SPA Girls Podcast

The indie author realities no-one talks about (much). Bestselling romance author Elizabeth O’Roark joins us this week for one of the most refreshingly honest conversations we’ve had on the show — covering everything from her Random House deal to the indie strategies she’s quietly walked away from.

In this episode we chat about:

Going from medical writer to indie romance author in 2013

The Devil series breakout and working with publicist Nina Grinstead at Valentine PR

Pantser writing, rewriting every book 30 times, and writing scenes out of order

The honest truth about special editions, direct sales and Amazon ads for romance authors

Landing a two-book Random House deal — how it happened and what surprised her

Why KU is “like doing heroin” and the realities of going wide as a romance author

Cover changes, branding decisions, and learning to take feedback from other authors

The biggest challenge after 23 books: staying inspired

Voice dictation as a game-changer for writing faster

ABOUT ELIZABETH O’ROARK

Elizabeth O’Roark has a bunch of degrees she does not use and gave up working as a medical writer to craft grumpy, alpha heroes and the flawed women who love them.

When not writing, she likes to spend time with her three kids, who are now teenagers and wish she’d find a different way to spend time. She can be found on Facebook feverishly debating whether or not “Die Hard” is a Christmas movie and telling people to read “The Hating Game”, which she did not write but wishes she had.

Website: https://www.elizabethoroark.com

📚 RESOURCES MENTIONED:

Elizabeth’s website: https://www.elizabethoroark.com

Nina Grinstead / Valentine PR: https://valentine-pr.com

Natural Readers (text-to-speech for self-editing): https://www.naturalreaders.com

Romance Author Mastermind (RAM)

Entangled Publishing (Devil series print deal)

Whitney G — author who gave the cover feedback Elizabeth credits

CliftonStrengths / Gallup Strengths assessment

Book Lovers by Emily Henry (mentioned re: trad publishing process)

🔗 CONNECT WITH THE SPA GIRLS:

🌐 Website & free self-publishing resources: http://www.SelfPublishingAuthorsPodcast.com

🎧 Subscribe to our weekly episodes on your favourite podcast app — search “SPA Girls Podcast”

💗 This podcast is supported by our amazing Patreon community! ⭐ Join at the $10 tier for access to our private Self-Publishing Mastermind group where we discuss marketing, writing, and answer your burning questions: http://www.patreon.com/spagirlspodcast

#SelfPublishing #IndieAuthor #RomancePodcast

Watch the recording on You Tube

📌 IN THIS EPISODE:

00:00 — Introduction & welcome

01:15 — From medical writer to indie romance author: how it started in 2013

04:21 — Finding her stride: the Devil series breakout

06:13 — Branding, reader expectations & not bait-and-switching your audience

09:37 — Writing process: pantser life, writing scenes out of order, 30 rewrites

14:52 — Editors, beta readers & last-minute drafts

17:34 — The honest truth about special editions and direct sales

21:10 — “I’m very bad at my job”: on outsourcing what you’re not good at

23:24 — Building the brand: covers, website & finding a designer

26:12 — TikTok, Instagram & the viral video she didn’t plan for

27:46 — Working with a publicist (Nina Grinstead, Valentine PR)

30:48 — The Random House deal: how it happened and what surprised her

36:00 — Audio, translations & wide vs KU

39:10 — What readers actually love about her books

40:02 — Reader events, signings & the real cost of being “on”

45:40 — Cover changes: why they matter and how to use them

49:27 — The biggest challenge: staying inspired after 23 books

52:06 — Final advice: voice dictation as a game-changer

54:15 — Wrap-up and where to find Elizabeth

🔁 CLASSIC REPLAY — Originally recorded in 2020 and the advice is just as relevant today.

How does a USA Today bestselling author write 84,000 words in 10 days? In this episode, Elana Johnson — author of over 130 books across three pen names — shares the exact daily routine, outlining methods, and mindset shifts behind her prolific output.

