Self-publishing and book coaching with Anna Featherstone

Anna Featherstone: From the best traditionally published books out there. So that’s concept writing, editing, and design. So that’s non-negotiable. It’s got to be quality. And if it’s quality, that’s going to help with your marketing because people are going to want to talk about your book.

Rachel Smith: Hello and welcome to The Content Byte, a podcast for freelancers who use their words to make money. I’m Rachel Smith, a freelance journalist, copywriter, and content producer. I’m also the founder of Rachel’s List, a jobs board and community for Australian writers and other creatives.

Lynne Testoni: I’m Lynne Testoni! I’m a journalist and content writer as well. Rachel and I are your weekly co-hosts, and every week we bring you all kinds of tips, tricks, and some fabulous guests to help you make the most of your freelance business.

Rachel: Lynne, I have a question for you. I think I might have even asked you this before – do we all have a book in us?

Lynne: Look, that’s a tricky question. I think everyone has a book in us, but I don’t know if all of them are good and if all of them need to be read by anyone else but ourselves.  But I’m sure quite a few of our listeners have a half-finished book in their bottom drawer.

I’m pretty sure there’s a few. Or an idea.

Rachel: Or in their brain.

Lynne: In their brain.

Rachel: I think that desire to publish a book is big when you’re a writer, obviously. But I think the urge gets stronger the older you get. That’s certainly true for me, but we know so many people who publish the traditional way, which is great in the Rachel’s List group, but I think Indie Publishing is really having a moment.

Do you agree?

Lynne: I think so. I don’t know if you follow Emma Gannon. She’s written eight books, but she’s just done her ninth book or something and she self-published this one. I love her Substack. I subscribed to her Substack. She’s talked about the difference between; she’s obviously got a lot of experience in publishing. She’s done previous books, but she talked a bit about the control and everything. And I think it’s a really interesting topic and that’s why we wanted to talk to our friend and colleague, Anna Featherstone, because she’s a mentor, a book coach, an editor, and she’s an advocate for this sort of thing. She helps authors bring their publishing dreams to life. I know she’s also the author of five nonfiction books with two more on the way.

Rachel: Oh my God. She’s a machine.

Lynne: She’s a machine. In a good way.

Rachel: Well, you might remember she did a self-publishing masterclass for Rachel’s List. We are going to talk a bit about that because it’s a very cool story. And she’s done workshops for Writing New South Wales and Byron Writers Festival.

She knows a lot about trad and indie publishing. It’s a really interesting one because there’s not a lot of visibility with trad publishing, but indie publishing, you do have more visibility over certain things. So, it’s very attractive for authors.

Lynne: There are some interesting things, and Anna was on a panel at our first summit, and I think it’s going to be a great chat for newbies. So, shall we have a chat to her?

Rachel: We should. Anna, welcome to the podcast!

Anna: Yay. Thank you! Great to be with you as always.

Lynne: We really appreciate it.

Rachel: It’s great to have you on, and some people might not know this story, but I will always remember when we finished up your self-publishing masterclass and we were off air. We clicked off and everyone was gone and I was just buzzing and I said, you’ve got to turn this into a book. Do you remember that moment?

Anna: I do. And because you said, oh, can you come back and do something more on this? I’m like, well, if I’m going to do that, I’m going to have to interview more people. I’m going to have to learn the latest tech again. And if I’m going to do that, I may as well write the whole damn book again. So, a hundred thousand words later, Look – It’s Your Book, came into the world. So, thank you.

Rachel: Oh, wow.

Anna: A Rachel’s List baby.

Rachel: Is that one of your most popular books, would you say?

Anna: Oh, look, it’s incredibly popular for a small niche market, but my books on organic farming are more popular because there’s a broader market. But what your book has led to, for me, has probably been greater than what those other books, even though they have a bigger readership have done. But in the end, every book kind of does something different for you.  So it’s been fantastic.

Lynne: Oh, fantastic.

Rachel: I know you even wrote a blog post about the whole thing. We will put that in the show notes, and it’s kind of that serendipity of putting yourself out there and where it can lead, which is a really good message for authors as well, isn’t it?

