Happy Veteran’s Day to My Favorite Vet

Yesterday was Veteran’s Day here in the USA. When my mom learned I was dating a veteran, she decided that every year, we needed to celebrate Ben – complete with a meal and fun, hokey gifts. Keep OUR part of the celebration light (because he’s gone through a lot in his years of service.)

So we did.

Ben and I started dating in August, so a few months later he’s in my mom’s kitchen getting gifts of socks and whiskey and other fun-but-kinda-weird gifts.

The tradition continued yesterday when we took the kids to the Grand Canyon Deer Farm and then had a picnic lunch – complete with goofy gifts.

It was a beautiful day filled with sunlight, laughter, good food (thanks mom!), and fellowship. Not to mention goats, a deer that sneezed on my head, and so.much.dirt.

Thank you to Ben and ALL the veterans on my list. I know that not everything in our country is really all that a-okay, but I want to tell you, from my family to yours, that your service is seen and appreciated. Thank you.

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Your Input Matters!

As I’m working on The Big Picture for my business for the rest of 2021 and into 2022, I want to make sure that I’m going to be serving you in the best way possible.

So can you take a couple of minutes and respond to these questions? You can email me OR leave the answers in the comment section below. I’ll randomly draw from the responses to send a $50 Amazon gift card!

Fine print:

  • You’ve got to respond to ALL the questions in order to be considered!
  • Deadline is 11/15/2021

Podcast:

As I announced yesterday, I’m going to be launching a podcast in December. Broad topics I’ll be talking about are your message, storytelling, and how to stay in the writing flow (i.e. getting your writing DONE.)

Inside of those three areas, what specific things do you want me to talk about?

 

Gift Guide:

I’m working on the 2021 Gift Guide for Authors. This is THE single biggest blog post/free thing that I do each year. And I want to make sure it’s valuable to YOU (or the people who buy gifts for you.)

See the 2019 guide.
No 2020 guide because I was too sick.

  • Is this gift guide valuable?
  • What types of gifts would you like to see on it? (Please, no pitches for your own products and services.)

 

Future lower-ticket products:

I’ll be adding a few more lower-ticket products to my offerings in the coming months. Which of these should I offer FIRST?

A. How to Use Your Email List (so it never goes cold!)

This isn’t about BUILDING a list, it’s about emailing them!

B. Pricing Your Book for Maximum Sales

This would be a companion to The Complete Self-Publishing Toolkit

C. First Aid for Writer’s Block: Never get stuck again!

This would be a rare tool that would be good for non-fiction AND fiction. (I’m usually 100% non-fiction)

Or something else? Is there a burning need you have for a smaller product-style offer? (These are home study products with no live teaching or live Q&A.)

 

Now, tell me about you!

I’ve noticed that my BEST clients have certain things in common. (That have nothing to do with demographics! It’s not an age, race, gender, location thing!)

And I want to know what YOU like and dislike, in general, so I can better target my copy, social media, and marketing to bring in more folks JUST LIKE YOU. These two questions are about you IN GENERAL. It doesn’t have you be about writing or business.

What do you like? (In general! Things that make you go YESSSSS!)

 

What do you dislike? (In general! I’m not looking for anything specific here.)

 

And one last set of questions:

Many of my newsletter subscribers come from various giveaway events that target people with online businesses. However, it seems that when I promote those same giveaways, MY folks don’t like them.

Does this mean that you’re not in business?

Or that you just don’t want ME to promote those types of events?

Where are you at in business?

IF I were going to bring you “business things” – free or paid – what are you looking for specifically?

7 Tips for Writing a Non-Boring About the Author Page

As more and more of my clients are [this close] to releasing their books, I find I’m talking with them a lot about writing their “About the Author” page for their books.

Know that you’re going to need an About the Author for more than JUST the end of the book! You’ll need it for press releases, speaker one-sheets, and more.

And, you should update this at LEAST once a year! After all, things change. I’ve had to update mine to add in that I’m now a mom of TWO.

Here are my top 7 rules for writing a kick-ass author bio!

1. Write in third person
Use your full name the first time. (Be sure to decide which variation of your name you want to use! I’ve been transitioning from Kimberly to Kim – I like Kim better!) You’ll use plenty of pronouns so be sure to intermingle your name in there as well. It’s up to you if you’ll use your first name or your last. Personally, I usually use my first name (Kim) and save the Ms. Eldredge for more formal bits of writing. Now, if I was DOCTOR Eldredge, I might be more inclined to use “Dr. Eldredge” as opposed to Kim.

