Welcome And Topic Reveal

SPEAKER_00 0:00

So heart-centered marketing is really coming from your own emotional space that you use already to write. Yeah. So let's lead with that. And I mean that we're not disregarding if you like numbers and you want to do ads, great. I can't do those things. They don't come naturally to me. I'm sure I could do that. But they don't come naturally to me. So to make forward movement, let's focus on what is already natural to you and lead with that.

Meet Beth Barani

SPEAKER_01 0:29

Welcome to the Fiction Writing Made Easy podcast. My name is Savannah Gilbo and I'm here to help you write a story that works. I want to prove to you that writing a novel doesn't have to be overwhelming. So each week I'll bring you a brand new episode with simple, actionable, and step-by-step strategies that you can implement in your writing right away. Whether you're brand new to writing or more of a seasoned author looking to improve your craft, this podcast is for you. So pick up a pen and let's get started. In today's episode, we're tackling a topic that makes a lot of writers want to run and hide, and that is marketing. But here's the thing: my guest today has a refreshing take on marketing that doesn't involve feeling salesy, inauthentic, or like you're shouting, buy my book, into the void. Her name is Beth Barani, and she's an award-winning science fiction and fantasy novelist, a certified creativity coach for writers, and someone who has built multiple creative businesses, including one that helps other writers bring their novels to life. Now Beth is here to talk about what she calls heart-centered marketing, a more values-based approach that lets you market your book in a way that actually feels good and aligned with who you are. So in this episode, you're going to hear us talk about what heart-centered marketing actually means and how it's different from the traditional advice you'll find online. We're going to dig into how to identify your core values as a writer and how those values can guide every marketing decision you make. So Beth is going to share why she thinks most marketing advice sets writers up for burnout and what to do instead. We're going to talk about collaboration over competition and how fangirling your favorite authors can actually open doors you never expected. Plus, she's going to share practical tips for things like newsletters and how to show up authentically without exhausting yourself in the process. So if you've ever dreaded the idea of marketing your book or felt like you had to become a completely different person to do it, then this episode is for you. Now let's go ahead and dive right into my conversation with Beth Barani. Hi, Beth. Welcome to the Fiction Writing Made Easy Podcast.

What Heart-Centered Marketing Means

SPEAKER_00 2:34

Thank you so much for having me, Savannah. Happy to be here. Can you just tell my audience who you are, what you do, and things like that? Sure, absolutely. Well, hi everyone. I'm Beth Barani here. I am a science fiction and fantasy novelist, and I specialize in helping science fiction and fantasy novelists with their novels from the whole process, from idea generation to writing the first drafts to editing. And my specialty is actually teaching writers how to edit their own work. And then I often help them get ready to publish. How do you write a blurb and how do you think about marketing? And then some writers, I know everything about the self-publishing process. So some writers I'll even hold their hand through that process or I'll give them all the resources that they need to figure it out for themselves. So I'm very passionate about helping uh writers who are creating stories that are unique and unusual and doing cross-genre genre blending. I'm also a podcaster of How to Write the Future podcast, where we talk about all things futuristic, but also it's for anyone who cares about the future. So I talk to people in the community and futurists and scientists. It's fabulous. Uh, totally get the geek on there. And then lastly, I'm a filmmaker. I'm working on my first short film. I want to make a TV show based on my own IP, Henrietta the Dragonslayer. And that is so exciting. And I guess I really have four businesses because I also help creative writing professionals build their businesses. And we're just getting our beta program off the ground. Actually, by the time people hear this, we'll be getting ready to launch for our next program, which is going to be much extended than our beta program, which has been fabulous. So I think that's a good summary. And I'm a human being and I live on planet Earth. And you have cats, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:18

I love that so much. And I already have like a billion questions for you about just all the things you do, but we will put that aside for another day. Tell me about how you talk about heart-centered marketing. So, what does it mean? How is it different from some of the traditional marketing advice that writers might Google and find on the internet? Sure.

