[00:00:00] Speaker A: Hello authors.
[00:00:01] Speaker B: I'm Joanne Morell, children's and young adult fiction writer and author of short nonfiction for authors. Thanks for joining me for the hybrid Author podcast, sharing interviews from industry professionals to help you forge a career as a hybrid author, both independently and traditionally publishing your books. You can get the show notes for each episode and sign up for your free author pass over at the hybrid author website to discover your writing process, get tips on how to publish productively, and get comfortable promoting your books at www.
[00:00:31] Speaker C: Dot.
[00:00:34] Speaker B: Let's crack on with the episode.
[00:00:42] Speaker D: Hello authors.
I hope you're all keeping well in whatever part of the world you reside and listen to the podcast in. Today's interview is with nonfiction author and advisor to the alliance of Independent Authors, Ally Anna Featherstone, and we chat positivity in the traditional and independent publishing world in 2024. Books and authors creating positive change Kickstarter campaigns Anna's books and tips for authors on built in book marketing and much, much more so in my author adventure this week it's school holidays, and for many parents out there, that means not a whole lot gets done.
It just depends on the age of your children. I guess my kids are a bit older, so they can sort of themselves and see to themselves. And I'm at a stage where I could probably organize a play date or a sleepover and they'll go off and play with their friends. So that kind of frees me up to be able to get some work done still. However, not as much as, you know, I probably would like unless you, you know, you organize it and you do it in snippets. But you know, if you've got smaller aged children, it can be a bit more difficult to try and find time to write, especially in the holidays. You have to entertain them. They want your attention. But you could probably just park up at a play center and let them go for their life. But many people, this is a time when people take off, they are writing to spend time with their family. A lot of people go away for the Easter holidays. I am going away not next week, but the last week of the holidays with a girlfriend. And we're going to Lancelin in Western Australia. So I'm really excited. We're camping the tent kind. So I've not done that since, gosh, my early twenties or teenage years. So yeah, looking forward to that. But what I will say is, whatever you've got going on in the holidays, just make sure you know that you are present with your kids, and that's what it's all about at the end of the day, I think that you can get lost in that sometimes you can still be productive rather than the physical aspect of sitting and writing, you can be world building, character building in your mind. You can do lots of things that don't necessarily need you to be sat still stagnant for a length of period of time. So I hope everyone enjoys a nice Easter when it comes. For me, this is a little bittersweet. It's the first weekend, the first holidays that I'll have spent without my children. If anyone listened to the podcast at the end of last year. I separated from my husband in July of last year. So that's been nearly ten months now of separation. And so yeah, there's still some firsts that come around where this is the first holiday that I won't be spending with my kids. So I kind of did like a little Easter egg treasure hunt thing before they left today to go and be with him for the weekend. Lots of change. But it also is an opportunity that I can recognise for me to be able to crack on with work that, as I said talking about the school holidays, I'm not going to be able to give full days to the writing and the book business while they're around. So while they're not, then I shall crack on with all the work that I've got to do and there's a plenty so I had my first business mentoring session at the start of the week and it was just worth its weight in gold. It really coaching, mentoring, all these types of services are fantastic with whatever you need help with, whether it's publishing, marketing, writing, business coaching, anything like that. It is so good. I find anyway beneficial to work with another keeps you accountable. The experience and expertise that they provide.