Anna: Because I think I wrote to you and said, would you be interested in a self-publishing masterclass. So that was the big step for me to actually write and pitch. And I think that’s the thing, whether you are pitching your work to a publisher or asking a librarian, can you do an event or if you’re writing to a company to say, can I write a company history for you? You have to actually reach out. And that’s the whole thing I suppose that feeling of don’t say no to yourself, let other people say no to you. So, send out the pitch, but really plan it and let others say no to you or ignore you.

Rachel: I love that.

Anna: I love that. But don’t ignore the opportunity yourself.

Rachel: Don’t say no to yourself. I love it, we all do that, don’t we?

Lynne: Because you do such a variety of things and a lot of that’s come from the Look – It’s Your Book, doesn’t it? Isn’t it like helping and advising authors? You’ve done quite a few master classes and speeches and you’re doing work with writing organisations.

Anna: And I suppose, I attend as many festivals and writers’ conventions as I can, so I’m right at the forefront of what’s happening and who’s doing what and learning about new tech and different craft, and what genres are hot and what’s best practice. And I’ve been doing it for so long and it’s just such a passion for me.

I do everything from publishing strategy to editing, book cover, design briefs, to title and subtitle, brainstorms, marketing strategy, and basically just help authors solve problems or move to the next step or maximise what they’ve already done. So, lots happening.

Lynne: Lots happening!

What does a typical week look like for you?

Anna: Well, I suppose so a bit of all of that.

I’m also the non-fiction advisor to the Alliance of Independent Authors, which is a global organisation. I do work with them and also host a monthly podcast. So, kind of like you guys get exposed to these trailblazers and people who are just doing incredible things in the world of indie publishing. So basically, lots of work with indie and trad authors. 

Rachel: I mean, you are often called a book Fairy Godmother. So, tell us about those common moments you see where writers get stuck or they lose confidence and how you sort of move them to the other side of that.

Anna: Look, it’s different for every author. So, for some it might be right at the idea stage when they’re like, would anyone even want to read this? People question it, or it might be halfway through the first draft and they’re like, this is terrible. Am I on the right path? How is the structure failing the book? They don’t quite understand why it’s not working.

It might be at pitch stage to a publisher where we work out, well what are, who’s the audience? But there’s so many moments when a writer needs someone in their corner and someone who has like a much more helicopter view of the industry.

As well as that grainy detail that they need to make sure is right. And I’m helping people who already, a year out from their book publish and they’re like, how can I maximise what I already did? So, helping them work through content strategies, marketing and what they might need to do differently to give that book a longer tail.

Providing connections for people when they hit a brick wall or they’re like, well, who can I use for this? So, I’ll put them in touch with different people in the industry. Who can maybe help get them to that next step. There’s a lot of straight talk.  I’m really not a fluffy person. I want the best for them and their book. So, I’ll just be like, well, these are the things that you can choose from. One author said, I’ve taught her to fish herself. So, some people need support. If they’re going to be writing multiple books, I try and help them with those first early books, show them how eventually they can do more themselves and give them the tools and the confidence to do that. But some other people are so time poor, so they actually want me to do more for them. Or fine, you know? So, it all depends on those goals, I suppose, for the author.

Lynne:  So, if there is somebody thinking of self-publishing for the first time, are there three things they must understand before even they think about hitting publish?

Anna: Absolutely. So, quality. It must be indistinguishable from the best traditionally published books out there. So that’s concept writing, editing and design. So that’s non-negotiable. It’s got to be quality. And if it’s quality, that’s going to help with your marketing because people are going to want to talk about your book.

 So, reality, your first book’s not going to be a bestseller. That’s the other thing people need to know. But the thing is you need to write it so you’re going to be ready to write the one that will be. Or, the more books you write, the better you get, the more the audience travels with you, the more you know.

So quality, reality. And I think the third thing is just to realise why you’re doing it. Is it creative expression? Is it to bolster your business? Is it because you’re fascinated by a subject or character? Do you want to bring attention to a cause? When you know why you won’t just finish the book and do it well, you’ll have the energy and confidence to then promote it.