Ditching Shoulds And Defining Success

SPEAKER_00 4:36

It's really, I mean, it's as the name says, it come from the heart. Well, what does that mean in practical terms? So I'm both a practical person and a very emotional person. And as a novelist, I really had to learn hard how to convey emotion on the page. And when it came time to market, I was scared, so scared, you know, this thing that really was like a piece of my heart going out into the world. And so I had to learn how to find marketing, find ways to market that were in alignment with me. So when I say heart-centered marketing, I'm really talking about this emotional and values-based alignment. I disagree about the rules. Don't tell me what I should do. I'm more interested in what I can do. And so I want to help writers find their way into the marketplace, because I think that's really important that we find our way into the marketplace. You as an author get to be in, like think of a farmer's market. We're all there, right? The apples and the oranges and the cheese and the pickles and some odd thing over there and the musician and the books and everybody. You as an author need to learn how to be there in your wonderful, unique way, whether it's the soaps with the lavender in it or the essential oils or you know, selling handmade tote bags or whatever it might be. Right. So heart-centered marketing is really coming from your own emotional space that you use already to write. Yeah. And so let's lead with that. And I mean, that we're not disregarding if you like numbers and you want to do ads, great. I can't do those things. They don't come naturally to me. I'm sure I could do that, but they don't come naturally to me. So to make forward movement, let's focus on what is already natural to you and lead with that. And when I talk to writers about this, they light up because then I help them focus on what they love. Yeah. You don't want to do online, fine, don't do online. Do in person, you know, or you just want to do online and you love Discord, do Discord, right? Or you want to do Reddit or you want to do podcasts or whatever, or you love ads, go for it. But do what you love because you have to sustain it over the long haul. You and I, we work with writers who are in it for the long haul. No one writes a novel think it's going to be done in a day. Come on, we're marathonners. So you want to pick something that you love and you develop a relationship with. And even if what you love is variety, then that's your MO. And so go for it. Try a lot of different things. So that's really where I'm coming from. And I really take a stand for bringing the emotional skills that we learned to be novelists. Most of us didn't learn it when we were kids. We had to learn it as adults, most of us. Take that and put it into your marketing and go with your preferences, go with your interests, go with what lights you up. That's the whole thing about heart-centered marketing.

SPEAKER_01 7:25

I love all that so far. And just thinking about this farmers market, imagine if we all did show up selling lavender-infused soap. That would be so boring, right? And then it's like, how do you choose what lavender soap you want because they're all identical? Very boring. So I love this. And I know that, you know, a lot of listeners, their interest is peaked already because typically when they think about marketing, it doesn't feel good, it feels salesy, it feels inauthentic. So you've kind of already talked about this, but like, what would you say to the writers who are they think that this is what they have to do to succeed?

SPEAKER_00 7:57

Yeah, well, that whole notion, this is what I have to do to succeed, is something that's worth questioning. Something I didn't mention in my bio is I have a background NLP, neurolinguistic programming, as well as starting out with a creativity coaching lens from the get-go. So that means there is no should. And this notion of what everyone else is doing or this is what they say, it's like, well, inquire. Is that really what you want? Do you write your books based on whatever they say? Or are you writing your books based on your calling, your intuition, your gut, your interests? Even people who think of themselves as very logical process mean. Because when I ask writers, sometimes they're like, if I could sell a book, if I can put a smile on a reader's face and even a few books a month, they're happy. But others are like, more ambitious, great, then yes, study what works. You know, I mean, I was talking to someone who was charging lots of money, and he's like, for$5,000, I will guarantee getting you a hundred reviews. And I'm like, why does it cost so much? Yeah. First off, I'm halfway there and I spend a much, much less. You know, granted it's taken a long time, but even his process was like three months. And I'm like, okay, I get it. And he's like, well, the current thinking is you got to get a hundred reviews and then you got to run ads against them. And I'm like, okay, according to whom?

SPEAKER_01 9:26

You're like, let's talk about this a little more.

