I'm a writer, blogger, tarot reader and designer. I'm also a CRES editor for the Myths Legends And Fairy Tales Department. I self-publish and have most of my eBooks on Apple, Kobo, Barnes and Noble, Googleplay, Scribd, and other eBook stores, as well as through selected libraries. More of my audio tarotscopes are on https://www.patreon.com/LeennaNaidoo, search term tarotscopes on my Patreon page.
Or subscribe to my new podcast Way I See It-Writerstarot With Leenna on Spotify, Apple, Deezer, Stitcher and other podcast services.
Enjoy!
Oops! I felt Mercury Retro arriving (with many ‘where’s my head moments’) and thought it wasn’t going to be for a another two months! But it’s from end September to late October, so heads up! But isn’t it a good thing I got this tarotscope out in time? 😀 Time to halt those tech buys, check your transport and other stuff we do to get through Mercury’s wobbly days easily 😀
If you’d like a weekly heads up, be sure to subscribe to my podcast for free, Details below 😀
Something new! This week I used my new Food Fortunes cards for suggestions for your menu as well as your heads up for the week. You can watch the video of this reading on my Patreon Channel, or download the audio as usual:-D Bon Appetite! Provecho! Geniet dit! Enjoy!
PS. Thanks to those of you who volunteered as guinea pigs for this deck. It was such a pleasure to read for you, and I learnt a lot!
So, I’ve gotten two new tarot decks—my first in over two years—and I thought you could help me out a little in figuring them out by letting me practice on you 😀
The two decks are Food Fortunes by Josh Lafeyette and The Light Seers Tarot by Chris Anne.
Food Fortunes is a little on the strange and wonderful side as I’m not sure if it’s technically a tarot deck, but it will bring new flavour to my readings 😀
The Light Seers Tarot by Chris Anne is a deck I’ve had my eye on since I first saw it on YouTube readings. It’s a very modern/hippie/lightworkers/healers/free-spirit type deck very different from the more traditional and traditions-based decks that I own.
Now, I wasn’t sure if they’d work together, but mum agreed to be my guinea pig readee and we had a very good and deep reading. I’m curious to learn more about these decks by reading them individually and getting to know their special personal meanings for me. And you can help me this week.
Volunteer to be one of my guinea pig readees in the form below and I’ll answer your question to the best of my ability to read these new cards in a single free mini-reading of a few sentences or a short audio. Special shout-out to my awesome subscribed patrons who’ll be getting free full readings with these decks, and to my Urbanite friends trying my mini-reads out for the first time 😀
So, looking forward to reading for you 😀
Disclaimer: All readings are for fun, entertainment and enlightenment. All decisions and responsibilities regarding your reception of the readings information lie solely with you.
Free mini-reading offered only until 16 August 2021.
Phew! What a July! We survived! Now, it’s time to get back to business and making progress.
And apologies for the late posting. With my new job, it’s getting harder to find the time to do your monthlies on time. This month, I’ve done a special channelled message from a crystal for each sign with totally random messages.
Don’t forget, if you’d like your weekly tarotscopes, subscribe for free to Way I See It With Leenna. Details down below.
So, I’ve thought about addressing this topic for a while, but didn’t as I’d closed this chapter of my life in 2019 and didn’t feel the need–until this Mercury Retrograde. I shared with my patrons about my experience, why I believe I had to go through it and how I came out on the other side. I thought some of you might be interested in my definitions of twin flame/divine partner, and get a little more insight into twin flames in general. The entire ramble is up on Patreon, but I hope this clip helps you sort out a little of the confusion around the terms. Here’s the start of what I shared with my patrons:
Yes, it is possible to close the chapter on your twin flame. In this ramble, I talk about my experience, reflect on it some, and tell you how I closed the chapter on my twin flame experience. If you’re having doubts about your twin flame relationship, or if you’re interested in knowing what’s it like being in a twin flame relationship, then this is for you.
This may not resonate with everyone or anyone else, and if you don’t agree with what I say, that’s fine with me. Take what’s helpful and leave the rest 😀
Introduction 00:00 Definition of Twin flame 01:50 Why I Labeled it a Twin Flame Relationship 04:12 My Concept of a Divine Partner 01:50 The Reason I’m Rambling on Twin Flames 09:25
Mercury Retrograde is here! And (in a little channeled message for my Patron’s) it’s going to be quite a ride! Rollercoasters and all that. So, eat healthy and eat lightly. Just saying…
And apologies for the late posting. With my new job, it’s getting harder to find the time to do your monthlies on time.
