B is for Book Coach

Welcome back to a special edition of B is for Book Coach. In these episodes, I’m reading through pieces of You Don’t Get to the Ocean by Accident—the workbook version of the early work I do with all of my authors.If you want to follow along or jump ahead, pocket-sized copies are available on Amazon, and every Substack subscriber gets a fillable PDF copy as well.Today, we’re reading from: Diving In.Enjoying this space? It takes all of us to create it together! When you become a one-time or ongoing Momentum Partner, two things happen.First, you get to join a small but growing group of folks who pop in for Office Hours twice a month to sort out their content and travel this journey together.Second, you add to the Mutual Momentum fund, which helps to bring deeper development support to authors who need more than just space to get started.You can create a one-time boost of Momentum or subscribe to keep the forward movement going for us all. Get full access to B is for Book Coach at bisforbookcoach.substack.com/subscribe

Welcome back to B is for Book Coach. Today, we’re making space for words that belong.For the past several months, I’ve been working with the incredible Hussein al-Baiaty over at Rising Authors to get my new website up and running.But the website was just the output. What we were really spending all that time on was what the website should contain.Not should as in “supposed to.” Should as in “belongs.”- The difference between checking the boxes and making it right- Creating the conditions for connection- Intentional vs incidental outcomesEnjoying this space? It takes all of us to create it together! Become a one-time or ongoing Momentum Partner, or access a more focused supportive space here. Get full access to B is for Book Coach at bisforbookcoach.substack.com/subscribe

Welcome back to B is for Book Coach. Today, we’re making space for noticing.Hear directly from my friend and author about the experience of writing his last book, with clips of a conversation recorded a month into post-publish territory—a month into borrowed time, according to the prognosis he’d been given, and only a few months before he passed away.Before we go any further, I want you to know that it’s okay if this one’s too heavy to sit with. If for any reason you don’t want to continue on, I completely understand.If you’re still with me, I’d like you to meet Will, author of The Power of Noticing.On Taking His Time~7 minutesOn Writing through Chemo~4 minutesOn Books being One Thing~5 minutesOn Going Deep with Experience~8 minutesOn Writing with Three Months to Live~8 minutesEnjoying this space? It takes all of us to create it together! When you become a one-time or ongoing Momentum Partner, two things happen.First, you get to join a small but growing group of folks who pop in for Office Hours twice a month to sort out their content and travel this journey together.Second, you add to the Mutual Momentum fund, which helps to bring deeper development support to authors who need more than just space to get started.Create a one-time boost of Momentum or subscribe to keep the forward movement going for us all. Get full access to B is for Book Coach at bisforbookcoach.substack.com/subscribe

Welcome back to B is for Book Coach. Today, we’re making space for the mess.Do you remember the old Reese’s candy campaign, “There’s no wrong way to eat a Reese’s”?In retrospect, this was probably meant to counter KitKat’s “break me off a piece of that KitKat bar” methodology.KitKat might not be my favorite candy, but their approach makes sense.Simplicity is appealing.So when I talk about simplified templates and processes and systems for writing (and I get a smidge of irritation in my voice), I don’t blame them either.When you’re looking back and forth between the intricacy of a completed book and the mish-mash that is your concept-in-progress…well, it’s natural to want it all broken into pieces.I’m just a “no wrong way to eat a Reese’s” kind of person.- Becoming the candymaker- Getting comfortable in the test kitchen- Finding your own recipe for writingEnjoying this space? It takes all of us to create it together! When you become a one-time or ongoing Momentum Partner, two things happen.First, you get to join a small but growing group of folks who pop in for Office Hours twice a month to sort out their content and travel this journey together.Second, you add to the Mutual Momentum fund, which helps to bring deeper development support to authors who need more than just space to get started.You can create a one-time boost of Momentum, or subscribe to keep the forward movement going for us all. Get full access to B is for Book Coach at bisforbookcoach.substack.com/subscribe

