Becoming a Bold Author: Writing, Publishing, and Promoting Your Book with Kae Wagner
In this episode of the You World Order Showcase Podcast, host Jill Hart chats with award-winning author and founder of the Bold Authors Network, Kae Wagner. Kae shares her journey from nonfiction to fiction writing, the power of storytelling, and how authors can transform from anxious writers to bold promoters. She reveals the biggest myths about book publishing, why authors struggle with visibility, and the three essential V’s—Vision, Voice, and Visibility—that every writer needs to embrace.
Whether you're an aspiring author or a seasoned writer looking to boost book sales, this episode is packed with insights on mindset, promotion strategies, and book marketing success.
📚 Learn more & connect with Kae Wagner: www.boldauthorsnetwork.com
📢 Want to start a podcast to amplify your message? Contact us at support@hartlifecoach.com.
✨ Join us next time as we continue raising the global frequency—because change begins with you!
Resources
👉Alchemist's Guide to Podcast Audiences & Best Be a Guest Directory - discover where your ideal clients are tuning in and how to get featured on those podcasts.
👉Podcasting on Substack - the Ultimate Guide for Coaches & Creators to Leverage Substack for Getting Visible
▶ Workshops for leveraging podcasts to attract clients & build authority
🚀Monetize Your Mission Mastermind
Catch the podcast & join the conversation on Substack The You World Order Showcase Podcast
Mentioned in this episode:
Learn More
Protect your family and business today!
This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:
Podtrac - https://analytics.podtrac.com/privacy-policy-gdrp
Transcript
Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist: Hi and welcome to the You world order showcase podcast where we feature life, health at transformational coaches and spiritual entrepreneurs stepping up to be the change they seek in the world. I'm your host, Jill Hart, the coaches alchemist on a mission to help coaches and entrepreneurs amplify their voice, monetize their mission and get visible leveraging podcasts and a million plus audience on the Gnostic TV network.
2
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist: Today we are chatting with Kay Wagner. Kay is an award-winning and best-selling author. She has written both fiction and nonfiction. She's the founder of North Star Marketing, and also the founder of the Bold Authors Network, where she helps authors transform from anxious authors to bold, proud promoters. When not immersed in the world of words, she slips away to ride horses in the mountains of Wyoming. Welcome to the show, Kay. It's really great to have you here.
3
::Kae Wagner: Thank you, Jill. It's so great to be here.
4
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist: Okay, are you ready for the question.
5
::Kae Wagner: Ready for the question.
6
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist: All right. So what's the most important significant thing in your opinion, we can do as individuals to make the greatest impact on how the world is going.
7
::Kae Wagner: That's a big question.
8
::Kae Wagner: very, very big question, one. I think we should all ask each other and get into a collective answer
9
::Kae Wagner: for me the I'm going to give you 2 answers that are like 2 pieces that fit together. Okay. So when my kids were little jewel, do you remember jewel. She had a song out, and it was in the end only kindness matters.
10
::Kae Wagner: And so I taught that to my kids. And now they're adults. And I say, and in the end, and they say only kindness matters. And I think what is really important in our world today is to be kind to each other, and to remember, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that you don't know what the other person is going through, and you don't know what the circumstances are that they are in. We all like to paint this beautiful picture.
11
::Kae Wagner: and behind this beautiful picture I know that every person is broken
12
::Kae Wagner: because we are human beings in every
13
::Kae Wagner: person calls out for kindness in their own way.
14
::Kae Wagner: The second part of that that goes hand in glove is to extend forgiveness.
15
::Kae Wagner: and then redemption and offer redemption.
16
::Kae Wagner: and that theme of forgiveness and redemption ties into the Frankie Girl series which I know we're going to talk about, which is my work of fiction.
17
::Kae Wagner: and it starts out in the 1st book, which is Saturday Night at the Trailer Park.
18
::Kae Wagner: And this book and this series
19
::Kae Wagner: fulfills a commitment that I made about spreading the word of forgiveness and redemption.
20
::Kae Wagner: a theme in life and in human beings, in human nature that is universal because we are human.
21
::Kae Wagner: and despite our best intentions, we always create those things that we need forgiveness and redemption for.
22
::Kae Wagner: And so I would say to the world at this time, and all the time we need to be
23
::Kae Wagner: thinking about forgiveness and redemption, about giving grace to others which is giving people a second chance.
24
::Kae Wagner: I do not mean in any way that you just automatically give people a second chance.
25
::Kae Wagner: but I think people need to be forgiven.
