How to Use a Book MAP to Stay Organized with Kim Steadman

Welcome to the Author Audience show, the podcast that helps you reach more people with your message. Create a book, connect with your audience, change lives. Here's your host, Shelly Hitz.

Welcome to Author Audience, where I'm on a mission to help you reach more people with your message. It's time to let your light shine. Today I'm rolling out the red carpet and inviting you into my community for a behind the scenes look at what's working for authors just like you. My name is Shelly Hitz and I'm the owner of Author Audience Academy. The most rewarding part of my job is helping others get results and reach their goals. In this episode, I want to position the spotlight on one of my members, Kim Studman. Welcome, Kim.

Hi, Shelley. Thanks.

And I am so excited to have you because you have been rocking and rolling. Kim was part of our last 90 day accountability group, did amazing things. She's going to share more about it, but I'm really excited for you all to hear from her because she is super organized and has a really powerful strategy to share with you today. But let me just tell you a little bit more about Kim before we jump into the training. So Kim Steadman has ministered alongside her family since the age of 12. Wow. In Grand Prairie, Texas. After working in the private sector for 16 years, she felt the prompting to turn her heart towards home. I love that. In the sanctuary of her little cottage in Texas and her husband and fur children, she now writes and she is fulfilling a childhood dream of being a published author. She recently published the Creative Prayer Journal. Yay. Thanks to her membership with Author Audience Academy and is the creator of the 21 Day Gratitude game and will be releasing this spring her new book, coloring prayer. 30 days of praying the Scriptures over your adult children. Oh, I'm just so excited for you. She also enjoy doodle drawing, crafts, DIY projects, hiking and planning adventures for her grandson. And you can find her@kimstudman.com so for this week's Center Stage Spotlight training, I'm going to have Kim share with you a specific success strategy in our interview together. And I'm excited to learn from each other in this episode all about what she's going to share and it's all about how to stay organized during the publishing process so you can cross the finish line. So welcome Kim. And just to start off, share with us a little bit about your publishing journey and how you were able to stay organized throughout.

Well, Shelly, first of all, I just wanna thank you for asking me to be a part of your Program, Absolutely. For this recording. And I'm just so thankful for stumbling upon you a year or so ago and stalking you.

And your authenticity. And so when it finally came time that to really fulfill that childhood dream of becoming a published author of my own book, you know, I had been a collaborative author in a couple of works, but to have my name on the bottom of a book.

Your authenticity and having seen you and how you approached the writing process and leading off your webinars in prayer was just what drew me to you. So I dove into the academy really with another book in mind. And it was the one that I started my organization process in the public sector. When I was working, I did a lot of project management. They would have different projects that would come along. We were in the recycling industry and cell phone recycling industry. We ran the gamut of not just smashing up phones, but repairing phones. And there were different processes that had to be different things for the company that had to happen. I just kind of had this knack for organizing and with different things. But one of the things was spreadsheets. One part of my job had me doing spreadsheets with numbers, which I really didn't enjoy because it was numbers. Boring. Unless you're looking for KDP reports, you know, and you're looking. Those numbers are exciting.

The other one was the project management of just taking a project and dicing it up into every feasible step that needed to be done by whomever. Because some of the projects were my project alone, but some of them involved other people. And we literally would just write out step by step by step, every little thing that needed to be done. So when I became part of the academy, you have boo koodles of templates and step, you know, checks, lists for us to follow and everything. And. And those absolutely were kind of what got my ball, got my head rolling around, falling back on something that I didn't really like, you know, because it's spreadsheets. But it was. It was easier for me to wrap my head around the organization process. Plus you can squish it down smaller and you know, I have it on Google Docs. So that's kind of where that I started implementing that project management into my book writing process.

Yeah, I love that because you are really gifted at that. Like you. I'm like, I need to hire this girl.

But obviously you left the corporate world for a reason, to be home for other reasons. But there's an obvious reason. You have a gift, you have a talent. But that was so neat to see, like how you organized it, because that is, I talk about systems. When you have a system and you can have a repeatable system, it will just make you more productive and it will allow you to be more prolific. But go into a little bit more. Like for those who are just kind of like spreadsheets. A lot of authors, they freak out when they think of spreadsheets. It's basically like a checklist and just share a little bit of how you organized it and the visual way that it really helped you to stay on track so you could publish your book. You published it in 90 days in our last 90 day accountability group. Just share a little more of the details of how you organized it.