2. You’ll have different versions of the bio
At a bare minimum, you’ll need three versions:

  • End-of-book (300-500 words)
  • End-of-article (100-200 words)
  • Blurb (25 words or less)

AND you might have different variations on the bio as well. I write in two distinct genres, outdoor recreation and book publishing. My bio for my outdoor recreation books isn’t going to impress the entrepreneurial world; they don’t care many year’s camping experience I have!

Don’t forget that each version needs to link your opt-in gift!

3. Lead with your credibility
This can be your degree, training or certificates. Just make sure it applies! If you have a certificate in underwater basket weaving but your book is about investing, it might be best to leave that “credential” off. Your credibility can also include awards you’ve won, memberships, and education. This can be a bit dry (okay so a LOT dry) so limit it to the most relevant. Also skip the alphabet soup UNLESS you know your audience will

  • KNOW what the abbreviation means
  • CARE that you have earned it.

Keep Reading!

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There IS a magical day in every year…

When I walked into PT Tuesday morning, the therapist commented how since it is November second, the year was practically over.

Um…

No, it isn’t!

We have TWO WHOLE MONTHS left in 2021.

Are the last 65 days of the year a bit… hectic? From Halloween through New Year’s, yes, we’re ALL super busy with extra activities.

But that doesn’t mean the year is OVER just give up! There are still EIGHT WEEKS left in the year with which to go after your goals, dreams, and yes, work on your book.

Eight weeks is a long time. It has so much potential. Don’t just give up.

I totally get the feeling of “Ugh. Let’s just get OUTTA here already!” Except, may I remind you we thought that exact same thing LAST November and what did it get us?

All this anxiousness for the last 60 days and then January rolled around and you realized something:

Nothing MAGICAL actually happens on January 1!

Ever!

Not in 2019.
Not in 2020.
Not in 2021.
Not in 2022.

Let me tell you the most magical day of the ENTIRE YEAR.

Are you ready?

I’ll build the suspense…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TODAY!

Today is the most magical day of the year.

Today is the perfect day to start, to begin again, to renew your goal or intention, to rest, recoup and THEN start again.

 

And no, I’m not being trite or oversimplistic.

Today really IS the best day for you. It’s got all this MAGIC and possibility.

 

Sure, January FEELS sparkly and new. But in the northern hemisphere it’ll still be cold, windy, dreary, and more cold. (Almost exactly like December except without Christmas lights.)

It’s not ACTUALLY magical.

Today, you can make magic.

And here’s where it starts:

I want you to take a BIG action toward writing your book. Yes, a BIG one.

I want you to invest in yourself, your message, your story, and your readers by enrolling in “Storytelling for Non-Fiction Authors: Learn to Write Captivating, Emotion-Invoking Stories that Keep Your Reader Turning Pages and Get Your Message Across” which I’ll be teaching LIVE – starting November 8.

Enroll Here

  • After our five weeks of live training together, you will have the skills to effectively share your story – so that your reader is engaged, learning, and above all, REMEMBERS the principles you’re teaching.
  • You’ll no longer be struggling to come up with “examples” – you’ll know when to use a story and how to craft it.
  • You know exactly how to create emotions in your reader – no need to increase the drama or trauma.
  • You will know that your writing isn’t boring, pedantic, or too heavy. Your reader will keep turning pages.
  • You know your message is getting across – so you can help the people you’re meant to help.

Enroll Here >>> Your Book Needs Stories

Don’t wait! I know it’s so EASY to make this one more thing you have to “think about” or plan to do later. Except you’ll forget (I do!) And then when you go back… the early bird expired. Or the course is full.

To help you make the decision, I’m also offering a great Early Bird Bonus to the first 10 authors who enroll. You’ll join me for a half-day virtual storytelling retreat to get my eyes on your writing. That’s a $997 value RIGHT THERE on TOP of the other amazing bonuses you get when you enroll.

So enroll right now.

 

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Stories Are How We Interact with the World

I read. A lot.

That’s hundreds of thousands of words each year that I consume. Want to know what keeps me scrolling down or flipping pages?

