Hi, Rachel,
Welcome to my blog. I’ve been going over the different things you sent and there are a lot of
different things we can talk about. I would like to touch on all of it to show the depth and breadth
you bring to the business of writing.
Let’s start with your 30-day marketing challenge. I just downloaded the book myself and am
scheduling time to work on it. What makes this challenge - and training really - unique among
book marketing information that’s out there?
This challenge is based on my personal experiences, both the good and the bad. I took all I’ve
learned on my own almost two decades in my previous corporate life in sales and marketing (Big
Pharma, now recovered, thanks), as well as my own publishing journey (indie, hybrid,
traditional, and back to indie), and put it all down in a way writers at any level can benefit. From
social media to blogging to SEO to promotions – it’s all in there. For someone just starting out,
book marketing can be especially overwhelming, that’s my primary demographic. However,
even veteran authors are telling me they’ve learned so much, which is wonderful. Initially, I only
released the book in eBook, but I received so many requests for a print version, I just released
that as well.
I also want to mention that I just released a 99c mini-book that focuses solely on helping writers
understand how to SEO-optimize their blog posts, too. I knew nothing about this when I began
blogging 10 years ago, so I wanted to help writers and bloggers who may be struggling to get
traffic to their site.
You mentioned you’ve done self pub, hybrid and agented. Can you touch on each of those
experiences? So many authors today are wondering what route to take with their books that
stories from the trenches are always helpful.
Sure. I started out self-pub in 2012 and made some really good money through Amazon, but you now, everyone has that dream of being signed, right? So when a hybrid company approached me, I decided sure, why not?
I re-pub’dBroken Pieces with them, and then published Broken Places as well as put the two together in a collection (which didn’t sell BTW). They then asked me to direct an imprint for books dealing
specifically with topics of a similar gravitas – serious, life-changing stories. It was an honor
bringing these stories to life. Ultimately, the publisher failed, but I made some amazing friends in
the process. About a week later, I signed with an agent and got a traditional deal, publishing the
30-Day Book Marketing Challenge. While that didn’t work out, I’m still happy to have had the
experience and remain on good terms with them. The main message I have for any writer is
this: regardless of how you publish, you will still do your own book marketing and social media.
You’re open about the sexual abuse your suffered in childhood and some of your books deal
with that trauma. How do people respond to your writing? And what advice would you give other
authors who may have similar experiences and are struggling to express those through their
art?
It took me decades to be able to share my story publicly, so I tell any survivor struggling to
share their own story to just write it, and not worry about what to do with it. Figure that out later.
Don’t self-edit. Write what scares you. If you don’t feel it as you write it, we won’t feel it as we
read it. Writing about hard experiences IS hard but remember, you survived worse – you can do
this because you are a warrior.
If you decide to share it publicly, be professional about it – hire an editor, formatter, graphic
designer, etc. Publishing a book and being an author is a professional career.
Let me end the interview on a lighter note:
Pen & paper or computer? Both – I journal a lot with pen and paper. For writing though, always
computer. Mac, in Word.
Strangest thing you’ve researched for a book or story? I’m always researching! I just looked up
the etymology of etymology lol. Hard to pinpoint one weird thing. There are so many.
Your secret superpower? I can play almost any melody on the piano by ear, though I am a
classically trained pianist.
Origin of the name BadRedHead Media? Honestly, it just came to me. I wanted something fun
and lighthearted, that still expressed my tough-love, honest nature (after all, my tagline is:
helping you help your damn self since 2011). I liked the dichotomy of bad being good and vice
versa.
Thank you for this interview Rachel, I look forward to continuing to learn from your twitter
marketing chats and following your career as a writer. Thank you!
Find BadRedHeadMedia materials here:
SEO book:
30-Day ebook: 
30-Day print:
