I know a lot of you skim (no judgment) and maybe just want to listen instead of reading. If that’s you, no problem.
But if you stick around, I want to tell you a little story.
A few days ago, I was curled up on the couch scrolling through Substack Notes with a cup of tea in one hand and a toddler climbing my leg. And there she was. Witchy author and magical fellow mompreneur
.To be honest, I didn’t know her. But I saw she was rising fast in the #Education category on Substack.
I read some of her posts and though to myself
“I want my Club members to meet
!”
🥳UPDATE: Today, Bre became a Substack bestseller with 100 paid subscribers. Congrats, Bre!🥳 In the DMs she told me she’s still looking for an email from Substack, but until then we can go with this:
✨To get her some more, 2 READERS CAN WIN 365 days of Bre magic! Win a paid subscription to Bre’s newsletter .
How to win? Listen to the pod, leave a comment and share this podcast episode with your friends.✨
Pssst! As we’re celebrating 1 year of podcasting, you can also meet Bre and all her practical magic on Wednesday, November 5th at…
🕓 15:30 UK | 10:30 ET | 7:30 PT | 16:30 Berlin
…inside the inner circle of The Online Writing Club.
Our Biggest Dreams Live In The Hearts of The People Who Raised Us
When I was little, it was my (grand)dad who bought me a journal and asked me to start writing the moment I could hold a pencil in my hands.
’s grandma always said to him: “Travel while you’re young”. And he did!💡Here's my conversation with Michael about building a soulful one-person writing business.Now Bre’s another perfect example of what it means to keep showing up when no one believes in you (yet). and you don’t feel seen.
Of how sometimes our biggest dreams live in the hearts of the people who raised us.
“One day I’m going to see you on the New York Times list,” her late grandmother said to her.
She was her best friend.
Since Bre’s a goal-getter, she said:
“Okay, I’m going to take the deal.”
But before that?
500 (!) rejections in a decade.
500 No’s.
Even more than comedian Kevin Hart!
One small press finally offered her a $4,000 book deal.
As she had no money for ads or other bigger promotional activities, she knew she had to do her own marketing and build her own audience.
So she started posting on Instatgram and TikTok in the cracks of time.
This magical episode is the behind-the-scenes story of how she “made it”.
How Bre went from 0 to instant NYT bestseller (her grandma was right!) as a debut with 11,000 preorders as a promise to the woman who cheered her on.
From 0 to 7M Monthly Views (!)
From scratch, Bre cracked the code on what Gary Vee calls interest media (social media is dead!):
Free platform. Free attention. Free content. Free momentum.
In 2.5 years Breanne Randall built:
650,000+ followers
7 million monthly reach
And her key to it all?
Hooks + Gilmore Girls meets Practical Magic
We can learn soooooooooooooo much from her, especially about failing… hard.
🎙️In Today’s Episode, You’ll Learn
How to turn rejection into fuel: Bre shares how she faced over 500 rejections, stayed relentless for 10 years, and finally became a New York Times bestselling author as an underdog.
How to build an audience with emotional connection, not ads: Breanne explains how “hooks, not plots” helped her grow from zero followers to hundreds of thousands. Think Taylor Swift and someone would say: “It feels like one of Taylor’s songs..”. Would you read it?
How consistency beats virality: Bre reveals why posting often and showing up daily matters more than chasing one viral moment.
How to market your work with heart: From hand-addressing 500 envelopes to treating every reader like a friend, Breanne shows how to sell without losing authenticity and while homeschooling her kids.
✨Ask Bre Anything LIVE: Join Us Inside the Online Writing Club
Want to ask Bre your own questions?
“I started Alchemy Era because I know firsthand how overwhelming it can feel to be an author in today’s world. Writing the book is hard enough and then comes publishing, and suddenly you’re told you also need to be a marketing expert, a content creator, and a full-time cheerleader for your own work. It’s… a lot.”
Join us LIVE inside the Online Writing Club Inner Circle where we’ll meet Breanne on Wednesday, November 5th at…
🕓 14:30 UK | 9:30 ET | 6:30 PT | 15:30 Berlin
Give her an hour and Bre will teach you how to make your publishing and marketing dreams come true.
