Hello and welcome back to Indie Author Weekly! This is the podcast for indie authors, aspiring authors, and curious bookworms who want the inside scoop, tips and motivation, and behind-the-scenes journey of writing and self-publishing books. I’m your host, Sagan Morrow: a productivity strategist and author of polyamorous romcoms.
For new and returning listeners, you can now get all Indie Author Weekly podcast episodes plus book and writing updates delivered directly to your inbox each week at SaganMorrow.com/behindthescenes—link is in the show notes.
Now let’s get into this episode of the Indie Author Weekly podcast. Well, my friend, it’s that time of year… time to give our archived episodes some love! Can you believe that Indie Author Weekly has now been around consistently for over 2 years? Wow. I’m really proud of that!
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Today I want to share with you the top 5 most listened-to episodes of Indie Author Weekly from the past year, as well as my personal top 5 favourite episodes on this podcast from the past year.
Let’s dive in:
Top 5 most popular from Year 2:
#5: Episode 61: Author commentary of Polyamorous Passions (Part 1: Books 1 - 3)
I typically reread my previously published works at least twice all the way through, every single time I write a new novel in the series: I skim over the books before I begin writing the new book in the series, so I can have a general gist of the idea of the storyline and characters, and then I do a more thorough reread after writing the first full draft of the latest novel. I usually like to do another skim through each previously-published book before publishing the new book, just to do a final double check. This is a good practice to do if you write a series of connected books, so there's consistency in the plot, characters and storyline from one book to the next.
While I was going through this process in preparation for publishing Her Bad Idea (which is Book 7 in the Polyamorous Passions series), I had a whole bunch of different thoughts running through my head… so, I turned it into this episode, basically sharing my unfiltered internal commentary while rereading my own books. It’s a different type of episode and I’m so glad that you enjoyed listening to this episode as much as I enjoyed recording it for you!
You can tune into that in Episode 61 of this Indie Author Weekly podcast.
#4: Episode 67: 9 ideas for how to practice writing
Writing is a skill we can all, always, get better at. The best way to improve is to keep practicing! If it takes 10,000 hours to become an expert in the field, the way Malcolm Gladwell explains in his excellent book Outliers, then it stands to reason that the more writing we can do, the better we’ll get.
With that in mind, this episode shares 9 actionable ideas for how to practice writing to improve your skills at it. I bet you haven’t thought of some of these ideas, so that’s a great episode if you want to boost your skills!
Again, you can get all of that in Episode 67 of this Indie Author Weekly podcast.
#3: Episode 77: Book launch recap, part 1: organic marketing
I did a two-part recap of how things went for my book launch of Her Bad Idea last summer. I’m actually surprised that this one received more listens than part 2, because part 2 was all about the book sales results.
This episode on organic marketing features what I had initially planned to do for my book launch, my process for working with book bloggers and having a book launch team, 4 reasons why I believe I was able to get more book bloggers on board for this book than any of my previous books, and the results I got in terms of book reviews and book ranking on Amazon as a result of the launch. So you can get all of that in Episode 77 of this Indie Author Weekly podcast.
#2: Episode 57: 5 things that happen when you become an indie author
This was a cute, for-fun episode that I did. If you are an indie author, then these 5 things that happen will definitely sound familiar… and if you are getting ready to become an indie author, then consider this a forewarning to prepare yourself!
That’s Episode 57 of this Indie Author Weekly podcast.
#1: Episode 63: 3 tips for writing your first draft (and working on rewrites)
While I was in the process of writing Her Bad Idea and starting to do the rewrites, some thoughts came to mind… so I did an episode that’s sort of like a little writing pep talk. These are 3 good reminders to think about when you are writing your first draft of a book, and then starting to work on the rewrites.
So you can get those tips and pep talk in Episode 63 of this Indie Author Weekly podcast.
There you have it: the top 5 most listened-to episodes on Indie Author Weekly over this past year, the second year of having the podcast! I’d love to know: are any of these episodes among your favourites from this past year? Post about it on Twitter or Instagram and tag me, @Saganlives, so I can hear your take on this!
