#152: Thinking of Writing a Book? Here’s a 6-Point Reality Check

Welcome to the High Income Business Writing Podcast, helping you propel your writing business to a whole new level. And now, here's your host, Ed Gandia. Hey there. Welcome to the High Income Business Writing Podcast. I am your host, Ed Gandia, and this is the podcast for business writers and copywriters who want to earn more and less time doing work they love for better clients. You can find detailed show notes for this episode@b2b launcher.com episode 15 2. Those notes include a summary of our discussion as well as links to resources mentioned during the show. Now, before we get to this week's episode, I have just a quick announcement. I'm currently looking to personally guide 10 new freelance writers to get their business off the ground and land their first paying client quickly. We're going to work together starting this month to generate some great results for you. I'll coach you until you land this first paying client, and if you're willing, we'll document your success in a case study. If you'd like to work with me on this, just send an email to edlauncher.com put the words first client in the subject line, and I'll reply to you with all the details. Now for this week's show. Writing a book is one of the most rewarding things I've done in my professional life. I co wrote the book the Wealthy freelancer back in 2010 with my friends and colleagues, Steve Sloan White and Pete Savage. At first, when we got the book deal and it happened to be from a major publisher, Big, Big Publisher, an imprint of Penguin, it just felt great to be able to tell friends and family that I was now a published author. This is a really big deal for me at the time, but the real benefit came from tackling something that felt completely overwhelming and beyond my capabilities at the time. Now, fortunately, I had very little time to dwell on my fears and insecurities because we had really tight deadlines to meet. So I had no choice. I had to plow right through the project one day at a time, and my fears had to take kind of a back seat. But I truly believe that I came out of this process much more confident and better prepared for the second phase of my business, which was about to start. And that was mostly about teaching, training, and coaching. What I wish I would have had at the time, however, is the wisdom and advice my guest today is going to share with you. Susan Barocco is a writer and ghostwriter who helps women leaders tell their stories through books, and in this interview, she's going to share six videos. Very important realities you need to be aware of if you're thinking about writing any kind of book, whether it's an authority building book you use as a way to generate leads and build credibility, or maybe it's a side project such as a novel or some other type of nonfiction book. Doesn't really matter. Susan will give you some valuable advice from her own experience writing books and working with authors in her ghost writing business. This is a mixture of just a heavy dose of reality and encouragement. If this is something you've thought about, even if it's something maybe that's kind of further down the line for you, at some point you'd be interested in writing a book. I strongly encourage you to check out this episode. I think you're really going to get a lot out of it. So please enjoy my interview with Susan Barocco. Susan, welcome to the show. So great to be talking with you today.

Thanks, Ed. I'm really excited about talking to your audience today, so thanks for the invite.

Oh, it's my pleasure. This is something that I've been meaning to talk a little bit more about in the show and I'm glad to have you on so you can expand on this because I know this is, this is your passion. And before we get to the meat of our conversation, why don't you start by telling us a bit about yourself, your writing business, you know, what kind of writing you do, what types of clients you work with, and maybe what you love most about your work.

Well, that's the easy one actually is what I love most, honestly is the people that I work with. So my writing business has been a little over five years now. I think I finally got serious and dove in full time and I have been working as a ghostwriter, so to speak, for most of that time. And so I got my start writing as a staff, almost like a staff writer for web development company. So I was doing web copy and then after the website was up, if they sold a package, I would do all of the blogging for that particular company. So I started writing a lot of the work that I did and a lot of where I kind of cut my teeth was in writing for other companies behind the scenes as a ghostwriter. So I was writing for a moving company, I was writing for a records management company for a trucking company. Learned all kinds of cool stuff about these different industries. So that's where I got my start. And then I kind of did some pivoting working with you and some other programs and pivoted and really started to focus and get into a niche. And so now I focus on primarily working with women. And my mantra is helping women leaders tell their stories. And that can look. Oh, I guess that can be in a couple of different ways. Sometimes I work with women who want to do more blogging or write an industry article, maybe for a magazine. They've been tapped to do something and don't know how to do that. And then most of the work that I do now, so some of that. But most of the work that I do now is really in and around writing books, helping people to get their book from I've been thinking about it to. It's coming out next week. So that's my goal right now. And my focus is really to help people who have amazing stories. And many of us, most of us do, tell that story, share your brilliance with the world and get it out there, because it's one of the best things you can do for yourself personally as well as for your career and business. So that's my mantra. And I love my clients because I get to meet some truly amazing people. And as I unearth their stories, as we start to dig in, it's just, it's amazing to me what people have been through, how they've persevered and now how they've turned that into some type of success. It's been like the underpinning of their success. It was so much fun to tell that kind of story.

I love it. I sense the passion there. That's. That's fantastic. I can see why you love what you do. You know, one of the things I found is that many of my listeners are very interested in writing a book. I talk to a lot of people and this is like one of the top things on their list. And I think there are two different categories when I. When I talk to my listeners. One is either a memoir or a novel that they've always wanted to write. And sometimes it's not that. It's more kind of an authority building book to be used for. For building their credibility and for generating client leads. So more of a kind of a calling card to help them in their writing business. But either way, those are both big projects, even for someone who writes for a living. And I'm curious, why do you think is, you know, for writers? You think people on the outside might think of us as, well they're writers. Well, you know, why would they even be nervous or why would they even hesitate to write a book? But it is when it's our own stuff. It seems to be. It seems to be completely different, isn't it?

