Where I Left Off

Love Me Through the Grief with Author J.S. Tazwell

• Kristen Bahls • Season 3 • Episode 11

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Thanks to J.S. for joining me to talk about her latest release, Love Me Through the Grief.

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Welcome + Current Reads

SPEAKER_01

Welcome back. I'm Kristen Balls, and you're listening to Where I Left Off, a Bookish Podcast. And today I'm joined by the author of Love Me Through the Group, J.S. Taswell. Thank you so much for joining me today.

SPEAKER_00

Oh my gosh, thank you for having me. I am so glad that we connected. I'm just really excited to be here.

SPEAKER_01

Agreed. Author friends are the best.

SPEAKER_00

They are. Everybody's so supportive, and it's like this awesome little community. And I love that we're we cheer each other on instead of trying to tear each other down. And that's what it's all about.

SPEAKER_01

Very rare, but very fun to be able to do that with other people.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

At least like that's that's been my experience. I've I've seen like that there's other drama and stuff with authors, but no, not the people that I've been choosing to hang out with on the bookstagram.

SPEAKER_01

Exactly. You just gotta pick the right people and then you're good.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01

So what are you currently reading and or watching right now?

SPEAKER_00

So I'm currently reading Throne of Glass. Nice. I've broken down, I've read Avatar a million times. Wait, so this is for the first time? This is for the first time, Throne of Glass.

SPEAKER_01

Okay, okay.

SPEAKER_00

And so everybody's been telling me you have to, you have to, but they told me that about Crescent City, and I had trouble getting into book two. So I was like, I don't know. I will I like Throne of Glass, and I'm in chapter nine. I'm like, I think I like Throne of Glass.

SPEAKER_01

I think I like it a lot.

SPEAKER_00

So it's been really fun diving into this whole new world. I know that the universe is supposed to be connected, but I don't I I haven't pick pieced it together quite yet. So we'll see. I don't, yeah. Excited about Throne of Glass and um I'm watching Fallout. I've been catching up. I think that this season's over, but um, I'm in season two of Fallout and checking out that dystopian society right now.

SPEAKER_01

Nice. I haven't heard of that one before.

SPEAKER_00

It's based on a video game. Okay, and it's quite violent. It's absurd. It's like there are lots of dark humor. Um, but it's a fun ride if you're into that.

SPEAKER_01

Nice. And um, okay, so on Throne of Glass. So did you start, did you read Avatar and then Crescent City or Crescent City and then Avatar?

SPEAKER_00

So I read Aquatar and then I read it again and again and then again, and then I read Crescent City. Okay, okay. Um huge fan of that because I I'm a huge Beauty and the Beast fan. I have been since I was two. And when I started reading Book One, I was like, this is Beauty and the Beast. And then I read book two, and I was like, this is not Beauty and the Beast. It was just fantastic, and I loved everything about it, even Nesta's books. I'm all in on all the characters. And I people are gonna come at me, but I'm all for a Tamlin redemption arc. And no, he doesn't deserve it. Oh wow. Yeah, I know. Isn't that controversial? People are gonna come after me and yeah. I just I I don't think that what he's done is okay. I think he's dealing with his own trauma.

SPEAKER_01

Oh man, well, I haven't gotten to um Nesta's book yet. I've read up to the end of the novella. So that's and I haven't I haven't read Crescent City or Throne of Glass, so Okay.

SPEAKER_00

Okay, okay. Throne of Glass threw me because it's uh third person. And I I think I'd like it even more if it was first person personally, because I really liked it be inside their head, but it's still good um so far.

SPEAKER_01

I was gonna say there are a couple authors that can do third person really well that make me forget that I'm reading third person, but I do tend to prefer first if I, you know, get to pick.

SPEAKER_00

Exactly. And like I want to do like multiple points of views. There's like three characters right now. I'm like, if I could hear this from this captain's point of view too, and this prince's point of view, and like have these three people telling the story, that'd be cool. But yeah, I'm really intrigued by the world because there's a she's an assassin, and I I think you pronounce her name Selena, but it's spelled all kind of crazy as fantasy characters are. Yeah, yeah, that's how that's that's the that's the thing, and I'm all for it. And then uh she and it's also a controversial show for me to be reading Throne of Glass first and not Assassin's Blade. Some people say read that first, and um, I can see that there might be a lot of background that I'm missing because she's we just start with the book, she's in jail, and she's a former assassin. Well, she still feels like she still is, and now she might be able to fight for her freedom with some kind of cool competition. So I'm like, oh, this premise is really cool, and um I'm already ready for romance, so I'm like, okay, who who is it gonna be? Who she is it gonna be both of these dudes? I don't know, probably. I feel it, I can feel it in my bones. So we'll see.

