Best Amelia D Hay Podcasts (2024)

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TAP047, What is a Story Beat? | How to Write Great Scenes 32:02

3M ago32:02

32:02

Send us a Text Message. As I wrote the outline and script for the show on value shifts, I realised that there is a smaller unit of story that I need to discuss that's integral to understanding value shifts or how a scene turns. So, I considered adding it to that episode but soon discovered that the final version of the episode would be too long. Th…

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TAP046, End Your Scenes with Cliffhangers | How to Write Great Scenes 25:26

4M ago25:26

25:26

Send us a Text Message. So you've probably read the title of this episode and thought, what do cliffhangers have to do with outlining? I'm so glad you asked. Let me explain. If you're the kind of writer who needs to outline every scene, then you need to be aware of the types of cliffhangers and how to effectively use them to create a page-turning e…

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BTS057, A Year in Review and Self Publishing Products I Loved in 2023 52:37

4M ago52:37

52:37

Send us a Text Message. I'm back again. And yes, it's been sixteen weeks since I released an episode of the podcast. Between now and November, I took December and January off because it's a busy time of year and I tend to travel during these periods. When I got back from vacation at the end of January, I had caught the flu from a family function. G…

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TAP045, The Anatomy of a Scene: Goal, Tension, Conflict and Stakes | How to Write Great Scenes 23:26

8M ago23:26

23:26

Send us a Text Message. So, how do you write a great scene? But not just a great scene but a scene that keeps a reader engaged and turning the pages, no matter what genre you're writing. The answer is in the details. In order to write great scenes, you need to pay attention to the anatomy of the scene. So, what do I mean by anatomy? I'm referring t…

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BTS056, AI-Generated Images, Designing Your Own Book Cover, Declining Free Downloads, and Struggling to Write Book Three 33:35

9M ago33:35

33:35

Send us a Text Message. I'm back. And yes, it's been sixteen weeks since I released an episode of the podcast. Originally, I took the summer off because I needed to take a holiday from podcasting and writing. However, I did a bit of blogging during my break, where I discussed whether you should use AI-generated images in book covers. Also, I wrote …

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BTS055, My Experiment with Tempting Readers to Impulse Buy the Second Book in My Series. Did It Work? 32:30

1y ago32:30

32:30

Send us a Text Message. So, I have a confession to make. Actually, I've been struggling to sell paid books. Sure, I can give them away for free, but paid is a different problem altogether. I've been struggling to sell Duplicity, the second book in my James Lalonde Amateur Sleuth Mystery Series. A few days before my forty-second birthday, I realised…

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BTS054, Changes to the KDP Print Pricing, New Categories in KDP, and a Solution to My Series Mistakes 27:13

1y ago27:13

27:13

Send us a Text Message. In the April Behind the Scenes Author Diary, I mentioned that I screwed up my amateur sleuth mystery series; well, a solution might be at hand. So, in this episode, I discuss my plans for my James Lalonde Amateur Sleuth Mystery series books three and four and a new shiny object. On top of this, I discuss a few self-publishin…

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012, A Very Chatty Mystery, Thriller, Suspense and Crime Novel Book Haul 24:13

1y ago24:13

24:13

So, way back at the end of April, I decided I wanted to start filming regular mystery and thriller novel book hauls on my YouTube Channel and Podcast every month. My aim was to share them here on this blog because I'm a bit of a bibliophile and a game nerd, as you can see by the wall of bookshelves behind me in the video. A Classic Over-Thinker As …

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BTS053, The 100th Podcast Episode: Ask Me Anything on Writing, Revision, Editing, and Self Publishing 48:32

1y ago48:32

48:32

Send us a Text Message. Honestly, I can't believe I made it this far; it's mind-blowing. I know that's cliche, but it's how I feel when I see that episode number. Let's just say it has been a wild ride, a ride that is not yet over, and I'm glad I stuck with podcasting through those difficult times. And I've dabbled with a few great interviews and h…

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BTS052, I Screwed Up My Series and Reaching a New Level of Appreciation for Draft2Digital 39:31

