, 0 comments

Progress Isn’t Failure

I got a really GREAT email in my inbox yesterday:

Hey, Kim!

Well, it’s almost the end of January.

How ya doin’ on those resolutions?

Did you start the year with so much enthusiasm that THIS would be the year you FINALLY got a handle on whatever “thing” has been dogging you for years?

Only to find… a few days in… it’s a LOT harder than you thought…

I think we’ve all done that. Heck, I did it this year! I started the year pre-planning and scheduling emails, social media posts, the whole nine yards. Weeks out. I used a content planner and everything.

And then… life happened.

The holiday break ended and all our normal activities started up again. Appointments resumed. Deadlines loomed.

And the planning? Well, it flew out the window like so much New Year’s Eve confetti.

She goes on to talk about setting a theme word for the year. (Which I think is powerful; I haven’t picked mine yet.) Read the rest here.

As I was reading this… I thought about MY authors.

I know so many of you set the goal (resolution?) that this is the year you’re going to write your book. No, really, it IS. THIS year. For REAL! You’re REALLY going to do it. THIS year.

Sound familiar?

You’ve got great intentions, lofty goals, and some can-do energy.

The challenge is you just don’t know HOW you’re going to make it happen.

You write for a while, fizzle out, and then…

Get mad at yourself.
Blame yourself.
Beat yourself up.

Worry that you’re wrong, you’ve made a mistake, you’ve wasted time, money, or energy. (Again!)

This is a LOT to unpack so stick with me!

1. Writing a book isn’t a goal you can manifest.

Years ago, I put a picture of a gila monster on my vision board. I’d always wanted to see one in the wild.

And then, coming back from a backpacking trip, there he WAS! On the side of the road – alive – and doing lizard things. I was ELATED! I had manifested seeing him. Right place, right time, right lizard. Completely out of my control.

Writing a book…

You can’t manifest that. No matter how hard you try, it will NOT appear on your hard drive.

So don’t beat yourself up about not “manifesting” your writing desires.

2. Writing a book doesn’t have to make you miserable.

You do not have to suffer. Enjoying it doesn’t mean you’re doing it wrong.

3. Writing a book IS effort.

Full stop. It takes work, effort, learning, rewrites, time, and then some MORE work, effort, learning, rewrites, and time.

It’s okay to improve. It’s okay to get better. It’s okay to realize that you’re not “good” when you start.

My darling author, I want THIS to be the year of YOUR book. Yes, REALLY, the year.

It starts by looking at PROGRESS – not failure.

Keep track of how you’re doing:

Words added.
Skills gained.
Stories told.

And know that it all adds up.

Then, stay tuned because I’ve got something GREAT headed your way that will help you build those skills so you’re not doing it alone.

0 comments

Hank Special on The Book Idea Workbook

Happy Friday y’all!

Hank and Rocky had great vet checkups yesterday. Although, remind me to never try to “save time” with a dual appointment again. Two dogs, different sizes, different leash lengths, and different temperaments (Hank = chill, Rocky = neurotic) at the vet, alone, at the same time…

Nope!

Both doggos got a clean bill of health. I was especially glad to hear this for my old-man Rocky. He’s about 11 (so I got him as a 7-week-old rescue, I just never REMEMBER the year!) and he’s really aged in the months since Pete died. But he’s doing great!

I had some questions about Hank. Mainly…

What’s UP with the double dew-claws on both hind legs and how much should this dog eat/weigh.

In my newly acquired Dr. Google Veterinarian Certification, double dew-claws on hind legs is only found in a handful of breeds. And only ONE breed isn’t also extremely hairy. So we’re guessing that his primary breed is…

The Anatolian Shepard!

Hailing from Turkey, this is an ancient dog breed (like Book of Job in the Bible, ancient) and was imported into the USA in the 1970’s to be used as guard dogs for livestock. Not a herding breed, a guard breed. Perfect for sitting in the sun, watching the kids play in the yard. A herding breed would probably be in the thick of it, nipping at them to get them to move. (Not so great with tiny kids.)

