About Aspiring Writer Academy
Our Goal for Aspiring Writer Academy is to help people learn how to write quality fiction, teach them to publish and promote their work, and to give them the necessary tools to pursue a writing career.
If you are here on this page, I bet that you can relate to at least one or more of these statements:
- I have an idea for a story but have never written a book
- I have written several books but have never been published
- I want to learn how to self-publish or submit a proposal to traditional book publishers
- I have written and published, but want to take my writing to the next level with better quality and higher sales
- I would like to be part of a supportive community of writers who help one another and share ideas
- I would love to have someone help me understand how to build a website/blog
- I want to learn how to use social media, market my work, and build an author platform/brand
- I would like to earn money (or more money) doing something that I love, perhaps bring in a second income to help support my family
- I want to run my own business, where I have the freedom to live life on my own terms
- I would like to share a message through my writing that can have a profound impact on my readers and the world
We created Aspiring Writer Academy because we often meet people who have a passion for writing a book but they do not know where to start. Or they have written a book, but they have no idea how to publish their work or build an author brand. Or they may lack marketing and social media skills. Or they may simply want to take their writing careers to the next level. Here at Aspiring Writer Academy, we can teach you new skills that will help steer you in the right direction.
About Us
Darlene and Samantha Panzera are the mother-daughter team behind Aspiring Writer Academy.
We share insights, tools, & resources to help you achieve your writing goals.
Who Are We?
Darlene Panzera
I have always loved to write and started writing my first novel when I was 14 after seeing a friend scribbling a story in a spiral-bound notebook. I thought 'how cool is that?' But after taking some writing classes in college, I knew the path to publishing would not be quick or easy. I became a dental assistant to earn an income and married and had three children, but I never stopped writing. I read 'how-to' books on the craft of writing, took courses, and worked with a mentor. But it wasn’t until 2005 that I joined my first writing group and actively started pursuing a writing career.
I graduated from the Writer's Digest Advanced Novel Writing School and The Christian Writer's Guild apprentice program and became an active member of Romance Writers of America. I started attending numerous conferences and classes, served five years on the board of RWA's Peninsula Chapter and in 2011 served as chapter president.
Several years later I got my big break.
ASPIRING AUTHOR WINS WRITING CONTEST
THE BET THAT REALLY PAID OFF:
ASPIRING AUTHOR WINS WRITING CONTEST, WILL BE PUBLISHED IN JULY 2012 NOVEL HEADLINED BY #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR DEBBIE MACOMBER
Avon Books Will Publish “The Bet” by Darlene Panzera as part of Debbie Macomber’s “Family Affair”
After winning the contest and publishing my novella with Debbie's, there was a whirlwind of author interviews, online blog tours, press releases, and that amazing moment of holding my story in print and seeing it on the bookshelves of grocery stores and bookstores worldwide.
When the publisher learned that my novella THE BET was originally a full-length novel that I cut down to meet the word count of the "Make Your Dream's Come True Contest" they quickly offered me a second contract to publish the original.
The title for the full-length version was changed to BET YOU'LL MARRY ME and was released in December of 2012 by Avon Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.
BET YOU'LL MARRY ME, went on to become a finalist for RWA's Greater Detroit Best Book Award.
Later in 2012, I went to a writer conference and met and signed with my agent, Nicole Resciniti, of The Seymour Agency.
After my first full-length novel with Avon Books, I signed several other contracts. THE CUPCAKE DIARIES: SWEET ON YOU, the first in a 5-novella book series released in May 2013. THE CUPCAKE DIARIES: Sweet on You, hit the top 100 on the Barnes & Noble Nook with a debut at #7 in overall sales.
What this series taught me the most was how to write quickly and meet my deadlines. I also gained valuable experience working with content editors, copy-editors, and publicists. I needed to learn how to do a blog tour, engage on social media, and create promotional materials like bookmarks, ads, and Facebook banners.
Next, I signed another contract for a three-book heartwarming western series titled, MONTANA HEARTS. All three were finalists in the Aspen Gold Reader's Choice Contest sponsored by the Heart of Denver Romance Writers of RWA. MONTANA HEARTS: HER WEEKEND WRANGLER was also a finalist in the Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence, sponsored by the Southern Magic chapter of RWA.