1y ago39:31

39:31

Send us a Text Message. Welcome to the ninety-ninth episode of the Authorpreneur Podcast. Yes, I'm doing the countdown thing—I know, it's super dorky, but I'm embracing it anyway. At present, I'm struggling to sell book two in my amateur sleuth mystery series, and I'm going into detail about my experiments to get this bookselling and my issues with…

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TAP044, News From My Editor: My Experience Writing into the Dark (Part 2) 27:05

1y ago27:05

27:05

Send us a Text Message. Welcome to the ninety-eighth episode of the Authorpreneur Podcast. Honestly, I can't believe that my podcast has come this far. But, back to the matter at hand. Toward the end of March, I started working with my editor on the Locked Room, and in this episode, I share the mistakes that were found in that manuscript in compari…

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TAP043, A Tale of Two Novels: My Experience Writing into the Dark 44:21

1+ y ago44:21

44:21

Send us a Text Message. In February, I finished writing the Locked Room into the Dark, and I'll discuss how I achieved this, along with the response of my favourite beta reader. As you've come to expect, I will share my writing stats, days, time, word count and the step-by-step process that I used. Now that I've mentioned that, it's crucial that I …

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011, The Candidate, A Murder Mystery Novella Read by A. D. Hay 20:57

1+ y ago20:57

20:57

In this episode, I read the first three chapters of The Candidate, a murder mystery novella written by me. Before I read the first three chapters, I also read the book description and share a little bit about the series then I dive into the prologue. Show Notes, Podcasts, and Tools Mentioned Show notes Join The Book Nerd Reader Club Facebook Group …

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BTS051, Writing a Locked Room Mystery, Author Book Readings, and Tech Issues Galore 45:58

1+ y ago45:58

45:58

Send us a Text Message. In this episode, discuss what I've been doing in February. I also share my frustrations about a tech fail and newfound thoughts on this product and delve into why I've changed my mind. It's important to discuss the positives and negatives of products I use and recommend because I've discovered something stupid that needs to …

1
BTS050, More Experiments with Ad Stacking 21:13

1+ y ago21:13

21:13

Send us a Text Message. So, I decided to list Suspicion for free and promote it using various newsletter book promotion services ahead of the release of the second book in the James Lalonde series. The promotions I booked were with AuthorsXP, Fussy Librarian, Kobo, and Free Booksy; altogether, these promotions cost me £176.67 or US$209.96. I used t…

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BTS049, A Year in Review and Self Publishing Products I Loved in 2022 57:44

1+ y ago57:44

57:44

Send us a Text Message. This year, I've decided to start my podcast by looking back at everything I achieved in 2022. After that, I will discuss the products I loved in 2022 and will continue to use in 2023. I will also not dive too deeply into metrics like hours or word count because that's not helpful. In fact, as a coach, I hate metrics because …

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An Update on My Three Act Structure Scrivener Template 3:04

1+ y ago3:04

3:04

Send us a Text Message. In an upcoming episode of the authorpreneur podcast, I discuss how I stopped supplying my three-act structure Scrivener template to my email list and the reasons that led to the decision. As I was editing that episode, I had an idea. I'm considering supplying a free ebook on three-act structure, a cheat seat, and possibly a …

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TAP042, Troy Lambert Discusses Plotting and Story Organisation Techniques with Plottr 1:05:39

1+ y ago1:05:39

1:05:39

Send us a Text Message. A few weeks ago, I received an email from Plottr letting me know they were interested in chatting with me on my podcast about plotting and story organisation techniques and how Plottr can benefit both Plotters and Pantsers. Because Plottr is a story organisation tool, I thought the interview would be great for this season of…

1
TAP041, What is a scene? All Your Questions Answered 13:09

1+ y ago13:09

13:09

Send us a Text Message. Are you confused about scenes and chapters? Do you write scenes that aren't working, and you wonder why? In this first instalment of this mini-series on scenes, I will discuss the difference between scenes and chapters. Define what is a scene in the context of novel writing. I will answer the age-old question: what is the pe…

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010, Things are happening 5:27

