The Writing Coach

Welcome to The Writing Coach. On this podcast, I speak with the instructors, editors, coaches, and mentors who help writers and authors create their art, build their audience, and sell their work.

In episode #74 of The Writing Coach podcast, I speak with book marketing coach Audrey Hughey.

Audrey previously appeared on the show in episode #61, where we discussed her book marketing program and community, the Author Transformation Alliance. This week, Audrey returns to the show to discuss The Ultimate Authorship Planner, an incredible new resource she has created for authors.

The Ultimate Authorship Planner is designed to be an all-in-one day planner and writing-career coach, helping authors to organize their writing life and get on a clear path to reach their goals. The planner is a place to:

Track daily and weekly word counts

Map out writing and publishing plans for an entire year

Manage and track monthly expenses

Develop an editing checklist and evaluate potential editors

Plan social media marketing, book promotions, and advertising

Sketch out ideas for author newsletter and track open and click-through rates

Have space and flexibility to plan your days and weeks according to your own unique lifestyle and schedule.

I own a copy of the planner (and I love it!) so I was thrilled to get an opportunity to talk to Audrey all about it.

During our discussion, Audrey describes:

Where the original idea of the planner came from (and how it sent her NaNoWriMo in an entirely new direction)

How she worked with her community of authors to create a product she knew they would find valuable

The role planning, tracking, and reviewing plays in achieving goals, selling books, and building an author business

Why she chose to publish the book using the Lulu platform in additional Amazon's CreateSpace

How and why she was able to create three different covers for her planner

And much more!

Whether you're on the lookout for a planner to help get your author business organized, or just curious about the behind-the-scenes work that goes into creating a product like this, you won't want to miss this episode.

Click below to listen now:

The Writing Coach #74 Show Notes

Pick up your copy of The Ultimate Authorship Planner today:

If you prefer a coil-bound version of the planner, grab it here!

Visit Audrey's website.

Learn more about the Author Transformation Alliance.

Join Audrey's free writing group.

Download the podcast here:

Welcome to The Writing Coach. On this podcast, I speak with the instructors, editors, coaches, and mentors who help writers and authors create their art, build their audience, and sell their work.

The opportunity to reserve your spot in Writer's Craft Academy INTENSIVE is available now.

INTENSIVE is a small group program for novice to experienced authors and it includes a strong group coaching component.

A lot of people have already contacted me to let me know how excited they are about this program, but some have asked... what the heck IS a group coaching program anyway? And how can it help authors?

Well, for everyone who asked me those questions, episode #73 of The Writing Coach podcast is for you!

In this episode, I reveal SEVEN benefits of group coaching, and I discuss what group coaching has to offer for writers specifically.

Regardless of whether this is the first time you have ever heard of group coaching, or you've already experienced the joys of group coaching as a participant, I know you are going to enjoy this episode!

Listen to the episode now:

This episode is brought to you by:

Download the podcast here:

Welcome to The Writing Coach. On this podcast, I speak with the instructors, editors, coaches, and mentors who help writers and authors create their art, build their audience, and sell their work.

Episode #72 of The Writing Coach podcast features our first ever guest host, Lori Puma.

Lori Puma is a Story Grid Certified editor who helps writers turn first drafts into stories readers can’t put down. Lori started her writing career publishing scientific papers that also double as sleeping aids. Since then, she’s done a lot of things, including working as a marketer and having her work published in places such as the Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and Mashable. Lori’s focus as an editor is helping writers build the storytelling skills they need for a career writing fiction.

Lori scored the role of guest host by making the rather unusual pitch of offering to interview me on my own show. It was a great opportunity to talk about my coaching process with The Writing Coach listeners.

During our discussion, I describe:

What I consider to be the fundamental elements of writer's craft

The importance of starting your story planning with genre

My real thoughts on pantsing vs. planning

The three biggest challenges writers face while crafting a novel

Why a coach's role is to open up new doorways of possibility to our clients

What I recommend writers do when their plans go off-track

And much more!

Listen to the episode now:

The Writing Coach #72 Show Notes

Get your copy of Lori's fantastic free guide: The Structure of a Page-Turning Novel.

Visit Lori's website here.

Read Lori's article, "Story Grid Translated Into Common Writing Terms".