Lynne: Interesting.

Rachel: That’s fantastic. I loved what you were saying about all the things that you need to know and having your wine and all that sort of thing but is there things that authors come to you, and they expect something when their book is out in the world. Because they don’t know how it all works, you know? Perhaps a lesson that they learn the hard way once their book is finally out in the world. I suppose, people don’t buy it or, your friends ignore it or something like that. Is there something that you want to put out? I don’t even want to mention that stuff.

Anna: Look, it’s the fact that very few people will care.

There are millions of books out there. There’s AI answering people’s questions. There are huge things happening with people’s attention span. So, you have to work out how to make people care. And also, it’s about knowing really who that audience is. So, for me, for my books, I’m happy if I just make a few people’s lives better. I don’t need to say, I need to sell thirty thousand copies of a book. If my work helps this many people. I’m going to be super happy. That is my measure of success.

One of my measures of success is people always send me pictures of my books with lots of sticky notes in them and that makes me so happy. I don’t care if they’ve borrowed it from the library. That’s brilliant. You know what I mean? It’s that kind of a thing. But, when you find the people who do care about your book, they become advocates and they help spread the word for you, so that’s the other end.

It’s finding the people who do care, but not everyone is going to want to read your book. That’s for sure. And it is funny, I have, it didn’t happen for me, but I’ve heard of some people whose friends, ignore the book or don’t say anything. And I’m like, oh, that’s a bit strange.

Rachel: I go onto Threads and see those, like there are lots of heartbreaking messages from new authors on threads about these things. Like, nobody has bought my book, or you know, it’s just come out and it’s been crickets.

Anna: I wonder though if they should be doing more writing, rather than writing on threads. You know what I mean?

Rachel: It’s tricky, I think expectations like are different, aren’t they? They might have a massive expectation of how it’s going to be.

Anna: Twenty years ago, a bestseller sold multiple thousand copies more than a bestseller does now. So, bestsellers don’t sell as many now. You’ve got so many split genres that some people only read a certain genre. So, the numbers just aren’t there except for, those breakthrough books, which are the ones we hear about. But that’s the very pointy end.

Lynne: Well, we’ve had a lot of authors on here and very few of them make a full-time living from writing. I mean, I think sort of Kate Nunn did, she does a lot of historical romance now, but she said she only started living off her books with her eighth, I think it was. And then the other one was Charlotte Wood, and she said she only really started making a living from it once she won the Stellar Award. So, they had big breakthroughs, and they were quite established in that time. So, until then, they both had day jobs. 

Anna: Indie authors do tend to earn more. If you compared midlist authors – indie versus trad, indie authors do seem to be making more money. That’s because they retain higher royalties and the more books you have, the more economical your system becomes to get them out there. So, there’s a lot of authors I know making very good money.

Lynne: That’s interesting.

Anna: They’re treating it like a business and doing incredibly exceptionally well.

Rachel: Amazing.

Lynne: Because you work with both traditionally published books or trad published and indie self-published authors.  So, when you are thinking about your book, is there good things to think about, to decide which path you’re going to take, whether you’re going to go trad or whether you’re going to go the indie route?

Are there things to think about?

Anna: Absolutely. And it really is dependent on the book, the genre and the author. So, the good news though now is you can actually do both. Not so many years ago, people were told, if you go indie, you’ll ruin your chances ever at a trad deal.  But trad publishers are now headhunting indie authors because they’ve already got a backlist. They’ve honed their craft. They have huge audiences.  What you’re seeing now is you can split off different rights. I know some trad authors who have sold rights in Australia, but then they can keep foreign rights and do their own translations, or they can keep their audio book rights or some now going straight to audio. So, selling the audio book but then keeping their paperback rights.

Lynne: Oh wow.

Anna: It’s a real shifting sand. So, a lot depends, how much time do you have? What’s your ultimate goal? What’s your genre? Who’s the audience for it? And publishers, they’re not picking up as many authors. They’re not taking risks. And I’ve seen some indie authors that I would’ve thought definitely should have had a trad deal on the quality of their book and the story and the media potential, and they haven’t been picked up. So, indie gives a pathway for those books to come out and change the world.