1+ y ago5:27

5:27

So, things are changing at the Book Nerd Podcast. Why? A few weeks ago, I discovered that another podcast has the exact same name as mine, but they have almost 88 episodes where, whereas I only have nine. So, I decided to do the right thing and change the name of the podcast to The Mystery Novel Nerd from this episode going forward. So without furt…

1
BTS048, Trademarking My Podcast Name, Publishing Books, Mixed Feelings About ARC services, and Designing Covers 47:22

1+ y ago47:22

47:22

Send us a Text Message. It's been a while since I filmed or recorded a Behind the Scenes Author Diary Update—so that's what I'm going to do. In this episode, I will discuss what I've been doing since January 2022. And this episode isn't going to be scripted, mainly because if I start scripting these episodes, it will take a long time to produce the…

1
TAP040, Writing From a Character's Point of View 13:31

2y ago13:31

13:31

Send us a Text Message. Now that you've chosen the right point of view for your story, you're finally ready to put pen to page and start writing or outlining your novel, right? No, there is a little more to Point-of-View than first, second or third person. And that's what we're going to discuss in this show. When planning out season three of the po…

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009, My Favourite Mystery and Thriller Novels of 2021 20:29

2y ago20:29

20:29

In this episode, I'm going to discuss my favourite mystery and thriller novels that I read in 2021. I know what you're thinking, "It's been a while since the end of 2021," but hear me out. I wanted to put a bit of distance between the end of 2021 and my reading because I wanted to discuss the books that stood out to me the most. From memory, I read…

1
TAP039, Point of View: Which One is Right for Your Story 22:01

2y ago22:01

22:01

Send us a Text Message. Before you put pen to page, you need to decide which point of view is right for your story. In this show, I will discuss point-of-view in writing fiction and the things to consider when choosing the right point of view for your novel. But I will not discuss second-person because I don't understand its mechanics. And I will n…

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008, Agatha Raisin: Books vs TV Series 13:21

2y ago13:21

13:21

As you can tell from the title of this episode, I'm going to discuss the Agatha Raisin television show on Acorn TV versus the books in order to avoid spoilers; I'm going to focus on how Agatha is portrayed, not the events in the show and novels. Fingers crossed, I stick to my notes, and this show remains as spoiler free as possible. You get it. I'v…

1
TAP038, Dave Chesson Discusses Writing, Editing, Formatting, and Collaborating with Atticus 59:47

2y ago59:47

59:47

Send us a Text Message. In previous podcast episodes, I've mentioned that I want this podcast to be free of interviews unless they are about how an author writes, outlines or writes without an outline. Today, I'm making an exception with this bonus interview because I believe the discussion will benefit you even if you're in the planning stages of …

1
TAP037, How I Edit the Outline of a Novel Before Writing the First Draft 29:18

2y ago29:18

29:18

Send us a Text Message. So, you've created an outline for your novel. And now, you're ready to start writing. Diving into writing the first draft seems like the first logical step. However, I recommend you slow down and edit the outline for your novel. I learned this lesson the hard way after publishing my first-in-series novella. To this day, I re…

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TAP036, From Idea to Outline: How to Outline a Novel (Part 3 of 3) 21:55

2+ y ago21:55

21:55

Send us a Text Message. Welcome to the third instalment of my mini-series on how I outline a novel. For those of you who are unaware, in the first episode, I discuss how I go from fleshing out a story idea to a basic outline. In episode TAP035, which is the second instalment in this three-part mini-series on outlining, I focused on sharing the step…

1
TAP035, From Idea to Outline: How to Outline a Novel (Part 2 of 3) 21:53

2+ y ago21:53

21:53

Send us a Text Message. Welcome to the second instalment of my three-part mini-series on how I outline a novel. For those of you who are unaware, I discuss how I go from fleshing out a story idea to a basic outline in the first episode. In this show, I share the steps in my outlining process that help me create a structurally sound story with scene…

1
TAP034, From Idea to Outline: How to Outline a Novel (Part 1 of 3) 29:30

2+ y ago29:30

29:30

Send us a Text Message. Since 2014, I've written two novellas, one short story, and two full-length novels, three of which I have self-published. One novel is being rewritten because I wanted to change a story device and plot thread. For me, this second storyline was unrealistic and painted the character in an unprofessional light, thus creating a …