Whenever I've done this sort of stuff, it's always been really beneficial and already Sonia, the lady's name is shout out Sonia. She has already set me tasks that I can blatantly see I need in my business. I'm a one woman band. I struggle to do a lot of things myself and so I'm in the process of probably looking at a virtual hiring a virtual assistant to help me, free me up with to get on with the creative side of stuff and which will accelerate the business further. She's also told me about programs that I can implement for my finances, like all things like that, which are really beneficial and I have a good understanding of how to work all these systems as well from past jobs and experience and stuff. So keep you posted there. I have already cracked on with all these works and things in YA fiction, book news. I am in book research, obviously still plotting, but so the character in my, one of the main characters in my book, the protagonist, she is coming to a town for the summer for an internship and she's a botanist student. So it's going to be set in well, she's staying at and learning from a lavender farm. And I'm very fortunate that I have got a lavender farm close by. It's not so close by, it's about 40 minutes north suburbs of Perth. It was so interesting and I would like to give a shout out to Gary and Carly, his wife, who are the owners of the farm up there and they've been there for 19 years. And Gary kindly sat down with me this week and let me ask him pick his brains about lavender farming. And I got to see the farm and it was shut. But it was so interesting just to hear all about their stories and learn about lavenders, which it just, there's so much you can do with lavenders. His wife is very creative. They have a restaurant there and a bar as well as the lavenders. And they have kids playground. So they incorporate obviously lavender oils, but they have sprays. And with their restaurant they experiment with cooking. So they've got pizzas and pies and they've got all sorts of stuff and ice cream, lavender ice cream and cookies. And you know, it's the licensed premises, they're, you know, starting to utilize into booze. They are beekeepers. They have all their own bees. Lavender honey. It just blew my mind. So if you live in Western Australia or you're going to come and visit here, or you live in Perth, northern suburbs, 272 Old Yanchip Road, Carrabouda is the Yanchip lavender farm and it's open most days. I think they're shut on a Wednesday, but please go up and check it out. It is a fantastic little day out and you can take your kids, it's a great relaxed little place. And so thank you to them for providing me with such good insights into not only lavender farming, but botany as well, which I know nothing about. But I'm getting an education. So I just really, really loving that process. If you listen to the podcast regularly, you'll have heard that I'm going to Rotness island for a writer's retreat in June with the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. And there we have guest publishers that come over this year. We have a lady from Fremantle Press and also interstate guest Samantha Forge and she's from publishing house Elena Unwin and I've managed to score a one on one critique session with her. And this is where I'm going to pitch this young adult novel. So wish me luck. It's still a couple months away. You're going to hear a lot more about it. Fingers crossed.
So if you love the podcast or any of the episodes has helped you further in your author career, you can now pay it forward by buying me a coffee over at www.buymeacoffee.com. Thehybridauthor let's all support each other.
[00:08:05] Speaker A: Anna Featherstone is an author whisperer, empowering writers at various stages of their writing, publishing and book marketing journey. She is the non fiction advisor to the alliance of Independent Authors, Ally and founder of Bold Authors, a collaborative course hub where authors share knowledge and noose. The author of five books, her title, look, it's your book. Write, publish, and promote. Your non fiction book is on the Australian Society of Authors recommended reading list. Anna's also a judge of the Australian Business Awards, sorry, the Australian Business Book Awards, and is into bees, beings, and the big issues of our time.
[00:08:44] Speaker D: Welcome to the Hybrid Author podcast, Anna.
[00:08:46] Speaker C: Well, thank you, Joanne. It's great to be here.
[00:08:49] Speaker A: That is a fabulous bio. You've had quite a career. So how is it you came to join the writing and publishing industry?
[00:08:55] Speaker C: Oh, I suppose, like a lot of us writers out there loved books as a kid. Loved, you know, finding all the little spots in the library. And then I think, you know, I just dabbled. But I was about 21, and I was living on this remote coral cay off on the Great Barrier Reef where I was doing some work. And at night there was nothing to do. There was like, no tv, no Internet connection. And so I signed up for a correspondence course, like on writing. And, you know, back then, because, you know, there was only telexers and, like, email was not quite a thing. So this course came in a parcel, you know, once a month, and I'd do the assignment and send it back. And then the final assignment for the course was that you had to actually write a book proposal. So I went through, wow, do I do, like, a romance book proposal set on an island, or do I do nonfiction? Which at the time, I was like, how do you get a job in resorts worldwide? So I pitched that as the assignment, and then, like a month later, the helicopter bought the mail, and I literally got a book deal from an educational publisher. Oh, my gosh.
