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Lisa Tener
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Lisa Tener’s Writing and Publishing Blog
Find articles on your most pressing book-writing questions.
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…
A Surprising Lesson in Book Marketing
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…
How to Choose Sample Chapters for a Book Proposal
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…
How to Share Your Writing
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…
“Write From Your Magic”
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…
The Future of Publishing: How to Proceed and Succeed
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: And Congrats to Our Three Nautilus Book Award Winners!
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…
A Creativity Summit for Healthcare Professionals, Healers and Anyone Looking to Reduce Burnout or Stress and Enjoy Life
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…
Teaching Book Writing Under Novel Conditions
Teaching Book Writing Under Novel Conditions I’ve been resting my shoulder and arm due to what I finally discovered is a rotator cuff injury. I’ve been afraid to see any doctors given the risk of being in a medical-related facility. So I put off calling my doctor for three weeks. I know, a bit crazy,…
Can We Still Be Celebrating in the Time of Pandemic?
No matter how old I get, I always look forward to my birthday. I love celebrating, being celebrated, connecting with friends and family, and I love presents. It helps that my birthday is in the spring when the first daffodils, crocuses, hyacinths, and tulips break ground and bloom. This year, my eager anticipation felt muted…
Book Title, Audience and How Niche is Nice
Do you have questions about your book title, the audience for your book, and how niche or broad to go? Last December, in the bonus call for my Fast Track Your Book Proposal course, participants got to ask their questions of Michael Larsen, co-author of How to Write a Book Proposal (now in its 5th…
Tips for Clearing the Mind of Negativity in Order to Create
We often need to clear our minds of negativity in order to create. As writers and creatives, the negative thoughts that hurt our creativity tend to focus around perfectionism, self-doubt, not feeling “good enough,” worry about what others will think. “No one will want to read this.” “It’s not original enough.” “It’s boring.” “I can’t…
You Are Invited to a FREE Creativity Workshop
Ready for a free creativity workshop? As you may know, I’m working on a book that helps you consistently access a state of creative flow. And I’ve refined by 5 Steps for “writing in the zone” to incorporate my new insights. At a focus group meeting, two long-term clients suggested I call this new iteration…
9 Ways to Connect with the Creative Muse
Do you know how to consistently connect with the creative muse? Probably my favorite activity in working with clients is guiding them in my signature “Meet Your Muse” guided visualization. We journey from meadow to woods to a clearing and a little building inside which the muse, a symbol of their creative source, awaits. Questions…
5 Ways to Get Unstuck: In Writing, Creativity and Life
Looking for Ways to Get Unstuck in Your Writing, Creativity or Life? This time of year, in the Northeast, it’s especially easy to get creatively stuck. It’s cold outside. We hunker down, watch more TV, skip yoga class, eat chocolate… I’ll write tomorrow. I’ll exercise later. And it’s downhill from there. But it doesn’t have…
How to Write a Book Quickly — and Make it Exceptionally Good
In my Bring Your Book to Life® Program, I teach how to write a book quickly. A quality book, of course. And quickly is a relative term. We’re not doing it in a weekend! Start at the Beginning to Write a Book Quickly I just love beginnings—getting in touch with the vision of a book,…
Answers to 32 of Your Book Writing and Publishing Questions
In the past couple of weeks, I held two book writing and publishing seminars (Bring Your Book to Life® in 2020) to help participants get started on their books (or get reinvigorated on a book project that’s stalled). Thanks to Sam Bennett for hosting one of them! I received over 35 varied and excellent questions…
Harvard Medical School’s CME Writing and Publishing Course
Many of the most successful authors I work with have attended Harvard Medical School’s writing and publishing course. And you may have read my recent interview with the course director Julie Silver, MD, who shared many of the areas that the course is branching out into, such as writing and publishing op/eds, podcasting and how…
“How Do I Connect with My Creative Muse?”
Karin’s creative muse showed up as a bee How to Connect with the Creative Muse In many of my private consultations and classes, including “Writing in the Zone” and “Bring Your Book to Life(R),” I lead participants through a guided visualization to “Meet Your Creative Muse.” What’s a Muse and Why Connect? Think of your…
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