The Importance of Individuality as an Author

The importance of individuality as an author is often sidelined by a host of challenges. But challenges aren’t always a bad thing.

In fact, I believe most of us enjoy a challenge every now and then, often entering into them intentionally. But if the outcome we desire doesn’t happen as quickly or exactly as we anticipate, then we tend to get frustrated and resort to our old way of doing things. Just consider all of the New Year’s resolutions made a few months ago; the majority of people have already abandoned them to return to their former habits.

We tend to be selective of our challenges, too. When we perceive the challenge to be out of our comfort zone or if we must do it alone, we tend to reject it outright, choosing instead to walk away from potential opportunities because of fear of the unknown and to avoid the risk of ridicule.

These fears extend to our writing. Often, it causes us to stifle our personalities and write in a more detached, formal manner. It also makes us selective in what we write about, selecting what we think our audience wants to read about, rather than what we feel compelled to write about.Read More

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

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

Catching the Silver Wave: The Rise of Active Seniors Who Aspire and Inspire

Whatever you choose to call today’s 65+-year-old population – boomers, seniors, elders – you can be certain that as a demographic, they are not content to rest on their laurels and await the inevitable.  No, today’s mature adults are rapidly redefining the concept of aging and crushing the traditional view of retirement. Read More

Did I Really Just Do That?

Yes, I really did. I just sent a message to my email list containing a video I made about my new service and I posted the same video on Twitter.

Now I’m cringing, realizing that my video is cheesy. That I stumbled over my words. That it’s obviously recorded by an amateur. And while I’m very nervous of what comments may be made (“Wow – she has a huge forehead”) and how I’ll be perceived (“She had the gall to make a sales offer!”), I’m also excited to have pushed past my fears and complete something new and challenging. And even more than that, share it with others. Read More