“How Can I Write A Great Book?”
Yes, You Can Write a Great Book! Are you inspired to write a great book this summer? I’m sure you want to write a book that makes an impact—inspires, supports, guides, creates positive change for readers. The kind of book readers share with friends, buy as gifts, and recommend on Facebook and Goodreads. Most of my clients write books that powerfully transform some aspect of their readers’ lives. Here are just a few examples: The Nautilus Award-Winning book, The Soul of All Living Creatures, by Dr. Vint Virga, offers stories about animals that open our hearts, minds and souls to the… Read more
“Is This a Good Sign?” How to Interpret Responses from Literary Agents and Acquisitions Editors (Publishers)
Once you send your book out to literary agents or acquisitions editors, you’ll receive responses from them. But how do you interpret what they say? What Does Agent Rejection Really Mean? How to Rebound Quickly from a “No.” Recently I sent a client book proposal to three literary agents and all three expressed some concerns about the author’s platform. I’d already warned the author that we might get that response, even though he’d done some strong work on platform and had amassed a modest mailing list and twitter following, plus a strong story to tell when it came to speaking gigs and… Read more
Taking Risks, Teaching and Writing in Thailand
Teaching and Writing in Thailand: Taking Risks As I planned my time for teaching and writing in Thailand, I asked my inner muse for clarity about my trip to Thailand. “Don’t plan,” she advised. “Be in the moment. Let it unfold. See where you’re led.” Though it challenged me, I listened to my muse. I had a couple of ideas for where I wanted to visit on my days off from teaching, but I mostly let go of those ideas and set out on adventures that presented themselves day to day. Discovering the Chao Phraya River and a New Teacher Much… Read more
Finding Your Writing Voice by Taking Risks on the Page
At 72, Rhea Atwood found herself in her comfortable California apartment feeling her bed was “too soft.” “I decided to listen to my bed and waited a few days for it to tell me what to do about it.” Rhea spent the next four years following in the footsteps of the French Huguenots across the globe, visiting 17 countries and 5 continents, and surfing on a number of couches through couchsurfing. Previously a cautious risk taker, Rhea became, in her own words, intrepid. At times she had no money and no place to stay. Can you imagine? And yet she persisted. Now,… Read more
“No More Writing Rules.”
Writing Rules: Do They Trump Your Gut? In a recent book concept consultation, a new client shared her new writing rules: she’d read that all books should have “three acts” no matter whether the book is self-help, memoir or a novel. She tried to implement the writing rules she’d read about, to fit the structure of her book into three acts. The book just refused to cooperate. Then she made a list of some of her all-time favorite self-help books. None of them seemed to fit the three act formula. Still, she doubted herself. So we asked her muse, her… Read more
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