SORMAG’s Writers Café Podcast

Interview by Angela Anderson

Podcast of the Month:

SORMAG’s Writers Café Podcast

Spreading Social Butterfly Wings

LaShaunda Hoffman is a social butterfly indeed. She is a promotion strategist who took her love for books and turned it into an award-winning online magazine, Shades of Romance Magazine - SORMAG Digital. The multi-cultural literary magazine celebrated 20 years online, showcasing writers and their books before it closed in 2020.

In 2015, LaShaunda published her first book, Building Online Relationships – One Reader at a Time. This best-selling book is part of her promotion strategy program, Virtual Tea with LaShaunda. The program teaches writers and business owners how to strategically create promotion plans that keep them consistent and build their customer base.

She started the Social Butterfly Movement as a creative way to help authors and business owners to become the social butterflies they are meant to be. With a mission to introduce as many books as she can to readers and a passion for assisting writers in sharing their gifts, she gives us the SORMAG’s Writers Café Podcast. A podcast where writers are encouraged to spread their social butterfly wings.

Angela Anderson: How did you get started in podcasting?

LaShaunda Hoffman: I got started in podcasting because I missed doing live interviews. I used to do an online radio show – SORMAG Radio. I found that I enjoyed doing live interviews with authors. I decided to try my hand at podcasting, and it took off from there.

AA: What inspired you to start SORMAG’s Writers Café Podcast?

LH: I wanted to have a podcast that was like a conversation at a café versus the regular ask the author interview. I don’t even get in one question during some podcasts because the conversation is flowing. Those are my favorite podcasts because you learn so much when an author is sharing from the heart.

AA: How did you determine the name for the podcast, SORMAG’s Writers Café?

LH: I wanted to keep the SORMAG brand because my audience knew me by that. I knew the podcast would feature writers, so I added that. The café was my play on sitting at the café with these writers.

AA: What makes the SORMAG’s Writers Café Podcast unique?

LH: I think what makes it unique is that I can ask the same questions and get totally different answers because each author has their own experiences in writing, publishing, and marketing. I like that the listeners get to see that there is no one way to do this business. Everyone brings their own flavor to it.

AA: Share some of the behind-the-scenes of what is involved with making one podcast episode?

LH: I use Sartmeeting. It’s a conference call platform. The writers call into the platform, and we chat for an hour. I then create a graphic for the podcast featuring the author’s headshots. The audio is later uploaded to my podcast hosting service, Spreaker.com. In addition, a page is created on my blog with the podcast information. I create an email blast with the podcast info to send to my email community. The podcast information is shared with my social media community, and the podcast link and graphics are shared with the guests. Finally, the link and graphics are placed on the rotation of my scheduled promotion.

AA: What aspect of your podcast brings you tremendous joy?

LH: I absolutely adore having conversations with authors. I always come away from the podcast with new knowledge to help me in my author’s journey. I also love hearing from listeners who let me know they are learning from the podcasts too.

AA: What can listeners expect to receive when they tune into the SORMAG’s Writers Café Podcast?

LH: I always say, bring your notebook. You’ll be introduced to new authors and their books. You will get tips on writing books, publishing books, and marketing books. You might even get a few tips on how to live your best life. You never know what an author will share.

AA: What is one piece of advice you would share with someone who wants to start a podcast?

LH: Be sure this is something you want to do because you have to be consistent with your podcast to build your audience. If the listener enjoys your podcast, they will be back for more. Staying consistent brings them back.

AA: It’s the holiday season and the 4th quarter of the year. What do you enjoy about this time of year?

LH: The holiday season/Fourth Quarter is usually busy for me because I host my last event for the year in December – SORMAG’s Online Book Festival. I’m usually deep in promoting the book festival during this time. I’m updating the pages for the festival, creating the program and literary directory, and trying to get vendors and sponsorships for the festival.

I’m also looking at my results for the year. What worked for me, and what didn’t.

AA: What do you do to celebrate the holiday season?

LH: On a personal side, Thanksgiving and Christmas are my favorite holidays. I love giving and making gifts. I also enjoy cooking for my family. I usually make cookies with my kids and send out Christmas cards. I haven’t decided what I will be doing this year. This is my grandson’s second Christmas, so I have to come up with something fun for him.

AA: What are you looking forward to during the 4th quarter of the year for the SORMAG’s Writers Cafe Podcast?

LH: This is the final season for the year, so I’m doing the last of the interviews. I usually take a break in December and January and start the new season in February.

This December, I will be working on updating my podcast – See Ya On The Net. I was invited to join a podcast network, so I need to add some new content.

AA: In addition to the podcast, you shared that you put on an annual online book event, SORMAG Online Book Festival. Tell us a little more about the book festival.

LH: SORMAG Online Book Festival is three days of book fun. The first day is all about the book readers. The second day is about readers supporting authors, and the third is about readers becoming writers.

I started as a reader before becoming a magazine publisher, book promoter, and podcaster. I know how important readers are to the book industry. This event is my way of saying thank you to all the readers who support SORMAG and all the other authors.

AA: What’s next for the SORMAG’s Writers Café Podcast?

LH: I would love to feature more new authors. So many authors publish their books but aren’t getting the readership they want. I would like to help them introduce their books to readers.

AA: Share with us where and when people can listen to the SORMAG’s Writers Café Podcast.

LH: The SORMAG’s Writer’s Café Podcast can be listened to on Spreaker.com, https://www.spreaker.com/user/swcafe. The podcast can also be listened to on other platforms, including I Heart Radio, Amazon Music, Itunes, Google Play, and Sound Cloud. It is also available on YouTube and My website – lashaundahoffman.com.

AA: How can people stay connected with you?

LH: Thank you so much for this opportunity to share about the podcast and festival. I can be found online at www.lashaundahoffman. com. I can also be found on social media: Facebook -facebook.com/lashaunda.hoffman LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/lashaundahoffman/ Instagram - http://instagram.com/lashaundahoffman YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/lashaundahoffman Twitter – @sormag