It’s really interesting. But also, trad works for heaps of authors because they want to do other things with their life. They don’t want to do the market, or you still have to market as a trad author, unfortunately, it’s more and more so. But they don’t want to have to worry about so many things, but also know now.

Lynne: Distribution, all that sort of thing.

Anna:  Exactly. But also, I know some trad authors who are now paying for their own cover design because they didn’t like what the publisher. It’s like, wow and they have to pay for their own book launch. The thing is you can go any way now. So, because of that, you shouldn’t stop writing the book. There’s no excuse not to.

Rachel: It’s interesting that you say that about paying for your own cover design. The authors that I’ve spoken to say sometimes they had no idea of what the cover was going to be until it appeared in their email, you know? And that to me is nuts. It’s like there’s no actual discussion with the author about what type of cover it should be. And they’re the ones who wrote the book.

Anna: That I think it depends on the team and the, what the publishing house has got going on. So, some are wonderful at that cooperative, coming together. Also, publishers do know what sells. But then also sometimes they get it wrong. And also, so do authors get it wrong a lot too. Sometimes author choices for covers. I’m like, please don’t go with that. That is not a great idea.

Rachel: Well that the fact that you might not be able to help with the cover or even like offer suggestions is one thing, but what are other things that you wish authors knew about the book publishing industry? I think in trad publishing would be, you won’t get to see your figures. So just like accept that.

Anna: Exactly, exactly. Whereas indies can check their figures daily and you can see immediately what advertising’s working – if you’re advertising. Publicity is harder to get in many ways and doesn’t sell as many books. So, if someone sees a two-page spread in The Sunday Telegraph, you think that’s great publicity for a book. But those people after the end of the article, feel like they’ve read it. They don’t go and buy it.

But also, that’s still brilliant for profile raising and it might help in other ways so that there’s lots of layers you have to build to actually sell books, and in-person events are a great way to do that. But also difficult for authors who might be a bit introverted, like we all mostly are.

I suppose people need to know that it makes only the very few rich financially, but it’s an incredibly rich way to live.

Lynne: I understand you’ve got a marketing and PR background as well. A lot of authors underestimate book marketing, and particularly in the trad world. So, what should they be doing? We’ve talked occasionally about building a social media profile. Do you need those sorts of things? How do you do that?

Anna: A lot of traditional publishers expect you to have a lot of followers if you’re going to get a book deal, but they’ve also found out that someone can have a lot of followers and it doesn’t translate to sales. I suppose the thing is, people aren’t going to line up to buy your book. It’s not going to be for everyone. So, you need to start marketing early into your actual ideal reader, right?

And be creative about your marketing efforts like your creative writer, so bring some of those fabulous ideas to your marketing and measure your efforts. So, you know what’s working and what’s not. Really start collaborating with others.

Lynne: Interesting.

Rachel: Well, I know that one question a lot of authors would have is what is the process to get your book into a library? I mean, is it as easy as walking in and going, hey, I’ve got this great new book, can you put on the shelf?

Anna: No.

Rachel: What’s the process?

Anna: I did a whole chapter on this actually in Look – It’s Your Book because I interviewed librarians and definitely not. That is the worst way to get your book into a library. So firstly, you need to be listed with the library distributors, for a start, because libraries can’t set up. They are council owned or, council operators, so they don’t want to set up accounts for every single author who walks in. That’s thousands. So, you’ve got to be listed with the key library distributors, and then you need to build demand for your book with librarians.

You do that through publicity, marketing, attending other author events. Start at your local library, do you hang out there? I take my book covers in and share them with librarians and ask for their feedback before the book comes out to raise that awareness. You can offer a workshop or a talk then if you deliver that brilliantly, the Librarian Telegraph comes into play and they tell other librarians, so you might get more bookings. If you’re going on a long trip, you might look and go, oh, do you know what? We’re going to be in that town for three days. I’m going to six months ahead, send an email to that library with my book, advance information sheet, the different types of talks I can do or do that collaboration again, combine with other authors to offer a panel to the library on a certain theme or subject.

