Blog
How to Build a Sustainable Writing Workflow
Most writers don’t struggle with ideas. They struggle with consistency—finding a rhythm that supports creativity instead of draining it. A sustainable writing workflow isn’t about writing every day or hitting a magical word count. It’s about building a system that fits your life, your energy, and your creative process. Start by identifying your creative patterns. When do you think most clearly? When do you feel most imaginative? When are you mentally fried? A workflow that
What Authors Need to Know About AEO
If you’ve been anywhere near publishing or marketing conversations lately, you’ve probably heard the term AEO—AI Engine Optimization. And if your first reaction was “Great, another acronym,” you’re not alone. But AEO isn’t about playing a game or writing like a robot. It’s about making your work discoverable in a world where readers increasingly find books through AI‑driven tools. Here’s the simplest way to think about AEO: It helps AI understand who you are, what
How to Structure Your Novel’s Emotional Arc
When writers talk about story structure, they usually mean plot: the beats, turning points, and external events that keep pages turning. But the truth is, readers don’t fall in love with plot. They fall in love with emotional movement—the internal journey your protagonist takes as the story unfolds. That’s the emotional arc, and it’s the heartbeat of a novel. An emotional arc isn’t about making your character feel more feelings. It’s about guiding them through
Typeform Training
Working on a group book and navigating the collection of materials? You’ll want to check out Typeform! My client and colleague Christina Fontana shows you how to use this fantastic tool in this short training. If you found value in this training and want to try Typeform, please use Christina’s affiliate link!
How to Be a Successful Nonfiction Author
So you want to sell books … It’s more than just putting the book online and going about your business. There are certain things that a nonfiction author (or really any author) needs to do to make sure that people are finding their books. A book is intended to be a piece of the puzzle for your business, not some side thing that you do to check a box and never use again. Think of
3 Tips for Book Covers for Your Soul Book
Your book cover is the first thing people see when they are considering your book. If you want your legacy book to stand out while fitting in, looking professional and calling to your ideal reader, then make sure you check out the tips in this video so it packs the powerful punch that it should!
3 Tips to Help with Writer’s Block
People tend to not be fans of writer’s block. I wonder why … Just when you think you’ve got it all together, that you’re going to get that book out into the world, you can’t figure out what to say next. And it can come from a variety of places, which can make it even harder to cure. But if you want to keep on writing and stop being stalled, these are some of my
The Process I Use to Write Books
Writing a book is way easier if you have a plan ahead of time! Sure, we all want that magic moment when the words pour from our fingertips, gracing the page with our brilliance, but you have to wait for that. Plan first, party later. This is the method that I use to write my own books. Yes, they are fiction, but the principles apply to nonfiction, so I teach them to my authors as
How a Book Works for a Coach or Speaker Biz
You can’t just make a book, publish it on Amazon, and cross your fingers. It isn’t going to sell itself! One of the biggest mistakes I see authors of nonfiction make is to do just that. They have no plan at all for getting it out to the world, connecting with others, or using it to leverage a business they already have. Check out the video below for my tips on how to use your
What to Ask Yourself Before Writing a Book for Your Biz
You may have heard people suggest to “start from the beginning” when you want to tell a story, but it’s a little more complicated when you need to write a book, especially nonfiction, especially for your business. The beginning can be hard to pinpoint. And the real point of the book is to take people on a transformational journey. So how do you start? Let’s back up. Before you start writing the actual book, there
How to Narrow the Focus When Planning Your Book
Business owners have tons of ideas swirling around in their heads most of the time. Snatching onto a few and putting them in your outline should be pretty simple right? The problem is usually that we pull a lot more than “a few” when we sit down to plan that outline. The nice thing is that you should have plenty of ideas to populate that outline. When you do your brain dump, you can get
What is a Book Editor?
For this post, I’m answering the second half of the question on the differences between a writing coach and a book editor. While they both have a similar goal, helping you get a book published, they handle different parts of the process. To read about what a writing coach does, see the previous post. For the editor portion, see below. When writers think of editors, they often picture someone wearing a black pointed hat, devil
What is a Writing Coach?
This month, I’m tackling a topic that I get asked about a lot: what is the difference between a writing coach and a book editor? Though it seems like they would be doing the same thing, the jobs are very different. For starters, the writing coach’s job is to help you get the book out of your head and on paper, while the editor’s job is to clean up the text and make it publishable.
Create without Judgement
Have you ever watched children playing? It’s carefree. It’s not full of concern or doubt or fear. My kids play dress up a lot with various pieces of clothing that they decided make up a character’s costume. Usually, it looks nothing like that character, but they tell me that’s who they are. They name their dolls, animals we see, and people they don’t know. My oldest is a little more grounded (most of the time),
How to Serve by Writing a Book
When you work one-on-one with your clients, you want to help them as much as possible. I know that so many coaches give more than they have to just to make sure that the lesson sticks, that the mind shifts, that the client is able to get over that hurdle and achieve what they’ve been looking for. But you’re only one person, right? You can only give so much. And when you have a lot
How Connection Through Your Book Leads to Healing
I was doing an exercise suggested by a creative thought-leader I’m friends with when I stumbled upon an idea that I didn’t realize was at the heart of what I do. For this exercise, we were asked to write “I believe” statements about our work. My work is coaching writers and editing their books so they can create the best version of the book and connect optimally with readers. I want the coaches, speakers, and business
How to Write About a Topic that Triggers You
Writing is a very personal thing to do. It involves a lot of emotion, both negative and positive. It bares the soul. It’s an act of cleansing. An act of rebirth. Writing can bring out our best. It can heal. There is a very good reason why everyone from teachers to therapists to business coaches encourages people to write. Getting the words out of our heads and on paper can give us a new perspective
How to Do a Call-to-Action at the End of Your Book
The End You’ve told your story. You’ve analyzed. You’ve provided the reader with a path to take, guidance, solutions, and the knowledge that you can help them through to the end of their journey. Now what? Before you send to printing, take another look at that book. It’s really a marketing piece, not a stand alone. What do YOU want to get out of that book? A client, of course. So you need to have
Mosaic Writing: Working Backwards from Writing to Planning and Beyond
You know the feeling you get when you open a box and the puzzle pieces are already assembled into the perfect final puzzle? You don’t? Me either. Part of the beauty and the challenge of creating a puzzle is to look at all the pieces and figure out which pieces go where. Which parts are the frame? What about the basket? The butterfly? The giant hulking monster with crazy eyes and pointy teeth? Maybe we
How to Inspire Others with Your Story
You’re finally ready. Something has pushed you to write a book about your experience, your methods, your way of thinking. But why does it actually matter? And why would someone want to read it? People are often inspired by others who have overcome challenges or developed a plan of attack to help them out. They want to read stories that will show them that they can get through what they are going through, someone has