[00:10:01] Speaker A: That is incredible.
[00:10:02] Speaker D: I love that.
[00:10:03] Speaker C: I know. Like, it's just crazy, you know? Like, it literally, like, dropped in my lap. But, you know, if I tried to pitch that book now, no one wants to work in hotels, you know, or, you know, it's just not the glam thing these days. But, you know, and I suppose that's the thing about a book. It's like right time, right place, right pitch, and you can be on or off by a week or a month or five years. But, yeah, so that's how I got my first book deal. So that's where I learned a bit about trad publishing. And the book did great because it was in the education market, it was in all the colleges, the schools, but I didn't really have much to do with the marketing of it at all. And then I thought, oh, yep, great. Then I did a bit of screenwriting, won like a mentorship. Then not much happened until 911, when I suddenly was like, holy moly. That kind of, you know, I went down a deep dive of, well, what caused this? You know, I just had anchors on until then, and I had a young family, so we literally moved to the country to try and improve our resilience, what we knew about the earth, tried to live a little lighter on the land. And out of that, I came up with a book, honeycomb kids, big picture parenting for a changing world and to change the world. So it was literally all about how do you prepare for the big issues of our time? So this was like maybe 14 years ago I started writing it, and it was all about how to prepare for things like pandemics, global warming, the end of the world. Exactly.
But it was about social issues, too, about mass migration, about all these things. So it was really about how do you help your community and your family to make the world a better place? So I pitched that around, and I got an agent in Sydney, in New York. They had some great climate scientists give me testimonials for it, but no one picked it up. They were like. They were like, this is two way out. No one's interested, you know? Whereas if I'd pitched it a year before the actual pandemic, you know, maybe someone might have gone, oh, maybe there is something here. Anyway, blah, blah, blah. But out of it, I did. So I decided to self publish. That's where I learned how to self publish. And then it did get picked up by a distributor in the US, and then it sold foreign rights and translation deals into Korea and Turkey, of all places.
[00:12:19] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:12:19] Speaker C: And it sold really well. And, yeah, anyway, I just thought that was the end. I would never care enough about something else to write about. But then I ended up writing two more non fiction books a few years later about small farming, how to make a life and living on the land, and then a memoir about that too, with organic farms. But I suppose basically listeners don't want to hear all that journey. What they want to hear is that I made a lot of mistakes, which I did. And then I realized I could have done a much better job and promoted these books better and been more confident and. Yeah, anyway, so went a bit longer and then there's, I was also a freelance journalist, so I was writing for different places. And there's a freelance journalist site in Sydney called Rachel's List. And she asked me to do a mini masterclass on self publishing. And after I did that, she said, well, can you come back and do an even bigger one? I said, well, if you want me to do more, I'm going to have to research everything, like, as it's happening now and I may as well write the book. And that's when I wrote look at your book.
Yeah. Which I'm so proud of because it's on the Australian Society of Authors recommended reading list. It's. And I'm just hearing from authors every day who are using it like as their little guide to get them through. And that's how I met orner at the alliance of Independent Authors. And I suppose that's the thing. Each book sets you up for something else.
[00:13:40] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:13:40] Speaker C: But you just got to keep going, I suppose.
[00:13:42] Speaker A: Yeah, that's it. Wow, your story is incredible.
[00:13:46] Speaker D: I absolutely love it.
[00:13:47] Speaker A: I feel like I've heard of Rachel's list as well. When I was doing freelance writing after I come out of uni, I feel like I remember consulting that. It's a really good site, actually.
[00:13:54] Speaker C: Yeah.
Oh, that's amazing.
[00:13:57] Speaker A: So you are a hybrid author through your publishing endeavors.
Traditional and the indie and things like that. And we are now. Oh goodness. Coming into the third quarter of, well, not the third quarter, but the first ending the first quarter of 2024.
Have you noticed much within the industry this year, traditional and indie?