Most definitely. I think the hardest thing for anybody who's on the call, who may have a business, maybe you've had to create the content for your website as an example. It's so hard to do. It's so hard to actually say, oh, how do I talk about myself? Or how do I talk about what I do? I struggle with it, too. I often have resources, I have people that I go to to say, read this, look it over for me, and give me feedback. And because it is hard, it's hard to get out of our own way. I think one of the things that I usually. That's probably the easiest way to get yourself kind of unstuck from that is to go back to story, is to tell a story, figure out maybe it's a client you worked with, maybe it's a big project that you were really successful, you did a great job with, and start telling that story of how you did that. Or maybe it was a. If it's a personal thing, maybe it was of your memoir and you're thinking about, you know, geez, I overcame this really difficult situation. Start telling that story. And then it just. Then it starts. You'll find that it starts to flow from there. And that's one of the tips that I. That I use for myself as well as for others is, you know, pick a story and start telling a story as if you were sitting across the table from a friend and you wanted to tell them, recount your story to them.

Well, let's dive right into that because that's a good segue into our discussion today. You recently wrote a guidebook that goes deep into some of these truths and realities about writing a book. Yes, I want to kind of go right into some of these realities. I know you have identified six realities, and you have some really incredible wisdom under each of them. So why don't we start with maybe the first one and you could walk us. We can go one by one.

Sure. So the first one is busy is your way of life. And I think that my purpose in pulling this book together was to help people get out of their own way to a certain extent. We have, I guess, we put up our own roadblocks. And so busy is one of those roadblocks. I personally, when someone asks me, how are you? I have to stop myself from saying, oh, I'm so busy. It's just a natural reaction because we feel. We all feel very busy and we all are. But one of the things That I start with is talking about, are you really busy? Which you most likely are, but are you getting in your own way? Is that really just self sabotage? And it can be. Self sabotage is the natural enemy of any goal. We tend to come up with all the reasons why we can't. And so finding the time to write a book is probably the biggest challenge for most people. They think, how am I going to fit this in? How am I going to make this work? So what I talk about, what I like to kind of go over, and the book is designed to help you get ready. The book is really my guidebook is more like a primer. So what am I going to encounter on the road from here to a book? And so there are three stages of commitment that I like to start with is understanding that before you begin, you have to make a commitment. And I refer to it as clearing the decks. So if you think about all of the things that are that are vying for your time and your attention, if you think about it, there may be some things in that. If you look at your calendar, for example, and I think, I may have even gotten this from you, but I'm one of these people that I have to have my calendar planned out every day. So when I open my Google calendar in the morning, if there's an empty spot, let's say I don't have anything booked to do, even if it's, you know, if it's writing time or something else, guess what happens to that time? Nothing. I do nothing. Right?

You waste it.

I do and I'm terrible. It's just, I know that about me. So for me, it's really making sure that my calendar is booked out. But one of the advantages of that is, is that you can go back and look at your calendar and say, okay, what is in here that I've set time for that I might be able to delegate, that I might be able to postpone, or maybe I just stopped doing. And that's also in your personal life too. I know we all have families, we have different activities that we're involved in outside of work. It's not just your work calendar, but even many of my clients have to carve out time on their weekends to find time to write and things like that. So it's looking at your calendar and making a commitment to eliminate the time wasters. The things that are going to really just zap and suck your time, but that aren't of high value so that you can find time. And I also tell people, you know, don't expect to clear out huge blocks of time. This is about finding, you know, taking small steps to free up space to fit it into your calendar. And so the other thing, the next step really is during your book journey. I refer to this as anticipating the pull so life doesn't magically stand still. When you embark on a huge project of any kind, whether it's writing a book or any other kind of project, things happen. And I basically liken it to a riptide dragging you out to sea because this is a project that's probably going to take you, I don't know, anywhere from 8 to 10 to 12 months depending on or should take you that amount of time to write a book depending on the length and the topic and so forth. During that time, it's inevitable that things are going to come up. So you may end up having to handle an unexpected family emergency. Maybe your house sells and you've now, oh my gosh, I have to move. Maybe you get the flu. There's certainly plenty of that going around. So the idea is to be okay with, anticipate that you know things are going to happen. But the best thing that you can do for yourself is to a anticipate that things are going to happen but then kind of go through a couple of thought processes as you look at what's come up. Number one, make sure that it's not that self sabotage that you're not kind of slipping back into the oh, I'm really too busy to do this. Make sure it is a big thing that's pulling you away. Then the next step is to kind of make peace with that. Say, you know what, my house sold it means I have to move. It's okay, I'm okay with that. Don't start feeling guilty or put yourself under more stress. It's really important to make sure that you're not beating yourself up mentally over it. And then the next thing is really to make a plan to resume. What I recommend is that you put a date on your calendar a month or two out and say this is my next writing time. This is when I'm going to start writing my book again and then commit to it and stick to it. That's one of the easiest ways really to make sure that during the book journey that life happens but you're flexible enough and that you're letting it happen.

I guess I love that. But it's that clean slate idea is key, right? It's just pick a date, let's say it's our Thursday and it's Just been, whatever and you're done. Alright, you know what? We're not even gonna start tomorrow. Monday, Monday. It's. That's when we start clean.

