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Tag: writing

My love-hate relationship with author coaching

 

 

 

What I hate about author coaching:

I hate it when I put my heart and soul into clients, and they don’t follow through. As a new coach, this really hurt me, and I always thought there was something wrong. Maybe something was missing in my coaching program. So I would add more information. I would add more worksheets. I would add more tips and tricks. But over time, I realized the lack was not within me or my program. The lack was in the client. Something had stifled their ambition.

 

I have put so much into the Author Biz 101 course that I’ve had some people tell me there’s so much information it’s almost overwhelming. I know it’s not a lack in the course itself. So what could cause this?

That’s when I realized that ambition was a tricky character. While you’re all fired up with a new project, ambition comes easily. When life hits and other things come up, ambition starts to wane. That’s when I encourage my clients to look back at their purpose. Why did they want to write a book in the first place? Who did they want to touch with their writing?

I also found in some cases that the client was subconsciously sabotaging their own efforts. If it were a lack of self-esteem or a feeling of unworthiness, they would find things to self-sabotage their efforts. Then I started encouraging my clients to change their mindsets about what they deserve. If you feel called or led to write a book, I believe there’s a reason and a purpose for it. You are good enough. You are capable. And there are so many tools available. Writing a book has never been easier than it is right now.

I hate dealing with grammar Nazis and those with a limited mindset who discourage new writers from even starting. I had a new writer who was desperate for a critique. I gave him a good critique, but he wanted someone that was a little harsher, so I sent him to a grammar Nazi. I wish I hadn’t. This grammar Nazi put down his work, but he also told the new writer not to get published because there was no money in writing anymore. Unfortunately, this new writer was so insecure that he took this advice even against my own, and I have never heard from him since. It’s a terrible shame because it has been a long time since someone could move me with words as this man did. I only hope he will get the courage to step up and share his work with the world in the near future.

Dealing with people who do not know how to make money with their writing is one of the things I despise about author coaching. Thousands of indie authors make six figures a year or more with their writing. If I had to go back to traditional publishing, I would probably refuse because I make a hundred times more money publishing independently.

They’re still money to be made publishing traditionally, but quite frankly, it’s much easier and quicker to do it on your own. Unfortunately, this grammar Nazi didn’t know how to make money with his writing, and his limited mindset caused another writer to give up. I will never again send someone looking for a critique to a grammar Nazi. When I researched this man, he’s never published anything in his lifetime to make things even worse. He knew so much about grammar but nothing about making money.

 

What I love about Authur coaching:

I love it when I can inspire a writer to start a new book. I love the excitement. You can feel it in the air as they begin to talk about their new book. I love helping them form the thoughts of their imaginations and helping them bring them out to the world. I love to inspire and motivate and encourage.

I love the feeling I get when I watch a new writer publish their first book. It’s like watching your child receive an award at school. I’m thrilled to be a part of their journey. I enjoy signing their certificate when they complete my course. I love packaging up my golden ink pins to give away to my authors who complete this journey. Unfortunately, I don’t get to do that very often. So many people want to quit halfway through their book and never finish. That’s the part I hate.

So what’s the point? The point is I want to encourage you to finish the projects you start. When you finish a project, there’s a feeling of joy and satisfaction that comes across in a way that you can’t explain unless you complete your task. Writing a book can be hard, but it doesn’t have to be. I’m here to help, but you still have to finish.

What would you like to accomplish in your lifetime? Have you started on the journey only to be distracted by life? I encourage you to start again. Don’t quit. Follow through. You’ll never know how it feels until you finish it.

 

If you would like help with your book, check out my author coaching courses. I also have some one-on-one coaching options available through Patreon.

https://www.patreon.com/posts/62965908

If you’d like more tips and tricks about the business of writing, check out Synova’s Simply Biz Facebook group and sign up for Synova’s Simply Biz Newsletter.

If you enjoy this content don’t forget to sign up for Synova’s Simply Biz Newsletter and get your copy of her Free Guide: Overcoming Writer’s Block.

Join Synova’s Newsletter here

If you’d like even more help with your writing business, Synova has recently launched a course for writers.

Author Biz 101 Writer’s Course:

This course will focus on helping writers develop their craft and show them how to build a business from their writing.

