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Indie Author Weekly

Indie Author Weekly

Sagan Morrow

Indie Author Weekly shares your host, Sagan's, behind-the-scenes journey of writing and publishing books as a self-published authorpreneur. New episodes are released every Tuesday and feature diary-style personal stories of the indie author journey, experiences of what works—and what doesn’t—as an author, plus tips on everything from book marketing to outlining chapters to managing perfectionism to finding writing inspiration and more!
You’ll learn practical tips and ideas for getting started with your own writer journey. This indie author podcast can be enjoyed by new and aspiring authors who want to learn more about self-publishing (plus tips and tools for writing and editing your own work), as well as curious bookworms who are interested in getting a peek behind the curtain of a writer’s life.
RECOMMENDED STARTING POINT: "Ep 140: Welcome back to the podcast!" AND "Ep 50: What made me start writing the Polyamorous Passions series" AND "Ep 53: Top 5 episodes from the first year of podcasting on Indie Author Weekly (and why I started this podcast)".
Indie Author Weekly is hosted by Sagan Morrow, a Kamloops-based writer with more than a decade of experience as a small business owner. Sagan started out as a blogger and freelance writer (and editor) around 2008. In 2016, she began teaching other freelancers how to improve productivity and time management through her online courses. She is an internationally board-certified Success & Life Coach who specializes in solopreneur coaching and anti-hustle productivity.
Sagan writes the Polyamorous Passions romantic comedy series, and has published several business books in addition to her work as a romance novelist. She published her first work of fiction in 2018.
The first 12 episodes of this podcast were originally published on a “secret” platform only for email subscribers, but you can tune into all of those original episodes right here. Access bonus materials to go along with the Indie Author Weekly podcast (including cheatsheets and spreadsheets relevant to the episode topics), plus full episode transcripts, sample chapters of her novels, and additional resources, at https://saganmorrow.com/secretpodcast. Starting with ep 140, you can also access these podcast episodes on YouTube at https://saganmorrow.com/youtube.
Learn more about Sagan’s published works and upcoming novels at https://saganmorrow.com/books/. Connect with Sagan on Twitter & Instagram: @Saganlives

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Top 10 Indie Author Weekly Episodes

Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best Indie Author Weekly episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to Indie Author Weekly for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite Indie Author Weekly episode by adding your comments to the episode page.

Indie Author Weekly - 121: That didn't go as planned...

121: That didn't go as planned...

Indie Author Weekly

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07/20/21 • 11 min

Have you ever worried about what might happen if your book plans get derailed? Or maybe your plans for your author career don’t quite pan out the way you hoped? That's what we're addressing in this episode of 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.
TUNE IN NOW to discover what I learned when this year's plan did NOT happen the way I anticipated—and what I'm doing about it...
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Indie Author Weekly - 090: How to find your voice & style as a storyteller & writer

090: How to find your voice & style as a storyteller & writer

Indie Author Weekly

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12/15/20 • 8 min

This episode of Indie Author Weekly addresses how to find your voice or style as a storyteller and writer.

Finding your voice as a storyteller is something that will take time. The best way to discover it and to cultivate it is to continue writing and telling stories on an ongoing (and, ideally consistent) basis, and to review your work as time passes.
These tips will help you out:

  1. Keep writing and telling stories on an ongoing basis, as consistently as possible.
  2. Have fun with it! Play with various genres and perspectives etc.
  3. Expand your comfort zone by starting with what feels easy or natural, and stepping more and more into your strengths as you keep moving forward.
  4. Reread your previously-published work so that you can see your voice and style grow over time, and to observe any patterns.
  5. Pay attention to your storytelling voice and your writing style, and try to ensure that they work together, rather than against one another.