Well, what I did at first I had my skeleton of what I wanted the book to be. So it was going to be 21 days. And so I had each little idea that I needed. So I knew I wanted a scripture, each of the 21 day ideas and I needed some type of little short blurb about that idea. It could be an example, it could be a short little story or just a bit a more detailed explanation about that prayer idea. So that was something that needed to be created for each day. A prayer, an idea. What really got me started on this project management was the first book that I came into the academy to write was actually coloring pages. So there was a coloring page for every book. Now digressing back, that was when my computer crashed. I thought I lost. I remember that because that particular.

Yeah. Everyone listening, make sure your stuff is backed up. Yeah.

Oh yeah, it is. But that particular book was very detailed because it was a coloring page per. It was a scripture per. It was something written per. So each page or each day was like five different parts. And it. So having it on my spreadsheet day one, the scripture, what translation of the scripture I was going to use because I didn't use the same translation.

Yeah. And that is important to keep track of because you need to put that on your copyright page. And we will. We talk about that in author audience Academy. But yeah, that's, that's brilliant. That's so smart to do that.

And that was one of the columns that I didn't have at first. And it's like that's something important I learned from you. It's like we need to know this. So I added that column that when I reference a scripture, what translation I'm using. So on the book that I thought I lost, that kind of got shelved for a little while. You started the 90 day challenge. And so I started fresh on a New book. But I pulled out this template and I knew then, okay, I'm going to have 21 days. I'm going to have a scripture, I'm going to have a thought, I have an introduction. I need my acknowledgments. I, I just have all of that listed out line by line. And I'm a very visual person, so I like to, when you have spreadsheets, you can highlight in colors. So I would have myself organized with this color meant finished. This color means I'm working on this section. And that just simply because, you know, if you're working on a drawing or something that needs scanned, it's sometimes easier to scan 10 or 15 things at one time.

Yes.

Than to hop back and forth, you know, so you can lose track. And then I had my template, I had my organization all lined out. So on the first book that I thought I lost, but it ended up.

Retrievable. But based on your input and coaching, I went with the first book. I finished it because I needed to get something finished. Yeah. Like you said, creatives, we tend to bounce around. I'm a bouncer.

I have been a lot in the past.

New ideas pop into my head. It's like, oh, bunny chase that. So I thought, no, I've got my organization. I know that document's been retrieved. That book is retrieved. I'm going to stick to the 90 day plan for the Creative Prayer Journal and my organization and got it finished. And so now that we finished that challenge, I was able to take my spreadsheet from where I left off. And I know exactly where I left off. And so I can begin again.

Yeah. And, and I just looked it up again. Kim was, was unwilling enough to share and generous enough to share what she did. And I added it into our Author Writings Academy publish module. So I just pulled it up again to look and what you called it? A book map. Massive action plan. You know, book map. And I have an image of that in here, you know, and I just loved how organized you were. And one of the things I really think some people who write devotionals or those types of books, they don't always think through in the beginning. What format do I want each devotional each day to be? And that's one of the things I've had to do, like with my 21 day books and different things as well, my devotionals. And that's something you did. You thought, okay, I want to have a prayer. I want to have thought an image coloring page. What's the quote on the coloring Page going to be, and you had that out and so you knew that's what you needed. It's kind of like a puzzle, filling in the blanks. And once you kind of know the format you're going to do for that kind of book, it really makes it a lot easier. And you can just start filling in the blanks. And if you want to just work on coloring pages one day, go for it. You can do that and then you can see exactly where you're at, exactly what you've done. I've done this before in mind mapping software. Spreadsheets are awesome. Whatever you use. If it's pen and paper, having a system is so powerful. I just love the way that you did that and how it just really kept you on track even when you thought you lost your book and then you came back around. What were some of the biggest things you learned as you went through the process with your first book?

With the first book that actually got published?

Yeah.

Well, first of all, the biggest takeaway is learning from somebody that's been through, has done the process like you. Because you can waste days trying to hunt and peck and Google and find. And it's this and is this. And you'll get, you know, you may have a specific question about ISBN numbers and depending on when an article was written, what you read may be incorrect because it may have been written in 2010. Sometimes some of those articles that you go back on website aren't dated, so you don't know if you're getting the current direction or instructions that you need. So, you know, just having everything. I mean, I've said it to people before. I've. And I've been plugging you to some other folks. Like if you've got a question about it, she's got it in there. You just, she's covered it because you've done it enough time. And so my biggest takeaway is.

