Hello Everyone!
Summer snowflake flowers at Brookside Garden, Silver Spring, Maryland.
If you're new here, welcome! And if you've been here before, it's great to touch base again! I just got back from the Hay House Writers Conference in Toronto, Canada, and I'm excited to share a brief summary of what I've learned about publishing your own book!
First: find a great editor. Hay House introduced us to Kellie Notaras, its personal editor, who shared her insights on what an editor can do for a budding writer. It's not just about correcting your grammar.
Editors can coach you from beginning to end and help you with the structure and organization of your book. Her company, knliterary.com, matches authors/editors to the writer's needs. I found my editor: Annie Wylde, and I'm so grateful to have her help me with my book.
Second: build your platform. This means that you have people who already know you through social media, radio talk shows, or websites. Since my natural inclination is to be a hermit, this is my Achilles heel.
Reid Tracy, the CEO of Hay House, advised attendees to have a WEEKLY newsletter with about five paragraphs. This is my fifth paragraph already. Uh oh!
I am happy that you are part of my "platform" and am excited to share my progress as a writer with you. It was my life-long ambition to "be an author someday." I can still remember saying that when I was in grade school, and my dream has never stopped nagging me to "write your book!"
Third: Self-publishing is the new norm for new writers. Did you know that Deepak Chopra and Wayne Dyer both self-published in the past? There is no shame in publishing your own book through a self-publishing company.
Balboa Press is Hay House's self-publishing arm and has the expertise to help fresh voices create a book from start to finish. The important thing is to create a good product that will capture people's interests and help you reach your audience.
I will conclude with some powerful thoughts, on the art of writing, expressed by Robert Holden at the conference:
"Your inner critic has never been published."
"In our journey, we learn to move from writing for love to the love of writing."
And finally: "Start before you're ready."
May your light shine through your creative efforts.
Click here to read my recent review on antipsychotic withdrawal, enjoy!
Here's a YouTube link to my interview with Lillian McDermott from May 29th on the topic of getting off psychotropic medications holistically. Click on the photo to watch.
If you would like to stream audio only, here's a link to that.