Lynne: Interesting.

Anna: And library sales are great. And because we get lending rights for how many books are in our libraries? The memoir I wrote about organic farming, there’s book club sets of them out there, but that’s so funny because then you’re like, oh my God, all these people in that town are reading about me and having opinions. It’s pretty funny. But suddenly that’s eleven new readers discovering your book and eleven copies sold, not just one or fifteen at a time type thing. 

Rachel: Amazing.

Lynne: Also, I’d love to talk about literary festivals or writers’ festivals because I know that they can be quite hard for authors, particularly first timers, but you’ve been to many, you talked about that and you’ve spoken at many. How does that festival circuit really work, and how can authors improve their chances of being featured?

Anna: It’s incredibly hard to get a festival invite. There’s only so many spots. The publishers themselves, they’ve got, maybe 80 authors that they could put forward. They can only put forward a couple; do you know what I mean? Even if you traditionally publish, I know heaps of amazing authors who haven’t been able to get a gig.

There are certain things you can do. Think about the themes in your book, how might that translate onto the stage?  Write about fascinating topics and themes and do it well. Start by pitching smaller regional festivals and show them how you’d be a good investment, not just like as an in conversation, but that you could speak on a panel or run a workshop.

Also be a part of the community, volunteer at a writer’s festival, get known, be a part of the community. Like so many authors bundle into a bookshop and say, hey, will you stock my book? And the booksellers are like, I’ve never seen you in here before. Be a part of the community and be an audience member. Get a feel for them.

And keep trying and keep writing. Because it might not, you know, one, I know authors who a certain book won’t get them a festival gig, but I’ll be like, your next one though, the one that you’re planning that actually could.

Rachel: I suppose you have to build up that confidence. What about authors that aren’t ready for a festival, but they still need to be visible and get that credibility? What are some other things that they can do that we haven’t talked about?

Anna: Festivals are absolutely magnificent, but they are a lot. You might have more impact by just starting a monthly storyteller’s event at a local cafe.

You don’t always have to be front and centre. You can help others be front and centre. So, there’s a great one I know. It’s ten writers, ten minutes each, and you can be a songwriter, a poet you can read from a letter, anything like that. That kind of thing keeps building your craft. It starts building your confidence and it builds community.

You don’t have to be at the big festivals. You can start your own as well.

Lynne: Well, most festivals are run by authors or writers of some description.

Anna: And volunteers, exactly.

Lynne: I’d love to talk to you about a repackaging book content as an income stream. I’ve edited quite a few cookbooks for corporates. Surprising. Who wants a cookbook and New South Wales Parliament. I worked on one for the Real Housewives of Sydney, as well as a few for different websites, food websites and things. So, they’re a great income stream, aren’t they? If you’ve got a particular niche.

Anna: Firstly, you can repackage your own book content. So that would be things like workbooks, talks, courses, things like merch and games. You can even make games out of your book, events. So that’s what you could do for your own. You can also pitch books to corporates. There are corporate histories you can do. Like you said, some places might want to do a cookbook, they might, be big on an issue or want to be seen as a thought leader, or they might want to influence government policy.

There are all reasons why corporates might want to contract out a book. So that might include you ghostwriting it. For a lot of the writers out there, there are big ghostwriting projects going. Obviously, some, they’re now like, oh, we could just do that with AI. But that just turns out the flattest read ever.

They still need brilliant writers to edit, to bring the life, to bring in the senses, to make it an appealing read. That’s the thing, you know, like judging the Australian Business Book Awards, you can just tell when a book is so flat or I’ve read this before. Then the ones that shine, they bring that attitude. They bring the life, and that’s what you can pitch to.

There are not just corporates. There are people in the community living extraordinary lives who could have a book written about them. There’s the life story market, but even at a bigger scale. There’s lots of opportunities for writers out there.

Rachel: Wow. Is this kind of an exciting time for book publishing overall? Is there anything that you are really excited about or keeping your eye on?