Follow Lori on social media:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/lori_puma

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/loripumapage

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/loripuma

This episode is brought to you by:

Download the podcast here:

Welcome to The Writing Coach. On this podcast, I speak with the instructors, editors, coaches, and mentors who help writers and authors create their art, build their audience, and sell their work.

In episode #71 of The Writing Coach podcast, I speak with Allison Fallon.

Allison believes a regular practice of writing can change your life. She is the author of a dozen books, a sought-after public speaker, and coach to hundreds of authors from New York Times Bestsellers to total beginners. She has spent the last decade coaching hundreds of people to gain confidence, overcome writer’s block, and get their stories on paper. Even if you say, “I’m not a writer” she can show you how a daily practice of writing can improve your sleep, your focus, your creativity, your productivity, and even your relationships.

During our discussion, Allison describes:

The importance of bringing vulnerability to writing

How growing up in Portland influenced her early writing

The coach's role in bearing witness to an artist's creativity

Why she considers a regular yoga practice to be a vital component of her creative work

And much more!

Listen to the episode now:

The Writing Coach #71 Show Notes

Visit Allison's website here.

Follow Allison on Instagram here.

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Welcome to The Writing Coach. On this podcast, I speak with the instructors, editors, coaches, and mentors who help writers and authors create their art, build their audience, and sell their work.

In episode #70 of The Writing Coach podcast, I speak with Lisa Tener.

An authority on book writing and publishing, and winner of the Silver Stevie Award for Coach/Mentor of the Year, Lisa guides experts, entrepreneurs and visionaries to joyfully write and publish their books. Lisa has been quoted in The New York Times, featured on ABC News and more. Lisa Tener serves on the faculty of Harvard Medical School’s publishing and women's leadership courses, and teaches Award Winning Book Writing Courses.

Lisa's clients have received 5- and 6-figure book deals from a large variety of publishers from Random House, St. Martin's Press and Harper Collins to niche and university publishers. Her clients' books have been featured by Oprah, on NPR, the Today Show, Good Morning America and all over the national media, including the New York Times, Cosmopolitan, Women's Health, Forbes and much more.

During our discussion, Lisa describes:

Transforming anger into a tool for creativity

Why the best teachers are lifelong learners

How a time of serious illness in her life led to a period of intense reading and self-discovery

The importance of finding your own way

Five elements for entering a flow state as a writer

And much more!

Listen to the episode now:

The Writing Coach #70 Show Notes

Visit Lisa's website today and sign-up for your free inspired author support kit.

[images style="0" image="http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kevintjohns.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F02%2Fsuccess-1024x536.jpg" width="1024" link_url="http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kevintjohns.com%2Fmindset-f%2F" new_window="Y" align="center" top_margin="0" full_width="Y"]

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Welcome to The Writing Coach. On this podcast, I speak with the instructors, editors, coaches, and mentors who help writers and authors create their art, build their audience, and sell their work.

In episode #69 of The Writing Coach podcast, I speak with Angela Ackerman.

Angela is a writing coach, international speaker, and co-author of the bestselling book, The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Character Expression, as well as five others. Her books are available in six languages, are sourced by US universities, and are used by novelists, screenwriters, editors, and psychologists around the world. Angela is also the co-founder of the popular site Writers Helping Writers, as well as One Stop for Writers, an innovative online library built to help writers elevate their storytelling.

During our discussion, Angela describes:

Which literary serial killer she wanted to name her dog after;

 The valuable lessons she learned from joining an online critique group early in her career;

 Why her book, The Emotional Thesaurus, has been so popular with writers;

 What she learned from collaborating with writing coaches like James Scott Bell, Jennie Nash, and Lisa Cron;

 How she ended up developing online resources for writers with Lee Powell, the creator of Scrivener;

 Her passion for helping writers learn and grow; and,

Much more!

Listen to the episode now:

The Writing Coach #69 Show Notes

Find Angela on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram

Check out Angela's blog: Writer's Helping Writers

Sign-up for your free account at One Stop for Writers

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Welcome to The Writing Coach. On this podcast, I speak with the instructors, editors, coaches, and mentors who help writers and authors create their art, build their audience, and sell their work.

In episode #68 of The Writing Coach podcast, I discuss how to spot a publishing scam.

It takes passion, dedications, and a massive amount of hard work to produce a 70,000-word manuscript.

It requires even more effort and focus to proceed to revise those 70K words several times over.

