This is the Path to Published podcast with Ashley Fenker, a series about my journey to self-publish my essay collection with hopes to connect with readers, sell books, and land a traditional publishing deal. Get ready for a deep dive into the intersection between creativity and business, and a dash of real talk about building a career as a working mom.
Have you ever felt like building a platform as a writer is a numbers game? Or, as a reader, have you been quick to unsubscribe to an email list because it simply clutters your inbox? In this episode, I’m diving deep into how we can reframe platform building as a connection with readers—and real humans on the other side of the screen. Listen in for 3 ways to think about connection with readers on your path to finding your people. Plus, I’ll share the current tools that I’m using in my business to engage and stay in touch with people who are eager to follow my work as an artist.
ICYMI: Check out last week’s episode.
Check out Dan Blank’s wisdom on his Substack called The Creative Shift. In Dan’s words: “I believe you should CONNECT TO A PERSON, NOT AN AUDIENCE. Connecting your work to others should be a process of deep connection, not one of trying to amass faceless followers, judging your success on likes and reshares. It is about connecting through writing and art, and how that changes someone.”
My website (ashleyfenker.com) is hosted on Squarespace. I purchased a template through GoLive.
My current email provider is Flodesk. I also used Mailchimp for many years, which has a free option for up to 500 subscribers.
I’m currently going “all in” on Instagram. I invite you to follow along at @ashleyfenkercreative.
I’ve experimented this year with Kajabi, which is a great all-in-one tool if you’re just getting started.
Bonus tip: Not mentioned in the episode. I use the free version of Podcastle to build each podcast episode.
Here is this week’s essay, “The Dangers of Writing on Motherhood.”