SPEAKER_00 9:28

And you know, who is this for? You know, and he's like, Oh, it's for the busy professionals. And I'm like, Yeah, because you do it yourself if you want. And it's like, that's what's working right now, but what maybe worked before obviously was different, and what might work tomorrow is going to be different. So that's an argument for setting aside the shoulds and the what they said and to be successful and think about a little bit. What does successful mean to you? And what what do you actually have capacity for? Because I've seen so many writers turn themselves into knots because they're trying to make bank and it's very upsetting. In the end, they just hit a wall and they give up, or they take a long break. Or yeah.

Identifying Values That Guide Marketing

SPEAKER_01 10:07

And some of this I'm sure goes to like your energy levels and just kind of, you know, for me as an introvert, there are things that really burn me out and things that I love doing. And so I think yes, it's important to know yourself in that way. It's also important, like I love how you're saying, why are you following this advice or why are you saying this? So, yes, we could read on the internet, like you need an author platform and 50,000 subscribers, or whatever the numbers are of the month, right? Which 50,000 is a lot, but you know, whatever the numbers are of the month. And for listeners, don't quote me on that. That was just me making it up. But, you know, whatever the numbers are of the month, and then it's like those are going to change, like you said. So you talk a lot about kind of grounding yourself in your own values, and then, like you said, defining your own success. And then you can kind of choose from the smorgasboard of tactics, right? Yeah. So talk about identifying those values or what does that mean to identify values that can drive your marketing?

SPEAKER_00 11:01

Yeah, this is great. It's so interesting. Uh, on LinkedIn the other day, there was an article about how most people don't examine their values. They talk about it, but they don't look at it. And I'm like, wow, novelists. I don't know. I feel like as novelists, we're always thinking about what are our characters truly want and what is really important to them and what's at stake for them. These are all things that you need to know for yourself. So, what do you truly, truly value? And it doesn't come naturally necessarily, right? Like we're not necessarily taught from a young age to think about our values or they're handed to us from family and you know, whatever religious affiliation there may or may not be, and friends and all of that. So the best way to do this is just start thinking about what's really important to you. And you can also look at how do you spend your time and what do you already gravitate towards? And I noticed when I started doing this exercise that the same themes kept coming up again and again, and I kept also making synonyms for things. Oh, I love fun and play. Oh, playfulness, oh, play pen, oh, sandbox, oh, you know, and I you know, and I'm like, oh, got it, play, you know, or play slash fun, slash adventurous, slash curiosity, you know, right? There's all these varieties. So just start doing uh lots of words, synonyms, and notice also how you spend your time, like cozy, like I love cozy. I got a couch, I got my cats, I got my husband, I got the cozy. Like cozy is really big in our life, but also adventurous and but also dedicated, serious, committed. I take my writing really, really seriously. I was built a whole business around it. Four businesses, you said yeah. I mean, it is a bit much to juggle, but there is an overarching theme here, which is I like to make things, right? Maker. Yeah, and so I'm a producer. And now that I'm starting with film, I'm like, oh, what is a producer? I am really a producer, that is really important to me. So creating things, creating value. So I'm giving, I'm sharing with you some of my own values, and I would bet that if you get a friend to interview you, my all the writers out there or do some journaling or some meditation, think about just and start making lists of all the ways that you could talk about what's important to you. Maybe family. I have writers who are like, I really need family time, you know. Other writers have said things like, you know, religion and they they have their specific religious values. Others are like kindness, joy, right? It could be anything, but you could also go online and look up values lists, and that can help you as a starting place.

SPEAKER_01 13:39

Yeah. I think it's kind of fun too to go the opposite and say, what do you not want? Because I've worked with writers who are like, I will not run ads. I will not run Facebook ads to my book. And it's like, cool, great. And it's because they don't want to pay Facebook or whatever. And it could be something like, I want the family time and I don't want my writing to encroach on the family time or whatever. So you can also back into it from what you don't want, which is kind of fun and journal, like you said.

