The Pint and Portal Author Podcast Write What You Love and Earn Six-Figures - Heather K Carson On What Actually Works in Self-Publishing
Is earning a six-figure income as an author still attainable? Do you feel like you're never going to break through into a writing career?
Heather K. Carson spent years writing YA dystopian and post-apocalyptic fiction. She had fifteen books published, understood the basics of Amazon ads, and was doing everything authors are told to do. But something wasn't clicking.
Then she made a pivot that changed everything.
In this conversation, Heather shares the honest story of how she went from modest earnings to generating over $400,000 in annual revenue writing shifter romance. Her story's about getting clear on what she calls the "Venn diagram" of a sustainable writing career: the intersection of what you love to read, what you're built to write, and what readers actually want.
In this episode, we cover:
👉 Why Heather's first 15 books were necessary preparation, not wasted effort
👉 The difference between knowing your market and really knowing your market
👉 How to identify "highly relevant" ad targets that actually convert
👉 Why rapid release isn't as essential as it used to be in Kindle Unlimited
👉 The mindset that allowed her to walk away from a 15-book backlist and start fresh
👉 Her specific Amazon ad strategy (including the 5 ads she launches with every book)
👉 What's next: audiobooks, translations, direct sales, and the path to seven figures
Whether you're stuck at book three wondering if you should keep going, or you've got a backlist that isn't performing the way you hoped, Heather's story offers a realistic look at what it takes to build a career as an independent author.
00:00:00 - Intro
02:48 - What high-profile authors are really like
09:12 - Writing 15 books without hitting
13:55 - The pivot that changed everything
16:27 - The Venn diagram for author success
31:05 - All-in on Kindle Unlimited
48:17 - Her $200K ad strategy
56:33 - Sponsor: Publisher Rocket
57:39 - The first thing struggling authors should fix
01:03:47 - Advice to her younger self
Connect with Heather K. Carson:
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Media Credits
- Theme Song: Commercial Rock by StudioKolomna (Envato License)
- Background Music: Soft Chill Background by sonicscope (Envato License)
- Stock Video: Licensed via Envato
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© Herman Steuernagel The Pint & Portal Podcast