THIS is How a Writing Coach Walks His Talk
Listen to the audio version of this article here: Writing is hard. DAMN hard. As a writing coach, my job is to make it just a little bit easier by teaching you what I know. Every time I hit publish on a blog post or release a new podcast episode it’s with the intention of…
Sarah Werner, Host of the Write Now Podcast – The Writing Coach 029
Welcome to The Writing Coach. On this podcast, I speak with the instructors, editors, coaches, and mentors that help writers and authors create their art, build their audience, and sell their work. In this episode, I speak with Sarah Werner. Sarah is a writer, a columnist for Forbes, and the host of Write Now, a popular podcast…
How to Get the Reader Feedback You Really Want
When seeking feedback on your manuscript, it’s extremely important to be honest with yourself regarding exactly what type of feedback you want. Whether you’re providing the piece of writing to a spouse, a critique group, or beta readers, you’ll need to let the reader know specifically what you require from them in return. The worst possible…
Do you want it BAD enough?
I know so many aspiring authors who are paralyzed by fear they aren’t good enough. They spend their time worrying their prose style just doesn’t hack it, their story-telling chops are weak, they’ve chosen the wrong point of view, they should have gone with the other story idea, etc. etc. They’re so worried they aren’t…
Why Writers Need to be Tightrope Walkers
I’ve never been a fan of “balance”. When I gave up on the government-recommended “balanced diet” and instead ate an unbalanced diet that consisted primarily of vegetables and meet, I lost weight, gained muscle, felt healthier, and performed athletically at a higher level. That’s just one example of why I’ve always believed obsessive focus and dedication is…
Don’t Make Your Book More Important than It Is
There’s a major roadblock that stops many aspiring authors from finding success. I see it time and time again with my coaching clients. They take their book too seriously. These aspiring authors believe that, once completed and published, their novel will define who they are; nay, it will define their very value as a human being. They…
Fizzle.co is Building a Budding Army of Creative (and Honest) Entrepreneurs
Books don’t sell themselves. Like so many authors before me, I only learned this lesson after publishing my first novel. And when book sales dried up, I realized I knew absolutely nothing about business, sales, or marketing. Thus began a multi-year self-education in business fundamentals. The internet offers no shortage of opportunities to learn about…
Book Publishing is About More than Just Money
Bryan Collins of Become a Writer Today recently included me (along with other big writers like K. M. Weiland, James Scott Bell, and Robert McKee) in an awesome infographic: 11 Top Writers on their Greatest Writing Challenges and How they Overcome their Demons. In addition to being a “top writer”, I’m also a writing coach. I’ve worked with hundreds…
Ani Alexander on Being a Brand Architect – The Writing Coach 026
Welcome to The Writing Coach. On this podcast, I speak with the instructors, editors, coaches, and mentors that help writers and authors create their art, build their audience, and sell their work. Ani Alexander is an author, brand coach, and the host of the popular podcast, Write to be Read, which she hosted for over…
Using Kindle Percentages to Help Revise Your Manuscript
This week I created an ebook version of my current work-in-progress to send to Beta readers. While reviewing the ebook in Kindle, I noticed the percent reading down in the corner of the page. This led to a realization regarding how I can use those percentages to aid in the revision of my book, and…
