author coach - Author Academy

Get Help Writing Your Book – It’s Easier With Guidance

Sue — Tue, 04 Aug 2020 07:47:17 +0000

If you're ready to pen your first expert non-fiction book, you have two options:

Write it yourself

Hire someone to either write it with you, or write it for you

The first option is best if you're up for the time, work, and planning that goes into crafting a book. But you don't have to do it all on your own. You can still impart your unique experience, knowledge, and point of view, while also leveraging the skills of a more accomplished writer.

Writing Your Own Book

The main reason to write your own book is if you have a burning passion to do it yourself. You might feel that letting someone else help or handle parts of it would potentially mark your own voice and enthusiasm.

However, in this case, you can still seek the help of an editor. You can plan and write the book yourself, and then hire someone to go over it once it's finished and clean up any parts that need editing. The editor wouldn't make any major changes, but simply polish your existing work.

Writing a book is hard work and requires dedication and commitment. But it’s a skill you can learn. There’s a method to follow when structuring and writing a book that takes some of the pressure off, and that can alleviate any concerns you have about your writing skills. Want to learn more about how you can Write Your Expert Book?

Hire a Co-Author

Another option is to write your book together with a professional writer. You often see biographies or memoirs written this way, where on the cover, it will say, "Written with…" In this case, you provide the basic structure and ideas, and the writer helps you shape your ideas into well-written prose.

How much you write and how much your co-author writes depends on your agreement. For example, you could send them your writing and have them clean it up, like an editor who edits in real-time. Or, you could have regular meetings or Skype/Zoom calls with the writer to explain your ideas, and have them do the actual writing.

No matter how you write it, the end result is a book full of your ideas but with the sheen of a professional writer.

Hire a Ghostwriter

If you don't want to be so involved with the actual writing process, you can hire a ghostwriter. Again, the extent to which you write or the ghostwriter writes is determined by you. You could give them an idea of what each chapter should cover, some notes from your own experience, and just have them create. Or, you could offer a detailed outline with some of your own writing, and have them fill in the gaps.

Even if you hire a ghostwriter, you can have final editing rights. Once they send the deliverables, you can look over the text to make sure it’s not missing anything. You can work out an arrangement with the writer where they agree to a certain amount of revisions if the final version isn't perfect.

Remember that your book's writing doesn't have to be professional or perfect. Its purpose is to communicate your ideas in a way that is valuable and helpful to your audience. Perfection can be a creativity killer and trying to be too perfect can prevent you from getting your book done. Focus on writing so that it's easy to understand, and so that the reader can actually use what they've learned.

Want to learn more about how you can Write Your Expert Book? Head over here:

https://www.authoracademy.com.au/write-your-expert-book-signup/

The post Get Help Writing Your Book – It’s Easier With Guidance first appeared on Author Academy.

The myth around why people don’t write their book

Sue — Mon, 27 Jul 2020 04:16:13 +0000

Writing is an amazing creative process, there are so many people that want to write a book and don’t believe they can. The most common responses I hear is “I am not a good writer”, “no one wants to read what I have to say”, and of course “I don’t know how to write”.

Don’t let these questions hold you back, in fact, don’t let anything hold you back. We all have a story to share with the world and you will find that there are readers out there that are waiting for a book just like yours.

It’s true, how many times have you read a book and thought…’wow this is such an amazing story that really resonates with my own personal life’. See! This is exactly what I mean, that person’s story helped you understand more about what you went through and not only that it made you realise that you are not alone, that there are other people out there that go through the same circumstances as you, however, they dealt with it a different way that perhaps you had never even thought about. Not only that, their story has a message in there for you that you can take and implement into your own life right now.

Just for that reason alone is a good enough reason why you really should consider writing your story. If you help just one person with your book how would that make you feel?

That covers off ‘no one wants to read what I have to say’. Let’s take a look now at ‘I am not a good writer.’ First of all, how do you know? Have you ever had a professional look at your work and say those words to you? Well, let’s hope you haven’t come across someone like that on your writing journey! It may not be a work of art, and let’s face it, many manuscripts start off as just a list of ideas, so in that case it would look like you are not a good writer, however, with a little bit of coaching and tweaking it can be turned into a really good story worthy of publishing. Don’t you think that is worth pursuing?

Are you stuck writing your book? Perhaps you need a bit of guidance? Discover how as an author coach I can guide you over the finish line to get your book completed and published. Are you ready to get started?

The next response that is common is ‘I don’t know how to write’. Basically, if you can speak, you can write, again you may require some help and guidance pulling it together with an author coach, so why not reach out and get the guidance to really pull your story into a book that will be read by many. You would be surprised at how many people don’t give themselves enough credit around their writing skills.

The most important thing to remember here is that when you have an idea for a book, simply jot down your ideas and write around those ideas by fleshing each idea out into a few pages of what happened for that particular idea.

Before you know it, you have the beginnings of your story which will eventually become a book that you will be proud of and helping someone, somewhere in the world with your amazing ideas.

If you have an amazing idea for a book and would like to take the next step of how to organise that into a book, why not get the guidance of an author coach. What are you waiting for? Let’s do this!!!