Don’t forget, if you’d like your weekly tarotscopes, subscribe for free to Way I See It With Leenna. Details down below.
Enjoy the ride and stay safe at all times–keep those hands close to your sides 😀
This TBR Love is part audio with my new podcast—Way I See It: eBooks For Travelers. In the fourth episode, I discuss the some of the books in the Dead In The Water Mystery and Thriller Giveaway.
Don’t forget to check out the fantastic giveaways on Prolific Works, including my own Situation No Win sample of the first five chapters. My eBook is also discounted at most retailers until early May 2021 😀
Why eBooks For Travelers? Whether on the move or in armchairs, ebooks are lighter by far and—I believe more eco-friendly!
Giveaways!
22 March to 5 April 2021: Romance in every subgenre.
23 March to 6 April 2021: Actions and thrills, long and short reads.
Little Known, Highly Recommended
Featured in the podcast e-Books For Travelers episode
Kick Back by Phil Savage
An Alex Munday book Volume 1
Alex Munday, ex football star, now struggling for credibility as a journalist and PR troubleshooter.
The seedier side of football and organised crime from match fixing and gambling to money laundering to illegal contracts with players, and even international gang wars.
Bloodbath in Rio by Gus Heyerdahl
A Tor Medina Thriller Novella
Set in the Morros of Rio, Tor’s family is massacred and he immediately seeks revenge. Helped by a neighbour and Tor’s girlfriend, Morena. This fast-paced story covers just a few days of this turning point in Tor’s life.
Don’t Let Her Go by JG Alva
Standalone novella
Jamie Richards and his wife are out shopping with their daughter, Amy, in Bristol, UK. When Amy is abducted at knife point, both parents go to extreme lengths to get her back.
So, ja, it’s been just over three months already since I first started my official podcast Way I See It With Leenna.
Looking at my unimpressive stats, you’re probably wondering if I’m celebrating this milestone or not. Well, I am! But before I get into why, let me first take you through my experience with Buzzsprout so far.
It all Began When…
Oh, I don’t know when…Probably back in 2017, just after I came off the weekday radio slot at LotusFm and wondered how best to start my own regular podcast that suited my schedule (or non-schedule) better. Or maybe it began back when I was teaching in China and occasionally stumbled upon some awesome podcasts on iHeart Radio and thought I’d like to do something like that…
In any case, I decided to go the Patreon way back in 2018 and haven’t regretted it, though, as usual, my subscriber count is very low. As I prefer quality over quantity, I’m very happy with my awesome patrons and what we’re doing over on that channel. But back to Buzzsprout.
In November/December 2020, I decided I was finally ready to do the weekly tarotscopes and thought it would be great to have it distributed to Spotify and Apple. I went back to researching podcast hosting sites. I’d done so in 2017 and couldn’t afford them back then, not that I can afford them much now, but more about that later. This time I came across Buzzsprout as an alternative to Podbean. (I honestly think the podcasting community might be too into coffee, but never mind). I liked the feel of Buzzsprout, but what really sold me was their pay-as-you-go plan and their free plan. Currently, I’m using their free plan with 2 hours of audio and 3 months of hosting for each episode. Once its three months are up, that episode is deleted. If I exceed 2 hours of uploads for a monthly cycle, then I can upgrade for the month to get an additional hour for only $4. This is what sold me. It suits my weekly content needs and my tatty-string budget perfectly! I have plans to add extra content like the eBooks For Travelers episodes and, hopefully, interviews in the future when I can get onto the regular $12 per month plan. But for now, while I’m building up from my 2-11 person audience that I’ve achieved so far via Buzzsprout, I’m happy with the plan.
How I Clicked With the Upload Button
So, me being me, I did my research the night before and got the deets for the artwork, description, file types and stuff like that. I decided to use the same branding as Leennascreativebox as I’ve been doing tarotscopes here since 2016 or so, and it just made sense. It was all ridiculously easy with the name of the podcast being the hardest part of the process for me. On that same night, I recorded three episodes (it was a busy period and I didn’t want to stress about recording episodes over Christmas) and converted them into mp3 format using VLC.
