It’s the beginning of summer as I look back at my first season of Let’s Talk Romance with Autumn Stone. When I first started this project I wasn’t sure if there would be an interest in hearing the stories from authors of romances featuring characters of color. I was wrong. There was a lot of interest and I truly enjoyed the conversations that I had with the different authors that I’ve interviewed so far. In this episode, I share some insights gained from this first season of the show, when season #2 will launch and what I plan on working on during the interrim.

*In order for me to support my blogging activities, I may receive monetary compensation or other types of remuneration for my endorsement, recommendation, testimonial and/or link to any products or services from this blog. Please read my disclosure here.*

Get your free book

Make Money with Ebooks

Make Money with Ebooks is a course that breaks down the ins and outs of both fiction and non-fiction self-publishing. If you’re looking for a course that provides monthly office hours with the course creator, provides access to marketing ideas and how to leverage platforms to grow your brand-Make Money with Ebooks is the course for you.

Listen to the Show

Show Notes

• In 2020 my stories stopped talking to me. The pandemic gave me insight into how I my stories came to me.

• The random meet cutes that I had personally or observed around me. They no longer happened.

• Going out for happy hour was an activity that I reminisced about.

• Going to conferences and being inspired others wouldn’t happen.

• But, I kept coming back to an idea that had been percolating in the back of mind. Why don’t I start a podcast and talk to other authors creating all of the romances that I enjoyed reading so much.

• I loved all types of stories but as a reader of color and author of color I felt like there just weren’t enough opportunities to geek out about stories that featured women like me.

• Let’s Talk Romance with Autumn Stone was born out of a need to connect and to learn more about the authors behind the stories, the craft of writing and hopefully to inspire other writers to share their stories.

• I wanted to dispel the myth that it’s impossible to make money writing romances that featured people of color as at least one of the lead characters. But, at the same time, I wanted to share some of the strategies that authors are using to market and ultimately sell their works…consistently.

• It was also important to me to share authors who wrote in genres that you least expect.

• I’m also excited to share that part of the reason why this season is ending is that I am inspired to write books and need more time to do it. I have stories that I’m working on and I’ve decided to free up my time and just focus on the books.

• If you’re an author who would like to be interviewed on my show please reach out to me at autumnstonewriter@gmail.com. I can’t interview everyone due to time constraints but ideally you’re an author who:
  • Has published a few books
  • Made some money with it
  • Write books featuring at least one POC character
  • Has insights to share about your stories and the craft of writing romance

• When will season #2 begin? Wednesday, September 8, 2021.

• Before I finished this episode I did want to give some insight into what it’s like to run a podcast and some lessons learned about the process.

• I actually have 4 very different shows in different spaces.
  • Personal finance
  • Colorado
  • Online entrepreneurship
  • Romance

• I batch my content which means I record a number of episodes and then edit and schedule them for later.

• I’m currently in the process of hiring a virtual assistant and a podcast editor because I need to free up my time and I’m going crazy.

• Hiring a VA has taken me a little longer than I anticipated because it’s also become clear that I need to hire for two positions:
  • A Virtual Assistant
  • A podcast editor

• Another mistake that I made is even though I’ve batched a number of my interviews, etc. I probably should have launched with several episodes already edited and ready to be shared on day #1. Basically, if I had 10 episodes recorded, it would have been a good idea to edit all of those episodes and then schedule. Basically, doing more work on the front end of the show. But, the pandemic did impact how I approached projects and I had a lot more time on my hands in 2020. Now, I’m much busier and so I’m needing to focus on how to do the same work a lot more efficiently.

• When running an online business there are a lot of moving parts and it’s important to focus on what moves the needle in one’s business. I have a number of books that I would like to write but something has to give.

• If there is a genre, author, or story that you think should be on my radar, please let me know. Keep an eye out for upcoming Autumn Stone romances that will be released this summer.

Buy Me a Coffee

Thank you for listening and supporting Let’s Talk Romance with Autumn Stone. I love having conversations with authors creating stories for characters of color and the people who read them. If you enjoyed this episode please “Buy Me a Coffee.” This support helps to cover the cost of running the show.