Since this show involves both work me and writing me, the interview is attributed to my full name. We will pretend it’s E. M. Williams as usual. My pseudonym is more about being intentional regarding which part of my life I’m speaking to than an attempt to conceal my gender or create iron-clad anonymity, but that’s a whole other discussion.

The episode originally aired on August 14 and runs for about 40 minutes. Here’s where you can listen:

• Apple
• Spotify
• Amazon Music

On Learning with Lerner, Lindsey interviews unconventional leaders who have blazed trails in a variety of ways. Her goal is to challenge norms, explore unique journeys, and ignite personal growth for the show’s audience.

Lindsey and I connected on email after I heard Johnathan and Melissa Nightingale on her podcast earlier in the year. I enjoyed Lindsey’s interviewing style so much that pitching my own story was the next logical step.

We ended up having a great conversation about leadership, mentorship, learning how to do hard things by doing them before you feel ready, crowdfunding, launching a consultancy, cracking my own creative productivity code to write Chaos Calling, and why I don’t think you have to suffer to make art.

Who is this conversation for?

Anyone pursuing an unconventional path who wants to hear more from people with similar ambitions in adjacent fields.

Topics we covered on the Learning with Lerner Podcast

• 1:55 — Living in Toronto and a bit about my family history, along with my childhood desire to write
• 3:00 — Integrating creativity without bankrupting your existence; the myth of artistic suffering; Big Magic
• 9:50 — How I cracked the secret to figuring out my creative productivity process; the ‘Don’t Stop Believing’ story; Chaos Calling’s origins in movement and Wattpad
• 16:40 — Being a woman in a field dominated by men; working in tech and academia; how those experiences informed Dave Montcalm’s and Jason Lin’s storylines; using commuting and consulting to make art
• 24:00 — What my typical day looks like now
• 25:20 — Changes in technology and research across my working life
• 26:50 — Mentorship’s role in my career and why I believe in giving back; working with Growclass
• 28:00 — How crowdfunding helped me develop the skills to launch a self-published book
• 32:00 — I pitch Chaos Calling to Lindsey’s listeners
• 33:35 — My career advice on how to go rogue and work for yourself
• 35:45 — Telling people what you do when you have multiple career pursuits; being comfortable with self promotion
• 37:00 — Best and worst career advice I ever got; inspiration is super weird

For more, you can follow Lindsey and the Learning with Lerner podcast:

• Instagram: @lindseylerner
• LinkedIn: Lindsey Lerner

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We recorded the episode back in November 2022, but it aired February 7, 2023. Here’s where you can listen:

• Apple podcasts
• Spotify podcasts
• Other podcast places –> Here’s a a list of other podcast sites where Kirsti’s work is distributed.

Kirsti and I met in 2021 through Growclass, Sarah Stockdale’s online growth marketing community. I’ve been a big fan of Kirsti’s podcast work since she launched her show in March 2022.

On the Thinking About Podcast, Kirsti talks with thoughtful, interesting people. Many are also entrepreneurs sharing lessons and insights they’ve picked up on their journeys.

I spoke about writing Chaos Calling and my journey through self-publishing. We also talk about balancing career commitments with creative work, having a life, and finding the motivation to persevere when chasing a long-term dream.

Who is this conversation for? Anyone thinking about writing a book, wanting to publish a book, or pursuing a long-term creative project.

It’s a tough world. Motivation can be hard to come by. We talk about that, too.

Part I: Writing Topics on the Thinking About Podcast

• 0:00 – 4:00 — Kirsti’s intro, which made me tear up, I won’t lie
• 4:00 – 6:00 — Why I chose E. M. Williams as my pen name, segmenting a professional life, thinking about privacy, and whether a pen name might be a good choice for you.
• 6:00 – 8:00 — Should you couple your business divisions? Why grouping consulting and publishing under one company works for me (so far).
• 8:00 – 13:00 — ‘Don’t Stop Believing‘: I believed at one point that my writing dreams were dead. We talk about the Medium essay I wrote, and why you can’t give up when life pivots around you.
• 13:00 – 17:00 — My wild experience writing Chaos Calling. Being open to a fresh inspiration download helped me to level-up my writing work. And, I also talk about how pivoting my approach to writing with Wattpad.
• 17:00 – 23:00 — Where did these characters and the Chaos Calling story come from? I tell Kirsti how I built the series in onion layers, and give an overview of the plot. Do I see the book in my head as I’m writing? Yes, I do. And people reading say it feels like watching a movie.
• 23:00 – 26:00 — Tricking your brain into being productive: I wrote the first three drafts on my phone while riding the TTC.
• 26:00 – 28:30 — Writing a story set in Toronto, why I wanted to write fantasy set in the city where I live, and taking inspo from the Raptors’ victory parade in 2019.
• 28:30 – 35:00 — Book production and feedback: How I took the manuscript through the editing process. We also talk about finding beta readers and editors. Is it scary to share your work? Yes, but you get over it.

