Parents Who Write

Are you looking for organic marketing tips that will help you grow your social media audience? In this episode, you’ll learn six ways to do just that, without spamming other groups or turning potential readers away with only “buy my book” posts.
Today’s guest, Chad Miller, a writer of dark fiction and horror and a single father to three tweens, also shares the pros of working with indie publishers and why Chad argues there’s no such thing as writer’s block.
So stay tuned and also enjoy a fun conversation at the end about Chad’s love for classic horror and his thoughts about certain horror movies.
Topics discussed in this episode:

• Chad’s writing journey
• Making the most of limited writing time
• Choosing the indie publishing route
• End goals for being an author
• Marketing tips for social media
• Tip #1: Don’t take on too many social media platforms
• Tip #2: Build your audience organically
• Tip #3: Connecting with reviewers
• Tip #4: How to engage your audience
• Tip #5: Creating useful, fun content
• Tip #6: Commenting and inviting followers
• Favorite horror books and movies
• BONUS: Don’t give up hope

About Chad:
Chad Miller is a writer of dark fiction and horror. Most of his inspirations are derived from dark concepts in art, music, and literature, and Miller expresses these themes in his own work. He finds much to explore in the despair, horror, and pain in the human condition and is intrigued and mesmerized by these elements.
Miller lives in Delaware with his daughters, ages 12 and 9, his girlfriend, Natasha, and her daughter, age 12. He dreams of living in cities across the world and exploring culture and art with his favorite people.
Get his books:

• The Prisoner of Fear: https://www.amazon.com/Doyle-Braham-Prisoner-Chad-Miller/dp/1957913266
• Doyle and Braham in: A Paroxysm of Fear: https://www.amazon.com/Doyle-Braham-Paroxysm-Chad-Miller-ebook/dp/B0BT5TBKGL
• The Void short stories: https://www.amazon.com/Void-Chad-Miller/dp/1957913223

Connect with Chad:

• Facebook; https://www.facebook.com/chadmillerauthor/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chadmillerauthor/
• Website: https://www.chadmiller-author.com/

Resources mentioned:

• Tips on growing a social media audience: https://www.chadmiller-author.com/2023/02/17/here-are-some-tips-on-growing-your-social-media-audience/

Books discussed during the show:

• Dracula, by Bram Stoker
• Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley
• The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexand

Send us a text

Feeling stuck in your author journey? As an experienced editor, I specialize in helping writers like you, especially parents juggling family and creativity, finish and publish their books.
Take action on your writing dreams! Book a FREE 30-minute discovery call to discuss how I can help you implement these strategies and finally achieve your author goals.
https://calendly.com/parentswhowrite/30min-meeting
Bonus! Book your call and mention this episode for a free publishing check list.

Have you ever written a sentence that just feels off? And you’re not sure how to rearrange the words or phrases to create a stronger sentence?
Today’s episode plants the first seeds for gaining this knowledge. Just listen, and let these concepts grow roots. And when you come back and listen again, you’ll strengthen these ideas, which in turn will begin to strengthen your writing.
Why? Because no matter how many words a sentence contains, whether that’s 3 words or 100, every sentence boils down to 5 basic patterns. And when you know how the patterns should flow, you’ll be better able to identify and fix those awkward sentences that muddy your ideas and confuse your readers.
So stay tuned and familiarize yourself with the bigger picture.
Also, if you want a visual version of this episode, you can read the article version online: https://lifebeyondparenting.com/sentence-patterns.
Topics discussed in this episode:

• Know your puzzle pieces
• When to implement this in your writing
• Pattern one: subject + verb + subject complement
• Pattern two: subject + verb
• Pattern three: subject + verb + direct object
• Pattern four: subject + verb + indirect object + direct object
• Pattern five: subject + verb + direct object + object complement
• How this helps you