SPEAKER_00 14:04

Yeah. And often what happens when we're in a process of discovery is we will notice all the things we don't want, don't like, don't make me do that, kind of thing. And what we're also looking for is like you want to see if you can narrow it down to your top three and even your top one, and that could change day to day. But if you know, like I know for myself, adventure keeps coming up again and again. And then also look back into your earliest days, your childhood, and notice how the theme of today, the values that you are noticing you're really gravitating towards, notice if they're where the roots come from. So when I said to you, adventure, well, there I was, I was 11, and I go to the librarian, I'm like, where's the adventure books, please? Right. I mean, that was a thing for me. And I'm like, wow, it's still a thing. So it's also nice to recognize you know you've hit on something really powerful when you can like, oh wow, this has been a thing since I was a child. Because when we're children, we are just naturally gravitating towards the things we love. So that is also, as you could see, this childlike energy, this enthusiasm is part of my life. And I want to help people reconnect to their own childlike insurance and bring it to today. Because again, I think that's an essential element of being creative that we already use. So let's harness it, let's articulate it. And now when I get stuck and I get focused on the things I don't want, I ask myself, what would be fun?

SPEAKER_01 15:32

Yeah, I love that. And so I know you use like this whole value-based system of marketing to kind of choose and guide what we're gonna do with our marketing. So, get can you give us an example of what play or adventure would look like in your book marketing?

SPEAKER_00 15:47

Sure, sure. So something that I'm exploring is Reddit. So I'm asking around to different people, I'm like, oh, as an author, how do you use Reddit? And I'm so far, one person has told me how she uses it for fandom. I'm like, because I want to create a fandom on Reddit. That's the idea. And I want to get someone to help me do that. Like I'll do content, but I as an more of an introvert, and also I don't like spending my time in forums. I've never liked it, but I get the value of it. I'm like, oh, I need someone who could be work on my behalf. I can generate all the content. I know Henrietta the Dragon Slayer backwards and forwards, but oh, so who could do that? And I just started exploring Reddit and just I'm excited. And what's fun for me is like, how do I build fandom now for a TV show that won't even come out maybe for five years from now, and based on IP that already exists. And when I realized I could get help, that's when I got excited. I'm like, who is that person? How do I recognize that person? I just got it was almost like designing a character. Like, who is this person that isn't me? Like, I don't do that of that. Yeah. So that's my latest thing I'm excited about.

SPEAKER_01 16:55

What's interesting too about what you said is I could see some writers thinking in the same vein and thinking, I want to have fun, that's my word, whatever, my value. And then they see the struggles with something like Reddit and they stop there. And you went a step further and you're like, okay, I don't want to be the one making the Reddit, making, you know, interacting and all that. How do I make it fun for me? So it's, I think that's cool too, is just taking it a step further and not letting the first sign of discomfort stop you, you know?

SPEAKER_00 17:23

Yeah. Well, I would say up until I started working on this little film, I would have probably been stopped. But working on a film project, the way it evolved, it's a community effort. Like, yes, I'm the writer, director, producer, but I didn't hold the camera. I didn't hold the sound, I didn't make the costumes, I didn't make the props. We had two actors and 15 crew. It was amazing. So that really brought home to me how much art is a collaborative effort. And same with being an author. We forget how it so, right? I I was listening to your podcast episode on beta readers. Like I use 15, 20 beta readers on a every book easily. Yeah, plus critique partners, plus my husband, who's also my critique partner, plus a few other people who are like my idea generation buddies. That's a whole team, not to mention my proofreader, my cover artist, and all the other people out there. Right. A lot of people, yeah. That's my book team. That's amazing. And all those sweet people who read my newsletter and comment and reply to my little fun quizzes and stuff. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:29

I love that. Yeah. Well, and so kind of what I hear you saying too is like you have to come at it from who you are and what you value. And then also that's probably going to help us connect with the type of people that would want to read our book anyway. Can you talk about that a little bit?

Collaboration Over Isolation

SPEAKER_00 18:44

Sure. And tactically, we could also be talking about what goes into a newsletter because if an author, you need a newsletter. So and I kind of just gave you a few hints like cozy is important to me, right? Fun is important to me, and that spirit of adventure. I write fast-paced sci-fi mysteries, and then I also write the YA fantasy, which is like adventure, you know, things are always happening. So there's sort of this faster pace. And so I realized recently, about three, four months ago, I needed to shorten my newsletter. So I used my AI tool that I use inside of Notion that knows me well. And I'm like, help me shorten, you know. So that was good, you know. Sometimes we need guidance, right? So this energy of fun and playfulness and cozy and adventure, I'm like, let me do that, but in as shortest form as I can, that still is like about me and my news, what I'm doing. And did I answer your question?

