YOU SHOULD TOTALLY WRITE THAT

Tara Lush & LL Kirchner
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Two authors (with trad, indie & DIY creds)share the unfiltered truth about DIY publishing. youshouldtotallywritethat.substack.com

  1. The tech stack for new authors: what's worth it

    6d ago

    The tech stack for new authors: what's worth it

    Nobody told us that publishing a book meant starting a company. You’re not just the writer — you’re also the design department, IT, marketing, and accounting. And somewhere along the way, most of us bought a bunch of tools we didn’t need, couldn’t figure out, or used exactly once. In this episode, Tara and I get into what we actually use — the writing tools, book production tools, design tools, scheduling tools, email platforms, and a few analytics tools we think are optional (and a couple we think you can skip entirely, at least for the first few years). We also talk about how to think about acquiring tools: by function, not by FOMO. A few things that came up: why Vellum is the closest thing to a non-negotiable for indie authors, why Canva’s free tier might be enough to start, why most of us have a graveyard of email platforms in our past, and a useful AI tool for series authors that has nothing to do with generating prose. What tools have you spent money on and regretted — or loved? Drop it in the comments. Want to support the show? Support our work =) Find Tara’s books on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Tara-Lush/author/B00O5M5T5G Find LL’s books: https://llkirchner.com SHOW NOTES Episodes referenced: * Episode 21: BookFunnel * Episode 13/14: Social media + newsletters Platforms & tools discussed: Writing tools: * Google Docs — https://docs.google.com * Scrivener — https://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener * Final Draft (screenwriting) — https://www.finaldraft.com * NotebookLM (series continuity/AI search) — https://notebooklm.google.com Book production: * Vellum (easiest on Mac) — https://vellum.pub * Atticus (Windows alternative) — https://www.atticus.io * Draft2Digital (free formatting option) — https://www.draft2digital.com Audiobook proofing: * Pozotron — https://www.pozotron.com Design: * Canva — https://www.canva.com * PicMonkey — https://www.picmonkey.com Social post scheduling: * Meta Business Suite (native scheduling, Instagram + Facebook) — https://business.facebook.com Email service providers: * Flodesk — https://flodesk.com * Kit (formerly ConvertKit) — https://kit.com * Mailchimp — https://mailchimp.com * MailerLite — https://www.mailerlite.com Analytics/sales tracking: * Publisher Champ — https://publisherchamp.com * K-lytics — https://k-lytics.com * Publisher Rocket — https://publisherrocket.com * KDP Dashboard — https://kdp.amazon.com * Google Sheets — https://sheets.google.com What we’re reading / listening to: * LL: Yesteryear (audiobook via Spotify — got cut off mid-listen, to be continued) * Tara: The Price of Honey by Liane Moriarty — a short story / reader magnet; worth reading as an example of what a big-trad author can get away with that indie authors can’t Coming next: [Placeholder — hosts hadn’t locked in the next topic by end of recording] METADATA SEO Title: The tools indie authors actually need (58 chars — fits) SEO Description: Two working authors break down the writing, production, design, and admin tools worth paying for — and what to skip. (120 chars) URL slug: tools-indie-authors-actually-need This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit youshouldtotallywritethat.substack.com

    50 min
  2. ARCs: what they actually do (and what they don't)

    Jun 2

    ARCs: what they actually do (and what they don't)