About Erin:
Erin P.T. Canning has worked for more than 15 years as a magazine and book editor, encouraging each writer’s individual voice and strengthening their writing goals.
She always planned to write a book. Then she had kids. While she focused on them, she stopped writing—for six years. Something deep inside was missing. Depression, anxiety, and anger forced her to search for herself, both for her sake and her family’s.
Despite fearing her skills had atrophied, Erin started writing again. One journal entry led to one blog post that led to her creating her podcast, Parents Who Write. Erin’s current role as a podcaster and writing coach enables her to help others pursue their writing dreams.
Finally, she finished writing her own shitty first draft and will release her first novel in 2023. She earned her MA in Writing from Johns Hopkins University, and she lives with her husband and their two boys in Maryland.
Connect with Erin:

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/erinptcanning
• Twitter: http://twitter.com/erinptcanning
• Facebook group: https://facebook.com/groups/parentswhowrite
• Book a free 30-minute consultation call: https://calendly.com/parentswhowrite/30min-meeting

Send us a text

Feeling stuck in your author journey? As an experienced editor, I specialize in helping writers like you, especially parents juggling family and creativity, finish and publish their books.
Take action on your writing dreams! Book a FREE 30-minute discovery call to discuss how I can help you implement these strategies and finally achieve your author goals.
https://calendly.com/parentswhowrite/30min-meeting
Bonus! Book your call and mention this episode for a free publishing check list.

Getting back into writing as a parent can be difficult. Add the fact that only 5% of writers finish their first draft, and things can feel a bit dire.
Although this statistic may look scary, it’s not all doom and gloom! There is hope; as long as we can pinpoint what is getting in our way, there is a path to a solution.
In today’s episode, your host, Erin P.T. Canning, wants to share her journey in battling with finishing her first draft and what she learned along the way. Fear, perfectionism, imposter syndrome, losing confidence in herself and her abilities were all common themes in her journey. But she found a way to combat these heavy obstacles, and she wants to share how she did it with you!
Tune in to hear how to take the pressure off of yourself by making things easy and uncomplicated with straightforward steps you can implement today, such as setting parameters in your writing, knowing when to write and when to daydream, remembering to celebrate your wins along the way, and much more.
This episode is filled with actionable tips that can help any parent finish the first draft, so be sure to tune in today!
Topics discussed in this episode:

• Erin’s journey getting back into writing and finishing her first draft
• Removing the pressure of perfectionism: Tell, don’t show in your first draft
• Identifying goals and learning average stats for your genre
• Benefits of using a tracker
• Use placeholders to keep moving forward
• Getting passed the first chapter
• Setting up rewards for yourself along the way
• Exciting announcement!

About Erin:
For 15 years, Erin has worked as a magazine and book editor, encouraging each writer’s individual voice and strengthening their writing goals. When she became a parent, she set aside her own writing aspirations to focus on her family. As the years passed, she grew increasingly anxious, depressed, and angry until she realized that she had forgotten who she was beyond being a parent.
Despite fearing her skills had atrophied, Erin started writing again. She first created her blog, Life Beyond Parenting, and then created the Parents Who Write podcast. Erin’s current role as a podcaster and writing coach enables her to help parents pursue their writing dreams.
She earned her MA in Writing from Johns Hopkins University, and she has finished the first draft of a fantasy-romance novel. She lives with her husband and their two young boys in Maryland.
Connect with Erin:

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/erinptcanning
• Twitter: http://twitter.com/erinptcanning
• Facebook group: https://facebook.com/groups/parentswhowrite
• Book a free 30-minute consultation call: https://calendly.com/parentswhowrite/30min-meeting

Send us a text

Feeling stuck in your author journey? As an experienced editor, I specialize in helping writers like you, especially parents juggling family and creativity, finish and publish their books.
Take action on your writing dreams! Book a FREE 30-minute discovery call to discuss how I can help you implement these strategies and finally achieve your author goals.
https://calendly.com/parentswhowrite/30min-meeting
Bonus! Book your call and mention this episode for a free publishing check list.

