Madelyn Smith's Blog

Time to hear my thoughts on being a hobby author vs. a business focused author. This one might be hard to hear for some, but I feel like it contains a lot of truths that beginning authors need to hear so that their expectations are measured when it comes to publishing. The publishing journey, and author journey is long, so let’s talk about being business focused vs. hobby focused.

Two paths of authorhood

There are two main paths of authorhood. Being an author as a hobby and for fun. Being an author because you want to run a small business and make money.

A lot of people are hobby authors, which is awesome. We need those. But they have desires to be business authors but… the work to be a business author feels like a lot.

So lets talk about the pros and cons really quick of those two things.

Business Author pros and Cons

Pros:

You get to learn many things like marketing, networking, and improving your skillsYou get to do a lotYou’re busy

Cons:

A lot of your time is taken up by administrative tasksCarving out time to write is harderYou can’t just focus on writing, you have to think of writing like a business

Potential rewards:

Financial successBook dealsCreating a large and loyal followingHobby Author Pros and Cons

Pros:

Write what you want, when you want toYou write stories that you enjoyYou focus on the joy of writing

Cons/tendencies:

less likely to learn the things to market or network to really make your book productiveHas a hard time focusing on authorhood as a business, and gets frustrated, so focuses on writing a lotThe main difference

Did I make some generalizations about the pros and cons? Yes, yes I did. Because here is what I’ve learned.

If you want to REALLY get good and run an author business you can’t just focus on writing the books anymore. You need to study and learn to love marketing. You need to write a GOOD book that is really marketable. You need to be able to see things from a CEO perspective. A lot of authors get really frustrated with the administrative side of authorhood. Because of that, and because they don’t want to jump in and learn and really dedicate time to learning this side, they get frustrated and stuck. We are CREATIVE we don’t want to *have* to do the admin tasks…

So this is where we find the main difference between successful business authors and ones who stay more in the hobby area.

Successful business authors accept that:They have to learn how to market. Social media marketing, growing their newsletter, finding what tropes, quotes etc. draw in readers, are all things a successful business author learnsThey learn that they have to create a BRAND – something that they stick to 100% of the time. For me, that’s sweet and clean romance. 100% of the time. People will ALWAYS know that I write sweet and clean romances. They have to think about marketing, writing, collaborating, sharing, everything they do from a Business CEO mindset. They won’t collaborate with authors outside of their genre or with different spice levels because they know that that will hurt their relationship with their target audience. Yes, it’s hard. Yes, we’re people pleasers, but a successful business author things about the long term effect of their business choices. They think long term and build reader loyalty. Good businesses are customer focused. They’re about writing the next best book for their customers. They’re about giving the customers what they want 100% of the time. They network with people who will help bring them forward not back. Authors who write in the same genre with same romance levels. Authors who champion the same values and types of books. They make author friends, and they support those author friends because then they can share an audience. Being Business minded is hard

Why? Because it’s not about YOU as an author. It’s about THE READER and delivering them a product that they will love continuously, again and again.

Business authors study their target market which takes time and effort. Business authors study authors in their niche who are doing well and find ways to emulate them. Business authors reward their loyal readers through newsletter goodies, and through things that keep them coming back again and again. Business authors know that once you become an author it’s about becoming a better writer and making better and better books so your loyal readers keep coming back.

Making those decisions. Putting that time into those things… Yeah it’s hard. But it’ll be worth it IF you want to become a successful business author.

Being a hobby author is also hard

Because your goals are different. Why you do what you do is different. You’re thinking about writing and publishing for fun.

But you might fall into the comparison game. You might get frustrated with a lack of progress or sales.

Which is fine, just remember… if you want to become a business author then… you might need to put more work in, in other areas, that will stretch your abilities.

You might not like it.

But there’s wisdom in what business minded authors do… and why they do it.

Takeaway

Be whatever type of author you want to be.

But if you want to make it a business, make sure you know what you’re signing up for.

The post Episode 2: Being a Business Author vs. Hobby Author first appeared on Madelyn Smith – Author.

The post Episode 2: Being a Business Author vs. Hobby Author appeared first on Madelyn Smith – Author.

Ready to hear my thoughts about writing a book to market and writing a marketable book? This is what I’ve observed from helping over a hundred of authors figure out how to market their book, and deciding what to do about it. This is mainly geared towards Independently published authors, though traditionally published authors may benefit from the knowledge as well.

Let’s hop to it!

Writing a Marketable book

This might be confusing as some people say “You need to write to market” but there is a BIG difference between writing “to market” and writing something “Marketable”.

You see, your goal as an author is to find and nurture relationships with readers until you have loyal reader who will buy your book. That means that you need to do a few things.