A pure-bred can get up to 100 pounds in the males. (Ouch!) But Hank is probably a mix so the vet said he needs to (get this…)

Eat at least 1200 calories a day AND will probably need to weigh about 70 pounds! (He’s a bit underweight coming from the shelter.) He’s already filling out and his coat looks so much better. Must be all that good snugs he gets with Ben…

So remember the “Hank Special” I was offering on the Book Idea Workbook on Tuesday? (10% off, if you missed it.)

Here it is again!

In honor of “missing” quitter’s day AND to raise funds to FEED this huge dog we adopted AND to give you an easy way to get into motion… I’m offering the Hank Special on The Book Idea Workbook. When you go to checkout, enter the coupon code HANK to receive a 10% discount. Valid until 1/24/22.

Book Idea Workbook

I’ve already been asked if we’re going to DNA test Hank to confirm the Google breed research. Nope. He’s 100% Good Dog (and I’ll save the $200 on the test – nothing it could tell me I don’t already know – he’s a GREAT fit for the family!)

Here’s to happy, healthy, and HUGE dogs!

0 comments

Did You Miss Quitter’s Day?

It’s the 18th of January. How are your writing efforts going so far for the year?

Let me guess:

  • You’re back at your everyday life.
  • Most of the Christmas decorations are safely stored away.
  • You’ve settled in to the “routine” of the 50 weeks out of the year that are NOT around Christmas and New Years.

And you’re occasionally thinking about the goals you set in early January, your goal for your book among them, but you’re not exactly taking action.

Right?

Yep, me too!

Quitter’s day is officially the second Friday in January.

And no, it’s not the day where you think to yourself, “Nope! I’m out. I quit.” And go back to the status quo. But it is the day – or weekend – where the goals you set for yourself quietly start to slip away.

I’ve got the BEST news for you though:

Neither January 1 NOR the second Friday in January ACTUALLY have any power in your life!

Neither one is a magical, mystical, mysterious Start or End date.

They are just that… days. Like any other.

It’s not too late to get into motion for your book (or any other goal!) in 2022. Or even in this year of your life. You’re not too old, the year isn’t too far gone, it’s not too close to the start of Q2 or March Madness or mercury retrograde or vacation season or National Banana Day. (That’s a “real” thing. It’s April 20.)

Keep Reading!

0 comments

3 Reasons You’re Hung Up on the “Unknowns” of Publishing Your Book (and what to do about it!)

99.9% of people want to KNOW about publishing their book. But only about 15% of them are actually READY to have that conversation. Mostly because the book isn’t done yet! In many cases, an aspiring author wanted to jump straight into asking me all about publishing and they hadn’t even STARTED their book.

Let me make a confession:

I used to accept people into my Assisted Self-Publishing service no matter where they were in the process. Yep, even if the book wasn’t written yet! They’d pay for the publishing services and we’d wait… and wait… and wait…

I finally figured out that this didn’t help ANYBODY. Books weren’t reaching the people they were meant to reach because THEY WEREN’T WRITTEN. Holding space for publishing is all well and good – except for a lot of really cool books, I’m still waiting.

I get it:

Publishing is exciting! It’s the final step in getting your words out into the world.

It’s fun to think about.

You can dream about having your book be on Oprah’s Book Club.

You can think about claiming your moment as a Best-Selling Author.

It IS fun.

But it can also be exactly what’s keeping you stuck, in this moment, and preventing you from writing your book.

There are three reasons why you might be attracted to publishing – and allowing yourself to be stuck and overwhelmed with your book:

1. You’re “Wasting” Time

In your heart of hearts, you know that all this “research” about publishing is a stalling tactic that you’re allowing to keep you from writing your book. You’re deep in the minutia of the publishing industry – and you know, on some level, that you don’t even NEED to know this information.

But continuing to spend endless hours on Google, researching how to publish your book, allows you to convince yourself that you’re “working” on your book.

Even when you know you’re not!

Keep Reading!

,

What to do when you don’t feel like writing

I’m going to tell you a secret:

Sometimes, I DON’T want to write.

Today is one of those days.