26
::Kae Wagner: and then they earn redemption. The redemption part of it that a lot of people don't know is
27
::Kae Wagner: making things right. So that's action in the right direction.
28
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist: Love that it's so beautiful, and it's so timely
29
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist: as we're all experiencing things in life that are. They're coming at us from
30
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist: so many directions so quickly, and some of us are better at, you know, finding our footing and our balance and others are just getting knocked over, and they're falling down. And they're they're they're hurting.
31
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist: And you know I
32
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist: doesn't matter what you believe or what you think. There's there's people on all sides that are. They're struggling and kindness.
33
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist: This bridges the gap.
34
::Kae Wagner: That's beautiful, it does kindness bridges the gap. Kindness is like extending a hand.
35
::Kae Wagner: I love that.
36
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist: Yeah, right?
37
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist: I'm with you, sister. So let's talk about publishing and writing books. And when's the best time to get started writing a book.
38
::Kae Wagner: Right. What should this morning was a really good time to start.
39
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist: They? They say that about trees once the best time to plant a tree was 7 years ago. The next
40
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist: desktop is today.
41
::Kae Wagner: Exactly. Yeah.
42
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist: The same goes for writing books, and they're both paper, you know. Wood related. This paper started out as wood.
43
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist: So when when you talk about writing a book, is it like just
44
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist: fiction, books or nonfiction books, the story of your life?
45
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist: How do you tell people? You know
46
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist: what when they come to you, and they say, Well, what should I write about? Kay?
47
::Kae Wagner: Yeah. So most people. So you know, storytelling is as old as time.
48
::Kae Wagner: I think that's actually a quote out of
49
::Kae Wagner: the Lion King. Maybe I'm not sure but storytelling is as old as time, and so we all have stories within us. We all have our own story, and everybody's story matters right? So most people come to me with a story in mind.
50
::Kae Wagner: but they don't necessarily know how to frame it up, how to structure it, what to do now to be clear. I am not a writing coach, but I am a writer, so
51
::Kae Wagner: I do sometimes help them with basic structure or genre, or you know how to get started. How do you get started writing a book? How do you know it's time?
52
::Kae Wagner: I think there's something within the soul that urges you. You get nudged.
53
::Kae Wagner: and I find that many people have had a story for a while.
54
::Kae Wagner: and for me, in my case I had a story for 5 or 6 years.
55
::Kae Wagner: and I was nudged and pushed along, and then, you know, back burnered it, like many people do.
56
::Kae Wagner: Then it was time.
57
::Kae Wagner: and when it was time and the soul urging came, I sat down, and I have to tell you, Jill, this story came through me.
58
::Kae Wagner: I had a story. I had a beginning.
59
::Kae Wagner: I had an interaction that was critical to the plot twist within the story, and I had an ending.
60
::Kae Wagner: But I didn't have anything else.
61
::Kae Wagner: Vague ideas I would call them at best.
62
::Kae Wagner: But when I sat down to write
63
::Kae Wagner: the the it came like the perfect characters came at the right time.
64
::Kae Wagner: They showed up and they surprised me. I'm like, what are you doing here?
65
::Kae Wagner: I didn't know you were coming in here today, and so I
66
::Kae Wagner: I learned to trust that sitting in the chair at the writer's desk
67
::Kae Wagner: would produce the story that I needed to tell.
68
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist: Channeling.
69
::Kae Wagner: Yeah, that story was going to be one book.
70
::Kae Wagner: And then that story ended up being a series of 4, and that was the 1st work of fiction that I wrote after writing 4 or 5 books of nonfiction.
71
::Kae Wagner: So when this story kept nudging me, I was like
72
::Kae Wagner: Ps. I'm not a fiction writer right?
73
::Kae Wagner: But I kept getting this nudging, and I was like Ps. I don't write dialogue for nonfiction.
74
::Kae Wagner: and I kept getting the nudge to do the story. And so it all worked out. And it's been
75
::Kae Wagner: it has literally. Jill changed my life.
76
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist: Imagine it's it's it becomes.
77
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist: I know, when you read I'm an avid reader, and when I read, it's like opening the door and walking into another world.
78
::Kae Wagner: Yes.
79
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist: That's what books mean to me, and and you can. It's like the lion, the Witch, and the wardrobe. I can remember when I 1st read that I must have been in like 3rd grade, and I the the analogy wasn't lost on me even back then, where you can open the door, and you walk into the story. And that's what those kids did. They opened the door and walked into the story. And
80
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist: it's it's always stuck with me, and you can also leave, and then time hasn't changed.