    If you’ve ever seen a book drop on release day with 50 reviews already live, you were looking at an ARC team doing its job. ARC stands for Advanced Reader Copy (sometimes Advanced Review Copy) — a pre-release version of your book, sent free to readers in exchange for an honest review. But here’s what nobody tells you upfront: ARCs aren’t a launch-day magic button for every book, in every genre, at every stage of your career. Tara has run ARC teams across three cozy series and will tell you straight — they move the needle most for a first book in a series. By book nine, the math changes. And for LL, who’s launching into psychological suspense following historical noir, the calculus is different again. This week we break down the full picture: eARCs vs. physical ARCs (spoiler: the post office might actually kill you), where to distribute them — BookFunnel, NetGalley, Hidden Gems, Book Sirens — how long before launch to send them out, and the quiet tactic of releasing your paperback five to seven days early so reviews are already stacked when the ebook drops. What’s your ARC strategy right now — or what’s been holding you back from starting one? Drop it in the comments. Yes, we’re looking for ideas! Want to support the show? Thank you to the folks who’ve reached out and pledged to support our show. TBH, we haven’t event had the time to figure that out. That said, a great way to support us is through our books. Thank you for listening. Find Tara’s books on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Tara-Lush/author/B00O5M5T5G Find LL’s books: https://llkirchner.com/books Show notes Episodes referenced: * Episode 21: BookFunnel — [timestamp not confirmed; cross-reference master list] Platforms & tools discussed: * BookFunnel — bookfunnel.com * NetGalley — netgalley.com (co-op/rental option available for indie authors) * Hidden Gems — hiddengemsbooks.com * Book Sirens — booksirens.com * StoryOrigin — [mentioned as one Tara has not tried] * Canva — canva.com (used for ARC team social graphics) * Google Sheets — for ARC team tracking/sign-up form What we’re reading: * Tara: Everything Has Happened by T. Greenwood — literary suspense set in a small Vermont town; recommended for fans of slow-burn, evocative writing * LL: Lost in the Summer of 69 by Eliza Knight — three-generation mother/daughter/granddaughter story; LL is reading it ahead of a June 15 event with Eliza Knight at The Gilded Page Bookstore in Tarpon Springs Thanks for reading YOU SHOULD TOTALLY WRITE THAT! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit youshouldtotallywritethat.substack.com

    40 min
  3. I Set a Lot of Money on Fire As an Indie Author So You Don't Have To

    May 26

    I Set a Lot of Money on Fire As an Indie Author So You Don't Have To

    I’ve spent a lot of money as an indie author. Some of it was money well spent. Some of it I would set on fire before doing again. That’s the whole episode this week on You Should Totally Write That. LL and I sorted through everything people try to sell you and split it into what’s worth it, what’s nice to have once you have a few books out, and what you should run from. Here’s the short version. Before you publish, there are really only four things worth paying for. Some kind of editing, a good cover, formatting software, and a way to collect emails and reach your readers. Notice what is not on that list. A website. You can wait on the website. Editing is where your mileage varies the most. I use a copy editor and a proofreader and put the rest toward promotion. LL paid $2,400 for a developmental editor on her first book, then later found someone just as good for $400. So ask around. On covers, quality varies, and if you’re in a popular genre like romance you can buy wonderful premade covers for under $200. Then we get to the fun part, which is everything we have wasted money on. Scrivener, which LL bought and never opens. Grammarly. Publisher Rocket, which looks amazing for about a week. A parade of scheduling apps I set up and never looked at again. PR firms too. I once landed the New York Post, Redbook, and other publications and those mentions did not move a single book. This is our longest episode ever, which tells you how much there is to say about money. Have a listen, then come tell us what you spent on that you wish you had not. Or ask us before you buy that course. Thanks for reading YOU SHOULD TOTALLY WRITE THAT! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. Episodes referenced Bookfunnel: Episode 20 Platforms and Tools Mentioned * Editing and writing: Reedsy (where Tara found an earlier developmental editor), Scrivener, Grammarly Premium, ProWritingAid, Marlowe, Publisher Rocket, K-lytics * Formatting: Vellum (Mac), Atticus (PC) * Covers and design: 100 Covers, Canva and Canva Pro, PicMonkey * Email and reader delivery: BookFunnel, Flodesk, ConvertKit, MailerLite, Mailchimp, TinyLetter * Ads and promo: Facebook ads, Amazon ads, BookBub (featured deals and ads), The Fussy Librarian, NetGalley * Automation and organization: Zapier, ManyChat, Notion * AI tools: NotebookLM, Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini * Courses, coaching, and events: Nicholas Erik’s Amazon ads course, The Writing Wives, Brian Cohen and Best Page Forward, InkersCon What We’re Reading/Listening To LL: Margo’s Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe, plus the screen adaptation with Elle Fanning and Nick Offerman, which she has feelings about because of what they changed from the book Tara: Welcome to Night Vale, the long-running fictional podcast, which she is studying as a worldbuilding exampleSupport our books Find Tara’s books on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Tara-Lush/author/B00O5M5T5G Find LL’s books: https://llkirchner.com/books Coming next week: ARCs! What are they? No, they aren’t boats. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit youshouldtotallywritethat.substack.com

    51 min
  4. When your email list is you, your mom, and three accidental subscribers