It started off just fine – with my early morning work time in the living room. Just me, coffee, and the laptop, in the dark. The light of the Christmas tree.

And then it felt like my day has slid downhill. No one thing has been all that bad – but it’s been a series of small annoyances and aggravations. Compounded by the 23,497,123rd day of cold, clouds, and wind so none of us can go outside.

I’m probably going to venture out in a few minutes to chop wood. Do we really NEED more wood? Probably not. Do I think the fresh air and physical activity is going to be good for me? Yes!

So what do I do on a day like today?

I take a dose of my own mentorship:

Mini-goal!

Review mini-goals here.

And then, I’m calling it good.

Today, my “15 minutes” was on the introduction to this “article.” And that’s 100% enough.

If I’m getting technical, these 270 words are ALSO a half a page.

So I’m done. I’ve written. I’ve emailed you. (Sign up here.)

I’m going to chop up wood and then eat something (I’ll feel better!) and probably paint some this evening.

And as you know, one of the powers of a mini-goal is that once you’re in motion, often times, it’s not so bad. And if the motion STILL is hard, if the writing STILL sucks, if you’ve tried THREE TIMES to write the article well…

I did it. And it can always be better tomorrow!

, ,

It’s the Most Underused Time of Year!

I was just telling Ben today how much I LOVE the days between Christmas and New Years. It feels like a huge push to get to Christmas with endless preparation, shopping, cooking, and cleaning. (And lights to see, songs to sing, yummies to eat, and traditions to create or honor…)

Then on December 26…

The whole world takes a collective pause.

The stores are busy, but they lack that crazy pre-Christmas frantic-ness. (Yes, even with long return lines, the stores are quieter.)

The trimmings of the season are still out, still beautiful, but they’ve faded into a quiet background – the anticipation has worn off.

Kids are out of school but there’s not much on the to-do list.

I find that these days are the most underused time of the year! It’s so easy to fritter it away noshing on leftovers, watching bad TV, and creating a Kim-shaped dip in the couch. The world is on pause – and it’s easy to get caught up in the nothingness of these five days.

Then New Years Day comes in a rush – with glossy magazine articles about resolutions, goals, and forming new habits. All of which is punctuated by the fact that you just did nothing for the last five days!

And you’re perfectly poised to make the most of the collective pause.

Take some time and decide if 2022 is the year you write your book.

Feel into your message. Take a step toward your goal.

Keep Reading!

How Long Is a Book Chapter?

Have you ever thought about how long a chapter in your non-fiction book should be? I mean really thought about it?

Most people do think about how long the overall book will be (thinking in word count not pages!) but few think about how long a chapter should be.

And while you CAN use a blog post as the basis of a chapter, there are some different guidelines!

1. Chapters don’t all have to be the same length!

Sure, in a “perfect” world, every chapter would be exactly 2.5 pages long. The book would have a beautiful symmetry and every word would be powerful.

And welcome to the REAL world!

Some chapters will be longer because you have more to share about that topic. Some chapters will be shorter because you can be succinct and clear in fewer words.

Get over it.

A chapter should be exactly as long as it needs to be to get your point across clearly – and no longer!

Just like these colored pencils of different lengths – they can each still do their job even THOUGH some are much longer (or shorter) than the rest.

How long should your non-fiction book's chapter be? Click To Tweet

2. {DON’T} Just make a blog post into a chapter

Don’t get me wrong, a blog post is the great FOUNDATION for a chapter but it seldom can become a chapter in and of itself. Here’s why:

  • A blog post has its own introduction, ending, and Call to Action. It’s a discreet piece of writing which means it rarely lends itself to transitioning into and out of other chapters!
  • Many blog posts give a light overview of a topic – whereas a book chapter would go much deeper into the subject matter.
  • Most blog posts DON’T have much storytelling. It’s very much “5 Ways to Write Your Author Bio” – which is FINE for a how-to article but won’t give the reader anything to hook into emotionally. And we both know that storytelling is THE key to getting someone to remember what you’re teaching them!

Keep Reading!

1 2 3 4 5 >»