[00:14:20] Speaker C: I'm noticing a few things. I'm noticing that trad authors are becoming more interested in what indies are doing. I think so they're facing a lot of the same things like this avalanche of books, less attention from their own publishers. So I'm noticing that. I'm noticing that the indie world is, you know, ever more upping its game in quality, in innovation, in all sorts of things. And you look at like we talked off air about Steph Holmes out of New Zealand, like, what an amazing beacon she is. You know, how you can approach things, what you can do. I'm also noticing that in the non fiction space, especially, that the indie authors are getting much more media attention. And last year, Sarah Martin is an author who I met because she read look at your book and we talked a lot. She wrote a story called, or a memoir called Dear Psychosis about her family supporting their daughter through, you know, a terrible period. She ended up on one of the top rating shows in Australia called the project.
[00:15:24] Speaker A: Oh, yeah.
[00:15:25] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:15:25] Speaker C: And then this year that's been followed up by Holly Dean Johns. She has a memoir out about seven years in a thai prison and called Holly's hell. And that has, you know, that's on BBC World News. It's been on ABC. Like, that's gotten some great coverage. So I think what hybrid trad and indie authors can take from that is the media and readers really don't care how or who publishes your book. They care about Laurie.
[00:15:48] Speaker A: Yeah, no, I agree wholeheartedly there. Do you feel as well, it's more, you know, I think bias against indie authors is kind of dead in the.
[00:15:57] Speaker D: Water, I guess, today, but.
[00:15:58] Speaker A: And in the past, it wasn't so much. Do you think that there's an interest. There's more of an interest in, like, the indie space from traditional side because of the acceptance now and like you're saying, the. The media coverage, and they can just see this now as a viable sort of option probably ten years after the indie authors did, I suppose.
[00:16:18] Speaker C: Yeah, look, I think. I think there are still, like, blocks there. There are people who still. And it's kind of. They still look at publishing as the pinnacle is to get a trad deal. And therefore they protect that at all costs if they get that deal. And sometimes that can push down on other authors who aren't doing, you know, aren't on that same journey. But most and Ally's been working on this with a campaign to ensure that all awards and fellowships around the world start opening up to indie authors. There was one, one major one in Australia that the stellar awards, which currently isn't open to indies. But I think that they are looking at taking it to the board about opening it. And, you know, then I suppose it's up to do the judges look, you know, down their nose at Indy or not. But I know of two very literary authors who are indie publishing in May with extraordinary memoirs that will maybe shake some things up there. And the attention to detail these authors have not just put into their writing. I mean, they could have easily been traditionally published as well, but for whatever reason, they either weren't picked up or the deals weren't great. I think these authors are going to blow some people away with their work.
[00:17:37] Speaker A: Wow, that's amazing. It's something I've noticed myself, actually, for. I'm not sure about awards, but there was an event that was through the, it was the Children's Book Council of Australia. Like they have, they have an event each year here in Perth that's called a night with our stars. And it's a chance for like the children, because I write children's fiction as well and look for a traditional deal there. And I've been part a member of Squibbie for about seven years. And it's these two communities that sort of come together. And I noticed this year there's not many. I think there was only one indie published author who was there pitching, but the fact that there was one, and they do promote, they did have some self published books on the list, so they are starting to sort of integrate and emerge, which is good to see. It's definitely going to slow process. And also Squibbie as an organization because I'm the newsletter editor for them. Their events that they've put together this year, they asked their members what they wanted to hear about. And self publishing was one of the things that people were interested in. So they've kind of catered for everybody across the board and included that in the learnings and the events that they're putting on this year, which is really good to see.
[00:18:42] Speaker C: That's great. And I've noticed like this year, Byron writers Festival as well, they're making sure there's room on the program for at least one local self published author.
[00:18:53] Speaker A: Great.
[00:18:53] Speaker C: Which, and I think that kind of such an amazing festival, doing shows, other festivals, do you know what, guys?