Write a really good bookFind your target audience and market to themLeave them wanting more

Let’s break down step one though. Because you don’t have to follow social norms to write a good book, but you do need to be able to identify WHY your book is good and WHY readers are going to want to read it.

So let’s break that down.

Making your book Marketable.

Listen, literary people like to not be defined by boxes and tropes.

Spoiler alert – that’s impossible.

Double spoiler alert – if you don’t identify your boxes and tropes it’s going to be HARDER to market your book and find your readers. So lets start with YOU as an author.

What boxes do you fit?

Author:

Genre you write in – be specific (clean romcoms, fairytale retellings, epic fantasy etc.) Romance Levels – chaste kisses to makeouts to spice (will not be addressing that as I’m a clean romance writer)Swearing levels (quick plug that people never ask for more swearing but do ask for less, so I suggest zero)

Your readers

What do they like to read? What are their favorite tropes? What books do well in that market (in your niche)? Where can you find your readers? (Instagram, booktok, Facebook) How are YOU going to focus on reaching those readers?

Okay once you’ve figured that out let’s talk about the BOOK

Marketable book

Listen, write the book however you want for your first draft. We’re going to be talking second draft editing right here. These are things you need to determine and be easily able to tell your audience.

What is the first major trope in the book? What microtropes (lesser known or less prominent) tropes are in your book? What’s the MMC like personality wise? Cinnamon roll or alpha male? What’s your FMC like? Strong and independent? Damsel who distresses others? Feminine and strong in non traditional ways? Your plot, what’s it like? Is there angst? Is there a third act break-up? Is there something that readers are going to love? What are your different settings? Are there ones that people love? A kiss in a dungeon? A hilarious first date at the beach? Write all of these down so readers can identify with them. When do they kiss? (I’m a romance writer, of course they kiss). Is it a slow-burn? Is there an almost kiss? Do they kiss in the 3rd chapter?

And the list goes on and on and on.

But then…. once you have that list, you can either

Decide to edit your book to add MORE marketable things- or to refine a swoony line – or to beef up a scene with more things that readers love. Realize that you were writing a marketable book in the first place and keep going with your edits.

Let’s be real, we should all do number 1. Sometimes that’s just editing a line to be more punchy, something people are more likely to highlight. Do your research, see what are popular highlights in other books in your genre and work from there.

And then we get to my favorite part.

content creation

Once you have your details you can start finding your readers with posts that say things like:

“Hey clean romance reader, I heard you love romcoms where they go on a hilarious date and he saves her from a creep.”

“Hey clean fantasy reader, I heard you love fantasy books where he falls first and harder.”

“He falls first and harder but make it a fairytale retelling where he’s Snow White and she’s Robin Hood.”

See where I’m going with this? Use your book and make it marketable, so that you find readers who love what you write so that they’ll keep coming back for me.

Is that enough of an author tips and tricks rant for you? Fantastic!

Until next time

Madelyn

ps. If you’re looking for hooks to use on your social media, I started an Etsy shop with downloadable hooks for clean and Christian authors. Find it HERE

The post Episode 1: To Market Writing vs. Marketable Writing first appeared on Madelyn Smith – Author.

The post Episode 1: To Market Writing vs. Marketable Writing appeared first on Madelyn Smith – Author.

Ready to hear my thoughts about writing a book to market and writing a marketable book? This is what I’ve observed from helping hundreds of authors figure out how to market their book, and deciding what to do about it. This is mainly geared towards Independently published authors, though traditionally published authors may benefit from the knowledge as well.

Let’s hop to it!

Writing a Marketable book

This might be confusing as some people say “You need to write to market” but there is a BIG difference between writing “to market” and writing something “Marketable”.

You see, your goal as an author is to find and nurture relationships with readers until you have loyal reader who will buy your book. That means that you need to do a few things.

Write a really good bookFind your target audience and market to themLeave them wanting more

Let’s break down step one though. Because you don’t have to follow social norms to write a good book, but you do need to be able to identify WHY your book is good and WHY readers are going to want to read it.

So let’s break that down.

Making your book Marketable.

Listen, literary people like to not be defined by boxes and tropes.

Spoiler alert – that’s impossible.

Double spoiler alert – if you don’t identify your boxes and tropes it’s going to be HARDER to market your book and find your readers. So lets start with YOU as an author.

What boxes do you fit?

Author:

Genre you write in – be specific (clean romcoms, fairytale retellings, epic fantasy etc.) Romance Levels – chaste kisses to makeouts to spice (will not be addressing that as I’m a clean romance writer)Swearing levels (quick plug that people never ask for more swearing but do ask for less, so I suggest zero)

Your readers

What do they like to read? What are their favorite tropes? What books do well in that market (in your niche)? Where can you find your readers? (Instagram, booktok, Facebook) How are YOU going to focus on reaching those readers?