SPEAKER_01 19:39

Yeah. Okay. And I would kind of just like to flip this around for listeners because if anyone's sitting here listening to Beth going, I want to be friends with Beth, she sounds like my type of person, you're probably also thinking, I want to go to her website and check out what she writes, right? So even just you talking about your values is going to make that connection, which you know, a lot of writers when they think about newsletter or social media content, whatever, they feel like it has to be very like well thought out and very purposeful and all this. And it's like, you kind of just can be yourself, and that's great. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 20:10

And think about your reader. Like when I think about the reader experience, which is something that I do while I edit my novel very heavily, deeply, deeply, deeply. I'm thinking basically, we make our readers fall in love with our characters. It doesn't matter what genre you're writing. I also write romance, but I write sci-fi fantasy adventures with romantic elements. But even so, you need to make your reader fall in love with your characters, every character. So, how do we do that? We could talk craft, right? But when it comes to marketing, we want to show them the yumminess of space station investigator. When I say that, people are like, ooh, tell me more. And I'm like, Yeah, right. Like the people who love that kind of thing are just gonna sit up and take notice. She's a, you know, she's a nerdy, scientifically minded kick-ass space station investigator, right? Like, boom. So that's what we talk about. And then the energy of that is like, let me show them how I love to take little adventures, even in my neighborhood. Like, oh, I'm gonna meander and discover new things, or or I'm cozy on the couch. Yeah, you know, and so I I don't actually talk much about myself. I'll have like one sentence about myself, a little bullet point list of the three, four things that are in the newsletter. I have a little poll every week now, really fun that's related to science fiction or fantasy or both. And then I share a book funnel because I'm always doing book giveaways, and then I sometimes do a little highlight on my book. Oh, and a little bit of book news, like because I've been editing and it's been since the new books come out. But I'll I communicate to my beta readers also through this newsletter. And I invite people to be beta readers every single week. Because if you love my books and you want to be involved, here's a way to can be can be. I also Asked my Reddit question there, but I didn't get any answers.

SPEAKER_01 22:02

So yeah, that means well, because maybe the next one. But maybe what I didn't hear you say in all of that is you're not going, buy my book, buy my book. And I feel like that's what a lot of writers think they have to do all the time, is like this very direct marketing. But that's not what you're saying.

SPEAKER_00 22:18

No, and I'm even thinking about as we record this, it's Christmas time. I have two Christmas sweet paranormal Christmas romances. That how am I gonna market them? I'm gonna like revise our some of our previous marketing, and it's gonna be like, Do you love cupcakes and Christmas? Check out a cupcake. Yeah, you know, or you know, Santa's elves coming to San Francisco. What could go wrong? You know, right, right? Like use the tropes, use the tropes to market. You don't say buy my book, you just say, Hey, are you interested in this cool thing?

SPEAKER_01 22:50

And it's like all about bringing the reader joy. You're saying, if you like this, here's what I have for you, it's gonna bring you joy. So I love all this that you're saying because we both talk to writers a lot, and marketing feels very scary, and nothing you've said feels scary. It feels very authentic, very like, okay, we're average people, we can do this. So let's talk about a little bit. If you can go into this, like what are some mistakes people make when they kind of approach marketing other than not identifying their values and not coming at it from this heart-centered approach?

