#294: Pivot: How to Deal With Disappointment on Your Writing Journey with Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith

Welcome to Kingdom Writers, where we help equip and empower Christian writers of all genres to share your unique gifts with the world. We're your hosts, C.J. and Shelli Hitz.

This podcast is filled with spiritual encouragement as well as prayers to help you overcome the resistance you face as a writer. Your story matters.

I'm so excited for you to listen to today's episode. So when we were planning for the Kingdom Writers Conference and recording the sessions ahead of time, we had one of the most interesting situations happen. I have never had this happen, and I've been doing online business since 2004.

But.

But two of the presentations disappeared from my computer. They weren't even on the cloud recordings. We couldn't even recover the backup recording. We did have an audio, but that was it. So those two presentations were Dr. Tim Riordan and Dr. Sandra Dalton Smith. And so they both graciously agreed to rerecord their presentations. But this first recording is actually different in some ways than what they ended up presenting at the conference. And so I wanted to still be able to share this with you, and I hope that you get encouragement from it. If you didn't get a chance to join us in the conference, I encourage you to get the all access pass. You can get it@th kingdomwritersconference.com battleplan with this, you'll get all 15 presentations, plus 13 bonus trainings, all for just $47. We've had so many testimonials and feedback and great responses from this conference that we wanted to keep it available ongoing. So definitely check it out if you haven't yet. And I'm going to allow you now to listen to one of these presentations. You know what the enemy meant for evil, God can use for good. And so we're going to still let this original recording reach you today, wherever you're at. Enjoy. Welcome to the Kingdom Writers Conference. This year's theme is Battle Plan, where we will help equip you move forward in the the calling God has for you in your writing. We are your host. I'm Shelley Hitz.

And I'm CJ Hitz.

And we've been mentoring writers for over a decade now. And between the two of us, we've written and published 68 books. And we now dedicate our lives to helping writers just like you write words that outlive you, publish books that fulfill your calling and reach more readers with your message inside our online membership, Christian Book Academy. But today, one of our speakers is Sondra Dalton Smith. Welcome, Sandra.

Hi. Thanks, guys.

Well, Sandra's topic today is going to be on disappointment and specifically her title is Pivot how to deal with disappointment on your writing journey. So disappointment is part of every writer's journey, but when used the right way, it can help you find your target audience, clarify the message God has equipped you with, and to share that and expand your platform. Award winning Christian Author and speaker Dr. Sandra Dalton Smith is a board certified physician and popular media guest who shares biblical truths to help heal the body, mind and spirit. Sandra has spoken at numerous Christian writers conferences, teaching authors how to effectively launch their books, improve their author platform, and secure their own media placements. She leads a Christian author mastermind group and has coached both fiction and nonfiction authors. She loves helping authors learn how to grow their email list, build relationships with readers, and position their book in in the market for maximum exposure. So again, let's welcome Sandra Dalton Smith.

Thank you, Sondra. We're going to give you the stage to share and encourage us today.

