How Pippa Grant Revolutionized her Writing Career with a New Pen Name

Episode 007 / Romantic comedy author Pippa Grant joins Jami Albright and Sara Rosett to chat about starting over with a new pen name as well as collaboration. You can find show notes and links at wishidknownforwriters.com.

The alternate title for this episode is “Fun Places and Unusual Places to Record Your Podcast” because Jami had to record the episode from her car in the Starbuck’s parking lot. (We’re creating a new hashtag for just these sorts of things: #JamiStory.)

Sara’s prepping for a trip to London for SPF-Live, a writer’s conference, and the London Book Fair. She plans to visit as many stately homes/country estates/tea rooms as possible. #research #authorlife

Jami’s feeling rejuvenated. She’s back from a writing retreat where she accomplished a lot and got to hang out with 20 writers.

In this podcast episode, you’ll discover:

When it’s smart to use a pen names and how starting over with a new pen name gives you freedom
Pippa’s favorite mistake and what she learned about worldbuilding, including why–even in romance–the villain has to have a comeuppance
The importance of emphasizing the parts of a book that will appeal to readers when running ads
How Pippa pivoted and created a new pen name after studying the bestseller charts and analyzing what tropes readers wanted
Writing fearlessly and how Pippa shuts off the critical voice
The mistake of chasing the wrong goal
Psychology of fandom
Pippa’s collaboration with three authors to create the Bluewater Billionaire series, including the nitty gritty details of plotting and planning the series
How the group marketed through hashtags to encourage readers to share their stories before the series released
Pippa’s big gamble of starting a new pen name and the risk of investing money in an unknown quantity
Pippa’s potential side hustle as a “pun” title whisperer
How Pippa’s husband helps her in her writing business