    May 19

    When your email list is you, your mom, and three accidental subscribers

    Every author you admire has a list. Thousands of subscribers, books launching to actual readers. Meanwhile, your list is basically you, your mom, and three people who signed up by accident. If you’ve ever wondered HOW people acquire these lists, today we’re pulling back the curtain. The tool almost every working indie author is using — and the one most beginners either skip or barely scratch — is BookFunnel. It’s not sexy. It’s not glamorous. It’s plumbing. And you need plumbing. In this episode, Tara and I get into what BookFunnel actually does (it’s a lot more than ARC delivery), the pricing tier most authors should land on, why we both use it differently, where group promos can backfire on you, and the one feature I wish I’d understood the day I signed up. “If I were a new indie author, I would not get a website right away. I’d just do a BookFunnel landing page and a Linktree.” — Tara That’s a hot take with money behind it. We get into why on the episode. Subscribe to Ill-Behaved Women for the unfiltered truth about DIY publishing — new episodes drop every Tuesday, and we send the post straight to your inbox. [Subscribe button] What we cover * What BookFunnel actually is (and what it isn’t) * The three pricing tiers — and the one most working indie authors should be on * Reader magnets, ARCs, group promos, author swaps, direct sales * The audiobook delivery feature that lets you skip Audible’s exclusivity * Why genre matters more than you think for group promos * The features we both still aren’t using You’ll want to listen if you’ve got a reader magnet but no way to deliver it, an ARC team you’re managing by hand, or a series with back-matter freebies you’ve been meaning to set up. Episodes referenced * Ep. 17 — Reader Magnets * Ep. 14 — Newsletters * Ep. 3 — ARCs (deeper dive episode coming soon) (paste the actual Substack post URLs for these before publishing) Platforms & tools mentioned * BookFunnel — founded 2015 by Damon Courtney. Tiers: First-Time Author $30/yr, Mid-List $200/yr, Bestseller $300/yr * StoryOrigin — newsletter swaps, group promos, ARC management * BookSirens — vetted reviewer community (~51,000+ reviewers) * BookSprout — review-focused, free-tier-friendly * Prolific Works (formerly InstaFreebie) — public giveaway links * NetGalley — traditional publishing-leaning, librarians and booksellers * Draft2Digital Universal Book Links — alternative landing page option * Payhip / Shopify / WooCommerce — all integrate with BookFunnel direct sales * Flodesk — flat-fee email service provider (LL uses) * Linktree — biosite Tara recommends pairing with a BookFunnel landing page Key BookFunnel features we covered * Reader magnets & landing pages (download-only or email-collecting) * ARCs via Certified Mail (watermarked, up to 500/month) * Group promos and author swaps (genre matters — romance and cozy mystery thrive here) * Direct sales delivery via Shopify/WooCommerce/Payhip * In-person event print codes and (new late 2025) digital ebook signing * Audiobook delivery (launched June 2024, Mid-List add-on) * Back-matter freebies — unlimited, all collecting email addresses What we’re reading / listening to * Tara: A People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn — the 35-hour audiobook, a chapter at a time * LL: Galápagos by Kurt Vonnegut — a man banished for the sin of thinking too much Support our books Find Tara’s books on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Tara-Lush/author/B00O5M5T5G Find LL’s books: https://llkirchner.com/books Coming next week on YSTWT — where to put your hard-earned indie author dollars. What’s worth paying for and what’s not. Thanks for reading YOU SHOULD TOTALLY WRITE THAT! Subscribe for to receive new posts and support our work. Found this useful? Restack it for the indie author in your group chat who’s still emailing PDFs to their ARC team. 💚 What are your BookFunnel questions — or which features have you been ignoring? Drop them in the comments. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit youshouldtotallywritethat.substack.com