I can’t remember if I registered the night before or the day I uploaded. I don’t think it would have made a difference anyway. Things just ran very smoothly from the start.
On the morning of my first upload, I created the podcast channel complete with branded artwork, filled in the deets with the descriptions, categories etc., then went to the big green upload button and marvelled at how quickly my audio loaded. It was all done in less than 10 minutes. That was the Friday. I scheduled my first episode for that Saturday morning—less than 24 hours.
Then, mindful that I had a busy week, I uploaded the other two episodes and waited to see what happened.
What Happened the First and Second Week
First thing that Friday of the first upload, I got an email from Buzzsprout for each upload, telling me the episode was successfully uploaded and I had x amount of free upload time for the month.
That Friday, I was also able to choose my distribution. When I clicked on the distribution tab, my podcast was already in Spotify, Deezer, and a couple of others. I was then able to apply for distribution to Apple (it’s a bit of process, but not too bad), Stitcher (less of a process), iHeart Radio (I wasn’t sure if I’d be accepted but gave it a go, anyway), and a couple of others. I’m never impressed by Amazon’s treatment of writers so I elected not to use their podcast services and sign another gargantuan agreement with them. The whole process is easy to follow and do, with information about how long to expect before you might hear back from Apple, Stitcher and iHeart Radio.
It’s very easy to get listed.
Six hours later, Stitcher sent me a welcome.
First thing on the Saturday of my very first episode being released, I checked my stats and found I had a listener! All the way from France :-D. The download was on Deezer and not Spotify, so perhaps new content is easier to find on Deezer.
I shared on Facebook, Twitter and with family and friends, and by Sunday evening, I had about another three downloads.
On Tuesday, I got an email from Apple letting me know my podcast was now available on iTunes, Overcast and their other services.
Additional services when you sign up on Apple.
Feeling chuffed, I checked my stats, but there weren’t any new listeners. In fact, it took another two to three weeks before I had any downloads on Apple and Spotify.
With having scheduled ahead, Episode 2 of Way I See It With Leenna, had about two downloads when I checked the next Saturday morning. I shared on this blog, Facebook, and Twitter, using Headliner to create a minute and a half promo audiograms. It was easy and fun creating them and by the end of the week, I had a couple more downloads.
Towards the end of the week of Episode 2, or maybe it was Episode 3, I got an email from iHeart Radio saying my podcast was now available on their service. There was already a download from them as well!
And so it Goes
And so it went. So far, the most listeners I’ve had is 11 when I did the first Bonus Reading for Valentines, but the follow up on the feature the next week went back to about 4 listens. I think it’s still too early to tell what the potential is for this podcast. But I’m happy with it. Why? Because of my patrons! I’ve been uploading the same episodes a day early on my Patreon channel Writerstarot With Leenna. In addition, each episode will be archived for them should they wish to use it for their research or self-growth. And, my patrons have been listening to the podcast on Patreon, often sharing it with their family, too.
A few weeks ago, Buzzsprout was held to ransom by hackers, and I was impressed with their transparency and response. Buzzsprout sent out an email just hours after the attack, letting us know what was going on, what they were doing about it, and what they expected to happen moving forward. They also kept us updated on Twitter in real time. It was great to see the amount of support and goodwill that came from the Buzzsprout community. While I wasn’t affected by the service being down, it’s heartening to track how quickly the site was up again. It was back to normal the next I logged in. Buzzsprout’s technical team get the superhero badges from me 🙂
And on it Goes
I don’t share as often as I should on social media. In fact, I’ve left Facebook, and saw no impact on the number of listens I’ve received weekly. I do share on my YouTube channel every now and then, and I can’t tell if that’s helping or not. So, how do I think the one or two new listeners are finding me? Well, I believe it’s this blog (so, huge thanks to you!), as well as the searches within the service apps like Deezer, iHeart Radio and Apple.
So, is it worth it for me? Yes it is! I don’t yet have a buzz around my podcast, but it’s in a good place to sprout 😀 (I’m sorry, I just couldn’t resist it!)
