a media strategist. That helps that it's not the connections they have, but it's what they know right, like what channels are going to have your audience and that's where you want to go. So say, you do book signings. One of my questions I have for you is where do you do book signings?

27:42 - Bria (Guest)

Barnes and Noble, and so I've done book signings at Barnes and Noble. It's the Sacramento location, the Art and Fair location, Reno Fullerton.

27:52 - Lynn (Host)

Have you done outside of Barnes and Noble?

27:55 - Bria (Guest)

Yeah, I did Capital on K, which is in downtown Sac, so local. Okay, so you've done bookstores, which is in downtown.

28:01 - Lynn (Host)

Sac, so local. Okay, so you've done bookstores. I've emailed a lot of local.

28:03 - Bria (Guest)

Yeah, I've done a lot of local I've tried.

28:07 - Lynn (Host)

So, yes, let me tell you going to do book signings at bookstores is pretty much a waste of time, and I'm not saying that like to be mean or anything, but what I have found with my own books the best place to sell them is to go where people are going to buy your book.

28:20

So like what types of conferences, expos are themed like your book? So like a romance right, like a romance book conference, right, or something like that, or not really like a romance book conference for authors, but more I'm thinking more of like what conferences or expos would like a Comic-Con I think any type of Comic-Con would probably be good to sell your book. Like to have a table and to sell your book right, or anything like that. You're better off. You are better off spending your time, money and resources having a table at those types of events, because those people are who are going to read your book. Those are the people who are going to sign up for your email list and things like that, which brings me yes, and I do need to get better at that.

29:12

Yeah, I say email marketing will sell your book. Social media will give you awareness. So you're probably not going to do a lot of selling on social media unless you run ads like Instagram ads, things like that. But I would say, get better at your email list and the email marketing. I always refer to people as kit it's called kitcom. It is the best one, um, as far as ease of use like doing emails, cause I've gone back and forth with a whole bunch of different clients and I just come back to kit and I'm staying here because it's the easiest to use. It's intuitive. Um, they have their paid versions really economical it's like $49 a month, but you get all these automations and they've got really great templates, especially for authors. So I would say, start being more consistent with your email marketing and then, when you do book signings, go to expos and conferences that have your audience, not bookstores, because bookstores are just gonna have random people coming in, unless the bookstore is doing something like a romance book event, because those will bring in a lot of people who are reading romance books. They're like there's a really big bookstore here in portland area. It's called powells and they did a big romance event and there was like 150 people there that just read romance. Right, like that's a great event to go to.

30:23

You might want to call one of your local bookstores that has the room and say, hey, would you be interested in doing like a romance writer event? Like I'm a local author and I've got a romance book. If we pull together some romance authors, this would be really fun. Like we could do a panel, right. So, like, be aggressive about it and ask places like if they want to do it, and tell them like, because a lot of times people don't have the time or money to do it or the time to do it. People don't have the time or money to do it or the time to do it. So I'm like, hey, I'll contact some. If you give me author contacts from your bookstore, I can contact these authors and see if they want to do a panel on writing romance books, because that was huge at Powell's, like here in Portland, and there was like 150 people there.

31:00

So, make those opportunities, but make sure you're getting to the right audience. I think that's probably where maybe a little of the disconnect could be. And also, too, you've only been doing this for a year, rhea, I know. I'm like the same way. I'm like, oh my gosh, why aren't I this and this many followers yet and this many blah, blah, blah. Right, but you just really have to be patient because it takes a while for all that marketing to build up. But you're doing the right things. I would say just switch up where you're doing it and be consistent about your email marketing, and I think that's going to be like you'll be able to see the needle move a little bit.

31:33

The other thing I would highly recommend is Substack. So if you don't have a Substack account, there's a lot of authors are on there, a lot of people who have authored fiction, nonfiction books, literature, and the thing with Substack is you don't have to make new content. I mean, you can if you want to, obviously, but you can just take like whatever you've written already and just repurpose it on Substack, and you only need 10 followers to make two live videos, right? So if you have some people on your email list, you can actually import them right into Substack and invite them to follow you on your Substack and then you know, and then they'll get. They'll be getting the Substack info plus, like your regular emails too. So that's another good way to promote yourself and yep, so we yeah.

32:23 - Bria (Guest)

Sorry, I was just going to say a lot of the podcasts I was maybe would be kind of interested in. With some of them like, oh, pay to be on, are those fine to also do like, or are those? Yeah, I would say that that's okay.

32:38 - Lynn (Host)

But I would say ask them, like, how do you promote the episode, right, like? So make sure you're like, if you're charging, you'd be on the podcast, like ask them how do you promote it? You know when? When will I see it? Will I get tagged? Can I share it?