For more information check out Synova’s store page HERE

For more free tips about writing check out Synova’s Simply Biz Facebook Group

JOIN SYNOVA’S SIMPLY BIZ FACEBOOK GROUP HERE

 

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The Benefits of Journaling For Writers (& Everyone Else Too)

You’ve probably heard that you should be journaling, but who has time and what’s the big deal? If you want to be a professional writer and you don’t keep a journal, I highly suggest you start, and I will tell you why. 

Tony Robbins has a saying that I absolutely love. He says, “success leaves clues.” If you study the most successful business people, writers, speakers, etc., 99% of them keep a journal. So if you want to be successful, it would make sense to do what successful people do, right? So why don’t we keep journals?

I think when we say journal, people get a mental image of the preteen girl and her little pink, glitter-covered diary. When I speak of journaling, I am not talking about the scribblings of a prepubescent girl. I’m talking about serious journaling for entrepreneurs and writers.

It’s a well-known fact that journaling can help you during times of crisis and trauma. It helps remind you of good times when things have turned bad. Mental health professionals recommend journaling to their patients and see massive results. It only takes 15 minutes a day to change your life. Still, for the most part, the majority of people don’t journal.

Today I want to tell you how journaling can help you become a better writer.

1. Helps Focus Your Thoughts:

Writing in a journal helps you focus your thoughts. A lot of times, people get overwhelmed at the thought of trying to write a book, and they can’t overcome it, and the book never gets written. If you take 15 minutes a day to write in a journal, you’ll find your ideas Will flow easier, and you won’t struggle with writer’s block as much.

2. Keep Track Of Ideas:

I also use my journal to keep track of the new ideas that pop into my head. If you have followed me for a while, you know that I have a tendency towards ADHD, and my mind goes a million places at a time. I will get great ideas while I’m in the middle of an important assignment for my business. I would follow these ideas down the rabbit hole and never follow through and finish the first project. I found that by journaling my ideas, I can keep them in a safe place but not get distracted by them. I will go back through my journals periodically and implement the ideas that I have stored there.

I also like to keep my gratitude journal entries in my notebook. Some people will separate their gratitude journals, their food journals, their idea, journals, etc. I placed them all in one. If it helps you to separate them all out, then I encourage you to do so. The idea is to store the information in a safe place. 

I use hard-bound journals, and I found a company that has beautiful ones. They’re usually gold, foiled, and gorgeous. I know all of you guys out there may not like those, so you can find ones that are more “Butch,” I’m sure. I call mine my “golden book of ideas.” I keep it with me everywhere I go.

Get Your’s Here:                                              Get Men’s Journal Here:

https://amzn.to/3gAJJzf                                https://amzn.to/34zc06O

 

3. Helps Writers With Character Development:

Journaling also helps writers flesh out their characters. It helps you build your backstory without boring the readers. Too many writers discover their characters along with the reader. Unfortunately, this leads to the bad habit of information dumping. I always tell people to start their books with excitement and chaos. Then you can sprinkle in the backstory later on. If you don’t know your character well enough, you will dump all of this information onto your reader. Journaling helps you flesh out all of those details so you can write a well-rounded character without boring the reader with unnecessary backstory.

4. Improves Communication Skills:

Studies show daily journaling improves your communication skills. As a writer, improving your communication skills should be a top priority. It also helps you work through emotions and be more mindful.

5. Reduces Anxiety:

Mental health professionals encourage their patients to use journaling to help reduce anxiety about upcoming events in their lives. When you write in a journal, it also decreases your anxiety about writing a book. I know that sounds strange because you’re still writing the book. People get overwhelmed at the thought of writing a book but think of it this way. What if you wrote for 15 minutes a day about the topic you would like to see in a book?

If you wrote for 15 minutes a day every day for a year, you would have a book written already! Sure, It would need to be formatted into book form and edited properly, but you have written a book. It literally takes the pressure off to simply write in your notebook versus the thought of writing a book.

Conclusion:

These are just a few of the reasons why you should be journaling as a writer. If those aren’t enough for you, Google it, and I guarantee you you’ll find enough reasons to start writing your own journal. I will give you a link to the company that I buy my journals from, I am an affiliate of Amazon, so I will receive a small commission. Commission. But I would not recommend them if I didn’t use them myself.