The post The myth around why people don’t write their book first appeared on Author Academy.

How a life tragedy turned into a story of healing

Sue — Sun, 14 Oct 2018 00:15:56 +0000

You may wonder how on earth a life tragedy could possibly turn into a story of healing. Well it actually happens quite regularly in my line of business as an book coach and publisher.

In particular, I would love to share the journey of one of my amazing published authors so that you can understand how this has changed her life.

It was a Tuesday night and I was about to start teaching a creative writing course that ran for 8 weeks. I really love teaching this class where I get to meet some really amazing people that have such vivid imaginations and heartfelt stories to share.

The variety of genres is endless, there are children’s stories, life stories, thrillers, science fiction, mystery and the list goes on.

This particular class and night was very special, I did not realise it quite at the time, but it was not long after I understood exactly what had happened. We did the usual introductions where I ask them to share their name, what they want to write about and what they hope to achieve out of the course.

As we were going around, I remember this lady who was fairly quiet and did not want to share too much about her story as it was personal and still very raw, she did however tell me she had started writing this story on and off for over 20 years and was finding it difficult to complete it.

Her story was about her daughter she had lost at an early age, so you can see how it was difficult writing this story. I remember looking her straight in the eyes and saying “It’s time…it’s time you finish this book now” I remember her looking at me and I felt an instant connection with her. I now know that the words that came out of my mouth that night was not me…it was her daughter!

Her daughter was giving her the encouragement she needed to finish writing her story.

After the class ended, she came up to me and asked if I could work with her one to one as she felt she needed personal guidance to get her over the finish line with this book. We booked a date for her to come to my office so we could get started.

For the next four months’ I gently guided her to finish writing the parts that were difficult and although it was not easy for her she pushed through it. This process allowed her to heal on a much deeper level than she realised. Even though her book is a personal reflection of her beautiful daughter, it is also a book to give guidance to the many other families out there that are and will go through this same tragedy of losing a child that has cerebral palsy.

The next step for her was to get the book professionally proofread and edited. This is a crucial step of your writing journey, especially for the success of your book.

Once her book was ready and all the changes were made, we were ready to get her book published. This was a very exciting time for her and her family, to know that their beautiful young daughter was going to be honoured in a very special way.

I will always treasure the moment I rang her to come over and have a look at the proof of her book. We both had tears in our eyes, I was so proud of her achievement and we could both feel that her daughter was there with us…just as proud!

It was now time to order copies of her book for her first book launch!

I feel very honoured to have been able to walk this path with her as her book coach and publisher.

Over to You

I hope this case study has inspired you to share your journey no matter where you are on your writing path.

Perhaps you have started writing and have come up against a stumbling block or you are ready to start writing your story that will heal and inspire others.

If you are unsure of what guidance you require why not schedule a FREE 15-minute heart storming call with me and let’s get you moving forward with your writing journey.

Join our FREE Facebook Group

The post How a life tragedy turned into a story of healing first appeared on Author Academy.

Why is an Author Coach important

Sue — Sun, 27 May 2018 00:53:31 +0000

Having an author coach is no longer a luxury, it’s important if you want to achieve your dream of becoming a published author.

Let me ask you the following questions:

Are you someone that has an amazing story to share and really hate the thought of working in a group or on your own?

Do you need accountability?

Would you prefer to work with someone one-to-one?

If you answered ‘yes’ then you should seriously consider hiring an author coach.

An author coach helps writers achieve their goals of becoming a published author and be very proud of their finished work as well as making sure you enjoy the process along the way.

There are lots of ways to get there, and a good author coach does not believe in giving up. Their job is to support you and devise strategies to propel you forward and help you access your untapped, forgotten, or ignored passions and energies that will get you moving, no matter if you’re completely stuck or charging ahead at a zillion-miles an hour toward a hard deadline.

Together with your author coach you will accomplish your dream…Your story in a book, published, sharing it with the world!

What are the benefits of having an author coach?

An author coach will show you the step-by-step process on how to write your book
An author coach will show you how to outline, structure, & pull all the relevant pieces together to complete your book
An author coach will show you how to start writing your book
An author coach will show you how to pull all your writing together & complete your book ready to publish
An author coach will hold you accountable and gently guide you to complete your book
An author coach will inject the energy and enthusiasm required to inspire you to take action and write your story

Ask yourself the following questions:

Will I be able to accomplish writing my story on my own?
Will I be able to complete writing my story in a short timeframe?
Do I even know where to start?
Will I be able to stick to a routine to complete writing my story?
Do I know how to outline, structure and all the other information I need to complete my story?

Be honest with yourself, it would be so much better having an author coach to help guide you to the finish line. Working alongside someone who has your best interests in mind is worth every cent, someone that will walk that writing journey with you and be there when you achieve your dream of being a published author.

Consider how you will feel when…

You receive your book and you are holding it in your hands
You know that your story is going to help many people
You know that your story is going to inspire and influence people that you have not met

An author coach is someone that will keep you motivated, on track, and give you the inspiration to keep moving forward.

So, what are you waiting for?

Join our FREE Facebook Group

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