SPEAKER_01

So is romanticy like a favorite genre or niche of romance?

SPEAKER_00

That is definitely one of my favorite. I like um all romances, like if you you got romance in it, I'm I'm sold. I don't know. I just love love. I've always loved love. So I love having a love story in there. Um, I don't have to have it be like a dominant part, but I like when there's like a connection and a pool, and especially if like uh there's a lot of tension and slow burn, like I'm like, oh yeah, like I I want to earn it. I want some uh yeah, I love that. Bring on the slow burn. Yes, bring on the slow burn. And um, I want to be mad when they're not together yet because it keeps me reading. Like, like, oh no, why are you being stupid? I like yelling at the book. And then because it's more satisfying when they are together, I think.

SPEAKER_01

So was a romanticy in the works then. I was gonna ask you about your current work in progress.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, so I I do have a few different book summary ideas set aside, potential romanticy in progress. I also have like a vampire one that I'm really interested for, like an urban fantasy romance. And um like I've thought a lot about that. And I I've always loved like Anne Rice and like all those vampire novels. So I'm like, I want to have something cool because what what started vampirism? Like, what take could I do? And I can't say it now, but because I think it's a really good idea.

SPEAKER_01

So one day that might be a thing. So do you have to research vampires or like where where do you go to research mythical creatures? Like, what what's your source of truth?

SPEAKER_00

Um, so I have read a lot of different vampire books, watched a lot of different vampire movies, seen all kinds of different takes on that lore, as well as playing Vampire the Masquerade, which is like Dungeons and Dragons, but you create a vampire character and then you live in this world of darkness. It's really pretty cool, pretty nerdy to be honest. Sign me up for anything nerdy. And honestly, I even treat my writing like a game of Dungeons and Dragons, where I'm like, I'm the dungeon master, I'm the storyteller. I and then I'm also the player characters and the NPCs, so like I know who's who, and just I I let the characters kind of lead the story as we go.

SPEAKER_01

I I know I got us off on a romanticy um tangent.

SPEAKER_00

Well, it's because it's the best, like that it's so much fun. Like I love the Suki Stack House series, which was True Blood on HBO, like that whole, oh my gosh, yeah, if we get into romantic and um all that, we could talk for days because living outside of the real world sometimes and having powers and you know, having all these magical elements, but then have real, raw, relatable human moments, it's such it's just so much fun. It feels so good. Like all the fourth wing series. Oh my god, Rebecca Yarros, I want to be her. I haven't read them. Okay, it's that's okay. That's okay. She's honestly my hero because she inspires me a lot. She's a military spouse just like me. She wrote a whole bunch of books before she really blew up. And she wrote not only romantic books and books with dragons in this fantastical world, but like real contemporary world contemporary romance books as well. And her first romance book was like between it was a military romance. So I I want to be able to be like that, where I am like I'm a romance writer, not just contemporary, not just fantasy like romance. And so I'm like, yeah, I want that career.

SPEAKER_01

That's perfect. She's so cool. And I'm sure that that's how you keep it fun, is kind of switching up, so then you don't feel like you're writing the same thing and you don't get burnt out of one niche of the genre.

SPEAKER_00

Exactly. And I feel like it's the same thing with reading and watching stuff. Like you don't, if you stick in the same genre, like it does kind of drag you down. And I feel like you need palette cleansers. And I actually had one person reach out to me on social media. I didn't, I don't know who who they are, but it was cool because they were like, your book was perfect because I was in the middle, I just finished one romanticy series. I read your book, it was the perfect palette cleanser before I jumped into a new romantic series. I was like, Oh, that's so cool. Thank you.

SPEAKER_01

I'm honored I could do that for you.

unknown

That's cool.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I'm definitely gonna have to get some romantic wrecks because I have not had that great of luck with romantic. I don't know, it just hasn't stuck for me. I liked um Shepherd King, that duology, and I liked um, I'm only on book three of Plated Prisoner, and I liked that one. But half the others I've kind of been like, ah, take it or leave it. Like I enjoy reading them while I'm reading them, but I'm not like hooked, you know, like with contemporary romance. I don't know, I just get hooked on contemporary romance.