Newsletters That Feel Authentic

SPEAKER_00 23:22

Well, we kind of touched on it. They think they have to do it a certain way, and that makes them very unhappy, grouchy, angry, hating it, hating it, right? Like so that's one. Another is thinking they have to do it alone. I kind of surprised another podcaster when she asked me for on this topic, and I'm like, do collaborations. Yeah. Do a newsletter swap type thing. Hey, I'll mention your book if you mention my book, right? Like, what can you do? So what they isolate themselves, they think they have to do it all by themselves, and then of course their options are greatly restricted because of that. Just like I finally realized, oh, I can get a community manager because I'm totally not good at that. Yeah. So if you had zero budget, but you had time, well, maybe you could trade some time with someone else who has the skill set that you don't have. And yeah, cross-genre marketing. So I think some of the mistakes also come from a lack of imagination, maybe a little bit of being stuck in fear. I don't know. Yeah, it's not like a mistake, but we can get kind of turned around and kind of get stuck in a rut and forget that there's other possibilities and other options on the table.

SPEAKER_01 24:36

And I love what you just said about collaboration because I do think in general, most people want this kind of collaboration. Sometimes we fall into that trap of thinking that it's competition and I can't work with somebody, or it's like that person has to be more successful than me because of whatever reason I'm making up, you know, because of that social media post I saw that makes me assume they're more advanced. What are your tips for kind of using this lens of values and heart-centered marketing to connect with people to collaborate with?

Fangirling, Community, And Doors Opening

SPEAKER_00 25:05

Yeah, that's a great question. I've made friends with authors whose books I read and I love their books, and I fangirled them. And I'm like, oh my God, I'm gonna do a shout out right now. Janet Ray Stevens, I love your barrel blue time cop series. Right? The title makes you laugh. Barrel blue time cop series. It's so wonderful. I love her books. And I just reached out and I just said, Oh, I loved your books so much. And then I happened to mention it to another friend who also writes science fiction romance, and she's like, I know Janet, she's my friend. And so that was kind of sweet just by another writer friend. And I wrote her and I just praise her. And then now I feel like we're friends. Like I feel like I could meet her and we could have coffee together. So the collaboration stems from like, oh, fangirling. Oh, another one I'm gonna do a shout-out is SC Jensen, uh man, bubbles in space. It's kind of like neon noir punk detective. So fun, Canadian writer. And somehow my husband met her on Facebook or something, and I became like I got to comment on her new covers, and you know, it's like I got to be a fan of hers and we had some interaction, you know. Yeah, will a collaboration come from that? That would be kind of cool. I do detectives, you know, yeah, you're manifesting it right now. I am, I am. I'm gonna have to reach out to her. She's up in Canada. I love her books. I've been shouting out her books. So you see, where I'm coming from a place of fan. Number one, I avidly read in my genre. Number two, I reach out, I do hey, I loved your books. There's another author, um, Sean Cunningham. I just got asked to be on his beta read list for his next book, and he writes Urban Fantasy, set in London. Really fun, magical, you know, contemporary, adventurous, good versus evil, and really interesting writer. I really loved his previous series, Hawthorne House. And now I get to be on his beta reader team because I just legit fangirled his stuff and fangirled him, and I get his newsletter. So that's the other thing. I sign up for these people's newsletters, so I hear these insider things, and that's how I read the free short story that I loved. And Sean asked for feedback, and then he asked me to be on a beta reader team. And yeah, I very rarely am on people's beta reader team. I might do it for a local writer friend or something, but I'm too busy. So I love his stuff. I am legit a fan. So you see where I'm coming from. Like writers were also avid readers that really take a stand for you. You need to be an avid reader of your genre. Wherever it takes you, could be into the nooks and crannies. I read widely. I read romantic, sci-fi, fantasy, thrillers, cop detective stories, contemporaries. So everything. Everything. I don't read horror and I don't read thrillers, but my husband reads aloud mystery thriller suspense contemporaries because he likes it fast-paced. Yeah. So I'm very hungry always to read good books. And I hope you all writers are as well. You need to be reading, and you need to know what you love, and then reach out, reach out to those people and just say, Hey, I loved your book. And by the way, I'm a writer too. And so I know how much work you put into that. I'm fan guy, boy, fanboy, whatever. You know, be a fan, and then who knows what will come of that.

SPEAKER_01 28:24

Everything you said feels very just genuine and nice and easy, right? It's like it's easy to say something nice when you actually do like someone's stuff. So it's kind of just like take an interest and be a nice person, which sounds simple, but a lot of us overthink everything, and we think we need to be very formal in our approach and all that. And it's like we're just human. All of us are just humans.

