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Welcome! 

Here you’ll discover valuable writing and self-publishing tips as well as relevant stories and industry updates to help you write a faith-based book that amplifies your message, builds your brand, and scales your mission.

I invite you to leave your comments; thoughtful, considerate discussions are always welcome!

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Nonfiction Authors: Let’s Get Real

Nonfiction Authors: Let’s Get Real – Most authors know that building a platform (an audience) is critical to their success. And in today’s world, that means you have to have an online presence through social media as well as a website and email list.

Yet becoming visible is an uphill battle. We tend to follow every guru we discover, attend as many webinars as possible, and try every tactic known to man.

And before we know it, we’re overwhelmed and confused.

Despite all of this chaos, maybe we’ve begun to attract a small following. Suddenly, we realize that these people think that we are gurus. So, we have to act like one, right?

This often leads us to become prideful. Maybe we do know more about a certain topic than the people on our lists, based on our work experience and length of time in the field.

But the fact is, we don’t know everything.Read More

7 Ways Pumpkin Carving Is Like Writing a Book

7 Ways Pumpkin Carving Is Like Writing a Book – Every autumn, I envision the cute costumes I could whip up in a jiffy without breaking the bank. The striking family photo taken of us in our coordinating outfits in the perfect pumpkin patch. And of course, displaying two award-worthy carved pumpkins (one for each child) at the entrance to our home.

Then I awake from my daydream.

The sad fact is that I’m not creative and I‘m certainly not crafty. I can’t sew on a button, let alone create an entire outfit, so I end up spending a small fortune on overpriced store-bought costumes that won’t fit again next year.

My family, apparently, cannot color coordinate nor smile simultaneously for a group photo no matter how many times we try in the fake farm setting next to the main road in the center of town.

And when it comes to carving pumpkins, well, let’s just say that it’s an adventure in humility.

“Pick something simple,” I instructed my youngest son.

Away to the Internet he went and a few minutes later, he happily supplied me with a printed image of Nintendo’s character, Kirby.

How hard can it be? I thought. It’s just a circular blob with eyes.

“Okay,” I agreed. “Let’s do it.”

From that moment forward, the steps involved in carving that pumpkin reminded me of the steps we authors have to go through every time we write a book.Read More

Piecing Together the Content Puzzle: How to Write Your Nonfiction Book

Writing a book is similar to completing a puzzle. I love puzzles, and growing up, I believed everyone else did, too. After all, everyone in my family looked forward to our annual holiday gatherings, where we often caught up on family news while piecing together a puzzle in the sitting room. But I have since come to realize that many people find puzzles boring, overwhelming or downright frustrating.

The same is true when piecing together the content of a book. I’ve written several books, and I enjoy the challenge of figuring out which piece of information belongs where. But what comes naturally to me, doesn’t necessarily come easily to others.

This was revealed to me recently in a survey I conducted among my subscribers. I assumed that they were struggling with the writing process itself. As it turned out, their biggest challenge was organizing their existing written content.

So, to help those of you who have books stagnating on your desktop because you’re bored or overwhelmed with the process of organizing your content, I’ve put together the following tips:Read More

What My Dinner Fiasco Taught Me about Writing

The other night I decided to make something different for dinner. My family had drifted into a summer rut of eating whatever was quickest and most convenient, not necessarily what was actually tasty or healthy. So, I determined to make something from scratch.

After searching through some recipes (yes, I actually looked through the old recipe box, not online), I found two that I thought would fit the bill. One was for the main meat course and the other for a side dish. Both sounded delicious and, most importantly, included ingredients I knew my family members, for the most part, would enjoy. Oh, one or two would prefer the meat over the side dish and vice versa, but at least everyone would appreciate the extra effort of a quality meal.

Or so I thought.

The meat that I thought everyone would love was not a hit with the kids. My fourteen-year-old suffered through it and ate it because he was really hungry (when isn’t he hungry these days?) but my nine-year old wouldn’t touch it.

As for the side dish, let’s just say it got a little overbaked. Some of the noodles became quite crispy, resulting in the unexpected and disturbing sound of crunch, crunch, crunch at intervals around the table.

And to top it all off, the brownies I made for dessert were flat and oily because I forgot to add an egg to the batter. That remains our little secret. My family never asked why the brownies didn’t look – or taste – like regular brownies (maybe they were afraid to ask), so I never shared my faux pas with them.

Needless to say, it was not a dinner I would have wanted to serve a guest.Read More

A Writer’s Summer Quandary (and 5 things you can do about it)

Ah, the so-called “lazy days” of summer. I love summertime, especially here along the coast. The beach beckons, the days lengthen and there’s an aura of fun and relaxation.

However, summer also usually means that school is out of session. Thus, for those of us writers with children (or grandchildren) in our homes 24/7, it also means that our established writing routines tend to disappear between June and August.

As an author and book coach, it’s a challenge for me to work at full capacity in the summer. It’s also difficult to not feel a bit guilty no matter what I do. If I spend time working, I’m spending time away from my kids. If I spend time with my kids, I’m not working my business to bring in necessary income.

So I strive to seek balance.Read More

3 Lessons I Learned from My First E-book

For years I’ve thought of writing an e-book. After all, entrepreneurs have been utilizing and singing the praises of e-books for at least a decade. And as someone who has enjoyed a front-row seat in the rise of the self-publishing industry, I flippantly wondered, “How hard can it be?”

So with a new book idea in mind, I downloaded Kindle’s “Building Your Book for Kindle” PDF and read it word for word. Then I read it again. Great! Got it! This won’t be hard!Read More