    40 min
  5. Author Cons: Prioritize the Hallway Over the Schedule

    May 12

    Author Cons: Prioritize the Hallway Over the Schedule

    The first writing conference I ever attended was the Romance Writers of America in Times Square. I walked through the lobby of the Marriott Marquis in Times Square, looked at thousands of people in name badges greeting each other like old friends, and thought: my god, what have I done? (Yes, I do love the Talking Heads). Conference season is here, and if you’re anything like me, the question every year is some version of: is it worth it? The price tag adds up fast, and you usually come home with the post-conference crud and you’re also emotionally drained. The honest answer is: sometimes. It depends on which conference, what you want from it, and whether you’re willing to skip a session to take a nap. This week on YOU SHOULD TOTALLY WRITE THAT, LL Kirchner and I talk about how to actually get something out of an author conference without burning yourself out. We cover: * Marketing or craft? Pick one. (And why you should usually pay for marketing and study craft online.) * The conferences I’d recommend — NINC, CozyCon, WFWA, Romance Author Mastermind when it was running — and the ones that felt like sales pitches * Our single best tip: prioritize the hallway over the schedule * “Caucusing by genre” — finding your people at a conference * Pitch fests: when they’re worth the extra fee, and how to talk to an agent * The conference behaviors that make everyone hate you (yes, including pitching in the bathroom) * How vendor tables are an underrated part of a big conference for indie authors * Practical stuff: layers, water, a written itinerary, permission to skip a panel * What’s worth paying for, what isn’t, and how to read an agenda before you commit What conferences are YOU doing this year? Drop them in the comments — we’re nosy. SHOW NOTES Episodes referenced: * Episode 18 — Front Matter & Back Matter Conferences & organizations mentioned: * NINC (Novelists, Inc.) — https://ninc.com * CozyCon (run by Becca Syme) — https://www.becca-syme.com * WFWA (Women’s Fiction Writers Association) — https://womensfictionwriters.org * AWP — https://www.awpwriter.org * AnchorCon * Author Nation (Las Vegas) * Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference (Middlebury) * SleuthFest What we’re watching: * LL: Big Mistakes (Netflix) * Tara: Love on the Spectrum (Netflix) This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit youshouldtotallywritethat.substack.com

    35 min
  6. What's After 'The End' Is Doing Half Your Marketing

    May 5

    What's After 'The End' Is Doing Half Your Marketing

    There’s a stretch of your book most readers will never linger on: the pages right after “The End.” The pages right before Chapter 1. Many authors treat them like an afterthought — slap on a copyright page, drop in an “also by” list, call it done — and lose newsletter signups and the chance to build a fandom. At the end of Hungry Like the Hex — Book 9 in my Crescent Moon series — I tried something I would not have predicted to work. I didn’t have Book 10 ready for preorder. I didn’t have a freebie. I had nothing to bribe anyone with. So I wrote a short note thanking readers for finishing, told them Amelia would be back, and added one link: click here if you want to know when the next book drops. Record-breaking newsletter signups. From a page most authors phone in. This week on YOU SHOULD TOTALLY WRITE THAT, LL Kirchner and I get into the part of the publishing process nobody puts on a panel: front matter and back matter. We cover — * The case for putting your copyright page at the back of the ebook * One call to action. One. We mean it. * Why your print back matter and your ebook back matter need different rules * LL’s defense of the table of contents, and Tara’s mild indifference * The Lisa Scottoline book that pleasantly surprised LL, and the Daphne du Maurier that Tam is finally getting to Plus the action item I’d ask every indie author to do this week: pull up your last book and read your back matter cold. Does it sound like a human being who actually likes their readers? Are the links live? Is there one clear place to go next? If the answer is “uh”... well, you know what to do. Press play. And tell us in the comments what’s in YOUR back matter that’s pulling weight. SHOW NOTES Episodes referenced: * Episode 17 — Reader Magnets (last week) Platforms & tools discussed: * Vellum (book formatting) — https://vellum.pub * Amazon KDP — https://kdp.amazon.com * Barnes & Noble Press — https://press.barnesandnoble.com * Draft2Digital — https://draft2digital.com * Hidden Gems (ARC reader service) — https://hiddengembooks.com * Kit (formerly ConvertKit) — https://kit.com * Flodesk — https://flodesk.com Books mentioned: * Lady Killer by Lisa Scottoline (Rosato and Associates series) * Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier Thanks for reading and listening to YOU SHOULD TOTALLY WRITE THAT! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit youshouldtotallywritethat.substack.com

