Hello !
What a week it's been!
I kicked off October being able to finally announce something I'd been sitting on for long enough that I was getting squirmy:
🥳 I have a literary agent! 🦄
Laurie McLean, the founder of Fuse Literary, is taking a chance on me. This is exciting since she's giving me both a carrot and a stick. Turns out I really like how that feels—to have support and a spanking if I don't deliver!
I've loved the control of being an indie author since 2016, but in the last two years I've not written and published a book because as a boss of me, I'm waaay too forgiving of letting me be a slackass, quite honestly! 😆
One thing that makes an agent's job a little easier is when an author has some name recognition. So, although past Danika has sucked with social media posting, I've promised myself that I'm going to make a proper effort to use the tool as a way to reach new-to-me readers and grow my following to make it easier for Laurie to sell my next book.
Lord knows I need all the help I can get. So, I've asked the person who's social media creation tool is creating amazing results for romance authors, to help me. Check out the results on AuthorScale's YouTube feed.
And, because learning is more fun with your friends, this workshop will be done for everyone here! Yay!
Tuesday, Oct. 6: Content Creation Sprint
Walk away with 20 ready-to-post TikToks, Reels & Shorts for your book
Join Marvin Wey, co-founder of AuthorScale, for a live, hands-on session where you will create social media content for your own book.
Bring your laptop and a PDF of your book. You'll get free access to AuthorScale during the session so you can create up to 20 reader-friendly posts to schedule after we're done.
We'll be working with faceless formats such as Kindle screenshot videos, slideshows, and b-roll. In other words, content that can help readers discover your book and get a little taste of the story inside it.
I'll send the replay link to everyone who registers.
Register for the Content Creation Sprint. It's free!
Another tired and true way to find readers is by promoting our books through email lists of both other authors who write in our sub-genre and services that have tens or hundreds of thousands of our ideal readers.
So I want to learn how to do that better, too! And again, learning is more fun with friends so you're invited to ...
Thursday, Oct. 8: What makes romance readers click on a book?
Anna McCluskey, manager of Full Hearts Romance, is joining us to share a deep dive into what romance readers are opening and clicking in promotional newsletters.
She'll talk about what information encourages a reader to click through, the tropes readers appear to be looking for, how a newsletter-promo blurb differs from a retailer blurb, and how to strengthen a paid newsletter application.
If you have ever looked at your short blurb and wondered, "Is this actually telling the reader what they need to know?" this session is for you.
I'll send the replay link to everyone who registers.
Register for the Full Hearts Romance workshop. It's free!
The Writing Gals Conference starts this week
The Writing Gals virtual conference is specifically for romance authors. It starts this week, and I'm delighted to be a speaker on Thursday, talking about how to build your author community.
It is four days of workshops and live events for romance authors, plus a lovely opportunity to meet other writers who understand why you can spend an afternoon thinking deeply about a fictional person's first kiss... and call it work. 😘
If you've been craving encouragement, practical teaching, and connection with other romance writers, this is a fabulous place to find it.
The Writing Gals Conference offers over 60 classes that cover a wide variety of subjects, including the craft of writing, improving your prose, crafting memorable characters, studying story arc, taking criticism, networking, marketing, Amazon ads, Facebook ads, in-person (online) events, and more!
The conference starts on Tuesday and if you get your ticket before then—so today or Monday—you get $50 off! Hooray!
See The Writing Gals conference details here
The 12 Week Year replay
If you joined me for the 12 Week Year workshop, thank you for spending that time with me. I loved seeing so many authors being strategic about what they want to move forward in their writing lives over the next 12 weeks.
The delivery did not go as I'd hoped since I spent days creating nice slides and then forgot to share them. It wasn't until 54 minutes in when someone asked me if I had examples for what I was explaining. When I said, "they're on the slide," that's when I learned I'd been the only one seeing them. 😖
Oh! And if it looks like I start speaking in the middle of a paragraph? That's because I forgot to hit record, too! (We are professionals here, I swear!)
First, be sure to download the workbook, which must be good since for almost an hour workshop participants didn't even need the slides!
But if you'd like to follow along the way I'd intended, you can grab the slides from BookFunnel.
The replay is available until next Sunday. Then we shall never speak of this gaffe again!
Plan your next 12 Weeks as a Romance Author!
You do not have to do all the things this week. Please do not try to do all the things this week.
But if one or two of these opportunities gives you a clearer next step, helps you feel less alone, or brings you a little closer to the writing life you want, I hope you'll take it.
xo,
Danika
PS—Since I mentioned my promise to myself (and to my new agent! Squeee!) to be more active on social media, if you follow romance authors on Instagram, follow me! I'll follow back because I want to cheer on your milestones and celebrations, too!
Danika Bloom
Where romance writers become romance authors. Write it, finish it, publish it—together.
With respect and gratitude, I operate on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) Nation.