Hello Writers and Crafters! I'm Valerie Ihsan, And I'm Erick Mertz, and this is Episode 96 of the podcast and it's December 21, 2022  as we record this. Happy Solstice! Main Topic: Tarot for Your Business PATREON: No new patrons this week, but Sean Sharp raised his tier to Super Fantastic Fan, so thank you so much! Sean now gets all my ebooks as I publish them. In addition to his other benefits.   Thank you to our existing patrons for believing in us and in the podcast.  This podcast is sponsored by our patrons at Patreon.com/valerieihsan. For as low as a $1/mo, you can get a shout out on the podcast and we can make announcements for you on the podcast. At other tiers, the benefits increase--free books, accountability Zoom calls, scene analysis, mastermind calls, and even free Writer Craft retreat tickets. Become a patron of the arts at Patreon.com/valerieihsan.    Comments:      Patron announcement:  Announcements:  ** Author Action Plan Group Coaching starting in January for three months. $500 includes group coaching with other writers every other week for three months, plus a customized author action plan for one of your larger projects/goals. Podcast listeners get a 10% discount, making the cost $450. Use the discount code PODCAST (all caps) at checkout. **I have a female writer looking for another female-identifying writer to share lodging at the retreat. The Shared Retreat Ticket price is $650 and includes all the food, lodging, instruction, retreat, and coaching. Please reach out to me at Valerie@valerieihsan.com to ask any questions or to get the PayPal link for the Shared Retreat Ticket. 1) Writer Craft Writing Retreat is scheduled for next August 24-27, 2023. Tickets include all lodging and gourmet meals, plus instruction and coaching and retreat time on the river, in Marcola, OR. “We’ll be touching on book structure, story hypothesis, plotting that doesn’t hurt, author action plans, and more.”  Go to valerieihsan.com/retreat for more information. Alumni and patron price is $775.  Early Bird price available from November - January. $800 Monthly payments are an option. Send me a message Valerie@valerieihsan.com for a unique PayPal link, or go to the shopping page on my website to purchase at full price.  2) We want to celebrate our 100th episode with you. Please send in an audio clip via email to writercraftpodcast@gmail.com with a comment or testimonial about the podcast. What you like about it, why you listen, etc. On the 100th episode on January 18th, we'll play the clips on air. Please send in your audio clips by January 11th at the latest. 3) We need topic suggestions. Please send to writercraftpodcast@gmail.com.   Update: started looking at keywords and categories, invoicing people for my coaching cohort that starts Jan 3rd,   Just finished: Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe     I'M READING: Midnight at the Blackbird Cafe by Heather WebberWabi Sabi: Japanese Wisdom for a Perfectly Imperfect Life by Beth Kempton Up Next: Erick's Reading:  Future Stories by David Christian The Tombs of Atuan by Ursula Le Guin Blood Rites Jim Butcher   Show Notes:  Patrons will get pictures of my process Resources:  Raven Publicity (publicity for authors) The Shades of Orange (Rachel, Book Blogger on YouTube) for book recommendations SF/Fantasy/Horror Contact Erick for business-starting advice. Contact Valerie for book coaching for help writing your book.   Other Resources: Thomas Umstattd Jr, at Novel Marketing Podcast. Ep255: How to Create an Email Onboarding Drip Campaign Erick's Linktree link: https://linktr.ee/erickmertzauthor Russell P. Nohelty and Monica Leonelle's book, Get Your Book Selling on Kickstarter.   The Author Life Community Passion Planner: https://bit.ly/3AUiJUx (affiliate link) Discount Code: VALERIEO866 ProWriting Aid: https://prowritingaid.com/?afid=9378 (affiliate link)   Find Us:   Valerie’s Services: https://valerieihsan.com Valerie’s Author Site: https://valerieihsanauthor.com Valerie’