Lisa Tener
Book Writing Coach
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…
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…
Watch and hear some of our favorite authors share a surprising fact about themselves:
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…
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…
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 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…
