Every indie author eventually needs help: a cover designer, an editor, a website builder, a marketing assistant. But hiring the wrong freelancer (or being a difficult client yourself) can cost you time, money, and a cover you hate. In this episode, Ricci Wolman sits down with Maari Casey, CEO of Uncompany, to break down exactly how to find, hire, brief, and manage freelancers, from the first Google search to the signed contract to navigating a missed deadline.

What you’ll learn:

• How to write a scope of work tight enough to find the right freelancer, and the one "start at the end" trick that cuts the guesswork
• Where to find freelancers: Reedsy (built for authors), Fiverr, Upwork, and curated agencies, and when each makes sense
• How to set your budget and why you should always go in a little lower than your real number
• What the standard revision rounds look like for design vs. editing, and why two to three is the magic number
• The three questions to ask in every freelancer interview (and the red flags that should end the conversation)
• What should be in every contract: payment terms, revision rounds, timeline, and the ownership clause that authors always forget
• How to give feedback when the first draft is nothing like what you wanted (without blowing up the relationship)
• Why telling your designer what you hate is more useful than showing them what you love
• The one thing clients do that makes good freelancers not want to work with them again
• How to handle a missed deadline or a freelancer who goes silent

Maari also shares the Uncompany blog's free templates for scopes, briefs, and conflict management, built specifically for people navigating freelance relationships.

Want to learn more ways to reach readers? Visit writtenwordmedia.com for author resources, book promotion tools, and more.

The Written Word Podcast is produced by Heart Centered Podcasting.

© 2026 Written Word Media, Inc. All rights reserved.

Is the indie author market actually as tough as the forums make it sound? Written Word Media surveyed nearly 600 authors at the midpoint of 2026, and the data tells a more nuanced story than the doom-and-gloom. In this episode, Ricci and Ferol break down the survey findings and identify the five things that optimistic, growing authors are doing differently.

What you’ll learn:

• The headline sentiment data: how many authors report growing vs. declining businesses halfway through 2026
• Why the authors whose businesses are thriving are writing more (not less) and the psychological reason that strategy works
• Why author newsletters are still the top owned-channel investment among the optimistic group (and how Written Word Media's Subscriber Surge Giveaways can help you build yours)
• Which paid ad platforms are still delivering (Amazon ads and Meta), and why the optimistic authors haven't abandoned them
• The catalog monetization plays winning authors are making: box sets, translations (AI-assisted), and human-narrated audiobooks
• How growing authors are using AI as a workflow tool, and how that attitude differs sharply from authors who are struggling
• Why KDP Select vs. wide turns out to be statistically irrelevant to business optimism (46% vs. 47%)
• What changed between the end-of-year survey and the mid-year survey: algorithm anxiety is way up, and AI went from background noise to center stage

Also covered: Ricci's quote-on-the-wall take on optimism vs. pessimism, and why data says there's a real reason for both.

Want to learn more ways to reach readers? Visit writtenwordmedia.com for author resources, book promotion tools, and more.

The Written Word Podcast is produced by Heart Centered Podcasting.

© 2026 Written Word Media, Inc. All rights reserved.

What does a CEO who's run social media campaigns for Nike, IKEA, Samsung, and Crocs think authors should be doing on social right now? In this episode, Ferol sits down with Jim Tobin, CEO of Ignite Social Media, founder of influencer marketing agency Carusele, and a two-time published author, for a frank, tactical conversation about what's actually working in social media today and how indie authors can apply it.

What you’ll learn:

• Why social discovery has overtaken Google search, and what that means for how readers find books in 2026
• The three-second hook rule: how to stop the scroll before the algorithm even decides to show your content
• Why negative hooks outperform positive hooks (and how to use this without being clickbait)
• The Organish® strategy: how to put $5–$25 behind your content to reach 5–20x more people, and why this beats influencer outreach on a small budget
• The carousel comeback: why image carousels are now outperforming Reels on Instagram and LinkedIn
• How to approach BookTok influencers with zero budget, and what to say (and not say) when you do have a few hundred dollars
• Why lo-fi, behind-the-scenes content is beating polished production right now
• How to think about pre-launch vs. post-launch content, and why "mystery posts" are a waste of your audience's attention
• The 30-minutes-a-week social strategy: where to spend your time if that's all you have
• •Stampede Social: the tool that lets you DM a link to anyone who comments a keyword on your post
• The biggest mistake Jim sees on social, and it's not what you think

Jim also covers TikTok Shops, cross-platform content strategy, using trending audio, and how to connect your social presence to your email list.

Want to learn more ways to reach readers? Visit writtenwordmedia.com for author resources, book promotion tools, and more.

The Written Word Podcast is produced by Heart Centered Podcasting.

© 2026 Written Word Media, Inc. All rights reserved.