There's a whole other world as well. And such a positive I'm seeing this year too, is traditional and indie authors supporting each other. And I love that cross pollination and that cross friendship because, as you say, and you know, we're all probably at some stage in our journey going to go a little bit hybrid.
[00:19:21] Speaker A: Yeah, well, honestly, the term hybrid blows me away. I've been doing this podcast for three years and each person I seem to find that the term is just coining off into so many different directions. Like I spelled a guy and he's written a hybrid memoir, how it was about his parents growing up in New York, but he's kind of written it in some parts of it in a fictional narrative that he's made up, some parts that he believes the conversation would go, but then he's also plastered in real collages of memoirs from his father. Like, it's just insane. I just love it.
[00:19:55] Speaker C: So, no, sorry to see. And, like, that kind of thing, too. I've been meeting authors who, you know, they've started their books as fiction, but then have gone to fiction, to nonfiction, you know, like, because everyone's dealing with different themes and ideas. And sometimes it works well in fiction or nonfiction. And likewise, sometimes a book works great when it's published. Trad. And sometimes it works great if it's indie.
[00:20:21] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, no, it's. It is. It is fantastic. I actually just spoke at a festival, a literacy festival on a smaller scale, but I think I was one of the. There was a hybrid author, but she's more down the traditional path now. But I think I might have been one of the only self published ones. They are speaking about Roblox and writing and stuff, but, yeah, I don't think it mattered to them. I think that they were just interested in the content and what I was putting across, like, real lived experience, and, yeah, went really well. So.
[00:20:47] Speaker C: Yay. Yay.
[00:20:49] Speaker A: That was good to hear. So you're. You're interested in books and authors that lead to positive change in some way. Can you tell us about that?
[00:20:57] Speaker C: Oh, absolutely. Like, books changed my world. You know, a mix of fiction and non fiction. I, you know, last year, actually, it was amazing at Byron writers, there was a lady I was running a marketing for authors workshop, and one of the volunteers just happened to mention, oh, I wrote a book about 30 years ago. And I'm like, oh, what? And she goes, and she self published. I said, what did you write? And she goes, oh, I'm Jude Fanton. I wrote the Seed Savers handbook, and I literally burst into tears because that book, when I was, you know, doing organic farming, meant so much to me because it was all about, yeah, how do you save, you know, open pollinated seeds for the future, and how do you get a harvest each year? And it's such a sharing thing. And I'm like, that, you know, she literally. She self published that book 230 years ago, and they actually, they crowdfunded it. Like, they had a newsletter at the time, and they asked people to send in money if they wanted a copy of the book. So she was one of the really early authors, before Kickstarter, before all that, who, you know, so she changed the world for me, and so many people because that book's been reprinted a gazillion times. And so I just see these books doing amazing things. And then I've been working with some authors recently who are changing the world, too. So there's a lady I met, Maggie Walters, who is bringing out a memoir in May, and it's called Split a life shared living with multiple personality disorder. So she's going to, you know, help people understand mental health in such a different way. Another lady, Mary Garden, an award winning author as well, who's going to be indie publishing my father's suitcase, which is actually about sibling abuse, which is a topic not many people actually discuss. So these kind of books change the world. They improve our knowledge and understanding of others.
And another lady, Mays, a big month, actually, Anne Gately, who has survived stage four melanoma under one of those incredible immunotherapy procedures that are happening now. And her book is about changing the way governments and sporting organizations look at how we protect people doing sport outdoors.
It's an incredible story as well, about facing death and courage and all these things. So, yeah, I'm just a huge fan of books that lead to positive change. Another guy like Damian Linane, he's got a memoir called Raw, and he was in the prison system. And he, besides his book, his memoir about what happened to him and how he ended up firebombing a house and ended up in jail, now runs like a prison magazine for people who are incarcerated. And, you know, he's helping that whole side of community to become better, too.