81
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist: But then you go back in the story.
82
::Kae Wagner: Right right.
83
::Kae Wagner: and the story stays with you. And you, you know, in a really good book you don't want. It's like
84
::Kae Wagner: you don't want the characters to go away.
85
::Kae Wagner: You want to continue. You want to know what what's next? What happened.
86
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist: Yeah.
87
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist: and you want them to have a good life at the end. At least I do. I remember when I read love story when it 1st came out all those years ago, and I was so mad at the author. I closed the book, and I, his picture was on the back, and I just cussed him out because he killed the character off. And I loved this woman.
88
::Kae Wagner: Oh, wow!
89
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist: It was like my friend had died of cancer. It's like, how could you do that to me?
90
::Kae Wagner: Not supposed to end that way.
91
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist: I mean it can. But
92
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist: again, it's just like you become part of the story, even if you're just watching, it's like. And and the stories become part of who you are, because you can never not.
93
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist: You can never unsee the the world that you were in for that period of time, and it shape your thoughts in a way that a movie never can.
94
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist: because it causes you to have to think about.
95
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist: You have to create it yourself.
96
::Kae Wagner: Yeah, yeah. So it's an immersive experience, because your imagination is called upon right.
97
::Kae Wagner: And you participate in that, that calling in that immersive experience when I was
98
::Kae Wagner: looking around to gather information and knowledge and wisdom about writing fiction.
99
::Kae Wagner: one of the things that stuck out most for me that
100
::Kae Wagner: really made a difference for me was
101
::Kae Wagner: everyone. Somebody said, I don't remember who it was, but everyone that reads each person that reads the book
102
::Kae Wagner: wants to see a character that is them in the book.
103
::Kae Wagner: And I was like, so it's been really interesting when I speak to readers. And I say so, you know, which character did you identify with, and to see that always people identify in some way with, some with a character or a part of the character.
104
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist: Oh, that's so interesting.
105
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist: Yeah, I can see how that, how that works.
106
::Kae Wagner: Yeah.
107
::Kae Wagner: And you can. In some ways it's like we are always the heroes of our own story.
108
::Kae Wagner: I have a title for a book it's called Be your own damn hero, as far as I've gotten.
109
::Kae Wagner: So when are you gonna when are you gonna start.
110
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist: I don't know, have written other books.
111
::Kae Wagner: Okay.
112
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist: This is. This is one that
113
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist: it's it's coming. It may be this year, maybe next year, but.
114
::Kae Wagner: It's in the oven baking.
115
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist: Yeah.
116
::Kae Wagner: It may be in the bowl and the ingredients.
117
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist: I don't think we're to the baking point yet.
118
::Kae Wagner: Okay, we're still mixing.
119
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist: Still mixing, finding the ingredients digging through the closets.
120
::Kae Wagner: Yeah, yeah.
121
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist: So what do you think is the biggest myth people face about publishing a book.
122
::Kae Wagner: Well, this is the exact problem that I set out to solve with the bold authors network.
123
::Kae Wagner: Most authors write a book. They go through the work at the writer's desk
124
::Kae Wagner: they publish, whether it's, you know, self-publishing. Many people, most of the people that I work with are self-published or indie authors, as we call ourselves.
125
::Kae Wagner: And then they go through the exhilaration of a launch.
126
::Kae Wagner: and then many people fall off of the Amazon cliff.
127
::Kae Wagner: and they don't know what to do.
128
::Kae Wagner: And so
129
::Kae Wagner: there's this myth, that if you write it they will come and read it right. People will somehow, mysteriously, magically find your book.
130
::Kae Wagner: and you will be one of the lucky ones that gets to be a million, you know. Sell a million books. We know that that's not realistic. We know that that doesn't happen, and we know that the numbers
131
::Kae Wagner: for authors are that most books do not get the readership that the author had hoped for.
132
::Kae Wagner: And so that is the very problem that I set out to help authors solve
133
::Kae Wagner: by becoming responsible for their book promotion.
134
::Kae Wagner: It's not gonna just happen because you put your book on Amazon, you put your book out there.
135
::Kae Wagner: and so there are many, many ways that authors can really help themselves by becoming bold promoters.
136
::Kae Wagner: But 1st of all, as you know, Jill, it starts right here.
137
::Kae Wagner: It starts in your your mindset and in your deeply held beliefs about who you are in the world.
138
::Kae Wagner: Now, here's an interesting statistic for you in terms of fiction.
139
::Kae Wagner: 75% of all fiction writers are introverts.