SPEAKER_00

There's something to having your favorite kind of romance too. Like this is what pulls me in. And I think what I I just watched something today where there's there were some people talking about something similar, and it's like, do you have to finish a book? And they were talking about how really uh no, if you if the book isn't pulling you in, then it's probably not written for you. And I think that's so important to remember. And I I look at people who review any any book, and whenever it's like, this book was meh, but a lot of people read it at five. So it's it's okay to not read it, it's okay for it not to be your thing. And I think we feel guilty if we don't finish a book. We bought it, we won't you know if somebody somebody's waiting for us to say, hey, we like we we read it, you know, that's me. It's okay. I just thought that was really smart because I know that when I write, I write with an intention for specific people who've gone through specific things or and and like a specific trope or genre, you know, the in within this genre, and like I think about them w with care at the same time as exploring like the themes of the book that it were really important to me to explore.

SPEAKER_01

So someone can find themselves. Um so based on the end of Love Me Through the Grief, there's gonna be a second book in that series, right?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, okay. That is now with my editor and it feels uh amazing. I'm jealous.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

I immediately jumped into writing book two when my editor had book one. Oh wow. And it took me the like a year to to now get it back to the book two to him, and it just took me a lot longer. That there's a lot more heavy things going on, and um, I really wanted to get this one right. I can um tell you that book two follows Connor and Lucy's story continues. Okay, I was about to ask that perfectly. Yeah. As she's uh navigating all this resurfaced trauma that follows her from book one is kind of triggered from events in book one.

SPEAKER_01

Um that scene at the very end. Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_00

Um, and so now that she's like back in London finishing veterinary school, and Connor's not there, but she's got a long distance relationship. Um, she has to kind of decide is she losing her mind or is she getting stalked by her ex? So yeah. It sounds really dramatic, but it plays out really balanced.

SPEAKER_01

Okay, I was gonna say, is it a little bit more romantic suspense? It almost kind of sounded like that for a second.

SPEAKER_00

It does it it does feel that way when you read it. And so there is more romantic suspense. Um, and we have to find out if Connor and Lucy's relationship can weather this storm that is ahead. It's a lot, but it's also great. Just like with book one, I made sure that after we have heavy dumping, we've got levity and we have characters that can kind of bring in moments so that Lucy can breathe and be herself again. And you know, it's not um just trauma dumping.

SPEAKER_01

So how do you kind of build that romance while you're trying to balance some of the like emotionally heavy subject matter?

SPEAKER_00

I feel like I with book

Love Me Through The Grief

SPEAKER_00

one, it was forced proximity between Connor and Lucy. Like he's managed, he's the ranch manager, he was already there, he has to be there, and now she's on the ranch, and um, that forced proximity helps them keep kind of being together. Not that Connor wouldn't be there because he's just the guy that shows up for you. True. Why we love him. And then bringing in different characters and scenes that Lucy doesn't have to only think about planning her father's funeral and the the grief and the trauma that's been there and the other negative relationships that resurface and it's like real life, you know, it's not all bad all the time. And balancing that, I think it's finding moments for them to breathe in life. Like we're not always in a bad moment. Um, whether it's they're gonna sing together terribly in the barn and the dog's gonna howl along with them, or we bring in Connor's brother and Lucy's best friend, Sam, and he just always lightens the mood for the most part. And uh just like getting them to have those moments, especially it makes it easier when there's force proximity. So they have time together on that ranch and they have to work together, and their tension and chemistry is undeniable. And I don't care how hard you're grieving. If you're next to Connor Lachland, I mean he's hard to resist. He's just kind of amazing. Especially when he used your childhood crush. Yeah, like there's already an established relationship there. Um, and they've all always kind of pined for each other secretly. And, you know, now Connor knows, you know, she got away once before I could ask her out to homecoming. And I'm not gonna let that chance slip away and love that for them. But it's also very fragile and scary because there's just so much going on at the time. The question is, like, is it worth it? And I wanted to show a love that was there during the hard times. It's easy to fall in love with someone you can have fun with, it's easy to fall in love during the fun moments, but I think we all deserve a steady presence that still loves us when we're at our worst and going through the hardest time of our life. Um, and that is Connor for sure and Lucy. Like I just feel like that representation is important. And I I had that with my husband um after my father passed, so which is a lot of the inspiration behind the book.

