#288: Kindle Publishing Success with Beth Jones

Welcome to Kingdom Writers, where we help equip and empower Christian writers of all genres to share your unique gifts with the world. We're your hosts, C.J. and Shelley Hitz.

This podcast is filled with spiritual encouragement as well as prayers to help you overcome the resistance you face as a writer. Your story matters.

Hey, it's Shelley Hitz here, and if you haven't heard yet, September 2021 is an incredibly special year for CJ and I. It marks the 10th anniversary from taking that big scary step of faith and for me to quit and resign from my physical therapy job and that regular paycheck. CJ was already working full time in our business and 10 years ago I took that credit crazy step as well. And we have been two full time entrepreneurs since. It has been a wild and crazy ride. We've been mentoring writers for over 11 years and we also have had our Christian Book Academy for six and a half years. And so we wanted to celebrate. We're celebrating and kicking off this month with our Kingdom Writers Conference and we want you to be part of it. It's going to be 15 speakers over five days. It starts September 15th, so join us for free. Get your free ticket@domencewritersconference.com and tell all your writing friends. It's going to be a fun and inspiring and just an amazing time to come together as Kingdom writers for such a time as this and this month. We also wanted to share and highlight some of our speakers, which all of our speakers have also been Academy members over the last few years. And so we wanted to feature some of them and what God has been doing in their lives today. I wanted to share with you Beth Jones and just the path that she took with Kindle Publishing, also the power of publishing a series and several other things that have really been beneficial in her journey of publishing over 20 books. And the list keeps growing. So I hope you enjoy hearing from Beth Jones and get inspired to publish your next book.

So today I wanted to introduce you to one of our Christian Book Academy members. My name is Shelly Hitz and this is Beth Jones. Welcome, Beth.

Hi. Hi, Shelley.

And I just wanted to feature you because, like, you just amaze me. And we first met years ago on Facebook and then you were one of the very first people to join our Academy back in 2015. You know, it's been now six years that we've been on this journey together. And you now have how many books?

21. And I'm writing a new one.

Oh, my goodness. So in growing, the list keeps growing. So you are prolific as well. And one thing I remember is when you first came into the academy, one of the first. First books you published, you know, with our group, was you took your signature speech and you published as a book. So share with us a little bit about that journey.

Okay. My signature talk is on Cinderella. And so what I did was I wrote the book about Cinderella, and it goes with my signature talk, and it inspired me so much. Well, my graphic designer, Christine Dupree, at that time, she made a beautiful cover for it. She gave me several choice. Loved all the COVID so much and so did my readers that I went ahead and wrote two more books. And it's a series. It's a series, the Cinderella Story, and it's got three books. So it's a trilogy.

I love that. And I think that's a great little tidbit. And, you know, this is kind of a case study sharing successes that you've had. And sometimes one book idea will turn into a series. Right. And there's more to it, and so I love that. Now, did you publish those books in both print and ebook, or are they Kindle only, or how did you do that?

That one specifically is ebook. Kindle reader only. I do have some books in print, but for that series, I made those all ebook for Kindle.

Yeah.

And so that's like, the easiest way to get started too, you know, just getting your books out there. And I mean, you really are using a lot of the things, obviously, that I teach, you know, doing this series, the short, you know, Kindle ebooks. But you now have 22 books. You are prolific. I mean, and when you get an idea, it is almost like you get a download from the Lord or something. And like, you just are on a mission until those words get out of your head and onto paper.

So what have you learned over the.

Years that's helped you write so many books?

Well, when I saw your program, I was just blown away. I'm still blown away because it is the most comprehensive writing program I've ever seen. And I was just so amazed by everything that you teach in there. The videos, the PDFs, the downloads, and then the support in the Facebook group is just incredible. So you're. You inspired me because you are so prolific. And I thought, this is just amazing. And so you have inspired me so much to not only write, but to write fast. And I believe, at least for myself, what it is, is that time is short, and so we don't have any time to waste. And so I've learned from you to not waste time you have. You're very strong on getting things done using the Pomodoro method and other methods, just time blocking. And so those practical tips and tools of sitting down, just actually sitting down and doing the writing. And then you also gave other tips such as if you don't want to actually write at your laptop or wherever, you can use a recorder and you can record your book. And that was something I'd never even thought about. So that really inspired me too. But just you printing so many books and your message for the kingdom of God, that just really inspired me. That's what drew me to me is your love for Jesus and how you make it Christian based and how now you're reaching all around the world where you're speaking and writing. We can now make a global impact with our messages. And that just truly spoke to my heart.

Yeah. And you know, it's really neat just to see God continue to use you as well. And you are an international speaker. You know, you have 22 books and growing and now you're also encouraging other speakers and writers. And so, you know, you're investing in planting into others. And I just, I love, I love seeing that. It's like the ripple effect, right. And I was joking with someone the other day, I was like, I think you're my publishing grandchild because they're learning from someone that learned in my academy. And I was like, oh, that's so fun.

But what inspired you to also help speakers and writers?

Well, before I get into that, I did want to share one thing that really helped me with your academy is you gave templates to write books in and I didn't have a template. And that helped me so much with knowing the margins, where to put the chapter headings, what to put on the, you know, your table of contents page copyright about the author pages. I didn't know any of that. And that template that you, you gave it on in that academy helped me so much. That has helped me to sit down and write so many books because I don't have to worry about any of that. I can just put it in that template and go and write. And now I forgot your question. What did you ask? Oh, why do I inspire others?

Yeah. What I believe, what caused you to want to, to do that? Yeah.

I believe that we all have gifts, that we have spiritual gifts and talents and skills that are unique to us, that God himself put in us and that we need to share those gifts. And I also believe that time is very short. Covid has taught us. You know, Covid doesn't respect anyone. Covid hits everybody. So we, we have a short time here on earth, and I believe we need to use that time wisely to steward it and to share the gifts that God has given us. And that includes speaking and writing. I'm very passionate about using your gifts.

Yes. That is so Good. Well, congratulations. 22 books and speaking in many different venues in many different ways, really sharing your testimony and sharing Jesus with so many. And so you are a true example of a Kingdom writer, a kingdom speaker. And if people want to connect with you, how do they find you?

At my website@betjones.net and then my Amazon author page is Amazon.com author BethanJones.

Yeah, so bethjones.net or Bethm Jones on Amazon. But it's just been a joy just having you a part of Christian Book Academy and just seeing you blossom and grow and all the things that God is doing in and through you. So thanks for sharing part of your story today. I appreciate it.

Thank you, Shelley.

All right, bye.

Bye.

Bye.

Thank you for listening to this episode of Kingdom Writers. We believe that you, as a Christian writer, have a specific role to play in the kingdom of heaven to impact lives for eternity.

And because of this, we choose to pour out our lives into encouraging writers like you to not only tell your stories, but to take the courageous step of self publishing your stories in books that will outlive you and leave behind a powerful legacy. This podcast is sponsored by Christian Book and Academy, where we help you give birth to your books. We invite you to join our community of Kingdom writers.