140
::Kae Wagner: So what are they going to out of the whole process. What are they going to hate the most
141
::Kae Wagner: promoting
142
::Kae Wagner: right? Oh, my God! Not that I'm the quiet kid in the corner. I do not want to go out there, so I'm an introvert. But I learned with my books to embrace extroverting behavior.
143
::Kae Wagner: I didn't have to be inauthentic, not be myself.
144
::Kae Wagner: It's just an expanded version of myself.
145
::Kae Wagner: and when I learned to be a bold promoter
146
::Kae Wagner: it was like somebody handed me a pair of glasses, and suddenly I could see things I'd never seen before.
147
::Kae Wagner: I saw opportunities I had never seen before.
148
::Kae Wagner: I saw things I could do that would create book sales.
149
::Kae Wagner: not just talk about it, but actually create sales.
150
::Kae Wagner: And so, because I have this commitment to spreading this message of forgiveness and redemption, everybody.
151
::Kae Wagner: I will talk to everybody.
152
::Kae Wagner: and I will offer them. I will often give books away in my books. I have a
153
::Kae Wagner: a bookmark, and it has a QR. Code for a review.
154
::Kae Wagner: So I can get more reviews that way.
155
::Kae Wagner: There are so many things authors can do that they're not aware of, because they don't think like promoters
156
::Kae Wagner: that they could do. And so with the bold leaders network, we teach people how to do it, and we start with mindset.
157
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist: Love that I'm reminded of a book I read a long time ago called the Gorilla Marketing Marketers.
158
::Kae Wagner: Oh yes, yes.
159
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist: And it was back before the Internet, and the Internet has changed things so much. There was a way of publishing books back in the day before Amazon, and it was hard, and it cost a lot of money people don't really think about. They think, oh, I'm going to write a book, and I'm going to make a million dollars. Well, that's not.
160
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist: That's not the usual outcome.
161
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist: The usual outcome is that authors write and write, and they pour their heart and soul into it, and then they send it out to publishers, and the Publishing Company would say, no, try again. Or if they did say, Okay, it would cost you money, because promoting a book costs money, and that yes, they would handle all of the promotional part of it. But you had to pay to go places to be on television shows and all those things they did. Just
162
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist: get those things, do you? At some point you have to pay for it. I mean, somebody's paying for it.
163
::Kae Wagner: That often comes out of the author's book, sales.
164
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist: Yeah.
165
::Kae Wagner: The traditional model.
166
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist: And if if they think that you're going to actually sell a bunch of books, they might
167
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist: put it up front for you if if they're
168
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist: on the fence about it, then it's coming out of your pocket.
169
::Kae Wagner: That's right.
170
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist: Because somebody's gonna pay for it. And it, you know, publishing companies aren't in business to like
171
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist: be altruistic. But this is to make money.
172
::Kae Wagner: That's not in, not in their vision statement.
173
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist: Right. So when it comes to hiring somebody like you, I mean, it's like it should be a no brainer for people if they're trying to self publish, to at least connect with you. And you've made it really easy for people to do that with your bold leaders, network community. You want to talk about that a little bit.
174
::Kae Wagner: Yes, so I have made it really easy, because I have a heart for authors. I know what the the Valley of Despair looks like right.
175
::Kae Wagner: and I have kind of a commitment that no author will be left behind. Right? It's it can be a lonely endeavor, you know, sitting at the author at the writer's table by yourself can be isolating and lonely, and so no authors left behind. So I created the bold authors network.
176
::Kae Wagner: and for people to come into the network. We have a free promo hour every Monday from 4 to 5,
177
::Kae Wagner: and in that free promo hour we talk. I do a little bit of teaching, but we talk about, and we
178
::Kae Wagner: share collectively, and
179
::Kae Wagner: just get people to understand what I call the 3 V's, the 1st of which is vision. What is your vision about your book with your
180
::Kae Wagner: are you on a journey? Are you an authorpreneur? What do you want to have happen. What is your commitment in making this book and writing this book
181
::Kae Wagner: and vision is also about your mindset. What is your belief about making this book and bringing this book into the world.
182
::Kae Wagner: did you bring it in for it to sit and get dusty on a bookshelf? No, you did not.
183
::Kae Wagner: And then the second V is voice, and that is, you're physically your voice, but also way. More than that, it's like your presence. It's like where you are. It's like me being here with you on a podcast and we're, you know, spreading the news about forgiveness and redemption through the Frankie Girl series and
184
::Kae Wagner: being having your voice be everywhere right?