Yeah. And if you have a question, I, I will create a new training or I'll tell you where to find it, you know.

Exactly.

That's been my biggest thing that I've learned with this book is just having that community that you've created within Author Audience Academy. I know, me, I know that unfortunately, like many of us, when we have setback, sometimes instead of it being a little setback, we take it as a huge throwback.

Right.

And we stop. But if you've got a community of folks that you can lean on for help, for advice, a little setback stays just that, a little setback. And you can keep the momentum and you can keep moving forward instead of letting it totally rob you of having that success. And that's what it is. Writing a book, authoring a book is a success. I personally think that every person has a book within them.

Oh yeah.

Whether they think they can write a sentence or not, everyone has a story. Everybody's got to look within them.

Yeah. And you can work with a good editor, proofreaders. I mean, you don't have to be the best writer yourself. You can work with ghostwriters even and such. But yeah, I mean the community is so powerful and so key and I had created products for years without the community component. And it's a nine day difference when you have the, that active community helping and supporting and you're very active and you know, just helping people. And it's just, I love it, I love that. And what happens a lot of times in life. And I think what you were kind of explaining to me, it's like summed up in the words self sabotage. Sometimes things happen and we just, we get into that sabotage. And whether it's mindset like I'm not good enough, who am I to write a book, I don't know what I'm doing, or it's technical problems, you know, like you losing your book, you thought you lost it, you know, and that could have just totally derailed you and you could have just given up and said, forget it, this is too much hassle. And sometimes it's the enemy. And many times for Christian authors it is a spiritual battle. It is very real. And so sometimes the enemy comes at us with his lies of just give up. Why are you doing this? You know, it's not worth it. And it's like it's so easy to give in to some form of sabotage, whether it's self sabotage or other, other such. And that is the power of community. I, I've seen it, I've seen it firsthand and I saw the power with the 90 Day Accountability Group and the momentum everyone had and all the books that were published. And I'm so excited. Share a little bit more about your book that you published.

Well, I happen to have it right here. The Creative, the Creative prayer journal. A 21 day prayer challenge referencing back to the book that I thought of that I lost, but I didn't lose. And.

That will forever be part of my author story.

It will, it is your story, my story.

But the book I was originally working on was and still is a passion heart project to create a prayer journal for my mom who is A two time stroke survivor. And one of the things that has been her problem because I mean she's, she's been, she's a pastor's wife, we've been in ministry since 77. But that stroke took away her short term memory and she has a really hard time remembering things and she has a really hard time staying on task with something. And prayer was one of those things that affected to where when she sat down to pray her, she just couldn't keep her mind focused the way she used to. So that first book was kind of, I went around with some different prayer, creative prayer ideas and kind of focused in on the coloring page and a fill in the blank prayer because that's through talking with her. That was one of the things that she really needed help with. She wanted to pray specifically for people, but she needed a guided prayer where she could insert their name.

I love that.

Yeah. And so in the course of doing that with her and then some, when I was in the corporate world and had some stress, I had this pile of all these different creative ways to pray. Even some of them were ways that I taught little kids when I taught Sunday school years ago. And so by following your example that you teach an author audience about, you know, looking at the big picture and how the funnel can go and which book can lead to what. I kind of looked at all those ideas and the fact that the book that I was working on that I thought I lost, but I didn't lose, incorporated two of my little basket of prayer ideas, creative prayer ideas. So I just took all those creative prayer ideas and put them into one book so that it's a journal. You do it for 21 days and every day you're praying by some different little creative prayer idea.

Fun.

So really technically I could write a book. I could do another prayer journal for each idea, you know, if I wanted to do 21 different books.

Because yeah, for sure. I mean, you have a series right there, girl.

I was coming through it this morning as I was doing my own. I could pray this in fact one of the hand prayers, which is the prayer hand where you know, each finger, the thumb you pray.

I heard on television one of the ministers was preaching that prayer idea and was challenging his congregation to pray the prayer hand for 21 days. Everyday prayer, the pray hand. I was like, you're taking my idea.

That'S okay, it's your idea too. But you know, that's like, well, sometimes.