Yeah. And then relax and kind of let it go. Don't worry about it because it's just gonna stress you out even more. And it's not necessary. The other thing that I hear oftentimes with is, I love this or I don't love it, I just think it's funny, is, oh, I'll write my book when I'm retired. And nothing makes me. Nothing pains my heart more than to hear somebody say, I'm putting it off for years or even a year. That to me is an extended period of time where you lose a lot. And you may have to, depending on your personal situation, you may have to do, you know, put it off. But you know, at the, at the risk of being morbid, how do you know you're going to live that long? I mean, it's. You don't know. So you've got to take advantage of it while it's in your mind. So I, what I usually do is say, you know, if you have to push it off, then become an excellent note taker. So between now and that time, if it's a six months or a year, or maybe it's a couple years, you're waiting for something to happen in your life with your business, whatever the case may be between now and that time, take great notes. There's nothing more important than being able to, you know, that fresh memory of being able to say, okay, this happened last week. I'm going to just. I don't care if it's on the back of a cocktail napkin, if it's scribbled, if it's bullet points, but the details of what you're experiencing are going to be really important a year from now or two years from now, when you do finally sit down to write that book and to put it into your book, you're going to really be glad that you had these notes to go back to because it's going to make your writing easier and it's going to be more accurate. You're preserving your experiences in writing.

Love it.

And then the final phase. So there were three phases. It was before you start while you're writing, and then the final phase is after your manuscript is done. And this is something that's really interesting is a lot of folks don't understand the whole marketing piece. And you could speak to this, I'm sure, Ed, because you've written, you have A couple of books. But the authors that I've spoken to, they actually liken it to having like a part time job. It's almost like another career to actually market the book and get it out there. So this piece requires a whole nother set of commitment where your manuscript is done. A lot of people think, oh good, the hard work's done well, actually there's more to do. So making sure that you're ready for the marketing piece. If you haven't ever written a book, there's a bit to it in terms of marketing because how else will people learn about your book? The world will never find out about it unless you put good amount of effort into it. So there's definitely ways to do it. I recommend that you take some time to educate yourself on what it takes to market the book so you know what's coming. And the other thing is it helps you for writing. So if you know, how am I going to use this book? What is it going to do for me? What do I want it to do for me? Is it a personal book like a memoir or is it a business book? Is it going to be a lead generator? Is it going to be a thank you or a door opener? Maybe it's a giveaway or a door opener or for speaking opportunities. Whatever it is, knowing how you're going to market it beforehand can actually help you as you write it. It just helps kind of tie everything together for you.

I agree. I agree that that's one thing that I see too many people leave to the end because it's the, you know, if you build it, they will come kind of thing.

Yes.

And you know, I think one of the assumptions here and much of what we're talking about is that you're going to be self publishing. And the reality is whether you self publishing or you were working with a traditional publisher, most of the promotion is going to fall on you.

Yes, it does.

Either way, don't say, well, you know, that doesn't apply to me. No matter what, it's going to apply to you. I guess the only exception would be this is a memoir that I'm only sharing with my family and close friends. You know, that kind of thing.

Right.

Anything else, there is going to be some level of promotion involved.

There's a really great book that I recommend. It's called the Business Book Marketing Plan. It's by a woman, Stephanie Chandler, and it just covers everything. It's really a great book. So regardless of which route you go, if you're going to self publish, you Definitely need this kind of support and understanding how to do it. If you're going traditional, it's still important for you to understand how that works. And that book is just a great resource for anyone. And even if you're not writing a business book, take the word business business out of there, it's still marketing a book and understanding all the different ways that you can do that through social media, through book launch, through book signings, all different types of things. How do you take advantage of all of that and get your name out there?

So that's reality number one, the fact that, look, everyone's busy, you just have to work through that. Let's move on to the next one. What's the second reality?

So the second reality is that your ego, your emotions and your doubt are going to get a workout. And I think that's something that oftentimes a first time author, someone who hasn't written a book before, comes into it not realizing just what a real workout it is. And for women now I focus on women and we are different obviously for men in terms of the way that we process our emotions and that type of thing. But I want to touch on each one of to help you understand really what's going to happen when you start writing your book. And ego is one of the ones that it's really important. Right? Ego is, it's the reason that we wouldn't be where we are today if we didn't have healthy egos. We wouldn't be building businesses or speaking or writing. We wouldn't be married, we wouldn't be divorced, we would be honking our horns in traffic, all of that stuff. Ego is an important part of who we are, but it can get in the way when you're writing a book. And one of the things that happens is that we kind of get married to what we write. And I've seen this happen so many times where I had a client actually fire me because she was so married to what she had written and really not open to the critique that she actually hired me to give her that. She discontinued our working agreement and it was unfortunate because she had. I think that the part that you need to separate when it comes to ego is that I as an editor am not critiquing your life experience or your wisdom or your knowledge. I am critiquing the technical side of what you've written. Maybe I've read it and I had to read it three times and still don't understand what you're trying to say. I didn't get your message. So making sure that you understand that your ego might get kicked around a little bit in the editing and in the review phase is part of what happens. Be open to that and be ready to embrace that. And so it's a matter of. My favorite saying in regards to this is don't jump to defend, jump to collaborate. When you bring in a resource, if you're paying for that resource, you're writing your best book. Right. The idea is that you're writing your best book. Please understand that a resource that you've hired, whether it's an editor or, you know, someone else, that's. That's part of the process. Someone's in marketing and. Or helping you to review your book. We are really interested in making sure that you write the best book possible. It's all about you. I look at it from a technical or a structural perspective. You as the author are looking at it from more of an ego perspective. And so it might be a little painful, but understand that it's a necessary.