1
TAP033, The Case for Outlining, Outlining Pitfalls, and Overcoming Writing Obstacles 31:52

2+ y ago31:52

31:52

Send us a Text Message. Before I dive into discussing how to outline a novel or the planning phase of writing, I thought it would be best to ask an obvious but nonetheless important question. Is outlining a good idea? Depending upon who you listen to, you will hear conflicting advice. Some authors will say in order to write quicker, you need to dit…

1
BTS047, Issues with Apple Books, Cover Redesigns, and The Results of Using Advanced Reader Services 18:04

2+ y ago18:04

18:04

Send us a Text Message. Throughout the preorder and launch period of the release of The Candidate, I experienced a series of frustrating issues with Apple Books. While I was struggling with Apple Books, I decided to redesign the ebook's cover; then, I went on to design the paperback based on this new theme. And this new design had surprising result…

1
BTS046, Preparing for My Book Release, Snarky Reviews and Why I No Longer Recommend Etsy to Creative Businesses 15:37

2+ y ago15:37

15:37

Send us a Text Message. As November flips open on my calendar, so does the launch date for my novella. In amongst the busyness of preparing for my book release, I ran into an alarming issue with Etsy that led me to question whether I will continue recommending them to creative businesses. But back to preparing for my book release, I decided to take…

1
BTS045, Working with a Professional Editor and Preparing to Self Publish 9:08

2+ y ago9:08

9:08

Send us a Text Message. The writing has come to an end. And the line editing and proofreading phases are underway. In the final hours of editing, I made a story decision that I suspected would cost me more money. While I waited for the next phase of the editing process to begin, I dived into the process of preparing to self-publish my novella. This…

1
TAP032, How Do You Write Fiction with Michaelbrent Collings 49:36

2+ y ago49:36

49:36

Send us a Text Message. Up until now, I've wanted the seasons of this podcast to be evergreen and act as a resource on how to write a particular element of a story. My desire to create short, evergreen episodes focused on a single topic is the reason this podcast tends to be free of interviews. However, throughout season three, I will share short i…

1
BTS044, Revision is Like Pulling Teeth and Working with a Professional Editor 10:22

2+ y ago10:22

10:22

Send us a Text Message. Revision is like pulling teeth. Well, that's how it feels to me at the moment. I'm so over revising this story. But at the same time, I feel so insecure about this novella. Long gone is that innocent, naive Amelia, who was excited to publish her first piece of fiction. Perhaps I know better now. Or, more realistically, I'm m…

1
007, A Giant Female Amateur Sleuths Book Haul 22:56

2+ y ago22:56

22:56

Just like the previous episode, I've been saving the books up in piles on the floor in my office from shopping trips between October 2019 and March 2020, when my physical book-buying ban began. Since then, I've fallen off the bandwagon and "forgot" about my book-buying ban. As the title suggests, all the books in this haul feature female amateur sl…

1
TAP031, Write a Novel with Genre Expectations in Mind (Part 2 of 2) 37:03

3y ago37:03

37:03

Send us a Text Message. Welcome to the final instalment of this two-part mini-series on how to write a novel with genre expectations in mind. There's nothing worse than reaching the halfway mark as you write your first draft or even as you're starting the revision stage to realise that you're not sure if there's a market for your book. If this is w…

1
TAP030, Write a Novel with Genre Expectations in Mind (Part 1 of 2) 29:40

3y ago29:40

29:40

Send us a Text Message. Writing to market or writing with genre expectations in mind is often seen as a dirty word. And I think there are a few misconceptions, largely to do with confusing the strategy with writing to a trend which is very different. For the sake of clarity, writing to trend is all about writing what's popular. An example of that s…

1
TAP029, What to Expect from Season Three of the Authorpreneur Podcast 8:25

3y ago8:25

8:25

Send us a Text Message. At the start of season two, I started off with the best of intentions. Just like this episode, I set the expectations for the season. And that's when everything went pear-shaped. In fact, things aren't back to normal for me either. I don't need to remind you because, technically, we're still at this place. Now that I’ve said…