TUNE IN to this episode of Indie Author Weekly to learn more about how to find your voice and style as a storyteller and writer...
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Indie Author Weekly - 048: 3 tips for writing books at the END of a series

048: 3 tips for writing books at the END of a series

Indie Author Weekly

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02/25/20 • 13 min

Learn 3 tips for how to write books when you are getting to the end of a series in this episode of Indie Author Weekly.
... Because that is where I’m at right now! My Polyamorous Passions series will have 9 books in total, and each of the three trilogies within this series follows a different main character. In other words, this means that every three books, I begin a new story arc. Books 1 - 3 followed Emma’s story, Books 4 - 6 followed Helen’s story, and I’m currently writing the first draft of Book 7, which will follow Scarlett’s story until the end of this Polyamorous Passions series.
Sidebar: If you’re curious about learning more about those books, you can visit SaganMorrow.com/books for full information on all of them.
Also, another sidebar: I shared 8 tips for how to keep track of everything when you’re writing a book series in a previous episode here on the Indie Author Weekly podcast. Tune into Episode 16 for details on that.
Okay, now, when you get toward the end of the series, it can feel a little daunting. Basically, you don’t want to mess things up! More than one reader has told me that their favourite character is Scarlett, which makes me so happy, because I love her too... but it’s kind of funny, because I think I’ve been putting a bit of unnecessary pressure on myself.
Frankly, it was much easier to write Helen, I think for two reasons: first of all, she’s very different from me, so it was really easy to separate myself from her. And second, she’s not a particularly likeable character in the first few books of the series! So it was fascinating to explore things from her perspective and get to know her, and see how she develops into this really likeable, very strong-willed character. Readers love Helen once they get to her books in the series.
Besides the characters, it can also be nerve-wracking to try to tie up loose ends, or make sure that everything comes together perfectly, or ensure that you don’t forget about something.
So that’s possibly one of the biggest obstacles that can arise when you get to the end of the series: it can feel rather daunting because you don’t want to mess stuff up—and that often means that we get stuck and start avoiding the writing process.
With that in mind, I have 3 tips that have helped me get past that stage, and I hope it will help you, too...

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Indie Author Weekly - 088: Process for choosing cover image & design

088: Process for choosing cover image & design

Indie Author Weekly

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12/01/20 • 15 min

In this episode of Indie Author Weekly, I want to share about my process for how I have chosen cover images and design for my books in the past. I’ll be doing an illustrated cover for my next romcom, which I’m pretty excited about, so that got me thinking about cover images and design in general.
This is not something that comes naturally to me. I’m a writer, not a designer! I outsourced my design to Acepub for the Polyamorous Passions, and they’ve been pretty good. I chose them right from the start because they were recommended by Kobo Writing Life.
I still don’t feel as though I’ve totally nailed the decision-making process of choosing cover images and design, but I’ve definitely learned a lot! So if you feel like you aren’t a design person, don’t worry. I’m right there with you. This episode is for you.
A caveat here: this process is based on my experience with a) hiring out the cover design to someone else, and b) using stock photos for my covers. I’ll be getting a custom illustrated cover design for my next book, so that process will be a bit different! I’ll share about that experience in a future episode if you like.
Okay! So, here’s how I’ve chosen cover images and designs for my books. Let’s break it down into an easy step by step process... TUNE IN to this episode to get the inside scoop!
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Indie Author Weekly - 148: How I mapped out parallel plot lines for my current romcom WIP

148: How I mapped out parallel plot lines for my current romcom WIP

Indie Author Weekly

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05/23/23 • 21 min

Curious about how an author organizes themes, plots, scene ideas, chapter outlines, etc? We’re covering all of that in this behind-the-scenes look at my current work-in-progress, Book 8 of the Polyamorous Passions series!