Thank you. Well, I want to jump right in because I think every author and writer at some point in time in your journey has gotten that point where you put out something that has your heart, mind and soul all into it and it doesn't do what you want it to do, it doesn't result in what you would like for it, have to have had results of. And I think the very first thing we have to do is have a healthy mindset of what happens when those disappointments occur. Just realize that they are actually a normal part of every writer's journey because we don't really go into the calling, having a clear understanding of who we're called to or exactly what's going to resonate with our, with the target reader or the person that we feel like God has really positioned us to help and support. The first thing I want you to do the next time something disappointing happens like that is to really assess the mindset and assume the mindset of this is an opportunity for me to learn and to grow. Because if that's where you start, you don't come into it really with that negativity. You come into it with a positive outlook. You come into it trusting that all things really do work together for good and that God can use even that disappointment to help you stay on the right track, actually get traction and move forward into your calling. And so the second thing I would recommend is really thinking about that word pivot. Because when you're pivoting, you're basically turning in a different direction. So an example, if you put out a blog post, let's say, and no one seems to be resonating with that particular blog post. Chances are it either did not align with your brand and what they automatically assume you're going to be talking about, or it didn't touch on a felt need of that particular audience that you presented it to. Or it could also mean that you actually didn't package it in a way that they even understand if they need to read it. And so it doesn't mean that the writing's not good. It could simply be that your target reader doesn't understand that you're delivering something that they desire. And so don't just assume, well, I'm an awful writer. Nobody wants to read my stuff. I didn't hear God write. I didn't get the calling right. Don't assume any of that. That's where so many people stop in their calling. Rather than persevering and pivoting, they just get discouraged and held back. So what I want you to do, take that article, maybe that you've written, take a look at it, and ask these questions, what problem am I solving? What about this article is actually going to feed someone in a way that's going to move them from that problem, that challenge, that issue that they're dealing with, to a place of hope, healing, or improvement. Because that's what the reader's wanting. They're wanting to see, see that you're writing and what you're offering to them is going to help them on their personal journey. Even if you're writing your memoir, even if you're talking about a life event that happened to you, people are good with your story, they're good with your testimony, but they need to know how it applies to them. And sometimes something as simple as being very clear in what the topic is you're talking about can be the very thing that transition an article that's not getting any traction to one that is getting a lot of shares and a lot of eyes on it. And so when we're thinking about building a platform, the big part of building a platform is getting in front of the people who are interested in what you're writing. Now, you know, I'm all for getting an email list and building up a massive email list, but one of the hardest things I think many authors encounter and get very discouraged about is that term platform, because it can seem like so much work trying to find people, trying to get kind of on their radar, trying to get to the place where they are interested. So I want to challenge you with this. When you are getting discouraged about not having a large enough platform. Rather than focusing on the smallness of your platform, start focusing on the bigness of God and the possibilities of connecting with a larger platform. This is where I found media to be one of the quickest ways to build an author platform. Now, I'm not going to go into details about lead magnets and kind of how to offer something to your readers for free so that they get on that email list. I'm sure that'll be covered at some point within the conference and definitely it's covered within the academy. So I want you to really focus on this aspect of it. What is a platform that's larger than your current platform, that speaks to the people that you want to get in front of, where you can offer value, where you can bless those people in that audience, bless those people on that particular radio show or podcast or TV show or whatever it is. And you're not going to go on there just talking about your book. Because if you pitch the producer of that podcast and everything is about my book this and my book that and and come on my website for this reason, they're going to give you an automatic no. So you're going to come to them in your pitch specifically stating how you're going to bless their audience. What is it that you're going to share with their audience through an interview or through a teaching that's going to encourage them, that's going to motivate them, that's going to educate them, that's going to empower them. That's what you're going to share in the pitch and what happens in return as you're giving from yourself, from your gifting, your calling, your testimony, your experience, as you're giving from yourself in those media opportunities, then you're poured back into in return with those emails that people want to sign up with on your list to get your freebie, to get whatever that special offer is that you're getting, that you're allowing them to have. So don't come into the thought of platform being at a disclosure discouragement. Actually recognize that there are numerous opportunities out there for you to tap into well established platforms and build your platform in conjunction with other platforms that are much bigger than yours already. This is the thing. If you're spending all of your time and your attention focusing on what you don't have, it takes your eyes away from what you do have. And what you do have is an unlimited God with the ability to put you in front of the right people at the Right. Time, who is just waiting on you to knock on the right doors so he can give you a resounding yes.

Awesome.

Yeah. And I think you have seen that in your own life, right?

Absolutely. Absolutely. I started with a tiny platform and knew definitely about not being able to get anybody to read any emails or blog posts that you ever wrote. And you just feel like, you know what? I'm wasting my time. I didn't hear God. Right. My gift isn't what I thought it was. And none of that is true. It's just. It's just the growth period. It's the growing pains of learning your craft. And once I started to understand that, you know, really finding my target audience wasn't about me trying to draw them in. It was more about me positioning myself in front of them. And that's what the media offered.

Yeah. And it's like if I say, you know, people can't buy your book if they don't know it exists.

Absolutely not. And I think that's the thing. You know, sometimes we get very kind of. I would say humble, but that actually is not the right word for many people. It's not that they're so humble. It's that they're fearful. They're actually fearful of promoting their book. And so it's kind of a false humility, so to speak, because they're not really ashamed of their book or really wanting to keep it hidden. They just feel like, I don't have the liberty to tell people about my book. And, you know, I say it to people like this. Think about, what if that person you wrote the book for? What if that person never finds out the truth that you have in it? What if they. What if they're laying in their bed at night and they're crying and they're like, God, I wish somebody would show me how to get out of this addiction or how to get out of this hopelessness or how to get out of this grief. And what they need is in your book. But they won't ever hear about it because you're too ashamed to talk about your book on social media. You don't want to put a post up. You think you're going to mess up. If you get on a live interview when our heart position actually turns from, am I going to embarrass myself? Am I going to be disappointed? And it turns to, God, just let me be a blessing, even if I have to give a little bit of myself as a sacrifice in the process. And it really opens up some doors within the spirit that are beyond anything we could ever ask or imagine.