Happy journaling!

If you’d like more tips and tricks about the business of writing, check out Synova’s Simply Biz Facebook group and sign up for Synova’s Simply Biz Newsletter.

If you enjoy this content don’t forget to sign up for Synova’s Simply Biz Newsletter and get your copy of her Free Guide: Overcoming Writer’s Block.

Join Synova’s Newsletter here

If you’d like even more help with your writing business, Synova has recently launched a course for writers.

Author Biz 101 Writer’s Course:

This course will focus on helping writers develop their craft and show them how to build a business from their writing.

For more information check out Synova’s store page HERE

For more free tips about writing check out Synova’s Simply Biz Facebook Group

JOIN SYNOVA’S SIMPLY BIZ FACEBOOK GROUP HERE

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11 Timewasters to Avoid

 

We all feel like we don’t have enough time. But most of us waste a lot more time each week than we care to admit. The perfect timewaster is enjoyable, allows time to fly by, and is highly distracting.

 In this day and age, we have a lot of distractions that fit the bill of a perfect distraction. Timewasters are habits that provide little to no meaningful reward for the time invested.

If you don’t have time to finish your book, I suggest you look for these things in your daily routine and cut them out. Remember you have to “Make” time for writing. Don’t wait for the “perfect” time to write, or you’ll never finish that book!

Avoid these timewasters, and you’ll add more hours to your day to do what matters to you:

  1.  Cut The Clutter: Clutter is a huge timewaster. Everything seems to be in your way. It’s hard to find the things you need. It’s emotionally stressful, too. Have you ever noticed how peaceful a sparsely decorated room feels? You can create that same environment.
  2. Worrying: You can worry all you want about the weather, your debt, or your relationship. It doesn’t change the problem. It just stresses you out, wastes valuable time, and causes you to be less productive.
  3. Perfectionism: Perfection is an impossible goal and requires far more time than it’s worth. It’s also an excuse never to get started. Realize what it is and cut it out.
  4. Electronic devices: How much time do you spend each week watching TV, surfing the internet, or staring at your phone? Do you play video games? Count up all of that time and ask yourself if there’s something more productive you could be doing. The average American spends 4 & 1/2 hrs watching TV a day, and that number is bumped up to 6 hrs if you include online videos.
  5. Social media: In theory, social media is a great thing. But in practice, it takes up a lot of time and creates stress. People spend an average of 2 hrs & 23 min on social media a day. That’s 35 days a year! 
  6. Multi-tasking: It’s far more effective to do one thing at a time. Refocusing your attention on multiple tasks takes time and destroys any momentum you’ve created.
  7. Commuting: A 30-minute drive to work adds up. That’s 250 hours a year, or the equivalent of over six 40-hour workweeks. That’s six weeks of vacation! What could you learn if you listened to seminars on your commute? How much writing could you get done if you dictated your thoughts to your phone while you commuted to work?
  8. Chores: Some things have to be done—shopping, cooking, cleaning, laundry, cooking, and mowing the grass. If possible, pay others to perform these tasks for you. Or, you can listen to seminars while you mop floors like I do. The last two books I’ve written, I’ve dictated them all while doing other things!!
  9. Indecision: If you lack a clear direction, you’re likely to do nothing. Learn to make up your mind quickly. Make the best decision you can and get busy putting it into action. Watch my video about finding your “Why”: https://youtu.be/79et_K-01bM
  10. No plan for the day: Having a plan for the following day before you go to bed is a great way to avoid wasting time. Make a plan at night, and then spend the day working on your plan. Jim Rohn suggests making a list of the top 6 things you need to do the night before and then working on your list the next day. This list will keep you on track and improve your focus.
  11. Fatigue: It’s hard to do your best work while tired. You work slower, make more mistakes, and have a decreased ability to focus and make wise decisions. Get your sleep!

Consider all the meaningful things you could accomplish if you stopped wasting time. Think about how much time you spend each week on unproductive activities. Eliminate as many of these timewasters as possible and reap the benefits!

If you’d like more tips and tricks about the business of writing, check out Synova’s Simply Biz Facebook group and sign up for Synova’s Simply Biz Newsletter.

