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Season 3, episode 2 is here!
In this conversation, poet and marketer Shelby Leigh shares her path from self-publishing to traditional publishing, the lessons she’s learned about building an audience of hundreds of thousands, and why protecting your mental health is just as important as consistency.
Shelby is honest about the lonely stretches, generous with her marketing strategies, and full of encouragement for writers figuring out how to turn words into a living.
What we covered:
How Shelby went from anonymously posting poetry on Tumblr to selling books that attracted a Big Five publisher
The role Instagram and TikTok played in her early growth and why she later narrowed her focus to fewer platforms
Why consistency and personal storytelling helped her audience grow past half a million followers
The visual and tonal elements that make a writer’s brand feel cohesive and recognisable
How to set boundaries and build breaks into your creative life without losing momentum
The biggest myth about marketing that holds writers back and a mindset shift to make it easier
Shelby’s best advice for building confidence, growing an email list, and sustaining your writing career long term
Don’t forget to subscribe to Shelby on YouTube.
What’s next?
I’m ready and waiting to support you in the next stages of your creator journey. Here’s a reminder of how I can help:
Start Your Podcast on Substack: A complete course guiding you from concept to launch, based on everything I’ve learned so far during my own podcasting journey. Learn to plan, brand, record, edit, publish, and promote your podcast while building an audience. Perfect for creators eager to share their voice with the world.
The 1K Daily Writing Challenge: Build a consistent habit by writing 1,000 words daily for 30 days. Along the way, you'll get encouraging video prompts, accountability support, and plenty of inspiration to ignite your creative spark. Nail your rhythm. Find your flow. Transform your writing journey forever.
Substack Basics: A video guide showing you exactly how to: set up your first publications; create polished posts from scratch; share, structure, and schedule effectively; and master Notes, CTAs, and growth levers (bonus section: Going Live on Substack).
Sustainable Scalable Social Strategy: This 6-part, online, self-driven course will guide you through the same process I used to develop a strategy for my social media management. When you finish, you’ll have a sustainable social strategy in place that will help you scale your business properly.