Part of the journey or even people you've given it to whom you trust to give you feedback. Right. It doesn't necessarily need to be a paid resource.

Exactly, exactly. And, you know, it's funny, I talk about that a little bit later on in terms of finding somebody to review and take a look at your work. But sometimes you don't always get, I guess, an honest feedback. Sometimes people are, you know, they care about you and they want to kind of say, oh, your work is great. I had a client, I'm working with a woman right now who I love. Said, I've never used an editor before. And as I started giving her feedback, she said, my girlfriends didn't say this. They never told me, but it was great. I love her. She's just got a great story. But it was funny because she didn't have that experience. She said, my friends didn't deliver the tough love that I need to get this book to the condition that when somebody else picks it up, a complete stranger picks it up, they're going to go, wow, great book. And that's the goal.

Gotcha.

Okay.

All right. So what would be the next reality? We even covered.

So a couple of things I want to touch really quickly on. Doubt, because this is one of the things that I call it that it's like gum that's stuck to the bottom of your shoe. It's nasty, it's dirty, and it's pretty hard to get rid of. Doubt can dog us. It kind of follows us through, especially on a Book writing journey. And it's important because we just talked about ego. So you need something as a counterweight. You need something to kind of counterbalance your ego and keep your feet on the ground when you're writing. And a healthy dose of doubt does that. It keeps you on track. Doubt is not so great on the book writing journey if it gets in your way. So doubts are one of those things like fear that keep us standing still. And that's with any goal, whether you're writing a book or, or preparing for some other major to achieve some other major goal. Doubt and fear are the kinds of things that keep us standing still. And, you know, you might get to thinking, what if nobody reads my book? What if I look foolish? What if, you know, I'm not as brilliant and amazing as I thought I was? You know, what if, what if? This really isn't very good. And one of the stories I love to tell, some of you may have heard, this is Stephen King, who we all know this is an amazing writer. He wrote several pages, pages of Carrie, his novel, his blockbuster novel, got disgusted and fed up and he crumpled it up and threw it away. And he was early in his career. But if you're starting and writing your first book, you're going to be early in your writing career too. And so it was, you know, even the greatest writers of our time struggle with doubt. It's just part of the process. And so be, you know, my goal here is to say, be prepared, be ready to deal with that and know that it's going to be part of the process and that you'll question yourself at times.

I think it was his wife who found it in the trash can and read it while he was in school. Yes. And said, this is really good. And she saved him.

Yes. And I talk about that actually a little bit later on is don't take this book journey alone. But we'll get to that. But yes, she took it out. She was like, oh my gosh, what are you doing? This is great. And yeah, it's part of the process.

Awesome. All right, so tell me about creativity and how messy it can be.

You know, creativity is one of these things. This is the third reality, is that it's messy and unpredictable. And for many of us, you know, when we think about Stephen King or think about J.K. rowling is someone I like to refer to too. Her creativity, her natural creativity is in my mind, it's just mind boggling. Even if you're not a Harry Potter fan, if you know anything about what she's created the detail and the storylines and the. She's a master. She's just amazing. An amazing writer. Not all of us are that gifted. I struggle to be creative. If you have a more technical or an analytical mind, this is especially challenging and could, again, be one of these things that'll get in your way. You might say, oh, I'm not creative. I can't write a. All of us have creativity. It's a matter of recognizing it, harnessing it, and putting it to work. Knowing when you see it and knowing when you're. When it's something that comes out of you naturally, but knowing how to kind of coax it and get it going. So one of the things that creativity is not. Is. It's not linear. It's not a straight line. It isn't something that you can fit into a box, and it's not something you can control either. I know a lot of people. There are times when I sit and just. I'm trying to get something written and I'm just staring at a blank page, or I just. Nothing is happening. You're just stuck. It's almost like writer's block. And it's not something you can just turn on or turn off. But I know I've been in that situation before a number of times. But what it is and what it does look like in terms of creativity is it's a time when you have a moment of clarity about an idea, and it's so vivid that you just have to talk about it or you have to write it down. And there are times, I love this, and I'm sure, Ed, you've come across this is that when we are in a unusual situation, maybe a different situation. That's when creativity tends to spark. So think about times when you've had an awesome idea in the shower, right? You're in there, you're doing your thing, you're getting cleaned up, and all of a sudden, oh, I have this great idea.

That's why I make notepads for the shower.

Exactly. Or maybe you're out. I'm a runner, so I do a lot of my best thinking when I'm running. And sometimes you just get the brain. The blood gets flowing, the brain gets moving. Or middle of the night, you're laying in bed, all of a sudden your eyes pop open and you're like, oh, I have this great idea. Or oftentimes I know a lot of people, they just come up with great ideas while they're driving. You know, they're driving, you're driving. Along you're heading somewhere. And I have actually an app on my phone that allows me to record so that I can just hit it. And so I don't have to pull over and write something down, but I can just talk into my phone to capture the ideas that I have. Because sometimes it's just, it's getting us out of our. Getting away from what we're trying to do and where our focus has shifted. And that's when the creativity starts. And I'm sure people have, you know, that's. It's something that really, if there's one way to coax your creativity is to go for a walk, you know, get away from your desk, get away from what you're trying to do, change things up a little bit. Do something even if it's gone. Go around the block or up and down a flight of stairs a couple times or something like that. Just get the blood flowing. And oftentimes that really does bring the creativity out.