SPEAKER_00 28:45

Yeah. I mean, my guiding principle for the last like 10, 15 years in in business and all areas of my business is would I like to have coffee with that person? Yeah. Oh my God, yes. And then I reach out. Like, I actually, it was a big switch in me to start thinking, like, oh, who who does my heart open toward and would I like to have coffee with? Okay, start with them. Like, I yeah, I do that with all my networking, all my reach outs, everything. Life is too short, guys. Be around good people and reach out and take a chance. Like, I encourage you all to reach out to me. If you like my vibe, reach out to me and say hi, fangirl me, or even just say, Hey, you know, you're awesome. Or I want to be involved in in one of your projects, or whatever. Like, magical things happen when we connect with the people that we we think are cool. Even someone you might put them on a pedestal, but you might be surprised. They might write you back. I mean, this acting teacher who's like on HBO and stuff, and I took some classes with him, like he'll answer my emails. If I legit have an emotional response to his newsletter, he takes the time to answer the email. Wow. This big guy, you know, actor, he's also an acting teacher. He just came out with a book. Josh Pice, P A I S. I haven't read his book yet, but I know it's gonna be awesome because he's a genuine guy.

SPEAKER_01 30:09

Yeah, that's awesome. You know, worst thing that's gonna happen is you're gonna get silence or a no if you ask a question and that's not a big deal.

SPEAKER_00 30:15

So yeah, and it's also important to the more you are yourself, the more other people are gonna respond to that. If we have to put on a facade to be who we are, oh, that's no fun.

First Steps And Free Resources

SPEAKER_01 30:26

Well, and that's what gets us exhausted and burnt out, too, you know? Yeah. Same with anyone else who's an introvert who is constantly extroverting, that's not gonna work for you either, or vice versa. So it is about knowing yourself and your values, like you said, which let's kind of wrap this up and say if listeners wanted to take the first step towards uncovering what this could look like for them, what do you recommend they do?

SPEAKER_00 30:48

Sure. I do have a freebie which encompasses kind of my whole stance here, and it's called Trust Your Creative Heart Roadmap, and it's the whole writing process. So it's it's little prompts and little videos to help you connect to what is truly important to you. Comes with little workbooks, little video series, little email sequence. So trust your creative heart roadmap. I'm sure you'll have the link in the show notes.

unknown 31:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 31:13

We will link to that in the show notes, and I'm sure that'll help people identify these values and just kind of different strategies they can do based on what is important to them. So I love that. We will link to that in the show notes. We'll link to where everyone can find you, but just let us know what is your website address so everyone can hear it as well.

SPEAKER_00 31:30

Absolutely. So my home online is bethbarani.com, b-e-t-h b-ar-a-n-y.com, and that's the main hub. From there you can find all the other stuff. And yeah, that's the online home.

SPEAKER_01 31:46

Well, I loved this conversation. I love everything that we can do that comes from our hearts because, like you said, as writers, we are just heart-centered individuals. And I have yet to meet a writer who is not. I'm sure you haven't either. So this was very great to talk to you about, and thank you so much for coming on the show.

SPEAKER_00 32:03

Thank you so much, Savannah, for having me. I really appreciate it.

Closing And Listener Resources

SPEAKER_01 32:06

All right, so that's it for this episode of the Fiction Writing Made Easy podcast. Head over to savannaGilbo.com forward slash podcast for the complete show notes, including the resources I mentioned today, as well as bonus materials to help you implement what you've learned. And if you're ready to get more personalized guidance for your specific writing stage, whether you're just starting out, stuck somewhere in the middle of a draft, drowning in revisions, or getting ready to publish, take my free 30-second quiz at savannaGilbo.com forward slash quiz. You'll get a customized podcast playlist that'll meet you right where you're at and help you get to your next big milestone. Last but not least, make sure to follow this podcast in your podcast player of choice because I'll be back next week with another episode full of actionable tips, tools, and strategies to help you become a better writer. Until then, happy writing.