Usually, aspiring authors are feeling pretty desperate by the time they reach the publication stage of the book production process.

That desperation, combined with a lack of knowledge regarding the publishing industry, is frequently taken advantage of by scammers, frauds, hucksters, and criminals in the world of publishing.

In this episode, we're going to go over the steps you can take to investigate an offer before you hand over any money or personal information to a service provider, agent, or publisher.

Listen to the episode now:

The Writing Coach #68 Show Notes

For more information about publishing scams, makes sure you visit the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America's excellent resource, Writer Beware.

 

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Welcome to The Writing Coach. On this podcast, I speak with the instructors, editors, coaches, and mentors who help writers and authors create their art, build their audience, and sell their work.

In episode #67 of The Writing Coach podcast, I speak with Brooke Warner.

Brooke Warner is publisher of She Writes Press, founder of Warner Coaching Inc., and author of What's Your Book? and How to Sell Your Memoir. Brooke’s expertise is in traditional and new publishing, and she is an equal advocate for publishing with a traditional house and self-publishing. She sits on the board of the Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA) and the National Association of Memoir Writers (NAMW). Her website was selected by The Write Life as one of the Top 100 Best Websites for Writers in 2014.

During our conversation, Brooke describes:

How a talk with her mom about what she loves led to a career in publishing

The exact moment she realized her experience in editing and publishing could be used for an author coaching business

The massive learning curve for memoir writers and the "kiss of death" they need to avoid in their writing

The role perseverance (and the help of a coach) played in landing her TedX talk, "Green-Light Revolution"

Why she founded She Writes Press and what it means to be a hybrid publisher

How the current American political environment means having a platform for women writers is more important than ever

And much more!

Listen to the episode now:

The Writing Coach #67 Show Notes

Check out Brooke's website: http://brookewarner.com/

Visit the She Writes Press website: https://shewritespress.com/

Explore the She Writes community: https://www.shewrites.com/

Watch Brooke's TedX Talk:

 

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Welcome to The Writing Coach. On this podcast, I speak with the instructors, editors, coaches, and mentors who help writers and authors create their art, build their audience, and sell their work.

In episode #66 of The Writing Coach podcast, I speak with Lisa Bloom.

Lisa is an accomplished Storyteller, Professional Certified Coach (ICF) and Training & Development Expert with more than 20 years experience working in public and private sectors, high-tech and financial services environments. Lisa trains Story Coaches and helps entrepreneurs de-stress the marketing, build their business with confidence and inspiration by finding their success story.

During our conversation, Lisa describes:

How a story can be used to build trust and create credibility

Her deep belief that we are all innate storytellers

Why she spent time working as a "galley slave"

The massive benefits she experienced from writing a weekly story on her blog for ten years straight

How finding congruity between your outer story and inner story leads to powerful authenticity

And much more

Listen to the episode now:

The Writing Coach #66 Show Notes

Check out Lisa's website: http://story-coach.com/

Follow Lisa on social:

Twitter

Facebook

LinkedIn

Learn about LIFT, the conference Lisa and I will both be attending next month.

 

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Welcome to The Writing Coach. On this podcast, I speak with the instructors, editors, coaches, and mentors who help writers and authors create their art, build their audience, and sell their work.

In episode #65 of The Writing Coach podcast, I speak with John Adamus.

Since 1997, John's entire career has been focused on working with people to tell their stories. Whether in television, film, stage, or publishing, he has worked with talented creatives who have all different kinds of stories to tell.

Through his website, The Writer Next Door, John offers a full suite of tools to help writers reach their creative goals, from story design and coaching to first chapter diagnostics and help with query letters. John is the executive editor at Parvus Press, a publishing company focused on science fiction and fantasy, and he also extremely active on Twitter, where you'll find him sharing writing tips and advice throughout the day.

During our conversation, John describes:

How he'd been helping people for years before he realized "creative coaching" was the name for what he was doing

Why he got fired from his slush pile reader job at a New York publishing house

The challenge of learning how to determine your value and charge what you are worth for your services

The important role a mentor played in his life and his development as a writer and editor

And much more

Listen to the episode now:

The Writing Coach #65 Show Notes

Check out John's website: http://writernextdoor.com

Read his blog: http://writernextdoor.com/blog/

Visit his Patreon page: http://patreon.com/johnhelpsyoucreate

For him on Twitter: http://twitter.com/awesome_john

 

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