185
::Kae Wagner: So podcasts are a beautiful place for that. The guerrilla marketing tactics, literally speaking, to people like, I know authors who are still the quiet kid in the corner.
186
::Kae Wagner: And I'm like you can't do that.
187
::Kae Wagner: you you we need to go through this transformation to become a bold author because a bold promoter
188
::Kae Wagner: we'll speak to everyone right, and then the 3rd one is visibility.
189
::Kae Wagner: If you're not visible, you're not viable.
190
::Kae Wagner: You can't be bought.
191
::Kae Wagner: If nobody knows about your book.
192
::Kae Wagner: And so that's a basic, you know, marketing, promoting 101. But many people then say, I don't know how to become visible. And that's what we do in the promo hour. I give people leads for podcasts, for summits, for speaking engagements. It's my personal belief, professional belief that every author should become a good speaker.
193
::Kae Wagner: and that every author, by getting on a platform, will sell more books.
194
::Kae Wagner: and then I also teach authors how to go beyond the book, which is, How do you take your content, your themes, your ideas, and create things that are beyond the format of a book.
195
::Kae Wagner: like moving into a course or a follow-on coaching program, or in the case of fiction.
196
::Kae Wagner: and for any producers out there who are looking for a book to turn into a movie. This would be a really good one.
197
::Kae Wagner: So that's a bold author. Move right there.
198
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist: Yeah, that's the way it's done.
199
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist: You just have to put it out there, because if you don't tell people they'll never know.
200
::Kae Wagner: That's right. That's right.
201
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist: And you need to not be attached to the to the answer either. You know, when you look at a waitress who goes in.
202
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist: she offers everybody coffee.
203
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist: She doesn't get all butt hurt if you say no.
204
::Kae Wagner: No.
205
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist: You can't be attached to the outcome of the answer. Some people it's going to be their cup of tea. Other people
206
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist: maybe not be a cup of coffee.
207
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist: Yeah.
208
::Kae Wagner: Yeah.
209
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist: Yeah. But you have to tell people, because the people that it's
210
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist: it's the thing that they've been waiting for. You're never going to find them. If you don't tell them that it's available.
211
::Kae Wagner: That's right.
212
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist: That's very true.
213
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist: And getting in front of the right kinds of audiences is another important piece of that aspect. You know, if you're if you're trying to sell a love story. But you're going on. You know, macho men.
214
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist: podcasts, you're, you're not gonna be talking to your right.
215
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist: You're not going to be talking to the audience that's likely to buy what you're selling. But if you find other podcasts that are around dating or women's issues, the softer side of the women's issues. Then you're more likely to find.
216
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist: you know, people that would be interested in reading your love story. It's
217
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist: it's doing it strategically and thinking about you know where, where you're going to get the most bang for your buck.
218
::Kae Wagner: Right right? And in addition to this, should you find yourself in a position where it's not like your perfect audience, just think about the value you could give them.
219
::Kae Wagner: you know, like everybody, has some value to give, and.
220
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist: Oh, for sure!
221
::Kae Wagner: That's actually the bonus V. We have the 3 V's, and then we have a bonus V, and that V is value.
222
::Kae Wagner: because what you give out comes back. That's a law of nature
223
::Kae Wagner: and so wherever you are and whoever you're with you can give encouragement, you can give kindness.
224
::Kae Wagner: You can give of yourself and your authenticity.
225
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist: Sure for sure. So how do people join your bold authors? Network and.
226
::Kae Wagner: That's Eastern time. Correct. Yes, that's
227
::Kae Wagner: 4 PM. Eastern, and if they go to Www.
228
::Kae Wagner: Bold authorsnetwork.com, they'll be able to sign up for promo hour.
229
::Kae Wagner: and we welcome fiction and nonfiction authors, because both kinds of authors need to be bold promoters.
230
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist: Absolutely
231
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist: thanks so much for joining us today, Kay, and thank you to those of you tuning in to learn more about writing and publishing a book and to connect with Kay, be sure to visit theboldauthorsnetwork.com. We'll be putting the links in the show notes. Also, if you have a podcast. Or you're interested in starting one to get your message in front of our large and active audience. Be sure to reach out to us at support@heartlifecoach.com.
232
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist: We love to help spiritual entrepreneurs and coaches amplify their voice and monetize their mission, and offer a variety of ways to do that on the Gnostic TV platform join us for our next episode as we share what others are doing to raise the global frequency. And remember, change begins with you. You have all the power to change the world, start today and get visible.