I have also written historical romance for Barbour Publishing, two of which were finalists for the Oregon Christian Writers' Cascade Award, and one, The Groom She Thought She'd Left Behind (part of THE RUNAWAY BRIDES COLLECTION) won the American Christian Fiction Writers' prestigious Carol Award.
Over the years I have continuously mentored aspiring writers, teaching them what I have learned, and I am excited to expand that service with Aspiring Writer Academy.
Samantha Panzera
I have a Techincal Art's degree in integrated multimedia and certificates in photography and photoshop from Olympic College in Bremerton, WA. I am always taking courses and workshops on marketing, blogging, graphic design, and social media.
Most of my knowledge about online marketing and graphic design is self-taught and has been gained by years of hands-on experience. For over 10 years I have been formatting and uploading books for authors, designing book covers, running book launch campaigns, running numerous social media profiles for clients, creating YouTube book trailers, and designing custom websites for small businesses and writers.
I have also been Darlene's promotional manager in charge of organizing book launch marketing and helping to strategically build her author platform.
I teach classes to various writer groups around the Seattle area for those who do not understand social media and now I am excited to branch out and teach others online.
Some Common Topics I Cover
- Building an Author Platform/Brand
- Web Design & Development, How to Set up and operate your own site/blog
- Different Content Marketing Strategies
- Uploading and Formatting your book for Amazon or other publishing platforms
- SEO, often going into Keywords, Tags, Hashtags, and other ways of optimizing your content for google search
- Email Marketing, Creating Email Newsletters, writing engaging emails and integrating signup forms with your site
- Running Ads. Google Adwords, AMS ads, Facebook ads, Pinterest ads, Instagram and other PPC/ CPC and CPM ads
- Social Media Marketing: Facebook, Youtube, Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter
- How to create and schedule posts
After years of doing freelance graphic design, creating websites, and running social media for authors and small businesses, I have started a monetized travel blog called Adventure Hike Travel.
On Adventure Hike Travel, I blog about my hikes and travels exploring the world. I earn affiliate commissions by promoting products that I love. I also run display ads on my website, in addition to selling my own custom-designed products and clothing through my eCommerce store.
Here at Aspiring Writer Academy, I'm excited to teach and share how writers can start earning an income with their own blogs. I am also elated to be sharing tons of top-notch marketing and tech tips to boost your writing careers to the next level!
Marketing
Samantha used her tech skills to help Darlene create a website and assist with marketing. As a team, we participated in numerous book signings and went to different book events and local festivals where we gained hands-on experience in promotion while selling and marketing. We created a website, started an online email newsletter, a Facebook page, designed bookmarks, postcards, banners, flyers, and learned to blog, amongst many other things.
We have certainly come a long way over the years and have gained knowledge on how to do things better with each book release and event.
Teaching
We have been teaching writing classes for many years at conferences and workshops throughout the Pacific Northwest. As I (Darlene) met more and more aspiring writers, I also started privately mentoring and teaching students using my own curriculum. My heart truly goes out to new aspiring writers and there's nothing better than seeing that "lightbulb moment" when everything starts to click into place for them.
Self Publishing
In addition to my traditionally published books, my daughter, Samantha, and I decided to team up to create a children's book based on our two horses, Riki and J.R.
I wrote the words and Samantha used a combination of Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, and her handy-dandy Watcom tablet drawing pad to create the illustrations.
Our First Students
Helping others achieve their dreams is the foundation for Aspiring Writer Academy.
These women are what truly gave us the inspiration to start, Aspiring Writer Academy.
With a passion to help other aspiring writers learn the techniques to write a story worthy of the publishing industry, we took seven unpublished writers under our wing and started a private coaching group. The goal was to learn to write a novella from start to finish, learn marketing skills, and develop an author platform to prepare them for publishing. The women gathered together every two weeks for almost two years. We helped them put their stories together in an anthology titled, Christmas of Hope, published in the fall of 2016. Afterward, they were able to use the skills they'd learned to go on and publish many other works.
We have created Aspiring Writer Academy to help even more people learn how to write quality fiction and pursue a writing career.
Take Action and Start Your Writing & Publishing Journey Today!
How Can We Help You?
Learn to Write Quality Fiction
More Ways We Can Help
Learn to Blog, Publish, and Market Your Work
Marketing
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