Lisa Tener
Book Writing Coach
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–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?…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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 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…
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….
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…
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…
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…
Today, I got a surprising lesson in book marketing. It began with a LinkedIn Message from a contact I didn’t remember connecting with. He must have written a nice message for me to say yes, though! His current message irked me at first: My Ungenerous First Response The focus of this book marketing message was…
This is an updated version of my earlier post on how to choose your book proposal sample chapters. I’ve updated it to share some excellent new questions that came in from a book proposal client today. How Many Sample Chapters? If you’re interested in being published by a traditional publisher, you probably know you need…
Does a part of you yearn to share your writing? When you hear someone else share their writing by reading aloud, or a writer shares by posting an excerpt, does it both inspire you and make you break out in hives? Do you wonder what you’re missing by not sharing your writing? The Power of…
I shared a post a few months ago about embodying your book, after my inner Muse had told me to, “Be your book,” and “Write from your magic.” Here are some more musings about embodying the book, a rough excerpt from the book I am writing for you! Your Book Breathes See your book as…
It seems that every day I get questions about the future of publishing. Is there a future in nonfiction publishing, at least in the traditional model? Is it bleak or promising? What can one do to increase one’s probability of success? More specifically: “Are acquisitions boards meeting virtually and are publishers still buying books…
How to Write an Award-Winning Nonfiction Book There’s the question of how to write a nonfiction book and then there’s how to write the kind of book that wins prestigious awards, gets recommended by avid fans and changes people’s lives. I’m fortunate to work with many, many authors who accomplish the latter. At “Write Your…
It’s always exciting to hear from writers I’ve worked with in the past. This week, Hisla Bates, MD wrote to let me know about her creativity summit: Healer Heal Yourself! Reduce Burnout, Discover Your Creativity While You Heal Others. As Dr. Bates wrote me, “It is a summit that will inspire you to infuse creativity…