Who doesn’t enjoy a good love story?
Gina Colgrove, an at-home mom of two girls, former healthcare worker, and author of Until There Was You, is on the show today.
In this episode, we discuss the history and legitimacy of serial romance novel apps and the ways in which these platforms help writers. Gina also shares what she’s learned by looking back at her first book, what her writing habits and daily goals look like, and what experiences she had with self-publishing and what portion of that surprised her.
We also talk about the ways in which our writing has inspired our kids and laughed about our 80s and 90s boy band obsessions.
Get her books:

• Until There Was You:
• https://www.amazon.com/Until-there-was-you-Colgrove-ebook/dp/B09R8Q6R73/
• Love Me Later:
  https://www.amazon.com/Love-Me-Later-G-Colgrove-ebook/dp/B0B468T31W/

Find Gina’s books on the Dreame app:

• Teacher’s Pet
• The Millionaire’s Obsession
• The Millionaire’s Weakness
• The Alpha’s Redemption
• The Hellhound’s Crusade

Connect with Gina:

• Website: https://www.gcolgroveauthor.com/
• Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/watch/GColgroveAuthor/
• Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/653443792428877
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/g_colgrove_author/
• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@g_colgrove_author
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/gcolgroveauthor
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkTUISVejBHU7AOW2mqgOYA
• Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60230795-until-there-was-you

Books mentioned during the show:

• Twilight series, by Stephanie Meyer
• Midnight Sun, by Stephanie Meyer
• Jewels of the Sun, by Nora Roberts
• House of Night series, by P.C. Cast & Kristin Cast
• Fallen series, by Lauren Kate
• Miss Peregrine’s School for Peculiar Children series, by Random Riggs
• Harry Potter series, by J.K. Rowling
• Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, by Rick Riordan
• Chronicles of Narnia series, by C.S. Lewis
• Shadows by the Lighthouse, by Melissa Puritis
• The Tale of Despereaux, by Kate DiCamillo
• Inkheart (and the Inkworld series), by Cornelia Funke
• The Thief Lord, by Cornelia Funke

Free your creativ

Send us a text

Feeling stuck in your author journey? As an experienced editor, I specialize in helping writers like you, especially parents juggling family and creativity, finish and publish their books.
Take action on your writing dreams! Book a FREE 30-minute discovery call to discuss how I can help you implement these strategies and finally achieve your author goals.
https://calendly.com/parentswhowrite/30min-meeting
Bonus! Book your call and mention this episode for a free publishing check list.

Becoming a parent changes us in ways we could never imagine. We experience an inexplicably unique kind of love through our children. However, the 24/7 nature of parenthood can also challenge us physically, mentally, and emotionally, leaving us with little time to remember who we are beyond being a parent.
This is exactly what happened to the host of the Parents Who Write podcast, Erin P.T. Canning. After she set aside her creativity, she found herself slowly struggling more and more with feeling anxious, angry, overwhelmed, and unworthy, especially in her parenting.
No one should feel alone in their struggles. That’s why Erin created the Parents Who Write community, so she could share her own story and support others in owning and changing theirs too.
For writers like Erin, whose self-expression through writing is at the core of who they are, losing the time and confidence to write is equivalent to losing a part of themselves. In starting this podcast, Erin hopes to inspire others to start dreaming again and putting pen to paper.
Tune in to hear Erin’s emotional journey, from a 6-year period of anxiety and depression to rediscovering herself and her passion for writing!
Connect with Erin:

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/erinptcanning
• Twitter: http://twitter.com/erinptcanning

Send us a text

Feeling stuck in your author journey? As an experienced editor, I specialize in helping writers like you, especially parents juggling family and creativity, finish and publish their books.
Take action on your writing dreams! Book a FREE 30-minute discovery call to discuss how I can help you implement these strategies and finally achieve your author goals.
https://calendly.com/parentswhowrite/30min-meeting
Bonus! Book your call and mention this episode for a free publishing check list.