Okay once you’ve figured that out let’s talk about the BOOK

Marketable book

Listen, write the book however you want for your first draft. We’re going to be talking second draft editing right here. These are things you need to determine and be easily able to tell your audience.

What is the first major trope in the book? What microtropes (lesser known or less prominent) tropes are in your book? What’s the MMC like personality wise? Cinnamon roll or alpha male? What’s your FMC like? Strong and independent? Damsel who distresses others? Feminine and strong in non traditional ways? Your plot, what’s it like? Is there angst? Is there a third act break-up? Is there something that readers are going to love? What are your different settings? Are there ones that people love? A kiss in a dungeon? A hilarious first date at the beach? Write all of these down so readers can identify with them. When do they kiss? (I’m a romance writer, of course they kiss). Is it a slow-burn? Is there an almost kiss? Do they kiss in the 3rd chapter?

And the list goes on and on and on.

But then…. once you have that list, you can either

Decide to edit your book to add MORE marketable things- or to refine a swoony line – or to beef up a scene with more things that readers love. Realize that you were writing a marketable book in the first place and keep going with your edits.

Let’s be real, we should all do number 1. Sometimes that’s just editing a line to be more punchy, something people are more likely to highlight. Do your research, see what are popular highlights in other books in your genre and work from there.

And then we get to my favorite part.

content creation

Once you have your details you can start finding your readers with posts that say things like:

“Hey clean romance reader, I heard you love romcoms where they go on a hilarious date and he saves her from a creep.”

“Hey clean fantasy reader, I heard you love fantasy books where he falls first and harder.”

“He falls first and harder but make it a fairytale retelling where he’s Snow White and she’s Robin Hood.”

See where I’m going with this? Use your book and make it marketable, so that you find readers who love what you write so that they’ll keep coming back for me.

Is that enough of an author tips and tricks rant for you? Fantastic!

Until next time

Madelyn

ps. If you’re looking for hooks to use on your social media, I started an Etsy shop with downloadable hooks for clean and Christian authors. Find it HERE

The post Episode 1: Marketable vs. To Market appeared first on Madelyn Smith – Author.

What books do I have currently published? What’s coming next on the publishing docket? Great question! Here’s a blog post to help you out!

Bolts of Love Series

I have recently changed my plan for the Bolts of Love series. Instead of having three books it’s now going to have four!

Book 1: Winning My Queen

Book 2: Loving Our Collision

Book 3: Embracing the Storm

This book is hopefully going to come out in September of 2025, but I’m giving myself until January on Amazon’s pre-order just to be safe.

Book 4: Savoring the Season

This is going to be the fourth and final book in the Bolts of Love Series and all I can tell you is that it’s going to be Christmas themed, and I’m slightly insane but the goal is to get it out by this Christmas. Yes, I know I’m crazy. Also I’m not telling you anything about it in this post because my outline is subject to change at a moment’s notice. You’re welcome

Romance Isn’t Series

Book 1: Romance Isn’t A Fantasy Book – Free to newsletter subscribers.

Book 2: Romance Isn’t A Country Song

This book is slated to come out in July of this year but it might be sooner! You never know.

Book 3: Romance Isn’t A Christmas Miracle

This book is half outlined, and 1/4 of the way drafted. No idea when it’s coming out though, but it’s going to be fun when it does!

Carols of Christmas

This is a multi-author series I’m excited to be a part of. This book will release on October 20th 2025. It will be set in 1870’s Texas, and will have lots of Christian and Christmas themes to it. I’m super excited about it!

And that’s it… for now! I’ll post again when I have another update. In the meantime go read some books!

The post What’s currently published? appeared first on Madelyn Smith - Author .

You read that right! We are three weeks away from release day, January 30th, and the book is with my advanced reader team.

So far I’ve had great encouraging feedback.

Some of the things people have loved are:

The group chats How believably creepy Jorge is The Spanish nicknames like “mi vida”

And so much more! I can’t wait for this book to go out in the world for reals and to have people fall in love with Holly and Mateo like I have.

There are some personal struggles included in this book, like the anxiety representation that pulls a lot from my personal experience.

I also love Mateo’s El Salvadorian heritage. It reminds me of my husband’s mission to El Salvador. In fact we went on a date to get Pupusas while on a trip to Arizona this past weekend and it felt so much like the Pupusa chapter in Loving Our Collision.

I hope you readers love this book as much as I do!

We went to Donna Mary’s in Arizona. My husband said these were the best Pupusas he’s had since being back in the states!

If you’re wanting to preorder Loving Our Collision click the button below!