SPEAKER_01

So many real emotions, and then readers obviously catch on to that and they can give something to grip on to.

SPEAKER_00

Exactly. And that's what I really hoped for. I I feel like loss is relatable, and I had this gut feeling that other people may have found out that their loved one passed in an inappropriate or terrible way. Like uh, Lucy Lands um has a voicemail, and that's how she finds out, and that's chapter one. And she also finds out that while she was up in the air, it was already on social media. She's literally the last person to know. And that is the piece of my own personal story that I gave to her that was real, that was my real life. And I was trying to get to see my dad, get there in time, say goodbye. He was on life support, and it I was just too late. So the only difference is I decided I'm gonna like, okay, I'm I'm not from Montana, but I was living in the Colorado area at one time, so I know that general Midwest feel. My family up in Michigan live in a small town. I visited there, and I was like, I'm gonna use those small town vibes. I made use Lucy younger because I had two kids with me and I had to keep it together just like she keeps it together. Yeah. That it's already horrible, and then you're just stacking on top of it. Wow. Yeah, I'm like, I have to function and get my kids safely to our rental vehicle and drive to where we're staying for the night. And that's what I have to do. I'm like, I can't react, I can't break down, I I can't touch this right now. And so I have Lucy try to do that. And when I realized that the whole social media thing had gone on, I totally broke down, just like Lucy. I just did it later because I didn't see it till later. But I love the moment where Connor's arms just wrap around her in chapter one, and I feel like that sets the tone for what you're in for, is like that kind of guy. He knows that she's about to find out bad news shows up for her, and he's just kind of always this steady presence. He doesn't push, he doesn't try to offer advice, he's just there for her, and it's exactly what she needs, and it's it's just I just love it.

SPEAKER_01

So, was your personal connection um what made this story stand out as this is the one I have to do for my debut?

SPEAKER_00

Honestly, it was all of that. Like I felt like this is such a big piece of me. There's so many big pieces of myself woven into the fiction, and I felt like it was really important to start off with something that was raw, real, relatable, but also had hope and a feel-good added in there because it's so easy to drown in like grief, but there's still more life to live outside of that. Um, I just felt this had this was me. Why not start with something that's so personal? And it was honestly the most terrifying thing. I I was nauseous when it published because I'm like, oh God, that's literally my heart beating out of my chest. I'm handing it to somebody and saying, Here, take a look, what do you think? But I'm I think it was well worth it. Um, especially when you hear stories about people who have gone through similar stuff. And so I'm like, okay, that's why I did this. I wanted to be brave for the people that needed that story and have something that felt like it was speaking directly to them because it that that is my intention, is for it to speak to the people that it needs to speak to.

SPEAKER_01

And I feel like the characters, um, they I mean, they have a lot of different kinds of grief, like not only with, you know, Lucy's dad, because of course Connor was close to him as well, but there's some to not spoil, there's some grief dealing with other relationships too, that isn't just um, you know, what you think it is at the start.

SPEAKER_00

Yes, yes. And I thought that that was really important to put in there because everybody has their own journey, everybody has their own scars and their own story. And so it isn't just Connor loving Lucy through the grief. Um, it is also Lucy loving Connor through that as well, and being there for him and that reciprocal relationship was super important so that it's not this one sided experience for their romance. Thank you for pointing. That out.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. They know they can lift each other up and they don't have to worry about, you know, yeah. And yeah. Because of course Connor's hesitant because he's used to being on the, you know, uh helping end and not on the receiving end at first.

SPEAKER_00

He's that typical guy that like, you know, I mean, there's a lot of people that just like, I'm gonna take care of everybody else, make sure they're okay. I'll be there for them. But he really doesn't have a lot of people for him. And I think he gets a reputation of being like the perfect guy that he internally wrestles for with. And um, I get to touch on that so much more in book two because there's a lot of his point of view chapters, um, a lot more than okay.

SPEAKER_01

So we get to see like his life when he's not on a video call with Lucy.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, which is really fun because and it I couldn't do it any other way. Like it's so important to see what's happening in White River and what's happening from his perspective as Lucy is like obviously not okay, but not telling him why. And so and he and he's struggling with his own stuff. And um, I feel like it's in the subtext of book one. Like we see how Sam kind of perceives his brother and how the town perceives him, and we don't really he doesn't say it outright that he hates it, but I I think like subtext-wise, it's like, yeah, he probably doesn't like that. It's a lot of pressure for one person.