[00:23:51] Speaker A: That's amazing. I love that. I love that story.
[00:23:54] Speaker C: Yeah. Oh, and in the fiction side, I just went to an author talk for Donna Cameron's the rewilding, which is, you know, kind of in that newish genre of hope, punk and solarpunk, which is, it's kind of like either Sci-Fi or modern day, but with a positive like. So it's set with all the problems that we have, but shows a less dystopian way out.
So, yeah, so changing attitudes through books as well, because you kind of, like, I'm like looking at all these billionaires, you know, who are just blowing things into space rather than fixing what we have here on the planet. Maybe if they'd read good books, not Sci-Fi back in the day, you know, there will be a kind of place.
[00:24:38] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. No, absolutely. And they all sound incredible. So agree with you 100% on those types of books. And I can hear how excited you are talking about them as well. But let's talk about your books, you've got a new one you're working on built in book marketing, which sounds super interesting to, obviously, myself and authors in the community. Can you tell us a little bit about the book? And what do you mean by built in book marketing?
[00:25:03] Speaker C: Yeah, so I suppose, like, you know, in all the groups, you see people saying, oh, I've just got my print run done. Any tips for marketing?
I just feel so worried for authors. Like, it's so hard to get visibility that if everyone's leaving it to the last minute and putting it in the. I'll do that when I've got books in my hands, I'll start marketing it. It's just too late to get the, you know, to get your book properly out there. So I'm like, what I've done with my books is I've kind of built marketing opportunities into the actual manuscript as I go. And that might mean for fiction or for non fiction. You know, who do you get to write your foreword? Who do you, you know, who do you use for your interviewees? Who are your experts? And for fiction authors, it might be, you know, where you set your book. So there's Blarney books and art in Victoria. It's a little bookstore down there. And for months in succession, their bestseller in the top ten has been the Port fairy Murder series. Because the books are set in Port fairy, so tourists come in, they're like, oh, wow, you know, right here, I'm going to buy it. Now, Robert Gott could have set that book in an imaginary place or set it there, but used a different name, but he didn't. And so that becomes a marketing tool for him because it's got an instant base of tourists who go, wow, that looks interesting. I'll get that. There's an indie author, Lee Lehner, who I met up at Byron Riders as well. She writes the Anethea series and she it's a fantasy, like romance fantasy and all sorts of other interesting genres she's blended. And she. The setting was inspired by Hamilton island. Like, the geographical features of Hamilton island, that's the backdrop for the book. So that then gives her a hook to get that book into those bookstores on the island or into, you know, stores for sale. So it doesn't have to be a real world place, but it's using those, thinking about how you can use setting to then, you know, get some marketing out the other end to make it a bit easier.
[00:26:58] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:26:59] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:26:59] Speaker A: That's fantastic. I haven't really ever given that much thought, but as you're kind of talking about it. It makes a lot of sense and I think I can't remember any names here or anything like that, but there is authors I've heard speak about how they would think about doing tours if someone set the book in a specific place and then tours around the place in line with the book and different events and stuff. So that's cool. Yeah.
[00:27:24] Speaker C: And it gives you imagery that you can use, you know, for Instagram or Pinterest. Yeah. So it just opens up opportunities. But I don't, like, I still think, you know, you still need to get your first draft down. Like, let your creative spirit, like, flow. But what I'm doing with building book marketing is then when you come back through, you know, and you're onto your second draft, that's when you can start weaving in all these opportunities and ideas that would just give you a head start. So when you come to launch, you don't, you're not so worried. You're not starting from scratch and you don't have to pay a fortune advertising to try and make up for organic marketing you could have got for free. Just put a few extra things in your book.
[00:28:03] Speaker A: Yeah, no, that makes absolute sense. So do you think you need to get the first draft done to figure out, like, the story and stuff like that and then go back and be looking at opportunities there rather than before you've even tackled the work? Thinking of opportunities or either?