This episode includes:

  • Follow up to Episode 147 — re: going back to the drawing board with my current romcom work-in-progress novel (Book 8 in the Polyamorous Passions series)
  • The 3 main plotlines and 2 core themes featured in Book 8
  • 4-step process for how I mapped out the parallel plot lines with incorporating the core themes throughout the story
  • My colour-coded sticky note method for mapping out major plot lines with the themes for the beginning, middle, and end of the story, as well as my colour-coded sticky note method for organizing scenes into the chapters
  • How I use a Google doc for organizing my chapter outlines with the parallel plot lines, core themes, and additional subplots and scenes

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Indie Author Weekly - 100: 100 tips for indie authors, aspiring authors, and curious bookworms

100: 100 tips for indie authors, aspiring authors, and curious bookworms

Indie Author Weekly

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02/23/21 • 25 min

Have you ever wished you could get all the writing and reading tips you need and inside scoop you want in one place? Well, that’s exactly what’s happening on today’s episode of Indie Author Weekly, as a special celebration of our 100th episode!
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.
TUNE IN NOW to access all 100 writing and reading tips...
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Indie Author Weekly - 119: Tortured artist vs joyful creativity

119: Tortured artist vs joyful creativity

Indie Author Weekly

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07/06/21 • 9 min

Are you the type of write who equates creativity to joy... or do you have more of a tortured, struggling artist thing going on? That’s exactly what we’re discussing on today’s episode of 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.
TUNE IN NOW to discover why you can be happy AND creative, and why you don't need to rely on your pain in order to be creative—plus get some creativity homework!...
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Indie Author Weekly - 053: Top 5 episodes from the first year of podcasting on Indie Author Weekly

053: Top 5 episodes from the first year of podcasting on Indie Author Weekly

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03/31/20 • 21 min

Indie Author Weekly podcast is 1 year old! This episodes shares backstory to how I started this podcast, plus the top 5 most popular episodes—as well as my personal favourite 5 episodes from over the past year.
Since I’m in a celebratory mood, I also want to spread the love. Here’s what I’m going to do: I’m going to gift you the e-version of one of my books—either one of my romance novels or one of my business books—for the first five people who leave a review on Apple Podcasts of at least 50 words. After you publish your review of this podcast, take a screenshot of it and email me, [email protected] so I know who you are! At that point you can let me know which book of mine you want to receive a gift of and I’ll send it to you.
There’s no time limit to this, it’s just the first five people. So get to it! I can’t wait to read your review of this Indie Author Weekly podcast on Apple Podcasts, and to then email you the book of your choice as a thank-you gift. Visit SaganMorrow.com/books to choose which book you want to receive.

Resources & links mentioned in this episode:

  • Learn more about all of Sagan's books at SaganMorrow.com/books
  • Episode 6 of the Indie Author Weekly podcast: How do you advertise books when you self-publish?
  • Learn how to do relationship-based marketing in online courses at SaganMorrow.com/school
  • Pitching Clients 101: SaganMorrow.com/pitch
  • Keep Your Clients: SaganMorrow.com/keep
  • Episode 1 of the Indie Author Weekly podcast: Why I chose to self-publish books
  • Episode 15 of the Indie Author Weekly podcast: 10 tips for how to edit your own work
  • Episode 47 of the Indie Author Weekly podcast: How 4 different authors outline their books
  • Episode 3 of the Indie Author Weekly podcast: How to get started with outlining & writing a new book
  • Episode 52 of the Indie Author Weekly podcast: Step-by-step guide for how I'm planning & writing my upcoming romantic comedy, Her Bad Idea
  • Episode 51 of the Indie Author Weekly podcast: FAQ about the background to my Polyamorous Passions series
  • Episode 14 of the Indie Author Weekly podcast: Understanding your strengths & weaknesses as an author
  • Productivity Powerhouse: SaganMorrow.com/powerhouse
  • Episode 44 of the Indie Author Weekly podcast: How to use mindmapping to write your book
  • Episode 50 of the Indie Author Weekly podcast: What made me start writing Polyamorous Passions (my polyamory background)
  • Episode 34 of the Indie Author Weekly podcast: How to practice self-discipline as a writer
  • Tune into Indie Author Weekly on your favourite podcast platform at SaganMorrow.com/podcast
  • Rate & review this podcast on iTunes

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Indie Author Weekly - 051: FAQ about the background to my Polyamorous Passions series

