Episode 023 / Contemporary and historical romance novelist and co-host of the SPA girls podcast, Wendy Vella joins Jami and Sara to talk about the mindset shift she had to make as she moved from traditionally published to self publishing as well as how she’s learned to trust her instincts in both writing and promoting her books. They wrap up the podcast with a discussion of how Wendy is maximizing her intellectual property for longevity.    In the intro, Sara shares news about Alli’s (Alliance of Independent Authors) new initiative to help indie authors with rights licensing, including “one-off contract representation” and full rights representation. Sara also shared some fun writerly humor from cartoonist Tom Gauld. Jami has been re-watching the Hunger Games, getting ready for her book release, and planning her next book. Then they discuss how the pandemic is impacting them as well as other creatives, which sounds pretty highbrow for a chat about stress dreams, memes, and country music. You can find show notes and links at wishidknownforwriters.com. In this podcast episode, you’ll discover: The benefits of entering writing contests How Wendy transitioned from traditional publishing to indie publishing and the mindset shift change she had to go through What Wendy wishes she’d known about editing and marketing How Wendy pinpointed what she needed to change about her contemporary covers and the details on how she rebranded her series from the covers to the blurbs The struggle to do everything ourselves and how Wendy gave some tasks away to her assistant so she could focus on what she was really good at How Wendy went against all the advice about mixing genres and it turned out to be her biggest success Learning to trust your instincts and finding the right people to listen to for advice How Wendy toggles back and forth between writing historical to contemporary romance The challenges of writing from a more remote location Why the SPA Girls began podcasting and why podcasts are a great way to up-skill How Wendy is maximizing her intellectual property for longevity by putting the product she has into new formats Genres discussed include historical romance and contemporary romance. Links:  Spa Girls Podcast  Wendy Vella Wendy Vella Author Wendy Vella’s Reading Bellas