Hey Everyone, sorry it’s been a while.
I mentioned before I was moving to Portugal. What I didn’t factor in was how long that process would be. I packed up my life and moved to Portugal 🇵🇹 and somewhere between boxes, Wi-Fi chaos, and learning how to order coffee in Portuguese, this newsletter went very quiet.
So… welcome back. And thanks for still being here!
If you are in the Algarve, come and meet me for um bica
One thing I have been working on is the Starter Packs on my site. I have organised all the podcast episodes into their categories, so say for example you wan to learn about book covers, you can go straight here to see the book cover episodes
I think you’ll find it really helpful.
👉 Check them out here:
https://teddyagsmith.com/starter-packs/
✍️ Sponsor: Sudowrite (yes, I actually use it)
This week’s sponsor is Sudowrite an AI writing tool I genuinely use. You can write a whole book in a few hours if you want to.
I’ve used Sudowrite while writing fiction (including romance), especially for:
Getting unstuck mid-scene
Exploring alternate directions
Speeding up drafting without killing my voice
In fact, I used it while writing my romance novel Playing with Diamonds.
If you’re curious, you can check it out here:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Playing-Diamonds-Mayfair-Maxine-Savage-ebook/dp/B0GFXLMJM6/
If you want to try Sudowrite yourself, here’s my link:
👉 https://www.sudowrite.com/?via=teddy
🎙 Podcast takeaway of the week
This week’s episode is with Amy Suto, and it’s a really good one. She is a Substack megastar, and she makes a lot of money from writing. She also has a jobs board for wrter and self publishing people, so check that out if you want to make some money today!
We talked about her three-pillar system for building a six-figure author business - and the big theme running through the conversation was not relying on just one thing (usually Amazon).
If you’re building a long-term publishing and writing business, this episode is well worth your time.
👉 Listen here:
The Publishing Performance Show – Amy Suto: The Three-Pillar System for Making Six Figures
🧠 One big learning: Substack is getting interesting…
One thing this episode really reinforced for me is how important owned platforms are and that’s why I keep coming back to Substack. When I started this newsletter I was tossing up between Substack and Beehiiv. I went with Beehiiv, just because of some of the features I needed like ads, but Substack is better for writing (in my opinion)
Who I think should be writing on Substack:
Non-fiction authors
Fiction authors
Thought leaders
Anyone building an audience around ideas, not just books
Who should be reading on Substack:
Curious people
Lifelong learners
Readers who like following people, not brands
I’ve even looked for jobs there because it’s such a cool company — so if anyone working at Substack is reading this… hit me up 😄
Check out Amy’s Substack, it’s incredible. You can also follow some of your favourite writers on there
📘 Book of the week
This week’s pick is my romance novel:
Playing with Diamonds
A billionaire romance set in Mayfair, diamonds, power dynamics, and bad decisions (the fun kind).
I write this book entirely with Sudowrite, so if you want to see an example of how Sudowrite works, you can buy my book. It was very fun writing it, and the AI especially helped me get over my British awkward side when writing the intimate scenes 😂
The book already has 200 sales, and 3000 free downloads. So its been a success. I used it as a lead magnet for My Romance Reads, but its also making money which is great to see!
As I am just coming back, please let me know if there are any topics you would like me to talk about, simply respond to this email. As ever, if you would liek to book a cal with me, also just reply here.
Looking forward to the new year, hope you’ve got great plans.
Teddy