051: FAQ about the background to my Polyamorous Passions series

Indie Author Weekly

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03/17/20 • 25 min

This episode of Indie Author Weekly follows up on Episode 50, where I shared my polyamorous background. Today, you'll get more details about my novels: Polyamorous Passions romantic comedy series.
FAQ:

  1. What is Polyamorous Passions?
  2. Why did you decide to write Polyamorous Passions?
  3. Why write these stories as books (instead of a screenplay, for example)?
  4. Why did you choose this genre of contemporary romantic comedy?
  5. Why novellas instead of full-length novels?
  6. Where did the idea for Polyamorous Passions come from?
  7. These books are different than any other story that I've read before! (A few things that set this series apart from other romantic comedies and chick lit...)

Polyamorous Passions follows 3 best friends as they each embark on their own journeys into consensual non-monogamy. Books 1—3 focus on Emma, Books 4—6 focus on Helen, and Books 7—9 will focus on Scarlett (Book 7 is slated for publication in summer 2020).
This contemporary new adult series is suitable for anyone interested in real-life polyamory & open relationships, positive female friendships, alternatives to monogamy, and explorations of sexuality. Each story can be enjoyed as a stand-alone, but readers often say they get the most from it by reading all the books in the series.
Polyamorous Passions uncovers the struggles (and benefits) of ethical non-monogamy and illustrates what polyamorous relationships can look like. These stories reduce stigma & provide new perspectives about different relationship styles, while entertaining the reader through fiction.
Polyamorous Passions follows Emma (easygoing recruitment manager with no issue dating multiple men simultaneously—even if they do), Helen (ambitious career woman in a 10-year relationship with her soon-to-be husband, who falls head over heels for her wedding photographer), and Scarlett (burlesque dancer with a long-standing unrequited crush, whose only hope to save her failing business is an irritating Humphrey Bogart-esque dance partner she’s forced to work with) as they navigate the next phase of their lives in the transitionary period of their late 20s to early 30s.
In the vein of Sex and the City & Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Polyamorous Passions uses humour & everyday conversations to share relatable real-life issues & complex life experiences in a compelling, entertaining format.
READ THE SERIES: SaganMorrow.com/books, or search “Polyamorous Passions” on your favourite e-bookstore platform.

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Indie Author Weekly - 054: 7 tips for task-switching between writing fiction and doing other things in life & business

054: 7 tips for task-switching between writing fiction and doing other things in life & business

Indie Author Weekly

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04/07/20 • 21 min

This episode of Indie Author Weekly answers a listener-submitted question from Alana, who asks:
“How do you task-switch between writing fiction and doing other things? For example, I can’t switch from fiction to work emails and back. I can only write fiction with a giant long uninterrupted block... which is why I haven’t written anything longer than a short story in a long time, because there’s no way I can put aside a long enough uninterrupted or even mildly interrupted block to work on a novel.”
Great question! This is definitely something that I think we can all relate to. I find it really challenging to write novels if I don’t have a large chunk of time blocked off for it, which is a big part of the reason for why I write novellas instead of novels.
But there are some ways that we can make task-switching a little more manageable, and improve our focus and productivity with it all. And since I’m both a productivity strategist and an author, this question is exactly the kind of thing I love!
Tune into this episode to get 7 tips for how to handle this problem around task-switching...
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FAQ

How many episodes does Indie Author Weekly have?

Indie Author Weekly currently has 179 episodes available.

What topics does Indie Author Weekly cover?

The podcast is about Society & Culture, Personal Journals, Podcasts, Books, Arts and Book Writing.

What is the most popular episode on Indie Author Weekly?

The episode title '030: How to write setting for your books, plus 4 important questions to ask yourself' is the most popular.

What is the average episode length on Indie Author Weekly?

The average episode length on Indie Author Weekly is 15 minutes.

How often are episodes of Indie Author Weekly released?

Episodes of Indie Author Weekly are typically released every 7 days.

When was the first episode of Indie Author Weekly?

The first episode of Indie Author Weekly was released on Apr 2, 2019.

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