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Lisa Tener
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Lisa Tener’s Writing and Publishing Blog
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What To Do When Your Book Launch Falls on Inauguration Day – and Other Tips
Yes, we’ve been planning on January 20, 2021 for my book launch for The Joy of Writing Journal, and my friend Portland Helmich asked, “Isn’t that the Inauguration?” It is. So, here’s what you do when book launch falls on Inauguration Day. You reschedule it. Do you push yourself to get those videos filmed and…
Why Her Creative Muse Kept Waking Her at 1 am!
Stephanie Meyers hadn’t planned on a “meet your creative muse” meditation. In fact, we got on Zoom to shoot a quick video for my forthcoming book, The Joy of Writing Journal: Spark Your Creativity in 8 Minutes a Day. After we shot the video, Stephanie confessed that she didn’t know what to do about a…
Thanksgiving Gratitude and Writing Community
It’s become tradition to blog my Thanksgiving gratitude list. Despite the challenges this year, I have much to be grateful for, especially this writing community. I also want to acknowledge that some of my readers may be grieving. If that’s you, I hope your writing practice brings solace, sustenance and fulfillment, especially in this formidable…
5+ Writing Lessons I (re-) Learned Today
Some days you just have to re-learn the same lessons you picked up a year ago, or a decade ago and forgot. Here are the 5+ writing lessons I re-learned today. I hope they help and inspire you! #1: Your Reader Changes Writing Lesson #1 Your Reader is Not the Same Person at the End…
Mindfulness & Gratitude as Portals to Writing with Ease
Researcher Shalini Bahl, PhD is both a writer and an expert in mindfulness. The other day, she shared with me how practicing mindfulness, and gratitude in particular, helps her get unstuck when she writes. It makes sense to me. I know that when I’m in a negative state, feeling grateful helps me shift into a…
Virtual Book Marketing in a Pandemic
A pandemic changes all the rules—and the game is now virtual book marketing and events. Publishing has turned upside down. When the virus hit, many authors and publishers scrambled. They quickly needed a plan B, especially for books about to launch! Two bestselling authors and exemplary literary citizens in the writing community came together and brainstormed…
Be a Star on Camera: A Guide to Nail TV Interviews & Videos
As an author, once it’s time to promote your book, it comes in handy to be able to wow viewers in your media and TV interviews. Inspiring videos can also help spread the word about your book. In addition to help selling books, these skills will help you spread your message and increase awareness of…
Creative Legacy, Gratitude and a Call to Action
Creative Mood Boosters Last week, I was interviewed by Gasia Mikaelian of KTVU San Francisco (taped, not live), sharing creative mood boosters. At the end of the interview, when the recording was off, we chatted about the coincidence of both wearing a camel colored top (and both of us for the first time!), as well…
Writing and Community / Writing Community
Writing and community–the power and necessity of community for writers–is top of my mind this morning. Yesterday, preparing my manuscript for the final edit, I felt consumed by self-doubt. Why had I only asked for beta readers? Why hadn’t I hired a developmental editor? Does it provide enough guidance to beginners? Too much? Too little?…
Three Must Haves for an Effective Book Marketing Campaign and Platform Building
If you’re in the Facebook Group, Write and Create with Lisa Tener, then you know that I’m working on an interactive journal with prompts and some creative features to get people writing with ease and a sense of joy. And if not, SURPRISE! I’m working on a journal! And I plan to release it in…
Writing a Book: 5 Tips to Overcome Overwhelm
How to overcome overwhelm is on my mind because…. Okay, I’m sure you can guess. I occasionally slide into overwhelm in preparing for my January launch for my book titled…well…it doesn’t have a title yet. So, that right there feels like… Nope, not gonna go there. Breathe, Lisa. Okay, from the trenches, 5 Tips to…
2 Simple Meditations to Write with Ease
Would you like a simple meditation to write with ease and break through your creative challenges? This morning, I worked on a post for you about New York Times bestsellers but I struggled to finish it. This afternoon, a session with my muse changed everything. I didn’t ask my muse about my blog post or…
Good News About Reading: Here’s the Data
Check out the Reading Data While coronavirus has caused challenges from bookstore and library closings to manufacturing lags, there’s plenty of good news about books, readers and publishing. Specifically, reading books remains popular, across all ages. And, in case you were wondering, readers still prefer print books over ebooks. Krystal McKenna of Best By The…
Writing Deeper in Creative Flow
An interesting phenomenon came up in the Get Your Writing Done Program last week, when people found themselves writing deeper in creative flow. After we did our breathing and movement warm ups, everyone began writing. It was inspiring to witness the concentration and focus revealed on each face as people wrote. After 40 minutes of…
How to Stay Focused—and WRITE!
Do you struggle with how to stay focused on your writing? You’re not alone. Just a few tweaks can help you break through the challenge and write in a state of inspired flow. Her Breakthrough in Focus On a call with a Bring Your Book to Life® participant, she shared her recent breakthrough: As a…
Amplify Black Voices in Publishing Day 4: Dr. Tiffany A. Love
Amplify Black Voices in Publishing, Day 5 If you’re wondering where to find Day 4 of the series, we hope to reschedule the interview with Literary Agent Regina Brooks for later in the year. About today’s Amplify Black Voices interviewee: I met Dr. Tiffany Love serving on the faculty together of Harvard Medical School’s CME…
Amplify Black Voices in Publishing, Day 3: Ali Raja, MD
For Day 3 in Amplify Black Voices in Publishing, I interview Ali Raja, MD. I was introduced to Dr. Ali Raja by Dr. Tiffany Love on Twitter. I told her that I’d realized my list of interviewees for this series was all women so far. We needed some gender diversity! She said, “How about Dr….
Amplify Black Voices in Publishing Day 2: Dr. Froswa’ Booker-Drew
Welcome to Day 2 of Amplify Black Voices in Publishing! When I sent out the invitation to subscribe to the “Amplify Black Voices in Publishing” series, I was short one interviewee. When a reader of my newsletter responded, our back and forth emails led me to realize, she would be a wonderful person to interview…
Amplify Black Voices in Publishing, Day 1: Gael-Sylvia Pullen
We start Day 1 of Amplifying Black Voices in Publishing with author, speaker, philanthropist and educator Gael-Sylvia Pullen. I had the pleasure of working with Gael-Sylvia on her wonderful book, The Good Around Us: Living and Leading from a Place of Joy, Even in the Joyless Moments. And I also made a guest appearance in…
Writing for Social Change: Meet Your Readers Where They Are
I’m currently working with a woman who is writing for social change and who has built a strong activist community. She has a big vision–a horizon far beyond what her community can currently envision. She wants to encourage them to the next level of activism in her book—and to expand how most of them currently…
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