Jennifer Dukes Lee invites you to transform into a better writer through “beautifully ruthless self-discovery.” It starts in the pages of your journal. In a recent interview, she delves into the therapeutic benefits of daily gratitude journaling and its potential to rewire our brains. By writing down things we’re grateful for, our minds seek out the … [Read more...]
From Idea to Contract: The Inspiring Story of a First-Time Author, with Merideth Hite Estevez
Gain inspiration from the journey of a first-time author who transformed her dream of writing into a reality by taking bold action. Merideth Hite Estevez's success story involved launching a captivating podcast and partnering with a coach (yep, that's me!) to develop a winning strategy. Her talent and tenacity helped her build a robust platform, create a winning book … [Read more...]
Prepare for Publishing with Insights from Literary Agent Lucinda Halpern
Literary agent Lucinda Halpern prepares us to navigate the industry and prepare for publishing. With her insights, we'll position our project—and ourselves as authors—to pitch agents and get noticed. She reveals what literary agents are really looking for when it comes to platform and clears up the concern about how much or how little to share of your book's ideas on … [Read more...]
What’s a Writing Coach (and what kind do I need)?
Have you ever wondered what a writing coach is? As you can imagine, I get asked this a lot. I mean, it is baked into my branding, and I love sharing insights I've gained over my years of coaching. Let's start with the simplest, broadest definition of what a writing coach is and does: A writing coach provides you with input and support designed to close the gap … [Read more...]
Find Your Book Midwife, Say “Yes” Before You’re Ready, Pitch to Build Platform, and Authentically Engage with Readers (interview with author Clarissa Moll)
For author Clarissa Moll, hiring a writing coach was like finding her book midwife, and she urges writers to seek that kind of intimate, knowledgeable support and input for their own writing and publishing journey. In this interview, Clarissa shares her approach to writing, platform, and publishing, like: make a list of 10 things whenever you're stuck or developing … [Read more...]
Build Your Platform: To Be More Findable, Find Your People
[Ep 219] Whether you’re interested in increasing blog readership or building a freelance writing business—and especially if you’re pursuing traditional publishing—you’ll want to connect with readers. You’ll want to reach people who are interested in your stories and ideas and appreciate how you present those ideas as a writer, in your unique style, tone, and … [Read more...]
Ep 160: Ways to Rebrand Yourself as a Writer – Cold Turkey
My dad started smoking when he was a teenager and smoked like a chimney all the way through college and into adulthood. He worked in the newsroom of a major metropolitan newsroom, where smoking cigarettes and cigars was the norm—almost expected. Isn’t that the stereotype from the movies? Well, in the 1960s, when my mom realized she was pregnant with my brother, Dad quit … [Read more...]
Ep 159: Ways to Rebrand Yourself as a Writer – Slow Transition
If you’ve concluded you really need to leave behind who you are and the writer you’ve been, and transition to a completely new look, feel, tone, and type of writing, you’re going to rebrand yourself. You have options for how to go about it. Ways to Rebrand: Trial Run We’ve already discussed starting with a trial run, which often leads to integrating the new brand with … [Read more...]
Ep 158: Ways to Rebrand Yourself as a Writer: Integrate
You’re going for it. You decided you’re going to rebrand yourself. How will you go about it? We already discussed one option: the trial run. Rebrand Yourself: Integrate Today we’ll see if choosing to integrate will work best. When you rebrand yourself in this way, it’s almost a continuation of your trial run in that you integrate the new brand with the existing … [Read more...]
Ep 157: Ways to Rebrand Yourself: Trial Run
You’re going for it. You decided you’re going to rebrand yourself. How will you go about it? You have options. One is what I’ll call “Trial Run.” Next time, we’ll talk about “Integration.” Then “Slow Transition” followed by “Cold Turkey.” Only the second two represent a true pivot—a total change in direction, where you’re moving on and not going back. Today let’s … [Read more...]
Ep 156: In a World of Author Branding, What If You Want to Rebrand?
In the last episode, I finally attempted to define an author brand. Before that, we talked about staying consistent with the core you—the brand you’ve developed, the tone you take, the voice your readers have come to enjoy. The episode before that, we discussed setting aside a place to play online—perhaps on a social media platform—so you can let your hair down and play … [Read more...]
Ep 155: In a World of Author Branding, uh…What’s an “Author Brand”?
I guess I got ahead of myself. I’ve been talking about author branding, but I didn’t describe or define it. And in this world of author branding, you may be wondering, “Uh...what’s an ‘author brand’?” Sorry to leave you full of questions. Like: Maybe all this talk of “brand” sickens you. “Seriously?” you’re thinking, “Brands are for jeans and perfume and … [Read more...]
Ep 154: In a World of Author Branding, Be Consistent at Your Core
Last time we talked about having a playground. A place to relax and try new things. A place where you can experiment and be a little messy until you figure out how you want to use that space. Consistent at Your Core At the same time, be consistent at your core. Not that you look exactly the same everywhere you go. I mean, that’s not even realistic. Think about it in … [Read more...]
Ep 153: In a World of Author Branding, Find a Place to Play
If you scroll through my Instagram feed, it won’t take long before you’ll see quotes on pictures, quotes with colored backgrounds, sourced images and my own snapshots all jumbled together. It’s not pretty. You’ll see travel pictures and book after book lying on a marble table, which is one of two or three decent backdrops in my home. The captions vary. Some are long, … [Read more...]
Ep 89: The Rush to Publish – How to Pace Your Career
In chapter 7 of On Being a Writer, my coauthor Charity Singleton Craig highlighted what L.L. Barkat calls the “Fifteen Years of Writing for Your Grandmother Rule” (On Being a Writer, 86). Charity included this excerpt from Barkat’s book Rumors of Water: It is not uncommon for writers to seek a large audience too early in their writing journeys. The idea of being … [Read more...]
