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Lisa Tener’s Writing and Publishing Blog

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Find articles on your most pressing writing & publishing questions. Plus, creative support for your inner muse!

Book coach Lisa Tener

How to Get Unstuck by Asking Questions (About Your Book)

I’ve been trying to make room in my bloated Gmail account by deleting old emails. If I were a bit more courageous, I suppose I would delete all these emails from 2015 and 2016 en masse and assume that any information I need I can find elsewhere. Or else it’s worth my time to lose…

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Thought Leadership for Authors

The Authority Advantage: Building Thought Leadership Focused on Impact, Not Ego. An interview with Rusty Shelton To say that Rusty Shelton was influential in my journey as a book coach would be an understatement. Rusty has to be the most influential person in elevating my entrepreneurial journey, offering me life-changing opportunities and modeling service-oriented leadership….

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How to Leverage Book Awards

On the heels of winning my fifth book award for The Joy of Writing Journal—the Silver Benjamin Franklin Award—I thought it would be a good time to share how I’ve leveraged awards into book sales and visibility for my programs and services—and how you can, too. I’d also love to hear your ideas as I…

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Fear, Freedom and the Urgency to Write

Afraid to Write a Book? It’s been an interesting morning. My workday began with a call from a reader of The Joy of Writing Journal who wants to write a book. I sensed that it took some bravery to reach out to me. She shared about the inner saboteur who walks into a library or…

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Lisa Tener Speaker nonfiction writers conference

Nonfiction Writers Conference 2023: An Interview with Stephanie Chandler

As a reader of this blog, you may already know how much I love and recommend writers conferences for the inspiration, guidance, knowledge, exposure and networking they provide, as well as being one of the best ways to find out what’s working now in this ever-changing field of publishing. And one of my favorite conferences…

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How to Protect Yourself and Avoid Plagiarizing

In light of the latest plagiarism scandal, is it possible to plagiarize without realizing it? And can you protect yourself? Yes, and yes! And you owe it to yourself, your readers, your publisher and everyone whose work you’ve read, admired, or been influenced by, to prevent plagiarizing. Be Original This may seem obvious, but one…

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The Importance of Writing Community

Last week, I attended an author event in Jamestown, RI—an author chat with Julie Gerstenblatt, author of  Daughters of Nantucket, hosted by Robin Kall at the beautiful bookstore and winebar Curiosity & Co. and was struck by the importance of writing community. Writing Community Came First I met Julie at another author event through Rhode Island’s…

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Are You Struggling to Make Time for Writing?

About a week ago, I came across a brief snippet of writing from a client who shows up to my Get Your Writing Done classes when she can find the time for writing. The playful description of herself inspired me, so I sent it to her. She followed up with a thank you and apology…

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Rekindle Your Writing Dreams

Perhaps you dream of writing a book. Or starting a blog. Or reading your poetry on your favorite radio station one day. But today, it doesn’t feel like you’ll ever get there. This post is for you if: Revisit Your Writing Dream When you started your book or blog or poetry or journaling, what did…

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Dog reading "Beyond Medicine"

How Dr. Trish Got a Book Deal with Minimal Platform

Lisa:  Publishers are so focused on book marketing and author platform, but you got an agent and a book deal with a minimal platform. How did you do that? Trish:  After several years of trying to build my platform, advised by people in the business that I shouldn’t even try to get an agent until…

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Lisa Tener book coach

How to Overcome 7 Common Writing Struggles & Setbacks

It happens to everyone. You write and write and feel inspired and then boom.Or thud.You’re just not writing.Maybe you avoid it.Maybe you sit at your desk but nothing comes.Or maybe you are writing but hate it. The passion has leaked out of you and you’re left with blah blah blah. There’s hope. How to Overcome…

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Lisa Tener book coach

Do You Have a Marketable Book?

She Kept Doubting She Had a Marketable Book I recently heard from an aspiring author who had several ideas for a book. When she researched her first idea on Amazon, she found several books on the subject, many of which had excellent reviews. “I guess I should pack it in. Why does the world need…

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Lisa Tener book coach

How to Get an Agent for My Memoir/Nonfiction Book?

People often email me asking, “How do I get an agent for my memoir?” Or, more broadly, they’re looking for representation for other narrative or prescriptive nonfiction (self-help, how to). Often, by the time they reach out to me, they’ve queried agents without success. Just yesterday, Bella reached out to me by email to say,…

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Lisa journaling

Join Me and Journal!

Journaling is one of my favorite tools for personal growth, creative fulfillment and transformation. I do a lot of funky things in my journals–recording my dreams in the morning, which can include dialoging with a dream character, penning a poem inspired by the dream or something really out there like a one-act play with Greek…

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book coach Lisa Tener

Why Writers Need Good Boundaries

Books don’t write themselves. They need you and me to make the time and space to get them written. And yet, it’s so easy to say, “Of course I’ll take you shopping tomorrow, Mom.” “The committee can’t find a new fundraising chair? Sure, I’ll take it on for another year.” Guess what? Blurry Boundaries are…

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author Morgana Rae

Morgana Rae on How to Attract High-End Clients

Today I have the great pleasure of hosting Day 6 of the Virtual Blog Tour of author Morgana Rae whose book Financial Alchemy: Twelve Months of Magic and Manifestation launches on Amazon on Monday, January 23, 2023. Meet Morgana Rae Early on in my book coaching business, Morgana Rae helped me transform my relationship around…

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Lisa Tener book coach

Why Do You Want to Write a Book?

I recently gave a talk to a group of coaches who’d invited me to speak to their creativity discussion group on how to “Bring Your Book to Life(R): 5 Steps to Get Started.” Early on in my presentation, I asked participants, “Why do you want to write a book?” One participant shared, “I have a…

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7 Ways to Welcome in the New Year with Purpose—in Writing!

Ready to welcome the new year? Last week I shared 5 Ways to Say Goodbye to 2022—in Writing! It can be a powerful exercise to review the year and write or journal about highlights. We can grieve our losses and make space for new experience. And we can treasure what we loved about the year,…

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5 Things to Write to Say Goodbye and Thanks to 2022

New Year’s is a great time to remember the good of 2022 and consciously envision and create your new year through journaling or other writing. So, let’s thank and treasure 2022—in writing! Here are 5 ways to do so. Try one or try them all. By the way, if you want join me to journal…

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Looking for a Meaningful Holiday Gift? Give The Joy of Journaling!

Tip: Read the whole post to find out how you can join me for a free journaling workshop to set your creative vision for 2023! One of my favorite holiday gifts to give or receive is a journal or writing notebook. Sometimes I give a journal on its own. Other times I pair it with…

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Get Lisa's New Book:

The Joy of Writing Journal: Spark Your Creativity in 8 Minutes a Day

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