1
BTS043, Revising a Murder Mystery, Creating a Book Marketing Plan, and Feeling Scared to Self Publish 14:39

3y ago14:39

14:39

Send us a Text Message. In the last two weeks of August, I started revising a murder mystery novella. Also, during this period, I created a book marketing plan for the Candidate. As I was revising my murder mystery novella, I began to feel scared to self-publish. To be honest, I've been feeling this way for a while. This month, I purchased a few co…

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006, The Book Buying Tag | How I Buy Books 21:25

3y ago21:25

21:25

As you can tell by the super spoiler-y title of this video, I'll be doing the Book Buying Tag created by Megan Olivier. Even though this is quite an old tag, I loved it so much that I clearly couldn't resist filming it. After much deliberation, I've decided to share this tag with you over on the podcast. For the sake of transparency, I filmed the o…

1
BTS042, Preparing a Murder Mystery Novel for Beta Readers and Juggling Multiple Manuscripts 10:36

3y ago10:36

10:36

Send us a Text Message. During the first two weeks of August, I focused my time on preparing a murder mystery novel for beta readers; then, as I waited for feedback, I focused on the second book in my other series. And this is what juggling multiple projects at once is like. You spend much of your time jumping between projects, and it does get over…

1
BTS041, A Writing Update, Fussy Librarian Book Promotions, and The Best Beta Reader Software 19:41

3y ago19:41

19:41

Send us a Text Message. If you listened to the previous episodes of this podcast, you'd know that I've been struggling to finish my next novel. By now, you're probably wondering what drama got in the way of me achieving my writing and publishing goals. In this show, I'll share a momentous writing update. On top of this, I discuss my fears and a sur…

1
BTS040, Low Budget Book Promotions Gone Wrong 16:09

3y ago16:09

16:09

Send us a Text Message. During May and June, I experimented with more low-budget book promotions on a 99-cent sale on my first-in-series novella, Missing. Naturally, things didn't go as expected. In this episode, I dive into why I believe my low-budget book promotions went horribly wrong. But before I delve into all of that, I discuss what I achiev…

1
BTS039, Writing Multiple Books at Once, Low Budget Promotions, and Multiple Streams of Income 32:23

3y ago32:23

32:23

Send us a Text Message. For some reason, I put off sharing this author diary update because I believed I didn't do that much writing, and I was a little embarrassed. Well, I was partly correct. As I look back over my completed tasks on ToDoist and the notes on my daily writing habit spreadsheet, I realise that my assumption was incorrect. And I did…

1
BTS038, Story Origin Newsletter Swaps, Price Matching an eBook on Amazon and Lifting a Preorder Penalty on Amazon 27:57

3y ago27:57

27:57

Send us a Text Message. The results of my very first story origin newsletter swap are in, and it's not what I expected. As I cast my mind back, I decided whether I would do another newsletter swap in the future. And I share my biggest lessons learned. In November, I managed to secure another free mystery and thriller eBook promotion on Kobo. Due to…

1
BTS037, Writing to Market, Book Formatting Services and Hiring an Alpha Reader on Fiverr 13:58

3+ y ago13:58

13:58

Send us a Text Message. After much deliberation, I come to terms with my struggles with the notion of whether I should continue to write more books in the James Lalonde series. This leads me to announce that I'm letting myself write another series in a different sub-genre alongside writing the James Lalonde series. I guess the short version of that…

1
005, A Giant Crime, Mystery, and Thriller Book Haul 20:55

3+ y ago20:55

20:55

Coming up in this episode, I will share with you an embarrassingly long and overdue crime, mystery and thriller book haul. Perhaps on a not-so-surprising note, I have read some of these novels. As always, I will endeavour to be as spoiler free as possible. The crime, mystery, and thriller books in this haul were purchased over the last six months o…

1
BTS036, The Best Decision I've Ever Made 13:43

3+ y ago13:43

13:43

Send us a Text Message. After months of frustration with the slow speed of my website, I took the plunge and moved web hosts. And in this episode, I discuss the drama of moving from one WebHost to another. Spoiler alert: I’m happy with my move, and I’m wondering why I didn’t do it earlier. But, the move took some time. In September, I found myself …

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