It'S confirmation from God when you hear or you get other things. Like I've I've had that happen too. And it's like, oh, that's actually confirmation like that. That's, you know, something that would be, be valuable but you know, God will lead you in that. But yeah, that's so exciting. Now if someone would like to get that book or find out more about you or connect with you online, what's the best way for them to do that?

Well, three main places if they want to get the book, they can go to the creativeprayerjournal.com and that will lead them right into the page and they can click the Amazon button. I'm on Facebook at the refeathered Nest, which is my Facebook page where I help empty nest moms encourage them to repurpose and redesign their life according to God's master plan. After the kids leave the nest. And then, you know, you can just see what I'm blogging about and what all's up in my little blogosphere on kimstead.com.

Well, that is awesome. I love, love, love all that you're doing and I know we could talk for hours because you're a wealth of information and just from your corporate background and all that you're doing and how that can help authors. And I love how much you share. Not only did you share your book mapping system, which I have now as a module in Author Audience Academy, you also put all of the publish training into an Excel spreadsheet and you share that. No, I love it. I love it because everyone is different, everyone learns differently, and for some people, that way of looking at it really helps. And so if you're a member in Author Audience Academy, check out the publish module. You'll find those two resources that Kim created for you and that she uses. I just am excited to see what's ahead for you. And as we close, I would love for you to share just a take action tip. Those that have been listening, what could they do as a result of hearing this training today?

I think the biggest tip that I can give you is to write down all the steps that you need to do for writing your book. Just get it all out on one piece of paper if you haven't done that yet. I wanted to write a book for years, but you know, I didn't. And it's because, you know, I had sticky notes here, this and that, but once I started funneling in all these ideas on one sheet of paper, two sheets, three sheets, everything. So just write down and get that organization going. If you get organized, you're, you've jumped over the biggest hurdle to getting your book published.

Yes, I totally agree. I preach this, teach this, I live by it. And I don't always do it perfectly, but when I do, like for instance, this interview, I haven't had an interview for a while, but I went back to my system, to my checklist. I had created a checklist for what I do in these interviews and it was all right there for me. And so sometimes when you publish a book, you don't publish another one for a while. But if you have your system and if you have your checklist of what you did and how you did it, it's just going to come back and you're going to be like, oh yeah, that's what I did. Oh yeah, that's how I got that ISBN. Or that's what I did for this particular image. Or, you know, and so it is really important. Document as you go and have some sort of central location to keep it. And you can either use Kim's system or use a system that works best for you. I always say, don't try to shove a round peg into a square hole. Be who God has created you to be. And so if you just need pen and markers, go for it. If you want to use mind mapping, go for it. If you want to use Evernote or Trello or some sort of online system, go for it. Kanban flow. I know some of our members use Kanban flow. Whatever works best for you. But this is such an important tip. So wherever you're at in the process right now, even if you're in the marketing process, you can apply this to tip today. Start writing down your systems. Start writing down what you're doing. And that way it saves brain power. It actually research has shown it will save energy and brain power because you won't have to think about remembering it. It's all written out already for you, but it will help you cross that finish line. Get your book published or sell more books, develop a marketing system. Whatever process you're at, it will definitely make a difference. So thank you so much, Kim, for being here for sharing and I'm just so excited for you. So thank you again for your willingness to share.

Oh, thanks for having me, Shelly.

Thank you so much for listening to this episode of Author Audience. I would like to invite you to attend one of my free trainings on three proven book writing formulas. Every nonfiction author needs to know. This is a fun and fast way to write a nonfiction book, but also a book that you're proud of. Plus, I will give you two free gifts just for attending. No credit card required. First you'll get my 10 nonfiction book title templates and you'll also get my ebook titled Brilliant brainstorming. It's a 28 page ebook and both of these bonuses are yours at no charge. Just for joining us for the training, you can sign up for my free training by going to shellyhitz.com formulas. That's Shellyhitz S H E L L E Y H I-T Z.com formulas. This training and the two bonuses are free and I would love to help you write your next nonfiction book.

Thanks for listening to this episode of the Author Audience Show. Connect with us online@authoraudience.com where you'll find all the resources mentioned in today's episode. While you're there, grab Shelley's free video training on how to write and publish your book using her Six Step Ascent method. Join us again next week to learn how to reach your audience with your message.