Part II: Book Production Topics on the Thinking About Podcast

• 35:00 – 38:00 — What would I say to that younger version of me stuck in that car? We talk about how you don’t get to stay in the high place of inspiration, or the low place of despair.
• 39:00 – 50:00 — Book production and launch: We cover my process and decisions I made, and how to make space for the things you don’t know. Weirdly, Frozen 2 comes up a lot. I suggest places to look for resources and people to help with your creative project.
• 50:00 – 58:30 — What’s the most rewarding part of chasing your dream? I talk about the beautiful conversations I’ve had with people post launch, and why Growclass is the best. We also discuss the importance of focusing on the process and enjoying the ride.
• 58:30 – 1:04:00 — Books I recommend and how early Twitter (pre 2017) taught me how to be a better creative person on the Internet.

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Pre-Launch Campaign: Week 1

Chaos Calling: Book 1 of the Xenthian Cycle has been live on Amazon for just over a week. Like any self-published author, I hoped you would be excited to see the book’s cover and title. I also hoped some of you would pre-order a copy. 

I had zero expectations for what actually happened. 

Last November, I picked May 31, 2022 as my launch date. Book people launch things on Tuesdays, I’m told. My plan was to announce the book’s existence and drop the cover six weeks ahead of time on April 19. 

Thanks to my background in marketing for the tech sector, I’ve run public and private launch campaigns before. Four weeks can be too short a window to establish a new idea and get traction. Nine is waaaaay too long. Six seemed like the ideal middle ground. 

I uploaded the files a few days early since Amazon’s site advises that you may need up to 72 hours for it to clear their backend. Everything loaded without issue. 

Find Chaos Calling by Amazon market: 
                                    
Please note all editions are currently in English and translations are out of scope.

Tuesday, April 19: Pre-Launch Campaign Day 1

I scheduled the cover drop/title reveal email to go to my subscriber list at lunchtime EST. Since I ran a split test for the subject line, it didn’t fully deploy until 2 pm. My supporters are a small but mighty group, and they responded. My open rate was 81 percent (thank you, awesome email subscribers—I adore each and every one of you).

I was busy with work until late Tuesday afternoon when I paused to tell my peeps in the GrowClass Slack channel about the soft launch. They’ve followed my writing journey for some time and, since they’re all growth marketers, love hearing about campaign work as it evolves. Earlier this year, I presented my book launch plan to the Mastermind Jam group and got some excellent feedback (so grateful!). They gave me confidence that I was in a good place because they’re amazing, but also seasoned pros. 

While I gathered up my materials to post the news, I checked the Amazon Canada listing. And then I did a double take.  

Seeing the book ranking in Amazon’s Contemporary Fantasy (ebook/books) and Urban Fantasy categories was deeply satisfying. A lot of self-publishing sites emphasize the importance of choosing your category wisely. I think of The Xenthian Cycle as Fantasy Action, but there’s no subcategory for that (hold my proverbial beer). So, I spent a long time researching novels by my intended peers and debating where to list the book. 

The payoff to that strategy felt AMAZING. 

By the end of the night, Chaos Calling was on Amazon’s “Hot New Releases” list. I was floored, especially since that books also listed are by authors I’ve admired for years. 

I went to bed with a smile on my face. 

Wednesday, April 20: Day 2

Wednesday morning, I woke up to this text from a friend:

And it kept going. 

By 5 pm on Wednesday, I’d cracked the Top 20 in my category for best sellers:

I mean, Margaret Atwood? N. K. Jeminsin? Diana Gabaldon? Naomi Novak? Harry freakin Potter? I’ve read all of these books, and enjoyed them. 

Also, mad respect to the self-published authors  whose work you also see in these lists—I look forward to discovering your stories for myself.

But there was Chaos Calling, sitting right beside The Atlas Six. 