SPEAKER_01

And and like you said, he's known as being the perfect person, so it's kind of like detrimental to his relationships because no one thinks that you know he doesn't need anything, he's perfect, he's Teflon, everything just bounces off of him. But especially after some of the things that happened in the first book, I can see there's gonna be a lot of like deep-seated just grief and issues that you have to work through when something like that, you know, happens to you.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. It's so hard not to talk about spoilers. I know, right?

SPEAKER_01

That's the hardest part.

SPEAKER_00

All I can say is yes.

SPEAKER_01

Yes. So if your characters could revisit um one happy memory together, what do you think that it would be? Because Lucy and Connor have some good ones.

SPEAKER_00

They do. And I really feel like it would be any time where the three of them, Connor, Lucy, and Sam, are in the barn playing pranks on each other, messing around because life is simpler at that time. They're with the people that they care about and can be themselves completely around. And their loved ones are all still around. It's just like a that simple, easy moment where you can just breathe. I always imagine like the sun's coming in through the rafters.

SPEAKER_01

And if I remember correctly, wasn't Sam visiting because he lives somewhere else? Is he Yeah or okay, that's no, he lives in he's in New York. Okay. So he's gonna stay in New York in book two.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. Sam will be in book two. I will he will be in there. He lives in New York, and um I really, really want to do Sam's love story for book three. And um, I think it's I think a really important aspect of his background is his first love. The story behind his uh past. Yes. Diving into that and kind of having a love triangle and Sam choosing what's healthy for him um and realizing his own worth. So yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Is it intimidating to think of writing an MM romance, or by the time you get to book three, you'll at least have more practice, and so it'll be so I I feel good about Sam's voice and who he is and what I want to do.

SPEAKER_00

I am really nervous about it being an LGBTQ IA plus story, um, just because I want to do that justice. So I've been doing a lot of my own research and I've been reading and watching and following people on, you know, social media and just kind of figuring that out and making sure because at the end of the day, like I just feel like his love story, Sam is such a favorite character for people, and I think people want his happy ending and want to see it. So I want to write that for him, and I think he deserves that, and I think he has a really important story to tell. So I'm gonna tackle it and uh go from there. And I just I will make sure that I will have ARC readers that are in that community helping guide that and make sure that it's handled with the utmost care. That's smart.

SPEAKER_01

Well, yay, look forward to reading Sam's story a little bit down the road.

SPEAKER_00

Um Yes, yes. I've got like ideas for a lot of different characters for then for that series. So then it'll be like a Bridgerton thing. It Lucy and Connor's story will h might be done with in book two. Should be should be done. My editor keeps telling me, No, I think there's more, and I'm like, mm-mm. I want to do other I want to do other character stories. That's true. But I also I yeah, we'll see. We'll see what happens. I'm open.

SPEAKER_01

So okay. Um I wanted to ask, because readers always love to know, like, what was the process kind of from first draft to publication like for you? And especially with kind of a little bit of a background in the publishing industry, I feel like that just changes the way that you know you go about this process.

SPEAKER_00

Yes. I knew I wanted like six months of marketing before the book released, which I think a lot of indie authors like to just jump in and have it published right away. And that's not a bad way to do it. I've seen it be successful now that I've been watching all of the other indie authors, but it is also like it can be uh a letdown when nobody knows that it's coming. And then you're like, why isn't anybody buying it? Because they don't see it yet, they don't know it exists yet, and it takes a lot of time for it to become visible. So I I backwards planned. Um, I made sure that I had that six-month period. That was why I was able to do like a Kickstarter in May, get early release copies that were signed for everybody who supported me then out, and then plan a launch party, plan a pre-release book signing, and also have the actual release. It was really cool. That is cool. I was like, wait a minute, I haven't heard of that idea.

SPEAKER_01

That's good. I like that.