Just make sure to take a pocket sized notebook or a phone with a voice memo capability with you.

Absolutely. Another thing that is an easy way to get around writer's block, if you will, or to coax your creativity. I always go back to story if I'm stuck. And I mentioned this earlier when we started talking about coming up with an idea. If you're not naturally a comfortable writer is to think about a story that really illustrates what you're trying to do. And I use this with the folks that I work with. Is there a really good personal story that explains what you're trying to say? Or is there a story that perhaps you witnessed? Maybe it was a colleague, someone you worked with, maybe it was you were working with a client. It's something that they experienced or a friend or family member. So is there a story that you can recall that really will add some color to the point you're trying to make? Stories are magic and we hear a lot about them right now. Storytelling is a big deal when it comes to business now and understanding how to weave stories in. But it's a great way to get around writer's block.

I love that. Yeah, I just. I'm with you. That's one of the techniques I use. I rarely have writer's blocks. Writer's block. Because I'll just go to something, some kind of prompt like that. I don't really care. I think for me, the biggest block is when I feel like I have to start here. Okay, now I have to pick up where I left off or I have to start at the Beginning or I got to write this part and, you know, what if it's just not feeling right?

Yeah.

All right. What's coming to mind? Like, what do I have this tension to write right now? I'll just go with that.

I love it. It's a point that I, That I do talk about and with my clients is I call it low hanging fruit. What are you excited about right now to write? This is a great way to start. Don't start at the beginning. Chapter one, page one. No, that's not the way. Creativity is not a straight line. It's not something that's. That you take out like a hammer and you pound a nail and then you put your hammer away. That's not the way creativity work. Grabbing that low hanging fruit. There might be something in your mind that you've been just itching, you know, really have a burning to write about. That's. Start there. It's sort of like a puzzle. Often I've heard it described as, you know, you might, you know, just start with is. Are there a couple pieces that you're seeing that. Oh, that fit together really easily? That was quick. That's exactly the way you want to approach writing is just let it, you know, let it. Let it come, you know, and go for the easy stuff and then you can work. Once you get into a rhythm with writing, it gets easier. It gets easier and easier as you start writing.

So with this next reality. I know we've touched on this already. Taking this journey alone is dangerous. But what else can you suggest regarding kind of a support group or other people who can help you through this process?

One of the things that is really important is that you have a really great sounding board. And there's a. You know, we talked a little bit about Stephen King, and if it wasn't for his wife, Carrie never would have come out. It turned out to be just this amazing. This amazing book turned into a movie. Really launched his career. He wrote that actually, I think in 73 or 74. It was quite a few years ago. And one of the things that he talks about with that story is that his wife actually worked with him over the course of a couple of weeks after she fished that stuff out of the trash. She said, let me help you. Let me work with you. And so she talked a little bit about giving him tips on how to mold the characters and how to shape the different scenes. And just he bounced ideas off of her. She was his sounding board. And it's so important to have a really good sounding board on your journey, simply because your book journey can be long. And it's easy to get off the road. It's easy to take, you know, take a wrong turn. And that's when we get stuck as writers and as authors. We get going. You know, we start out, we're really excited. We get, you know, we get going, and then we get halfway through the book, or maybe we get a little ways in and we get stuck. This is where we get a flat tire. This is where we, you know, hit a pothole and we've lost our way. We just don't know where we're going. There's nothing more, I guess, disheartening for me when I. When I talk to people and they'll say to me, oh, yeah, you know, I've been writing my book for six years, you know. Really? That's terrible. Because it's not only is it. Obviously you're way off track, you've lost your interest, you've lost your momentum, but it's. You're losing details. You're losing lots of things in the process. And think about any project that you've taken. You know, maybe it's. This is my favorite, cleaning out a closet. I've been meaning to clean out that closet for three years now. It drains you to be thinking, yep, it's an undone project. It's an unfinished project. Psychologically, it's draining. And it makes it harder to get back to that book and finish it if the more time elapses between when you started and when you finished, harder and harder and harder to get it done and have it be something you're excited about and proud of.

Reminds me of that scene. Have you seen the movie Sideways?

I don't think so.

About these two guys. They go to wine country for one of their bachelor parties. It was just two guys having not really a party. So one of them's a writer, and he's been working on this novel for years. And you could tell he's completely lost his way because somebody he just meets says, well, I'll read your novel. Sure. And he gives him one of these big boxes from Kinko's. And she says, oh, wow, because it's really heavy, and says, oh, wait, hold on. And he digs for another one and gives her another box just like it on top of that one. So it was, like, completely out of control.

And that's so funny.

That's what happens when it's been six years.