Preorder Loving Our Collision

The post Loving Our Collision – with ARC readers appeared first on Madelyn Smith - Author .

Guess what! Book two in the Bolts of Love Series is with my line editor! That means that it’s going to be in your hands in January of 2025 if all goes according to plan. Ready to hear more? Same!

Isn’t the cover so gorgeous?!? I’m obsessed! It was done by the ever talented, Karyssa Adair!

Want the Blurb? Here ya go!

If Holly marries her brother’s best friend it’ll solve her problems. Unless she makes new ones by falling for Mateo, knowing their relationship has an end date.

Holly:

Being the sister of a famous movie star has its downsides. The current one: A date who is harassing me and threatening to ruin me and my brother’s career. When he backs me into a corner, it feels like the only solution I have is to lie and say I’m engaged to my brother’s best friend.

Are there some issues here? Yes, seeing as Mateo lives in a different state, manages his family’s farm, and is way too good and sweet to marry someone with so much baggage.

But when I call him and say I need a husband for the next year, he actually agrees. Next thing I know we’re meeting up at the courthouse to say our “I do’s”.

My one rule, don’t fall for him because our relationship has an end date.

Mateo:

I love my family, but after fending off one too many disaster dates from my meddling parents and townsfolk, I need space. So when Holly calls, asking me to pose as her fake but technically real husband, I readily agree. My quick acceptance might have to do with having a crush on her since we first met.

How we’re going to make this work when we come from two very different worlds and two different states? I have no idea.

But with every passing day, I know I want her to be my future. It’s just a super simple matter of making my wife fall in love with me.

It can’t be hard to bring our two worlds together. Or can it?

Loving Our Collision is a sweet and clean, kisses only romance. It’s book two in the Bolts of Love series, but can be read alone. Full of sweet moments, and life lessons this book is perfect for any teenager, adults, or grandparents to read. Content Advisory: There is representation of anxiety, a character dealing with harassment, and addressing breaking cycles of trauma.

The post Loving Our collision appeared first on Madelyn Smith - Author .

Okay what’s new in the writing world for Madelyn? Where am I at in the process of publishing Winning My Queen?

Great questions!

I will be sending out my manuscript to beta readers hopefully next week on MLK day! It feels huge, scary, and oh man so very intimidating. Very much intimidated.

But I was talking to an author friend today and she reminded me that I’ve worked hard on this. Not all of it will be junk. Every manuscript has something to improve on, but so much of it will also be good things too. Plus, the people I’ve chosen are good friends who I know will be honest, yet also kind and encouraging.

That fear, it comes from Satan. We aren’t listening to him today!

As for the rest of the process I’m learning the backside of independently publishing a book. Things like ISBN numbers, Amazon ads, book formatting software, newsletters, and all of those fun things. Slowly but surely I will be more prepared for my first release. I’m sure it will not be perfect and that’s okay. It’s a debut. Of course I’m going to mess up. BUT I know I have lots of cheerleaders supporting me and wanting to help me along the way.

My biggest supporter right now is my husband. He’s been line editing my book and has left some of the funniest comments.

Check it out here on my Instagram page.

If you’re interested in finding out about what I’m reading as an author don’t forget to check out my reader Instagram page: The Squeaky Clean Reader to follow along!

As always don’t forget to sign up for my newsletter for the inside info before it gets posted here!

The post Where Am I At In The Process? appeared first on Madelyn Smith - Author .

I always dreamed of being an author. Now it’s actually happening!!!

This last summer changed everything for me.

In the midst of suffering through depression and anxiety I felt this strong urge to start writing a book. I had always said my problem was that I had no creative ideas of what to write.

Finally one day while I was pushing my toddlers in the swings I said a prayer in my head asking for an idea because the pressure on my chest to write a book was driving me crazy.

Then boom.

An idea for a fantasy book was born.

Now you might be thinking, “Madelyn, you’re publishing a romantic comedy. What happened to your fantasy book?”

Well I started it and about 10,000 words in I got stuck. But than another romcom idea hit me. Then ANOTHER romcom idea hit me and I’m running with this third idea.

That third idea was born after reading Townshipped by Savannah Scott and in the midst of watching the movie Cars for the 15,000 time with my kids.

One night I was talking to my husband while he was doing dishes. We were chatting about the amnesia trope (which Savannah Scott does marvelously in Townshipped by the way) when I had the idea to combine it with the plot line of the movie Cars.

That was the birth of Winning My Queen.

Winning My QueenA Sweet Romantic ComedyMadelyn Smith

I can’t wait to share it with you.

Love,

Madelyn

The post Can’t Believe This Is Actually Happening appeared first on Madelyn Smith - Author .