In this episode, I interview Jessica Renwick, an independently published middle grade fantasy and sweet romance author and copyeditor who has bucked popular indie wisdom and reaped great rewards. We also talk about dealing with Impostor Syndrome, where she finds inspiration, and adventures in advertising. In the introduction, I talk about some new tools in the indie author space.

(Please note that I am an affiliate of Amazon.com, .ca, and .co.uk, so if you click through to one of those stores from the links below and make a purchase, I’ll get a few cents without any additional charge to you.)

Mentioned in this episode:

• Bookmarten Editorial (Brenna Bailey-Davies)

• The Undine's Tear reviewed in Lorehaven last Friday. (Not an "interview" like I said in the episode!)

• Findaway Voices Marketplace/Findaway Voices

• The Waterboy eBook & audiobook

• Matty Dalrymple - The Indy Author Podcast

• Newsletter Ninja by Tammi L. Labrecque

• Newsletter Ninja 2 by Tammi L. Labrecque

• Rebel Author Podcast with Sacha Black Ep. 126 - Mailing Lists for Indie Authors with Tammi Lebrecque

About Jessica Renwick:

Jessica Renwick is the award-winning author of books about friendship, courage, and being true to yourself. The Book of Chaos was her first novel and the start of Starfell, her fantasy series for middle-grade readers. Since then she has also published the second and third book in the series, a paranormal mystery for middle-grade kids, and a sweet romance series for adults.

She lives in central Alberta, Canada with her loving partner, two pocket monsters (her dogs), and a flock of chickens.

www.jessicarenwickauthor.com

Interviews with Jessica on my blog:

Jessica Renwick: Writing a New Ending (inspirational personal essay)

Author interview with Jessica Renwick when she released The Bow of Anarchy (Starfell Book 2)

Jessica on Instagram:

@jessicarenwickauthor, @jessicaannerenwickbooks

What we chat about:

• How the inspiration for Jessica's first book, The Book of Chaos, came from a long-running DnD campaign

• How she got her copy editing certification through Writers Digest University

• How she's continually worked to improve her craft

• A book that helped her with Impostor Syndrome: The Secret Thoughts of Successful Women - Valerie Young

• Resource for middle grade indie authors: How to Self-Publish and Market a Children's Book - Karen Inglis

• Facebook groups Jessica recommends for middle grade authors: Society of Middle-Grade Writers

• The Creative Penn episode: Draft2Digital Acquires Smashwords with Mark Coker and Kevin Tumlinson

• Podium Audio: https://podiumaudio.com/

Courses Jessica recommends:

Bryan Cohen's 5-Day Author Ad Profit Challenge - Free Amazon Ads challenge

Mark Dawson's advertising course: comprehensive cross-platform ads course

David Farland's craft and business courses: https://mystorydoctor.com/

Find Jessica’s upcoming books here:

March 15 - The Book of Chaos (Starfell Book 1) releasing on audio. Pre-order on Audible.

March 29 - The Curse of the Warlock (Starfell Book 4) on eBook & print. Audiobook in September.

Mug quote of the week:

"Our own life has to be our message." Thich Nhat Hanh

Question of the week:

What's a risky decision you've made about your indie author business that has paid off in unexpected ways?

Tweet me: https://twitter.com/talenawinters

Leave a comment.

Original music by Josh Rickard, www.joshrickardmusic.com.