And it kept climbing. 

And climbing.

Later, my soul left my body for a couple of minutes when this happened: 

At one point, I spotted Chaos Calling’s cover in the middle for the hot new releases widget (see below):

I won’t lie. On Wednesday night, I did a lot of shrieking. When you’re five days into living your dream with this kind of astounding feedback, there are no words, only sounds. 

Thursday, April 21: Day 3

If you’re curious (and I was), Amazon lists 60,000 books in contemporary fantasy.

On Thursday morning, this was still happening:

At its peak, Chaos Calling was:

• #657 in all of Kindle for Amazon Canada
• #7 Contemporary Fantasy Bestsellers (Kindle)
• #8 Contemporary Fantasy Bestsellers (All Books)
• #38 in Urban Fantasy Bestsellers
• #2 in Hot New Releases, right behind Margaret Atwood’s short story, “My Evil Mother”

So, how many copies did you buy? 

I have no idea. I can’t tell if this result came from 10 sales, 100, or 1,000.

Talking with peers, I’ve learned the backend of Amazon’s sales analytics is somewhat murky. They undoubtedly have the data to tell me exactly what I want to know (how many copies by city per hour, please and thank you), but that would mean making their data transparent to their competitors. 

The kicker? Canadian sales data is rolled INTO the American numbers. Which means I can’t access historical Canadian sales data at all, where my biggest spikes came. 

Like, I know we’re a small market, but seriously? SERIOUSLY?? 

The data-driven marketer in me is real salty about that.

My best bet is apparently to wait 90 days for the royalties report, which is where the deductive reasoning kicks in. 

Beyond My Wildest Dreams

As I write this post, however, I’m conscious that in the grand scheme of things, sales operations do not matter. After seven and a half years of talking the ears off of my family, close friends and co-workers every chance I got, Chaos Calling is out there. Even in countries I’ve never visited, like Japan, Spain, Italy, Brazil, Germany, France, and India. 

And without a single public review to give you a sense of whether this thing I wrote is any good, you answered in spades. That trust is beautiful. 

I suspect that the gorgeous cover, designed by Wesley Lyn using conceptual illustrations by Helen He, is doing a lot of heavy lifting. Thank you, Wes and Helen, for your extraordinary work. I’m so grateful to collaborate with you. This is only the beginning!

To everyone who bought an ebook, told a friend, asked to get on the Chaos Calling paperback list, added Chaos Calling to an Amazon wish list or their GoodReads TBR, followed the completely unhinged rankings climb, sent me screenshots so I wouldn’t overlook things, or liked my social media posts — thank you, thank you, thank you! 

YOU ARE THE BEST. 

I also want to thank the grade school classmates, high school friends, current colleagues, and co-workers from jobs five or six boats back who reached out in support.  Your enthusiasm is both humbling and infectious. 

As a pair of my self-publishing peers and long-time mentors said over Slack Thursday morning:

It still takes my breath away.

Reluctant as I am to come back to Earth, I’m now working on the pre-order campaign’s second week, making ebook ARC copies, and getting that paperback edition ready to upload. 

Waving,

emw

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Here’s what you’ll find on this site: 

• News about my books, in-progress work, and events. 
• Updates on The Xenthian Cycle: Here’s what I can tell you about Book 2.
• Resources I used and continue to use in my book research.
• Links to my social media profiles. I’m most active on TikTok, Twitter and Instagram. 
• Book recommendations for other authors whose work I’ve read and loved. 

The best way to stay in touch is to subscribe to my mailing list. I respect your time and inbox: I only reach out when I’ve got news to share. 

This site also complies with Canada’s anti-spam legislation. Your email address will not be shared with anyone.  

If you’re a self-published author looking to level-up your book marketing, let me be the first to tell you about GrowClass. I love this amazing community for the inclusion and support offered in the class Slack channel, which you will join for life. The problem solving, feedback and troubleshooting is literally THE BEST. Sarah Stockdale and her team also offer payment plans for both Canada and U.S. residents. 

While I wish pen names were ironclad, the reality is doing anything image-based in 2022 means my writing life and my professional life must inevitably sit side-by-side. So, if you’re looking for me in my work-life/start-up context, you can find me here. 

Again, it’s fantastic to welcome you to emwilliams.ca after so many months of preparation. Thank you so much for visiting!

We’ll talk soon,

emw

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