It seems like the most popular episodes are the ones that are fairly practical (and/or, these might simply have had better titles than some of my other episodes). It makes me so happy that you also enjoy the episodes about my books, specifically—such as with the episode featuring my author commentary, and with the episode on the book marketing recap. I’m happy to talk more about my specific books and to use them as examples a lot more, if that’s of interest.
You can pick your favourite type of podcast episode in a super quick podcast form at SaganMorrow.com/question. That’s really helpful for me to choose what type of episodes to do more or less of! If you have an opinion, I want to hear it. Link is in the show notes.
Now, I also want to give some love to a few more episodes which weren’t necessarily the most listened-to, but which I personally really enjoyed. Here they are...
My favourite top 5 from the second full year of Indie Author Weekly:
#5: Episode 95: Who am I to write a book?
This episode is a cross between a pep talk and a love letter to you! If you think it feels too self-centred or presumptuous for you to write a book, then Episode 95 of this Indie Author Weekly podcast is required listening.
#4: Episode 73: Writing & editing process for Her Bad Idea
Writing Her Bad Idea was interesting, because I started it before the pandemic, took a few breaks in the middle of writing and editing it, and then published it last summer. It was a very different experience to write and edit this book compared to all of my other novels in the Polyamorous Passions series.
This episode also outlines my colour-coding system for editing on paper and how I managed to get past putting too much pressure on myself… which actually resulted in my best writing so far.
You can get all of that in Episode 73 of this Indie Author Weekly podcast.
#3: Episode 80: 5 reasons why you're struggling with writing (and how to fix it)
If you are having trouble putting pen to paper, then this is the perfect episode for you. It features 5 common reasons for why writers get stuck, plus some practical fixes.
You can get all of that in Episode 80 of this Indie Author Weekly podcast.
#2: Episode 83: Step-by-step guide for how to fit "writing a book" into your schedule
If you’ve ever said, “I’d love to write a book, but I just don’t have the time for it,” then you need to listen to this episode. It features 2 important foundational things to know about time management, plus my 5-step process for how to add “writing a book” into your schedule—yes, even if you’re super busy, and yes, even if it feels like you have zero time to do it. This is my speciality! My day job is a Productivity Strategist for solopreneurs and multi-passionate creatives. Productivity is what I literally get paid to do. It’s my bread and butter. So I strongly encourage you to tune into that episode, Episode 83, if you need help with finding time to write your book.
#1: Episode 106: Dealing with imposter syndrome
Yes, that’s right—last week’s episode is one of my absolute favourites! I’m a really big fan of transparency, and/but, it’s also sometimes hard to do. I felt really vulnerable recently when imposter syndrome hit me hard and I’m glad that I gathered the courage to share about it with you, here on the podcast. That’s a big part of what this podcast is all about, after all—sharing the experiences we have as authors, whether they’re easy breezy wins or vulnerable challenges and everything in between.
So you can hear all about that in Episode 106 of this Indie Author Weekly podcast.
There you go! Those are my personal top 5 favourites from this past year on the podcast.
Based on this, clearly I like talking about the mindset stuff a lot! Which is surprising, because I tend to think of myself as very action-oriented. So it’s interesting that I actually gravitate toward the episodes that are all about motivating you and encouraging you, as the listener.
Again, I’m SUPER curious to hear your thoughts on this. What type of episode are YOUR favourite? I’d love to create more episodes that resonate with you and empowers you the most. Choose your favourite type at SaganMorrow.com/question so that I can give you more of what you like best.
And that, my friend, is a wrap for today’s episode of Indie Author Weekly! Access the show notes for this episode, including all links and additional resources, at SaganMorrow.com/podcast.
Thank you so much for tuning in. Please take 2 minutes to rate and review Indie Author Weekly on Apple Podcasts—I really appreciate your support.
Until next week, this is Sagan Morrow, signing off the Indie Author Weekly podcast.