Stories.

(And no, I don’t only read fiction! I mostly read non-fiction, actually.)

What I’ve discovered through my years of working with non-fiction authors is that very few actually understand the power of story – and know how to harness that power to keep readers turning pages, to make the messages sink in, to make their words have significance and impact.

Stories are how we interact with the world – not just the 1, 2, 3 of plot but the emotion that a well-crafted story can invoke. So then why, for heaven’s sake, aren’t more non-fiction writer’s getting on board with story?

Stories are how we interact with the world. Are you telling stories in your writing? Click To Tweet

Earlier this year, I was working with a client on a fascinating project about inner wisdom – how to listen to it, how to let it guide you. Fascinating and much-needed topic that was being addressed in ways I’d never seen before.

Keep Reading!

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Do Stories REALLY Create Connection to Your Reader?

Maybe this is you:

You’ve written MOST of your book. You’ve poured your heart, soul, and your best teaching into the book.

You’ve explained your concepts.

Then you’ve said, “In other words…”

And you’ve explained your concepts again.

That draft is nearly done – and it’s damn good. The writing is tight, sparse even, and every word counts.

But now…

You’ve got me, whispering in your ear. Whispering about… storytelling. Telling you that your hard-won book isn’t going to be effective, that the writing you’ve done, while brilliant, won’t actually make the difference in your reader’s life that you want it to make.

And you’re a little bit angry at me.

But mostly… you’re a little bit worried that I’m right. That your book ISN’T what you wanted it to be – the book that can change a life – but you’re not 100% sure how to take it from where you are now to where you want it to be.

Are stories the missing piece?

My darling fellow author, I would never tell you to do something if it didn’t matter! When was the last time I fussed at you about learning better grammar? Um… never! Why? Because THAT can be fixed in editing.

What can’t be fixed is the lack of stories. They aren’t something you can shoehorn in, after the fact.

How do I know?

First off, I have a degree in Creative Writing from the University of Arizona. So yes, I’ve done the studying of writing and storytelling in a University setting. I’ve also attended writer’s conferences around the world and studied writing with some of the top names in current literary work.

I’ve written more than 20 books OF MY OWN. The ones that outsell the others, that get the best reviews, and that have people contacting me – even years later – are the ones with the most stories. The “cut-and-dry” ones are just that… dry.

But more than that, I’ve got thousands of articles under my belt. Yes, thousands. I used to blog nearly daily at TheOutdoorPrincess.com (which… kinda still exists. More on the tech stuff in a day or two.)

Plus NINE YEARS of writing to you, here. At least weekly, often times more.

People will TELL you that they want cut-and-dry articles, pithy things like: Five Ways to Keep Readers Turning Pages (and then a short article with JUST the five ways.)

But here’s the thing:

Search engines may love that crap.

But PEOPLE don’t.

People want to connect. They want to know you’re a real person – with strengths, weaknesses, idiosyncrasies, dreams, hobbies, and flaws. They want to read your word and feel like they know YOU.

My least-received articles are the bland, here are your steps, articles.

Keep Reading!

Embodying Your Book’s Message

Let’s feel into (as opposed to think about) the importance of knowing your message, honoring it, living it.

Message isn’t marketing. It’s not jargon or an “I help” statement. It’s not always clean and pretty; it’s the soul-to-soul, heart-to-heart connection that you create with another human on the planet.

Message, your message that you want to bring forth into the world, isn’t your elevator pitch, it’s not your branding, logo, or colors. Message isn’t a single slice of who you are or what you stand for—it’s how everything that makes you YOU come together in a way that is powerful and unique.

Take me for example. I could list out who I “am” in a bunch of bullets:

  • Believer
  • Wife
  • Mother
  • Entrepreneur
  • Backpacker
  • Artist
  • Used-to-be-Blonde
  • Blue eyes
  • Coach
  • Friend
  • Funny
  • Woman
  • Curvy
  • Hispanic (yes, for real!)

Or I can create a list of what I believe. Or the books I love. The music that moves me. The places I’ve lived. The secrets I carry. The things about me that could be interesting but maybe not relevant:

  • I was an intern for NASA
  • I have a curled-over toe
  • I’m right-handed
  • I’ll sing in the car, but not the shower
  • I never sucked my thumb
  • I don’t like bananas…

Keep Reading!

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