    32 min

  7. Apr 28

    Your Reader Magnet Is Losing You Readers

    We’ve been teasing this one since the very first episode—reader magnets, freebies you can offer readers to entice them to read your whole book. Maybe we put it off to avoid all the confessions? We’re no different than anyone else on this. We got the same advice every new author gets the: write your reader magnet first. Build your list before you have a book to sell. And both of us… did not do that. This week, we’re getting into what that cost us — and how to do it right. If right is even a thing in indie publishing. Reader magnets are one of those deceptively simple concepts that turn into a rabbit hole the moment you actually try to execute one. Does it have to be a short story? Feature the main character? Should it be an epilogue? Something else entirely? Then there’s what to do with it once you have it. And why does a 10,000-word freebie require almost as much work as a full book? We talk about all of it — the prequel vs. the bonus epilogue, what readers actually want vs. what you think they want, and the one thing your reader magnet absolutely has to do (hint: it’s not what most people focus on). Plus, Tara reveals the smart cover hack that let her build out a whole short story series without starting from scratch, and LL talks about why her first attempt broke every rule she’d just given you — and why it’s still working anyway. What’s your relationship with the reader magnet? Did you write yours first, or did you do what we did? Drop it in the comments! Support the show Find Tara’s books on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Tara-Lush/author/B00O5M5T5G Find LL’s books: https://llkirchner.com/books Thanks for reading YOU SHOULD TOTALLY WRITE THAT! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. Show notes Episodes referenced: * Episode 16 — Newsletters * Episode 10 — BookBub and promo sites * Episode 21 — BookFunnel (coming soon!) Platforms & tools discussed: * BookFunnel — https://bookfunnel.com * StoryOrigin — https://storyoriginapp.com * Amazon KDP — https://kdp.amazon.com * Written Word Media (promo sites) — https://www.writtenwordmedia.com * Melody Simmons (pre-made covers) — https://bookcoversbymelody.com/ * 100 Covers — https://www.100covers.com What we’re reading: * LL: Best Offer Wins by Marisa Kashino — contemporary women's fiction, all the real estate porn of HGTV in a domestic suspense * Tara: Black Thorn by J.T. Geissinger — spicy gothic romance, dual narration, “a little WTF at the end but bonkers and fun” * Both: Bittersweet — a whole conversation for another episode Coming next: * Episode 19: Conferences Thanks for reading YOU SHOULD TOTALLY WRITE THAT! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support our work. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit youshouldtotallywritethat.substack.com

    42 min
  8. Going Wide: Is Amazon Exclusivity Costing You Readers?

    Apr 21

    Going Wide: Is Amazon Exclusivity Costing You Readers?

    Here’s the thing nobody tells you when you’re starting out: choosing where to sell your book is just as strategic as writing it. And “going wide” — making your e-books and audiobooks available beyond Amazon — isn’t automatically better or worse than Kindle Unlimited. It depends on your genre, your output speed, your marketing bandwidth, and honestly, what you’re willing to manage. This week, LL and Tara get into all of it. LL shares a mistake she literally discovered while preparing for this episode — a series book accidentally left outside KU that quietly tanked her read-through rate. Tara explains why she’s staying in KU for now, even as AI-generated books flood her cozy mystery genre and she keeps a wary eye on the exits. And both hosts break down the numbers: what you actually earn per book in KU versus wide, why the library distribution game-changer matters, and why wide can mean juggling five platforms instead of one. This is not a verdict. It’s the real conversation — the one that factors in your time, your readers, and the truth that KU readers and wide readers are not the same people. Have you gone wide, stayed in KU, or done both? Tell us what worked — drop it in the comments! Find our books: Find Tara’s books on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Tara-Lush/author/B00O5M5T5G Find LL’s books: https://llkirchner.com/books Show notes Episodes referenced: * Episode 15: Author events * Episode 8: Decoding Kindle Unlimited * Episode 9: KU promos * Episode 6: Audiobooks Platforms & tools discussed: * Amazon KDP — https://kdp.amazon.com * Kindle Unlimited — https://www.amazon.com/kindle-unlimited * Draft2Digital (aggregator for wide distribution) — https://www.draft2digital.com * Kobo — https://www.kobo.com * Barnes & Noble Press — https://press.barnesandnoble.com * Google Play Books — https://play.google.com/books * Apple Books — https://authors.apple.com * IngramSpark — https://www.ingramspark.com * Libby (library e-books) — https://libbyapp.com * Hoopla (library e-books) — https://www.hoopladigital.com * K-lytics (genre market research) — https://k-lytics.com * CozyMystery.com (cozy mystery aggregator/resource) — https://cozymystery.com * Dreamscape (audiobook distributor, mentioned by LL) — https://www.dreamscapepublishing.com What we’re reading: * Tara: Murder with Peacocks by Donna Andrews * LL: The Secretary by Renée Knight Coming next: * Episode 17: Reader magnets ⚑ Thanks for reading YOU SHOULD TOTALLY WRITE THAT! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support our work. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit youshouldtotallywritethat.substack.com

    37 min
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Two authors (with trad, indie & DIY creds)share the unfiltered truth about DIY publishing. youshouldtotallywritethat.substack.com

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