[00:28:17] Speaker C: I like, you know, I know some people just go straight to look at the categories and what's selling and they write to market, but I'm more like a heart led author, so I know different things work for people, but I'm only ever going to write a book I care about. Yeah. And I'm only, and I'm not looking to be a bestseller. I'm happy to write really niche books because that's what I love to do because that's my passion. But I know other people do it differently. But if you're going to have a great book that has a lot of great energy, I think you need to get that first lot first lot of words down and the story down. But then, you know, when you're going and redrafting, it's much easier then to go, oh, actually, if I just did this or if I just added that or if I reach out on the Internet and ask this and then you, you know, like it's, it's, yeah, I do it that way. Just so that first flow of ideas is, you know, wonderful and beautiful and that beautiful creative stuff.
[00:29:09] Speaker A: Yeah. No, absolutely. That's great. And you've. You're going through Kickstarter for this book and is this your first experience with Kickstarter?
[00:29:18] Speaker C: Yeah. So I'm just gonna use it as an experiment. I've been loving listening to other people's journeys on Kickstarter and watching what they're doing and what I found. So I've set up a campaign, but I'm not turning it live. But what I found, it did. It made me actually think, wow, well, what extra value can I offer readers? So it actually made me think more creatively to make my own book better as well. So what I've done, like, so the campaign's approved, but I haven't launched it. But people can go and click a little button and ask to be notified when it does.
[00:29:49] Speaker A: Right.
[00:29:49] Speaker C: So that kind of gives me the flexibility. Like, I can garner interesting. You know, I don't have to have everything ready to go right. Right now. So it's kind of taking the pressure off a bit. But, you know, listeners can still act now because I think that's one of our marketing challenges as well as you might talk about your book somewhere. But people can't act immediately and that's why, you know, people need to have that pre order button on their website and things like that. So people can act.
[00:30:15] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:30:16] Speaker C: Not just that book launch, but, yeah. So one of the things I did was shared my draft campaign to the Facebook for authors group on Facebook. And that is amazing because that just like, well, those images don't work. That description needs to be, you need to include, you know, more details of the offer. And I just think that is brilliant. So that would be one of my big tips for anyone is to join the Facebook group for Kickstarter for authors because there are just some wonderful people in there and they'll give you great advice.
[00:30:49] Speaker A: Oh, that's cool. Good to know. So is that what's called Kickstarter for authors?
[00:30:53] Speaker C: I think it's. Yeah, yeah, Kickstarter for authors in Facebook. You'll find it's quite a busy little group.
And what was like I loved about that is you also learn, like, well, if you're going to actually use. Try Kickstarter as a platform, you need to actually back some other people's campaigns. Because, like, when I see people putting campaigns up and they have never backed anything, it's like, well, wait a minute, they don't even understand the community or, you know, they haven't invested time to actually be in that. It's a whole, it's a supportive place. So why haven't they supported.
[00:31:24] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, no, I get that. I've been listening to the conversations and I've supported one campaign, but I haven't actually gone on and looked at too much other stuff, and it's something that I'm interested in doing. It just feels like a lot.
[00:31:37] Speaker C: It's a lot. It's a time suck. It really is. So it's only when you're ready, I think, to IG or you would go down that path. But for me, I'm like, yeah, actually, I need to know this because I help other authors all the time, so I need to know who it might work for. I need to go through it myself.
[00:31:52] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:31:53] Speaker C: And also, you know, I haven't finished writing the book that we're talking about yet, so I won't be going live on Kickstarter anytime soon until it's the best it can be. So it's also, and I like that it means you don't actually have to rush things out.
[00:32:07] Speaker A: And do you feel, how long should you be putting up the campaign before you know, so you've got the book ready. I mean, you're gauging interest now even though it's not ready, which is fine, but, like, when it is ready to go, is it like three months or.