If you enjoy this content don’t forget to sign up for Synova’s Simply Biz Newsletter and get your copy of her Free Guide: Overcoming Writer’s Block.

Join Synova’s Newsletter here

If you’d like even more help with your writing business, Synova has recently launched a course for writers.

Author Biz 101 Writer’s Course:

This course will focus on helping writers develop their craft and show them how to build a business from their writing.

For more information check out Synova’s store page HERE

For more free tips about writing check out Synova’s Simply Biz Facebook Group

JOIN SYNOVA’S SIMPLY BIZ FACEBOOK GROUP HERE

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How to find stock photos for your book covers

Have you ever wondered where Indie authors find all of the beautiful pictures for their book cover designs? There are many places online that charge you for stock photography, but there are also a few free options. A lot of them claim to be free, but they also require a paid subscription. So be careful when you look for these sites and watch the fine print. Today I’m going to give you a list of a few that I use regularly.

Pixabay.com
Pixabay offers photos, videos, and music all for free. They do not require you to attribute the author, but it’s much appreciated. I use Pixabay the most. Pixabay also has an app that you can download on your Android device, making it handy if you are looking for pictures on the go.

Pexels.com
Pexels is a lot like Pixabay but is not as large. They do offer photos and videos but no music. Like Pixabay, they are free, but they do ask you to attribute the photographer if possible. Both of these options allow you to use their photos for commercial purposes.

Unsplash.com
Unsplash.com offers many visually stunning photos, but they do not provide videos, music, or vectors. Vector images are the ones that have no background and can be easily laid over another image. Vectors are used a lot in logo creation.

Openclipart.org
Openclipart is a great place to find clipart of all sorts. Their website boasts of over 163,000 images for you to choose from for your various projects.
While these four sites are not the only free stock photography sites on the internet, these are the four that I use the most. There are also paid sites like AdobeStock.com and Dreamstime.com, but if you’re designing projects on a bootstrap budget, I would suggest the four I have mentioned.

If you enjoy this content don’t forget to sign up for Synova’s Simply Biz Newsletter and get your copy of her Free Guide: Overcoming Writer’s Block.

Join Synova’s Newsletter here

Synova’s #1 Tip for Overcoming Writer’s Block

Pic attribution: Photo by Thought Catalog on Unsplash

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The Haters Are Wrong About You!

How many times have you been told that you’re a failure, and you’ll never amount to anything? How many times have you been told you will never be a successful author? How many negative things have you told yourself? Well, stop believing it!

Some of the greatest, most influential writers of all time have suffered rejection. Here are a few examples for you to look at when you get discouraged about your writing.

Animal Farm, by George Orwell, received this scathing review from a publisher. “It is impossible to sell animal stories in the U.S.A.” This book went on to be named one of the 100 best English-language novels by Time Magazine. It was number 31 on the Modern Library list of the Best 20th Century Novels. It won a Retrospective Hugo Award and is included as one of the Great Books of the Western World.

The Diary of Anne Frank, by Anne Frank, was given this horrible review. “The girl doesn’t, it seems to me, have a special perception or feeling which would lift that book above the curiosity level.” Frank could have taken that review personally, but she pressed on until she found a publication that would publish her award-winning book. 

If you have found yourself dealing with critics in any area of your life, then take heart. Usually, critics only attack those with which they can’t compete. You can write your book and be a great success if you choose to. It’s up to you. You can choose to become the next author millionaire, or you can let the comments of the narrow-minded critics stop you from achieving your dreams. 

“You can have excuses or results, not both” – Arnold Schwarzenegger. 

What will you choose? Excuses? Results?

JOIN SYNOVA’S SIMPLY BIZ FACEBOOK GROUP HERE

Want all of Synova’s Insider Secrets? Check out her book!

Can a local writer build a big enough audience to attract Hollywood? I did.

Can you publish independently and build a large platform that attracts the attention of a traditional publishing house? I did.

Can an indie author make six figures a year? Yes!

This go-to guide will show you how I built a business so large that a publishing house came to me and offered to buy reprint rights to three of my books. I got the chance to tell them “no” for one of the books. I made too much money.

Have you ever been able to send a rejection letter to a publishing house? It’s a lot of fun. Trust me.

Order you copy today!!

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