🔮7 Personal Highlights From My Conversation With Bre
1. “Tomorrow could be the day.”
Breanne stayed hopeful through ten years and hundreds of rejections. Her mindset was about showing up, believing that each new day could be the breakthrough.
In her head she heard her late grandma’s voice saying: “One day I’m going to see you on the New York Times list”
2. “I had to separate my worth from my work and recognize that just because someone is rejecting my work does not mean that they are rejecting me.”
Bre learned early that rejection doesn’t define who you are. Detaching your identity from your output is the only way to keep creating through failure. Many now hire failure managers to experiment and do things differently.
So why not fail more, as Bre did?
3. “It’s not about that. It’s about the consistency. It’s about the repeatable actions.”
Going viral didn’t make Bre’s caree, consistency did. She built her audience one small post, one small action at a time.
4. “Using a hook is going to be the way to create your ideal audience.”
Instead of trying to summarize her books, she crafted emotional hooks like “Gilmore Girls meets Practical Magic.” Hooks connect faster than plot summaries ever could.
5. “Nobody’s going to care about something as much as you care about it.”
Her marketing worked because it came from her heart. Breanne didn’t wait for her small publisher to care more. She took full ownership of her success.
Amen to that!
6. “I hand addressed each envelope for the first 500 people who pre-ordered.”
Personal touches turn readers into fans. Breanne’s handwritten notes built a community around her work which left a lasting mark.
Lots of time goes into manually DMing readers (I can tell!), but this shows it’s worthwhile. It’s rough though not having an automation.
7. “One post can change the entire trajectory of your life.”
Bre’s story is a reminder that effort compounds. Every post, every connection, every act of showing up can be the one that changes EVERYTHING.
Bre Answers 4 ✨✨✨✨Community Questions
1. What do you think about Substack, and why did you move here?
“I think that Substack is incredible because it gives you this opportunity to be able to connect with your audience in a completely different way. (…) You get to share your thoughts, your journey, your feelings, and it’s all in one place where people actually want to read. (…) I wanted a place that felt calmer than social media, where I could write and connect without worrying about algorithms.”
2. Why do you post so often on social media though?
“It’s about the consistency. It’s about the repeatable actions. (…) I will post four or five times in a day on TikTok. (…) It is just all about repetition, honestly. (…) It’s about the touch points of somebody seeing my video and thinking, “Oh, that sounds good.”
Then I keep posting about it.
They see it a third time, a fourth time.
They think, “Dang, you know what? I’m going to get that.”So I just kept posting every day with variations on the hook.
3. What are the three types of posts you rely on most?
“POV clips, slideshows, and then memes and quotes. (..) I think the seven second videos with a POV style work in particular because statistically, you’re going to get (…) a higher response rate if you show your face.
4. Who made your creativity hub, your office space?
“My office is 200 feet from the house. (…) I have my office here. And this is where I am for, you know, most of every day. (…) My husband built it all for me. (…) Yes, this is love. Absolutely.”
🫵🏻Your Turn!
Alright, alright, alright…your turn.
What’s your big dream right now?
What’s that thing you keep saying you’ll start… but haven’t yet?
Or let’s make it fun:
Tell us your favorite Gilmore Girls scene.
Or be honest…what’s the hardest part about marketing your work?
No wrong answers.
Just drop it below. 👇
You never know who you’ll inspire.
And If Bre’s Grandma Could See Her Grandkid Now?
She’d probably just smile and say,
“I told you so!”
As Bre shared on Notes:
LET’S MAKE YOUR DREAMS COME TRUE!
With excitement and a little witchy sparkle,
Here’s how I can help you even MORE:
⭐Calm Your Stack (FREE tool) Hide the annoying column on your Substack homepage. Free tool built by my husband.
⭐StackBudy Collaborations (FREE tool) Find collab partners in 30 seconds. No excuses. Free.
⭐ VIPer Let’s set your Substack up for success and make you a bestseller (1x newsletter audit, quarterly 1:1 + StackBuddy access + discounts on Bootcamps
Liked this? Support an indie publisher and part-time mompreneur and ♻️SHARE ♻️this story and help us spread the magic.
Let’s make Bre’s grandma proud, together.