Yeah, it's too long. Don't do that to yourself. You know, if you. And regardless of the book. So if it's a business book, you definitely don't want it to be that long. But even a memoir, you know, depending on where you are in your life or what you want to share, it's important. Again, don't let the experience that you've had get too far behind you, because the longer that you know, the further back in time, the weaker your memory will be about the important details. But then, two, it's, you know, bringing. It's an unfinished project, like I said, that'll just, you know, drag on forever, and you don't want to do that. I do have some tips for looking for someone as a sounding board. And I know we talked just a little while ago about. I shared with you this client of mine who asked her girlfriends to look at her manuscript and they all told her it was wonderful. Yes, you want someone that you can trust. But a couple of other things to think about and look for is that sense of trust and understanding, somebody who gets you, but that also you feel comfortable telling some of your deeper, darker stuff, too, that you can. That you can share your doubts with or your personal struggles, and that they won't. They'll be supportive as you start writing some of this stuff. Someone who's going to be okay with your crazy, you know, you're going to be ranting, you might be, you know, different types of things that can really, you know, be okay and supportive through that. But also someone who's going to be a great accountability partner. And we all know that when you start a big project like this, there's nothing more valuable than having somebody who's going to check in with you periodically saying, how's it going? What's in your way and how do we get you moving again? And then someone who's going to share a healthy dose of tough love, also someone who's going to be a great accountability partner. And we all know that when you start a big project like this, there's nothing more valuable than having somebody who's going to check in with you periodically saying, how's it going? What's in your way? And how do we get you moving again? And then someone who's going to share a healthy dose of tough love. You know, telling you your book is wonderful, your manuscript, what you've written so far is wonderful, is nice to hear and it might poof up your ego a bit. But telling you your book is wonderful, your manuscript, what you've written so far is wonderful, is nice to hear and it might poof up your ego A bit. But the reality is, is it something that you know, Is it truly your best book? Is it the best work? The reality is, is it something that you know, Is it truly your best book? Is it the best work? Is it the best message? Is it the clearest that you could produce? And the best message, is it the that you could produce? And so there's, you know, there's some, definitely some characteristics as you think about people. Are they available? Is it someone who's going to be available for you to tap and say, help, you know, I need you to look at this and am I on the right track? So a good, a good sounding board is going to just be probably one of the best resources you could have during your book journey. So there's, you know, there's some, definitely some characteristics as you think about people, are they available? Is it someone who's going to be available for you to tap and say, help, I need you to look at this and am I on the right track? So a good sounding board is going to, while you're writing, make it a lot easier for you.

What's the next reality you've identified?

The next one is the investment. And so this is a reality that I think is a little, a little bit mysterious because the first thing when I use the word investment, the first just be probably one of the best resources you could have during your book journey while you're writing, make it a lot easier for you.

What's the next reason that pops to.

Your head is money, right? Everybody talks about and so money gets all the, gets all the press, gets all the attention because there is money involved. When you're writing a book, there's certain stages that you have to go through that your book has to go through. You need to hire professionals to help you with. So yes, there's an investment side of.

It, reality you've identified.

The next one is the investment. And so this is a reality that I think is a bit. But there's a whole other investment side that I think people don't fully realize. And this is something again, that is really important for you to be aware of and prepared for. So an investment of your time, we've touched on that quite a bit today is just there's time involved and sometimes people will say, well, how a little bit mysterious because the first thing when I use the word investment, the first thing that pops to your head is money. Right? Everybody talks about. And so money gets all the, gets all the things it's going to take. Well, there's a lot of variables. You know, it depends on how long of a book you're writing. Grass gets all the attention because there is money involved when you're, what the topic is, how much time you have, or your, you know, how much time you've carved out to actually contribute to your book. Lots of different factors. And the reality is that this project will affect your personal life, your family, and you're writing a book. There's certain stages that I. That you have to go through with outside obligations. But the good news about that is that. But it's for just this period of time, the project will end, right? And your life will eventually resume to its form that your book has to go through. You need to hire professionals to help you with. So yes, there's an investment side of herself. And so, you know, it's being okay with the fact that for this period of time I am going to be working on my books. So Saturdays might not be as open for me or, geez, I'm going to have to step away from the bowling league, you know, for a little. But there's a whole other investment side that I think people don't fully realize. And this is something again, that is really important for you to be aware of a while because I need the evenings to work on it. So just understanding that it's the reality of it's going to take up your time as well as your energy and attention. If you've ever done any writing, you will know that it can be mentally draining of and prepared for. So an investment of your time. We've touched on that quite a bit today, right. When you've worked on something and you've, you've been focusing on it, it can be kind of exhausting at times. So understanding that there's an investment of energy and attention that you have to just. There's time involved and sometimes people will say, well, how long give to this project for it to be your best book? And then there's the investment of willingness. So this is one of my favorites because there's a couple things you've got to be willing to do. And again, don't go into this. How long is it going to take? Well, there's a lot of variables. You know, it depends on how long of a book you're writing, what the topic is, how much time you have, or how much time you've carved out to thinking, oh, I'm not going to have to do that. I would love to say that writing a book actually contribute to your book. Lots of different factors and the reality and especially if it's a memoir or something personal, definitely. Are you willing to be vulnerable? Are you willing to tell your story? The reality is that your personal experiences will be the foundation and will actually be. Honestly, it'll. It'll serve up the best story. It'll create the foundation for the best story. And reality is that this project will affect your personal life, your family, and your. The other willingness is the willing to do it over again. And this is one of my favorites. Simply because you're writing. Maybe you've been writing for months outside obligations, but the good news about that is that it's for just this piece. You do what you think is your best work. You love it. It's just a period of time the project will end, right? And your life will eventually resume to its former self. And so, you know, it's being okay with the fact that for this period of, you think, wow, I did such a great job writing this, only to have somebody like an editor or someone kind of pick it apart and maybe even gut some sections and have you rewriting parts that you thought were done. That's the reality of writing a book. That's how it goes. And you've got to be willing to do that and be ready for that. And the more time I am going to be working on my book, so Saturdays might not be as mentally ready you are for that, honestly, the easier it is. There's also a professional investment in regards to. And again, no matter what kind of book you're writing, if it's a memoir or if it's a book for your business that's going to support your business, there's the reality of the distraction. It's going to take away from your business, it's going to take away from your career, because you're going to have to, again, channel some mental energy to getting this book written. So just know in advance that there's. There's some distraction involved. Some authors I've spoken to feel that, you know, you can't perform or function quite as well at work at the same capacity while you're writing your book as when you don't. So just something to keep in mind. Everyone's different. Something happened for me, or, geez, I'm going to have to step away from the bowling league, you know, for a little while, because I need the evenings to work on it. So just understanding that it's the reapple. Manage their time better, manage their energy better than others, but just be, be ready for that piece of what you're gonna. What you're gonna encounter. And then the. The final piece is the whole idea of it's gonna take up your time as well as your energy and attention. If you've financial investment and there's a lot to talk about, way too much for us to delve into, but there's a. Don't be afraid to explore your options. Most of us have a budget, obviously, and you should have ever done any writing, you will know that it can be mentally draining. Definitely develop a budget for a book, but think about the different stages. So while I'm writing it, what kind of support am I going to need once I'm done? What kind of support am I going to need? How many, you know, what editing support do I want and where is that? Where do I find that and how much does it cost? There's a couple different kinds of. Kinds of editing, proofreading, that type of thing. Then there's the whole publishing and marketing piece once the book is done, there's investment there. So there's lots of layers of financial investment, too, that you just want to be prepared for. Know that it's coming. It's part of the game. Right. When you've worked on something and you've been focusing on it, it can be kind of exhausting at times. So understanding that there's an investment of energy and attention that you have to. And it's part of the process.