Yeah. And I just love how you personally, like, during the pandemic and everything that happened, you know, you were really prepared and booked to speak on a lot of stages in person. Right. And yet you had to pivot in a big way.

Yeah.

It's opened up so many doors for you virtually. And your book has just taken off the book on rest. And I've just watched as God has just worked in just miraculous ways. And you could have just focused on what you didn't have instead of focusing on God and his provisions. So I just. I just think that your story is such an encouragement to all of us as well.

Yeah. And, you know, that's one of the things as a. We're talking about writing specifically. But, you know, most writers are speakers as well. Even as a speaker, pivoting is really. Every. Pivoting has to occur every time a disappointment happens, no matter what aspect of life you're looking at. I mean, you can either let the disappointment just keep you down, or you can ask Holy Spirit to direct you on where is this disappointment pointing me to? Because I always feel that we are moving and living our lives from glory to glory. And so if this level of glory has now shut down, then a new window of glory has opened up somewhere. I just got to figure out the direction and. And move in that direction.

You know, I love that reminder of disappointment being an opportunity for growth. It reminds me of the, you know, Thomas Edison, you know, and how he failed.

A thousand times before he got to the light bulb. And somebody asked him, how does it feel, you know, to fail that many times? And he says, no, no, no. He says, I just found a thousand ways that didn't work.

Exactly. Yes. And that's so true for most of us with our target audience.

We find the marketing copy that doesn't work. We find the email subject lines that do not work. We find the blog post titles that do not work. But in that process, you eventually stumble along the ones that do work. And when you do see that, take note. Take note of what it was that you stated. Take note of what it is that people were drawn to, and then try to reproduce it in a different way.

Yeah. And, you know, a lot of times I'll teach, like, there's three main types of marketing. So you have your free organic marketing, which is social media, and all of that. You have partner marketing, which is what you were talking about, where you're exposed to someone else's audience, and then paid ads. And so we use A combination of all three personally, and it's kind of fun. We're getting ready to launch a whole series all about partner marketing and really giving you step by step, you know, instructions and templates. And we're calling them the Courageous Writer Workshops because you have to be courageous, right, to, you know, do those opportunities. And you have a really great training on doing that with the media and all of that. But I just love so much what you were sharing and just the heart of, you know, just, you know, not giving up and not, you know, giving up the first time. We have to keep trying and trying again. So how can people find out about you and all that you do for authors if they want to learn more?

Yeah. So my main website is I choose my best life.com and on that site there's a section for authors I Choose My Best Life Backslash, Author support. And it talks about some different things that I do. Specifically, I do a newsletter where you can sign up to actually get quarterly paid writing opportunities and different things that you can learn about that way, as well as speaking opportunities. And I just love doing that because I know for myself. When I first got started, it felt like everybody knew all this cool stuff. They knew when they knew when, you know, dayspring was putting together a compilation or when Guidepost is putting together their next book. And it's like, I never found out about any of those things. And so now that I actually get information from publishers about these things, I like to share it with other people.

Yeah. And I love that I'm on your email list. I'm on very few email lists, but I love seeing what you share. Always of value. And so definitely recommend connecting with Sandra and all that she's doing. But thank you so much for being here and for sharing with the writers today on this topic of disappointment.

Thank you guys for all that you do.

Yes, you're welcome. And thank you all for. For listening. Being here. We pray that God just really pricked your heart and gave you something from this presentation. And we'll see you in the next one.

Bye.

Bye.

Bye. Bye.

So I hope you enjoyed that presentation and if you were able to take notes and write down your biggest takeaway and your next action step. Now our 2021 conference is over. We titled it Battle Plan, Helping you move forward in God's call to write. But you can still get access to to all of the presentations, plus the 13 bonus trainings@dommywritersconference.com battleplan and the reason we're making this available ongoing is because we've gotten so much great feedback and if you get it for only the Priestly Pens bundle, that is a bundle of trainings that helps you integrate God into every part of the writing, publishing and marketing process, you will be blessed. So it's just $47 and you can get it@th kingdomwritersconference.com battleplan and we thank you for joining us today. I will talk to you next time. Bye bye.

Thank you for listening to this episode of Kingdom Writers. We believe that you as a Christian writer have a specific writer role to play in the Kingdom of Heaven to impact lives for eternity.

And because of this we choose to pour out our lives into encouraging writers like you to not only tell your stories but to take the courageous step of self publishing your stories in books that will outlive you and leave behind a powerful legacy. This podcast is sponsored by Christian Book Academy where we help you give birth to to your books. We invite you to join our community of Kingdom Writers.