32:54

But I would recommend the best podcast platform to be on and I believe this is how we met is through Podmatch. So if you're already on Podmatch, I would say, just stay on there and then I would say, to be a guest on a podcast. If anybody's trying to charge you more than $250, that's way too much. I would say probably somewhere between like $100 and $250 would be like an average price for a guest to be on a podcast. I mean, and there is no industry standard. That's the thing. Like, I've been in podcasting for almost a decade and there's like literally no industry standard on how much you charge a guest to be in your podcast.

33:22

It obviously depends on, right, how big the podcast is, what numbers they are. I will say I normally don't ask people like how many, how many downloads you get per month, like if I'm on their podcast or vice versa, right, but if someone is charging you. I would definitely ask them, I would say what are your download numbers average this year, every month, like what is your audience base and what is your demographic? Because if you are going to pay to be on that podcast, you want to make sure, a you're hitting the right people and, b you are you're hitting enough people. That I would say, if it's a super niche thing, don't worry about the numbers as much as how often. Make sure that they're posting every week. If they're not posting on a weekly basis, at least I would say, don't pay to be on the podcast, because if they're not posting weekly, that they're probably not growing and so um, so yeah, so those are the things I would say to look out for if you are going to make the investment to be on a podcast.

34:20 - Bria (Guest)

And then just last question, um, for you said Apple top 200 podcasts are really good ones to be on. How do you find those? Do I just type in like Apple top 200 podcasts are really good ones to be on? How do you find those? Do I just type in like Apple top 200 podcasts on Google, or if?

34:32 - Lynn (Host)

you just Google, you Google up like the top 200 podcasts on Apple, and Apple actually has charts where, like podcast charts, like radio music charts and things like that, yep, and you can find it really easy. Yeah, and then just obviously, you can crossmaster with pod match. You can even reach out to them on their website form too, right, like, don't be afraid to say, hey, this is my book, blah, blah, blah. I would say, if you are reaching out to an author, excuse me. If you're reaching out to a podcaster, say I will send you a free copy of my book. I've got an ebook, I've got a PDF manuscript, I've got an audio book and you can listen to it before you have me on the show.

35:11

That way that you're giving something to that podcaster because they are spending their time, money and effort having you on the show, which is going to be, you know, blown up. And then also you can ask them hey, would you like to write a blog? I'll put it on my website and backlink it to you, right, and that will give them some SEO. So that way you're giving them something. You're not just asking to be on their show, cause I get people asking me to be on my show all the time and they're like, oh, I want to be on your show and blah, blah, blah. And then I read the description and like they're not talking to my audience right, like they don't want to give me anything in return, blah, blah, blah. It's like okay, but I don't even know you, so. So anyway, I would say that's how I would approach a podcaster off of the pod match platform.

35:52 - Bria (Guest)

Perfect, yeah, cause finding podcasts to be on has been the biggest struggle of like I'll type in like podcasts for dark romance authors, and a lot of them are like okay, today let's talk about this specific book and I like oh, that's like another thing, you can do is you can make your own podcast on substack.

36:13 - Lynn (Host)

Oh yeah, and that will also give you more exposure to people, especially if, when people are subscribed to your sub stack um, and there's there's two you can do it on sub stack. You can also do it independently, like I have mine independent on captivate, because there are some limitations to having your podcast on Substack because you're going through Substack. Now I will say it's free and it doesn't cost you any money to have your podcast on Substack, but there are some limitations to, I think, distribution with it. I haven't looked in all the details, but just keep that in mind.

36:44

Okay, thank you so much for the information. You're welcome. So, bria, I know some of my listeners are going to want to find out more about you. So, for those of you on YouTube, we have her authorbriarosecom website up here and she has a special code for a discount on her super cool merch. So, bria, tell us about like obviously you want people to visit you on your author website, and what is the code for our listeners on audio?

37:10 - Bria (Guest)

So, yes, this is my website, authorbriarose. I actually branded myself really well and everything is under AuthorBriaRose. That's TikTok, that's Instagram, that's my Gmail. So if you have any questions, you can reach out there, but the code is for people to use. If you want to buy my audiobook that just came out with Jacob Morgan and Grace Noble, you buy a couple merch, you get that audio book and you get that little discount.

37:36 - Lynn (Host)

Nice, awesome. And the code is HD H, as in Harry D, as in door, p, as in. Oh my gosh, the first thing I thought of I can't say on my podcast. And oh my gosh, the first thing I thought of I can't say on my podcast. He is in pop and 10. So HDP10 and you get a discount on her merch site. So definitely check her out. Well, Rhea, thanks for coming on today on the Book Blueprint episode to ask your book marketing and other questions about writing and publishing.

38:03 - Bria (Guest)

Thank you so much for answering all my questions. This is really insightful.