Yeah, because we're writers. So the fortunate thing is that we can already do big chunk of this, which is the writing part. But writers are not good editors.

You can't give to this project for it to be your best book.

And then there's the can't edit. I would say nobody can really edit their own stuff.

Well, no, I cannot.

Right. So it's going to be. It's going to go beyond that. I think we understand that, but I just want to underscore that because it is an important thing that many people, many writers ignore thinking, well, thank goodness I can write well, yeah, you can. But there's more to it than that.

Investment of willingness. So this is one of my favorites because there's a couple things you. Absolutely, absolutely. And you know, we refer to it as Fresh Eyes is having. You know, you're going to pay. You should pay. You should invest in Fresh Eyes. You should have someone who's going to look at it just completely cold, who doesn't know you, who doesn't understand or doesn't know what the book is about, who's going to just dive in as if they were a reader. Buying it off the shelf. And they're going to dive in and look at it from that perspective with fresh eyes. And really just going into it. Got to be willing to do. And again, don't go into this thinking, oh, I'm not going to have to do that. I would love to say that writing a book, and especially if it's a memoir or something personal, definitely. Are you willing very, very, very important to tighten your book up to make sure that that manuscript really is delivering your message and very readable and is going to have the impact on the reader that you want it to. That's probably the most important.

So let's talk about the final reality.

Yeah. And this is, this is a great one because after everything we've talked about, I could just, you know, if I could see the people who are listening to the podcast right now to be vulnerable. Are you willing to tell your story? The reality is that your personal. I could see half of them saying, why on earth would I ever write a book?

It sounds painful, right?

