Write the Damn Book Already

Click Here to ask your book writing and publishing questions! These days, there's more than just one path to getting a book published.  From traditional publishing to hybrid publishing to self-publishing, every aspiring author has an opportunity to have her voice heard and to make an impact on readers.  For as many people who hail one approach, there are just as many who eschew it.  To be sur...

Click Here to ask your book writing and publishing questions! Jamie Varon is an author, designer, digital course creator, and creative consultant living in Calabasas, CA. Her first nonfiction book, Radically Content , was published April 12th, 2022 with Quarto Books.  Her debut novel, Main Character Energy , (which she wrote in an hour a day, because no, you don't have to devote your entire l...

Click Here to ask your book writing and publishing questions! Remember Kara Forney’s @BoyMomsBook reel that got 4 million+ views, brought in 13,000+ followers, and sold 70+ books in the first 6 days? We said we didn’t know how she did it. And we don’t 100% know. Not to the extent that we can now sell you on “the perfect formula to reach IG and life stardom in 27 seconds.” Yes, it seemed random, an...

Click Here to ask your book writing and publishing questions! In this episode of the Write the Damn Book Already podcast, I had the pleasure of talking with Lauren Eckhardt, author and founder of Burning Soul Collective and Burning Soul Press. We discussed the changing landscape of the publishing industry, the importance of marketing your book in a way that feels authentic, and the therapeutic asp...

Click Here to ask your book writing and publishing questions! Click here to sign up for the Social Media for Authors + Writers Workshop  (July 20, replay will be sent if you can't attend live!)  ******* When it comes to book writing, "I'm waiting for inspiration/motivation" is often code for "I have no idea where this is going and it scares the sh*t out of me so I'll...

Click Here to ask your book writing and publishing questions! "Sometimes, the writing comes easy because we have been thinking about it for so long. It has taken years come to fruition, but it is already there. We are writing to explore both what we know and what we don’t know." -Rick Rubin Sometimes, content flows easily. Sometimes, it’s like pulling a rock out of solid concrete with yo...

Click Here to ask your book writing and publishing questions! Few people (in my age bracket, anyway) aren't familiar with the perennial bestseller, Tuesdays with Morrie . Published in 2002, the book highlights the lessons passed down from Morrie Schwartz (a college professor) to his student, Mitch Albom. Morrie passed away before the book was released (before a word of it was written, in fact...

Click Here to ask your book writing and publishing questions! Donna Norman-Carbone's debut novel, All That is Sacred , released on April 11, 2023 (Red Adept Publishing).  In this episode of the Write the Damn Book Already podcast, we discussed her journey to writing and publishing the novel, which was inspired by true events.    INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS How Donna got started writing, and the stor...

Click Here to ask your book writing and publishing questions! Jill Krzyzanowicz writes under the pen name Margo Reilly, which I found fascinating since her first book, When the Apple Falls Far from the Tree , is memoir. Many people wonder whether they can (or should) write memoir under a pen name, and in all cases (up until speaking with Jill), I advised against it for a variety of reasons that Ji...

Click Here to ask your book writing and publishing questions! When people talk about selling 867,386 books (in a week), it sounds good. It's also probably a lie; most authors intent on making an impact on their readers, whether through entertainment, education, insights, or all three, have no idea what the numbers really are. That's not their focus. What is their focus is the ONE person...

Click Here to ask your book writing and publishing questions! Sam Garcia's first book, Regenerative Business: How to Align Your Business with Nature for More Abundance, Fulfillment, and Impact made quite a (quiet but impactful) splash right out of the gate. It sold 2,589 copies in its first 30 hours on the market and hit #1 on several (large and relevant) Amazon lists, including Women in Busi...

Click Here to ask your book writing and publishing questions! If you love hearing other authors' experiences when it comes to querying, agent selection, and the publisher selection process, this episode is one to listen to! Neely Tubati-Alexander's debut novel, Love Buzz , released on May 2, 2023. (It's so good, grab a copy through links below!). In this episode of the Write the Dam...