SPEAKER_00

Yes. And it was nice because it wasn't um the I I was able to establish, like, hey, this is coming out. But going further back, so when I was in publishing, it was a lot on me emotionally because I cared so much about other people's success and making it the best that it could be. And it was, I co co-owned this children's publishing house with my friend, and we had like 20 authors, we had several illustrators, we had an editor, and making sure everybody was successful and doing all this timeline, and it was just the two of us at the head of it. And my health declined, and I realized I'm take taking on everybody's worries and stress as my own, doing 10 people's jobs. And it's the same thing as like what an indie author does. You're the graphic designer, you're looking through your marketer, you're your everything. And I was doing that for a lot of people, which was fantastic because by the time I decided, okay, I want to write for for myself, my healing, and maybe I'll publish this for other people. Yeah. That was the initial thought when I sat down to write. I knew that I could make my own cover, I could format it, I could format the pages. I knew what printer I wanted to go with, even though I still tested it out because I wanted to make sure I liked how the color pink printed on the books. Yeah. And pink is hard. Pink is a hard one. Yeah, I wanted it to be the right shade because um when I printed it with through KDP, it came out like peptabismol. And I was like, oh no, that's not the right pink. This is not gonna work. So I did not go with that. But I did go with um Ingrid Spark, but I just ended up the words I sat down at the computer, um, knowing if I wanted to publish this, I could, but this is just gonna be about me and healing and doing something to de-stress. And I wrote it and it just kept flowing and flowing, and I'm like, this is really good. I think it could help a lot of people. Then I went back and revised and I cut out stuff and I swapped stuff around, and then I started getting nervous and I sent it to way too many people before it was polished and ready to go. And I made so many mistakes with like treating arc arc readers like beta readers. I was like, and I I should have known better, but I was just having imposter syndrome, and then um I got over it. I got so much good feedback. I reached out to the editor that I worked with at the children's publishing house and said, Hey, can you help me with this book? And then we really got this book to where it was like, Yes, this is ready. I'm so happy. And then I apologized to everyone who was my arc reader and said, Here's the actual book that is polished and is actually done now. I'm so sorry if you've already read this. Will you look at this again? But I won't do that again. I haven't done that again. I've been uh very close to the best with this one. Um, I have two beta readers. I have my my editor read it um when it was not polished and gave me feedback, and then now he's gonna edit it and then I'll let our people arc read it. Because people don't know that you're like, no, I'm still gonna rewrite stuff and I wanna hear your feedback. I'm still fixing it, I'm not done. It was a little messy, even though it was organized and backwards planned, because I'm still human too.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, and it's all a learning experience. I mean, you can't tell what you want to work until you've tested it out on like the art creators and stuff.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, and what really helped also was just like kind of knowing um what to think about as far as keeping it creative and yours and true to what you want, but also considering the readers, the tropes, the the things that people love about romance and specifically small town contemporary romance, and how are you incorporating those things so they get that feel good thing that they're looking for and trying to have that in there? That's publishing helped me think about that because it's like all about knowing your target audience, and I knew that I wanted it to be a small town contemporary romance, so what also while I'm polishing it and going through it for the fifth time, is this what my readers are going to be looking for? So that was helpful.

SPEAKER_01

That's true, and then um moving forward, are you planning on doing physical arcs again or kind of more like e arcs and like a combination?

SPEAKER_00

So I only do um the the ebook arcs. Okay. Yeah. Last time yeah, I I was just sending them through email. I w I most yeah, trusted people and I also like had NDAs like for people I didn't know for that, uh just in case. Yeah, it's your creative body of work, yep. Yeah, like uh just please don't share it. Especially not yet, like wait, wait, wait till it's released. I as far as like quotes and things like that. I did send a couple of um copies to some of my author friends that I met on Bookstagram and that I know like the people that love to shout out indie um authors on social media. Like, I'm gonna gift them some books. They read the arcs, they love it, and then that way they have something that they can physically share. But I was careful with who I did that with because I know that that's a pitfall that authors fall into where they're sending out all these physical books that they paid for for free, and then they may never get a review, and that's like rough because that kind of it's disheartening. It's very disheartening. Just a warning for anybody.

SPEAKER_01

Whenever you were deciding which author friends to send it to based on who you know you thought would review it, did you just like watch a lot of their things or like had you already interacted with them? And so you were like, okay, it's a safe bet, because I've not only watched their content, I know that they're kind of roughly in my target audience, but I also know them. So I have a higher chance. Like, how did you determine that?