Anna: Ooh. There’s a lot going on in publishing. So, never before have we been able to reach as many people as we can now with a message. There has never been as many useful tools to do that. There is obviously a flood of books, so it’s hard to get visibility, but that’s where again, it’s like you’ve got to feel passionate about what you’re writing about to even finish a book. Otherwise, you’ll get stuck halfway. You also need time to develop your skills because that’ll stop you as well. There’s so many courses, that’s why I’m excited about that as well. All the different writing organisations, you can be tutored by some of the best authors in this country and globally and get feedback on your work from them.

What an exciting hobby, let alone career that we can do. And I suppose we shouldn’t forget too, most of us started as kids writing poetry or silly letters or something. Don’t forget the joy in that. It doesn’t always have to be a business either. We can still just write because it’s a celebration of humanity.

Rachel: Love that.

Lynne: Love it. So, this year we are trying something new, so we are ending the podcast with.  

Anna: Uh-oh!

Lynne: You are our guinea pig.

Anna: Squeak, squeak, squeak.

Lynne: It’s what we’re calling fast three questions, so let’s see how you go with the three questions.

Anna: Okay. Can I answer more than one thing to each question, or it has to be one thing?

Rachel: We’ll let you because you’re the guinea pig. So, we’ll see how we go.

Anna: Okay.

Rachel: So, we’re just flying by the seat of our pants with this.

Anna: Okay.

Rachel: First question. Favorite tools you can’t live without.

Anna: My potato masher.

Rachel: Not Scrivener? Your potato maser?

Anna: Okay. Okay. Okay. Vellum is for easy formatting for printed eBooks. Scrivener, yes for organising my writer’s chapters and subjects and being able to just dump in info when I feel like it. You guys got me onto Rounded, so I love Rounded, just keeping me organised and seeing what I’m up to for the accounting side and I’m currently exploring a new audio book creation tool that could be a real game changer, but not into it deep enough to recommend it yet, but I’ll let you know.

Rachel: And your potato masher on top.

Anna: Oh my gosh. I take my potato masher everywhere. Oh my gosh.

Lynne: That’s fantastic. So, question two is one habit that genuinely saves you time.

Anna: I think it’s stopping work. I stop work and do something else when I feel like I’m running out of puff. It saves me time because I get other things done and then I can come back to whatever I’m struggling with fresh. Some people call that giving up or procrastination. I call it saving time.

Lynne: Fair enough.

Anna: And having fun.

Rachel: Okay. Final question. One thing you wish you’d done sooner in your career?

Anna: Well, write more books and business wise though, I wish I’d realised the sheer value and joy I bring to people and their projects, because if I’d realised that impact earlier, I would’ve been more confident in talking about it, but I absolutely love this space. I love, the people are worth showing up for. I get to read books every day, but I wish I’d realised sooner how good I was at it and the value I brought. But I’m doing that now.

Rachel: Doing that now sister.

Lynne: And loving it.

Anna: Loving it.

Lynne: Oh Anna, thank you so much. It’s always a joy to chat to you and I really enjoyed it, so, so inspiring. Such a great conversation and I bet it’s got lots of our listeners out there excited.

Rachel: Yes, I agree. We are going to pop all the links on where to find Anna in our show notes. Any final words, Anna?

Anna: Thank you so much and I hope you all have a great book in your hands this evening and that you have a bit of mashed potato to go with it.

Lynne: That’s fantastic, love it.

Rachel: Thank you.

Anna: Alright, thank you so much!

Lynne: We’ll be back next week. Alright, bye.

Rachel: See you. Bye!

Credits:

Connect with Anna via her website: https://annafeatherstone.com/

Find Lynne www.lynnetestoni.com 

Find Rachel www.rachelsmith.com.au 

Rachel’s List www.rachelslist.com.au 

Thanks (as always) to our sponsors Rounded (www.rounded.com.au), an easy invoicing and accounting solution that helps freelancers run their businesses with confidence. Looking to take advantage of the discount for Rachel’s List Gold Members? Email us at: hello@rachelslist.com.au for the details.

Episode edited by Marker Creative Co www.markercreative.co