This is like, are you kidding me? This sounds insane. What a, you know, what an unbelievable thing to do. That just doesn't make any sense. Between the money and the time and the. Oh, my gosh. And all the, you know, I'm going to get beat up and I'm going to, you know, all this stuff, it's true. All of what we've talked about so far today is the reality. It's part of why I wrote my book about. This is so that, you know, this is what you're going to and this is what you're going to get in experiences will be the foundation and will actually be. Honestly, it'll serve up the best story. It'll create the foundation for the best story and into. It's one of those things where for me, it was about putting this book together to get rid of the. I wish I had known that. I wish someone had told me because it's like anything else, honestly, Ed, you know, it's sort of like when you, when you get married, it's like, wow, I wish someone had told me it was going to be like this. The other willingness is the willing to do it over again. And this is one of my favorite. And, you know, you don't know or like having a baby or, you know, that kind of thing. There's a lot of stuff you don't know until you go through it. The realities that I've mapped out are to help people be ready so that as you. As you're on your book journey that it goes smooth and that you actually can cross the finish line. You actually get a great book that you can be proud of. It's simply because you're writing, maybe you've been writing for months. And so the sixth reality is that writing a book is one of the best things you'll ever do. And the reason is that because it's not a one trick pony, as I like to say, it has career benefits. If you are a person who's, you know, maybe you're, you're in working for a corporation some. I see a lot of people that are moving their way up in the ranks and they use a book to establish their, their authority to establish their, you know, their place in the industry. And it also is great, you know, they become sought after as a speaker at conferences and things like that. So some people use a book for career benefits from business. You do what you think is your best work. You love it, it's just fabulous. You think, wow, I did such a great job writing this. Only to have somebody like an editor or someone kind of pick it apart and maybe even gut some sections and have you read Benefit perspective. It is always something that will help your business same thing, establish you as a subject matter expert. Really great for building your brand and opening doors, using it as a lead magnet. Lots of different uses. If it's a book, if it's a business book or that's somehow tied to your business, rewriting parts that you thought were done. That's the reality of writing a book. That's something too that a lot of times from a business perspective people don't think about. If you have a company that's big enough that you've got a team, it's a great, great learning tool for your team. It's great to write a book, share your philosophy with your team. I know lots of folks, authors that have done that in the past. Is it, you know, running bigger companies, turning around, writing a book and then handing it out to team members to, you know, to learn more about how they think. And then the personal benefits, so personal are, you know, writing your book is going to give you a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment like nothing else can. It really is an amazing journey to go on and you might be preserving your legacy, how it goes. And you've got to be willing to do that and be ready for that. And the more mentally ready you are for that, honestly, the easier it is. There's also, it'll allow you. This is the other thing is it allows you to reach so many more people and help so many more people. And it gives you a platform to promote your cause. Maybe you feel passionately about something that has nothing to do with your business. Maybe it's, you know, animals or children or something that you're, you know, you're passionate about. You want to share your ideas about those things. Professional investment in regards to. And again, no matter what kind of book you're writing and you get and it teaches you a lot about yourself when you start doing this kind of introspection and start pulling out your stories and figuring out how they all go together. If it's a memoir or if it's a book for your business that's going to support your business to make a really great book, you learn a lot about yourself. And the other thing that's fascinating, I interviewed a woman who a while back, she wrote a book recently and she was totally taken aback by the confidence that she got from it. And I'll read just a little bit of her quote, she said, she said becoming an author was huge. I noticed a shift in my confidence. It took me years to feel like I'm truly in the desire driver's seat even in my own business. The book was a tipping point. After it came out, I truly owned my place in the world. The internal legitimacy it provided to me, there's the reality of the distraction it's going to take away from your business took me a bit by surprise. She never expected it because she was pretty self confident. You know, she felt good about what she was doing, her business was successful, totally took her off. It's going to take away from your career because you're going to have to again channel some mental energy to getting this book written. So just know in advance by surprise by having this inner confidence boost, like, wow, didn't see that coming.

That's one I wouldn't really hadn't thought of. I hear the same thing from people who have never run a marathon and then they do one or even half marathon or triathlon depending on where they are. Right. Something.

It just seems like that there's some distraction involved. Some authors I've spoken to feel almost.

Impossible to them, but they go ahead and set it as a goal and do it. They were already confident people, but then they do this thing and it's like it just changes them.

Oh, 100%, 100%. I'm a runner. I've done a couple of half marathons in my running career and I remember the first one, I was like floating on Air Force for a week afterwards. Like, yes, I mean, that was if.

I can do this, all of a.

Sudden, yeah, your world just opens up. And so that's, it's a really important point is even if you're not struggling with confidence, if you start thinking about what else could this book do for me, it opens up all these ideas about like, okay, wow, what else could. Regardless of what the topic, whether it's business or personal or a novel, what would a novel do? If I wrote a fictional novel, what would that do for me? So this is one of those. Just open your mind a bit again to the possibilities of where this, you know, completing this type of a project, not only would it feel amazing, but it could do some really significant things for you.

Susan, this has been just fascinating. I really appreciate you just sharing these ideas and insights with us. I'm just, just fascinated by what you just have to share here. And I was thinking, well, you know, I'm a writer, I've written a couple of books and. No, this is. You have added so much more to my thinking in this area. I want to make sure before we sign off that listeners know where they can learn more about you and your book and your work.

Of course, absolutely. Well, my book is still in progress, it's written, it's in the editing phase now, it's being reviewed. So I'm hoping to have it out. Oh my goodness. I would love to have it out within the next month or so, but we'll see how that goes. So, pushing it through. But in order, as far as contacting me, my website is story architect for women. I do work with men. I have a couple of male clients as well. But I do focus primarily on working with women. And as a, as a thank you, I offer a 30 minute brainstorming session. No strings attached, if you have an idea. If you've been struggling with your book, you've been trying to figure out the way forward, maybe you're stuck, maybe you can't get started, maybe you're halfway through. That book's been. Been marinating for six years. Time to get moving. Feel free to jump on my website and sign up for 30 minutes. I love just helping people get them re energized, get them excited again to say yes. This is. Yeah, I knew it was in there and I'm going to finish my book. So if you need that kind of a jumpstart, feel free to jump on my website and I'd love to hear your story.

Fantastic. So they'll be able, once they go there, they'll be able to see where to go request that that correct.

There's a tab called Free Resources, and if you click on free resources@storyarchitectforwomen.com, you will just go down and it'll say 30 minute brainstorming session. So jump on over and I look forward to hearing from you.

Super. We'll include all those links in the show notes. And of course, once your book is out, we'll make sure to link to it there as well. So again, Susan, thank you so much for coming on the show today. I've learned a ton.

Thank you.

The High Intensity Income Business Writing Podcast is a production of B to B Business Launcher. Learn more@b2b launcher.com.