Click Here to ask your book writing and publishing questions! Hybrid publishing is a model whereby an author pays a publishing house to do the publishing legwork---including (sometimes) editing, cover design, interior formatting, and distribution channel setup---while retaining final say over the edits, title, cover design, interior layout, and retail price. The cost to work with a hybrid publishi...

Click Here to ask your book writing and publishing questions! “It’s not about whether I believe this is good every day. It’s whether I can relate to this critical mind and understand that that’s just a part of my nervous system trying to protect me from the fear of ‘Will anyone read this?’…and understanding that the way I relate to that…is the journey.” Dr. Tanmeet Sethi is a Joy Activist with a m...

Click Here to ask your book writing and publishing questions! In Episode 36 of the Write the Damn Book Already podcast, Megan Tady (author of Superbloom, May 2023, Zibby Books) and I chatted about the journey to her debut novel. INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS Where the idea for Superbloom came from (Meg always thought her first book would be nonfiction) Her w riting process: how much of the story did she kn...

Click Here to ask your book writing and publishing questions! Want to write a book but have no idea where to start?  You're not alone. In fact, "Where do I start?" is the most common question I hear! In this episode, I break down the first three steps I encourage every aspiring author of nonfiction or memoir to take in order to make the process of writing an incredible book a little...

Click Here to ask your book writing and publishing questions! The vast majority of people who join the Write the Damn Book Already Facebook group say they are looking for one (or more) of the following things: Motivation Inspiration Accountability I can help you with all three, but not in the way you might think. Today, let’s talk about motivation. When people say they are looking for motivation t...

Click Here to ask your book writing and publishing questions! Emily Paulson's second book, Hey Hun: Sales, Sisterhood, Supremacy, and other Lies Behind Multi-Level Marketing (Row House, May 30, 2023)  is the eye-opening, funny, and dangerous personal story of author Emily Lynn Paulson rising to the top of the pyramid in the multilevel marketing (MLM) world, only to recognize that its culture...

Click Here to ask your book writing and publishing questions! Whenever I have questions about Instagram/Facebook (or, as it's newly referred to, Meta) ads, the first person I go to is Sam Garcia. The founder of Dirty Alchemy Digital Marketing, Sam and her team have run ads for some big brands, and not only does she know what she's doing but she also has a way of simplifying a process tha...

Click Here to ask your book writing and publishing questions! Sometimes, you're sure you'll love someone well before meeting them. That's the way I felt when I learned of Laura Belgray's forthcoming book, "Tough Titties."  At once a collection of essays, a memoir, and a hilariously honest look at navigating various stages of life and business ownership, this book made...

Click Here to ask your book writing and publishing questions! I’ve always said that if I ever went viral, it would be for something stupid. I’d be filmed saying something grammatically incorrect. Or trip and fall face-first into the concrete in front of Ryan Eggold (after saying something grammatically incorrect). Apparently, manifestation is truly a thing.   The PUNCHLINE  I made an Instagram ree...

Click Here to ask your book writing and publishing questions! "I can get your book onto the NYT bestseller list." "I can get your podcast ranked in the top 10 on Apple." "I can get you 8692.7 verified reviews on Amazon...in 2 days." The offers are everywhere. And of course they're appealing. Who WOULDN'T want to be on the New York Times bestseller list? Or h...

Click Here to ask your book writing and publishing questions! As you may or may not know, I don't believe in writers block.  At least, not in the way many people do---that it's a concept every writer must experience, a rite of passage of sorts, that can keep a writer from writing for days, weeks, or---God forbid---even longer.  To me, "writers block" is simply the name we give...

Click Here to ask your book writing and publishing questions! Linda Sivertsen, “Book Mama,” is in LOVE with books—reading, writing, and selling them. Her titles have won awards and hit all the lists as an author, co-author, and former magazine editor and ghostwriter. But her driving force has been to publish sustainably. Naïve and optimistic enough to believe in magic, she’s on a mission to save f...

Click Here to ask your book writing and publishing questions! Even though she ended up getting a degree in chemical engineering, Renata Trebing started reading cookbooks (for fun) when she was 8 years old. So it’s not terribly surprising that she ended up writing one! She loved the idea of writing about food passionately, as Nigella Lawson has done. Not long after her first book was published, she...