SPEAKER_00

Exactly. Like, so we were also DMing, we were also like, I like your stuff. You like we were already saying we liked each other's stuff, we were already already becoming, you know, virtual friends as well, and like sharing each other's content and like talking about all the things and knowing by the content that they post that they do care and respect like and understand what indie authors go through, the financial load that that is, and just respecting that whole work because they've either gone through it or they all that's all that they read is indie or whatever. So yeah, that gave me a sense of safety and comfortability, and also doing like voice notes with each other was and was nice. So I'm like, okay, you're really you. That's true. That is true. That's another level of security. My husband's in the military, so like I really think about like you're really the person you say that you are smart.

SPEAKER_01

Because you don't want to get burned by something like that, especially when, like you said, I mean, it is your money that's going out there, and I mean you hope to recoup a review, but obviously, like you can't force someone to do a review, so it's just kind of a hope and a wish, and we'll see.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. Yeah. I had like over 50 arcs that I sent out, and like less than half of them did a review. So that's just averages. So I I kind of knew that that was gonna happen, which is why I'm like, I'm gonna send out this many. I'm okay with that. I will send out as many as possible so that around launch those people can um that are gonna do it, that are gonna be there, will get as many reviews up as possible because that's another fun trick with Amazon, is it helps your rankings as if you have a certain number of reviews in a certain amount of time as it's posted and on Goodreads as well, like where it's like, okay, this is a new launch, newly launched book, and now all these people have reviewed it. So we're gonna show it higher on the page. So as strangers are looking through our website, this book will be placed up higher and will be found sooner. And you need a lot more than what I got for you know, 20-something reviews isn't gonna get a lot of visibility, but it's something to consider and something that you do need to do around launch. It also looks and feels good to you when you get those reviews coming in around launch time instead of sitting at there's nobody. So that's why I think arcs are really important and sending them out. That's why that six-month period's helpful if your book is done and you're you you get those people, it gives them time to read it. You're not giving it to them a couple weeks before launch or a couple months because I don't know about you, but I have a tough time getting through my TBR and like Oh yeah. Oh yeah. I need time to read some like I'm a mom of two. Like it's just I need time sometimes, and um life happens and things things get in the way, and so um it increases your chances that someone's gonna finish the book and leave a review. So that was also something fun that publishing taught me.

SPEAKER_01

Well that's smart. Yeah, no, I shot myself in the foot and I did not do arts this time around, and I but I know at least I know, you know, at least we we know we could only improve for the next one, and I'm probably not gonna have arts for the next one either. I'm really behind, but the next one all all over the I need to apply your st um do your strategy of six months. Yeah, that's like that would be life-changing. So that's that's the way to go. So it's really interesting hearing that from a publishing perspective of okay, that makes more sense. Like when you're saying that, it it all it all makes sense.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, it just gives you time and you can set your launch up for success and it's dedicated time where you're not also writing because that split of your time can be really stressful. Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_01

So especially with families, jobs, everything. Yeah, it all yeah. We have all of the things just life, life. Yes. That's a good way to put it really done. What can I say? I'm just so eloquent. And is there anything else that you would like readers to know?

SPEAKER_00

I would like readers to know that I do care about you. I know that I don't know you, and that's a wild thing to say. I kind of just grew up with this idea that we should all love one another and care about one another. And when I write, I do write because I care about others as well. I don't I started off writing for me and then I realized no, this is for everybody. And once I decided I'm going to be an author, I definitely thought about you guys first as the readers and what you might need and what you might want. And I just do care about you. And so anytime I am tackling um difficult topics like grief, trauma, sexual abuse, whatever it is, I am in like my whole heart is concerned while I'm writing it and writing it with as much care and love as I possibly can. Um, never sensationalize, but I want it to be raw and relatable in a way that isn't insulting to anybody. Is that I I I really care about that. And if any of the topics that are in the book too raw or too much, it's okay. You don't have to read it. I understand. Um, but I put in those moments of levity to try to carry people through and kind of those are like my hugs. Like, I know that that was a really tough scene. So let's transition into something a little bit lighter before I move back into the the tough topics. And I wanted it to always feel like it comes from a real place. It is my own, a lot of my own emotions and experiences that are in there. And um, I just hope that it heals you like it healed me.

SPEAKER_01

And I think you can definitely um tell the love and the heart that you put into it. So thank you for writing it. Thank you. Thank you so much. And that's it for today. Thanks for listening to Where I Left Off, a bookish podcast. You can visit JS's site and add her books on Goodreads, follow her on social media and purchase her novels anywhere books are sold. And of course, they're also on Kindle Unlimited, ready for you to read