[00:32:21] Speaker C: No, I think, like a minimum, like a four week campaign. Yeah, but they also say, like, anything much longer and then people lose interest. And it's also a lot of. It's very hard for you to maintain your own energy for it as well, to keep doing updates. And also, you know, the longer you have it on a campaign, people put things off.
[00:32:43] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, that's it.
Wow.
The book sounds amazing. The Kickstarter all sounds fantastic as well. And you've shared so much, but do you have, finally, any sort of overall tips you want to share for authors around book marketing in any other sort of capacity?
[00:33:00] Speaker C: Yeah, and I think obviously marketing is individual. So the other day, this author, Damian Linane, he literally has his ISBN tattooed on his forearm. And, like, I don't know how I feel about that. I know.
What if it changes for some reason? Yeah, exactly. And actually, that is the thing, because now he's got his second book out, but that is pen, still from his first novel, not his new memoir. But it's a great talking point, do.
[00:33:26] Speaker A: You know what I mean?
[00:33:27] Speaker C: And it makes for a great visual. It shows some passion. It's something different. So I wouldn't recommend it for everyone, but he did something that's so on brand for himself.
And I love, because he was talking to a library distributor about them having their books. And he's like, they said to him, oh, do you have your ISBN on you? And he's like, actually, I do.
So. Which I just love, like. So I suppose my tip for author marketing is be yourself and, you know, it works differently for everyone. But firstly, you need a great product, because if you've got a great product, people will talk about it. You're not going to have to push it so hard. Word of mouth will take over for you. And also, you're going to be proud to stand up there instead of going, maybe it's not that good. So I think it all comes down great. You know, have a great product, know your goals. It's a long, long game. And basically you wrote the book to be read. So get out there and tell people about it.
[00:34:29] Speaker A: Yeah, that's fantastic. Thank you so much for that. It's so true.
[00:34:33] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:34:35] Speaker A: Anna, thank you so much for coming on. You've really, really shared so much inspiration and insight, and we look forward to backing your Kickstarter campaign and reading everything you've got. So can you share with our listeners where they can discover you and everything you do?
[00:34:48] Speaker C: Yeah, sure. So you can find
[email protected]. Also, you can find me and some other
[email protected]. And that's where different authors put up courses on their particular subject. So whether it's how to apply for grants or how to get into libraries, whatever their specialty is, authors put up courses there. And any authors are welcome to do that, too. And yeah, find me there. And on Kickstarter, you could search for Anna Featherstone. Obviously, the campaign's not live yet, but you can click that little button to find out when it is.
[00:35:18] Speaker A: Oh, amazing animal.
[00:35:19] Speaker D: Thanks again.
[00:35:20] Speaker C: Thanks, Joanne. Have a fabulous dad day.
[00:35:29] Speaker D: So there you have it, folks. The sensational Anna Featherstone. And I first met Anna through the online 2023 self publishing conference event I attended through the alliance of Independent Authors ally. She was facilitating few panels and was absolutely brilliant. Her books are fantastic. And as you've just heard, her new book, which is on Kickstarter, you can go and check out her campaign. All Anna's links and things in the show notes is packed with really great insights and is a different way of, you know, incorporating book marketing into, into your books. Next time on the hybrid Author podcast, we have book consultant, senior public relations and communications executive, and non fiction judica books expert based out of New York City, Malka Margalese and we're chatting about 20 plus years of publishing and book consultancy in New York City. This is such a super insightful and storyful chat with Malka. An episode not to be missed. We connected through last episode 119 Zach Rogo and Malka has worked with some of the big publishers and especially in New York City, so I was really happy to be able to chat to her. Her accent's gorgeous as well, so hope you enjoy that one next week. But for now, I wish you well in your author adventure this next week. That's it for me. It's bye for now.
[00:36:44] Speaker C: That's the end for now.
[00:36:45] Speaker B: Authors, I hope you are further forward in your author adventure after looking, listening, and I hope you'll listen next time. Remember to head on over to the hybrid author website at www.hybridauthor.com dot au to get your free author pass. It's bye for now.