We cover her “intense project / light project” system for always writing two books at once, why she outlines to the midpoint using Romancing the Beat, how she learned to write in 15-minute blocks while teaching elementary school, the steering wheel desk that changed her writing life, why tracking your own patterns for 30–60 days is the single best productivity move you can make, and why she gave herself permission to stop writing in the morning like everyone said she should.

Whether you’re writing your first novel or trying to speed up your backlist, this one is packed with practical takeaways.

#SelfPublishing #WritingProductivity #IndieAuthor

👤 ABOUT ELANA JOHNSON:

USA Today Bestselling Author, Top 10 Kindle Unlimited All-Star Author, and #1 Bestselling Author on Nook and Apple Books, Author Elana Johnson writes clean and wholesome contemporary romance, usually set on the beach or within the vicinity of the beach.

Unfortunately, she lives in a landlocked state and must travel to the beach to get her fix, which her husband gladly accompanies her to do a few times each year.

She also writes contemporary Christian cowboy romance as Liz Isaacson and sweet romantic women’s fiction as Jessie Newton, and all of her books are part of the Feel-Good Fiction Books brand.

🔗 authorelanajohnson.com

🔗 Indie Inspiration Facebook Group

📚 RESOURCES MENTIONED:

Romancing the Beat by Gwen Hayes (outlining method)

Save the Cat! Writes a Novel by Jamie Davenport (beat sheet)

Vellum (book formatting tool)

BookBub (book promotion)

Steering wheel desk (search on Amazon — Elana’s secret weapon!)

🔗 CONNECT WITH THE SPA GIRLS:

🌐 Website & free self-publishing resources: http://www.SelfPublishingAuthorsPodcast.com

🎧 Listen on your favourite podcast app — search “SPA Girls Podcast”

💗 This podcast is supported by our amazing Patreon community!

⭐ Join at the $10 tier for access to our private Self-Publishing Mastermind group where we discuss marketing, writing, and answer your burning questions: http://www.patreon.com/spagirlspodcast

Subscribe so you never miss an episode!

Ever wanted to create an audiobook but been scared off by the price tag? Phil Marshall, founder of Spoken.Press, built an AI-powered platform specifically for indie authors who want professional-quality audio without the professional-level costs.

In this episode we chat about:

Phil’s path from surgeon to tech founder and sci-fi author

What “ethical AI narration” means — consenting voice actors who are credited and compensated

The difference between text-to-speech (TTS) and speech-to-speech (STS) and when to use each

How Spoken analyses your manuscript to recommend voices matched to your characters

Creating multi-voice and full-cast audiobooks on a self-publishing budget

Where you can distribute AI-narrated audiobooks (spoiler: more places than you think)

About Phil Marshall

Phil Marshall is the founder and CEO of Spoken (spoken.press), the AI Audiobook Company. With a background in medicine and 25+ years in technology — including founding a conversational AI company in healthcare — Phil built Spoken after experiencing firsthand how expensive and complicated audiobook production was for his own debut novel. Spoken now serves thousands of authors worldwide, from first-time self-publishers to New York Times bestsellers.

Website: https://www.spoken.press/

📚 RESOURCES MENTIONED:

Spoken.Press: https://www.spoken.press/

Spoken Ethical AI page: https://www.spoken.press/ethicalai

Voices by InAudio (distribution): https://www.voicesinaudio.com/

BookFunnel (direct audiobook sales): https://bookfunnel.com/

Author Republic (distribution): https://www.authorrepublic.com/

Taming the Perilous Skies by Phil Marshall (debut novel, June 2026)

🔗 CONNECT WITH THE SPA GIRLS:

🌐 Website & free self-publishing resources: http://www.SelfPublishingAuthorsPodcast.com

🎧 Subscribe to our weekly episodes on your favourite podcast app — search “SPA Girls Podcast”

💗 This podcast is supported by our amazing Patreon community! ⭐ Join at the $10 tier for access to our private Self-Publishing Mastermind group where we discuss marketing, writing, and answer your burning questions: http://www.patreon.com/spagirlspodcast

This is a classic replay of a fascinating interview we recorded a few years ago with author Danielle Annett (aka Daniela Romero) , who as switched genres from Urban Fantasy to Contemporary Romance, with amazing results.

