Episode 015 / Elana Johnson writes Christian cowboy romance as well as clean and wholesome romance. She joins the WIKT podcast and details how she found success in smaller genres. A pen name, writing fast, and understanding read-through all played key roles in helping her achieve and exceed her goals.

In the intro, Jami and Sara discuss how they’re experimenting with serials. Sara sent the first six chapters of her new release to her list "serial reads" style to generate interest in her new book, and Jami is sharing a short story with her list. They’ve both had a great response from readers. Jami talks about her struggle to finish her recent book, and Sara mentions their interview with Kait Nolan about writing during stressful times, which is worth a listen, if you’re struggling with burnout or just having a difficult time getting words on the page.

You can find show notes and links at wishidknownforwriters.com.

In this podcast episode, you’ll discover:

• How Elana got her start in traditional publishing and her transition to indie publishing
• How Elana uses her writing as “therapy” to get rid of negative situations in her real life
• Elana’s disappointment with her first attempt at indie publishing and how she turned things around with a pen name and writing fast
• The importance of understanding the concept of read-through
• Productivity tips for being prolific, including writing in short snippets of time
• Giving yourself permission to do what works for you
• Elana’s daily work schedule and how she juggles writing on two different books 
• Elana’s layering technique she uses for outlining, researching, and writing
• Why sometimes getting started is the biggest hurdle to getting words on the page
• Elana’s Venn diagram for defining categories (math is involved, but don’t be scared!) and how to use it to find readers
• How to be successful in smaller genre categories
• Giving readers what they want and listening to readers to discover what that is
• Changes she’s seen in her genres

Genres discussed include contemporary romance, Christian cowboy romance, clean and wholesome, cozy mystery, and western. 

Links: 

Elana’s websites:

http://elanajohnson.com