She talks us through the decision to change genres, and what she did to make it a success, including some of the big decisions she had to make, such as whether to create a new pen name, how to market it, and what kind of social media/website and newsletter presence she wanted to have with the new genre/name. Danielle is a savvy businessperson, and you’ll definitely pick up some excellent tips from this discussion… 

Danielle is also an organisational superstar, and we talk a little bit about how she organises all the various segments in her life so successfully! We loved chatting to her, and we’re sure you’re going to enjoy listening to this episode again!

About Daniela

Daniela Romero is a Snarky AF, Latinx Author, who happens to also be a Mom of 3. Born and raised in sunny California, she now makes her home in the Pacific Northwest and is happy to enjoy all four seasons even if the snow can sometimes be a bit much. She hates cheese—of all kinds—and yes that means she orders cheeseless pizza. Daniela is an ENTJ all the way which means she loves to talk (a lot) and is probably as extroverted as they come so feel free to shoot her a message, send a raven, throw up smoke signals. Whatever it may be. She love’s chatting with readers so feel free to stalk her.

Find her at: https://daniela-romero.com/

Danielle’s bookbox business: https://baddiesbookshop.com/

🔗 CONNECT WITH THE SPA GIRLS:

🌐 Website & free self-publishing resources: http://www.SelfPublishingAuthorsPodcast.com

🎧 Subscribe to our weekly episodes on your favourite podcast app — search “SPA Girls Podcast”

💗 This podcast is supported by our amazing Patreon community! ⭐ Join at the $10 tier for access to our private Self-Publishing Mastermind group where we discuss marketing, writing, and answer your burning questions: http://www.patreon.com/spagirlspodcast

#authortube #SelfPublishing #IndieAuthor #romancewriter

#SelfPublishing #romancewriter #writingpodcast #writingcommunity

What if formatting your book could take minutes instead of hours?

In this episode of the SPA Girls Podcast (EP550), we sit down with Brad Andalman, co-founder of Vellum, the book formatting software (Mac-only) that’s transformed self-publishing for indie authors. Brad shares the surprising Pixar origin story behind Vellum, walks us through exactly how the software works, and reveals some of the newer features — including double-page chapter spreads — that most authors don’t even know exist.

Whether you’re a brand-new self-publisher about to format your first book or a Vellum veteran who suspects you’re not using it to its full potential, this episode covers everything from the basics (importing your manuscript, choosing styles, exporting for Kindle and print) through to the advanced design tricks that make your books look professionally typeset. Brad also explains why so many authors have started writing inside Vellum itself, and shares how the platform has evolved over the past decade-plus.

All the SPA Girls are avid Vellum users (even Shar, who’s a Windows girl but bought a cheap Mac just to use it years ago!). If you’d like to try Vellum before you buy, hop over to Vellum.Pub (full disclosure, this is an affiliate link that supports our podcast. If you’d prefer to not use it, just google Vellum Pub)

👤 ABOUT BRAD ANDALMAN:
Brad Andalman is the co-founder of Vellum, the leading book formatting software for indie authors. Before Vellum, Brad spent years at Pixar working on animated films, where he and co-founder Brad West built professional-level software alongside their design work. Together, the “two Brads” launched Vellum to put beautiful book design into authors’ hands.

🔗 https://vellum.pub

📚 RESOURCES MENTIONED:

Vellum: https://vellum.pub

Vellum tutorials on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@VellumApp

🔗 CONNECT WITH THE SPA GIRLS:
🌐 Website & free self-publishing resources:
http://www.SelfPublishingAuthorsPodcast.com
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@SPAGirlsPodcast

🎧 Listen on your favourite podcast app — search “SPA Girls Podcast”

💗 This podcast is supported by our amazing Patreon community!

⭐ Join at the $10 tier for access to our private Self-Publishing Mastermind group where we discuss marketing, writing, and answer your burning questions:
http://www.patreon.com/spagirlspodcast

Subscribe so you never miss an episode!