Welcome back to B is for Book Coach. Today, we’re making space for publishing.Humans have always told stories. From campfires to city centers, wherever someone would listen (and occasionally when no one would), someone else was ready to share.This made written language a radical technology, allowing a single person to be heard far beyond and long after they spoke.We carved, we scribed, and eventually we printed—finding ever faster and better mediums to carry our visions to the world.For most of our millennia of storytelling, the story itself was our most valued technology. Myths and legends were passed down, verbally edited from telling to telling based on the listener’s reactions.Writing changed the game.- The evolution of publishing- The devolving of storytelling value- How we're taking it backEnjoying this space? It takes all of us to create it together! When you become a one-time or ongoing Momentum Partner, two things happen.First, you get to join a small but growing group of folks who pop in for Office Hours twice a month to sort out their content and travel this journey together.Second, you add to the Mutual Momentum fund, which helps to bring deeper development support to authors who need more than just space to get started.You can create a one-time boost of Momentum or subscribe to keep the forward movement going for us all.*I linked to The Untold Story of Books early on, because it’s such a brilliant, easy-to-read encapsulation of the history of publishing. I highly recommend you grab it here or at your local library. Full disclosure: this is an affiliate link. Get full access to B is for Book Coach at bisforbookcoach.substack.com/subscribe

Welcome back to B is for Book Coach. Today, we’re making space for weirdness.Raise your hand if you’ve heard yourself say any of the following things about your book:I don’t know if it’s the RIGHT way to do it, but…there it is…It’s a little bit of X and a little bit Y…It’s complicated.It’s complex.It’s weird.Can I tell you a secret? All the best books are.- Why we're good with weird- What it really takes to make the weird work- A framework you can use - A reminder you can keepEnjoying this space? It takes all of us to create it together! When you become a one-time or ongoing Momentum Partner, two things happen.First, you get to join a small but growing group of folks who pop in for Office Hours twice a month to sort out their content and travel this journey together.Second, you add to the Mutual Momentum fund, which helps to bring deeper development support to authors who need more than just space to get started.You can create a one-time boost of Momentum here by clicking the button below, or subscribe to keep the forward movement going for us all.Whether or not you’re ready to dive into writing just yet, remember that the best authors show up fully, just as they are. That’s all it takes—and you’re already doing it. Get full access to B is for Book Coach at bisforbookcoach.substack.com/subscribe

Welcome back to B is for Book Coach. Today, we’re making space for relief.A well-respected leader in a niche industry sent out an email recently that had me yelling and drawing out charts like I had missed my calling as a sports commentator. The same message hit a friend of mine via a podcast just days before, and my authors tell me they hear it all the time. It’s everywhere.- The sales messaging formula that stresses us all out about our books- A truer version to translate it to whenever it crops up- Steps you can actually take to level up your visibility- A reminder that you're already an authority, book or noThe B is for Book Coach space is one way I create direct support for authors as they bring their books to life.If you’d like to expand that space for yourself and someone else, contributing to the Mutual Momentum fund brings those services to authors who need more than just space to get started.You can create a one-time boost of Momentum at bit.ly/mutual-momentum, or subscribe to keep the forward movement going for us all. Get full access to B is for Book Coach at bisforbookcoach.substack.com/subscribe

Welcome back to B is for Book Coach. Today, we’re making space for a guided 5 Minute Outline.- Why I don't believe in writer's block- One kind of block many of us do face- 5 Minute Outline (If you’re new to 5 Minute Outlines, you can click through to an introduction.)- What are you going to do with this book?- Why are you writing?- What might feel unshareable?- What will it take for you to write through the unwritable?- What will happen when you do?The B is for Book Coach space is one way I create direct support for authors as they bring their books to life.Whether or not you’re ready to dive into writing just yet, remember that the best authors show up fully, just as they are. That’s all it takes—and you’re already doing it.Be sure to subscribe on Substack or wherever you listen to podcasts to catch every coaching moment to come. And when more of your book is ready to emerge, the space we made today will be here waiting for you.And so will I. Get full access to B is for Book Coach at bisforbookcoach.substack.com/subscribe

Welcome back to B is for Book Coach. Today, we’re making space for mobility.I have hyper mobile joints—or, as we might have called it in the ‘90s, “stupid human tricks.” Without any real awareness of this imbalance, I couldn’t put any intention toward rectifying it. So my body did what bodies do best: it contorted itself, according to its overriding command to survive at all costs. This came to mind earlier this past week, when a friend and client sent me an article about why creatives aren’t productive.- The difference between "creatives" and what we are creating- The overdevelopment of willpower muscles- The muscles left to develop- A reminder to pursue balance firstThe B is for Book Coach space is one way I create direct support for authors as they bring their books to life.If you’d like to expand that space for yourself and someone else, contributing to the Mutual Momentum fund brings those services to authors who need more than just space to get started.You can create a one-time boost of Momentum or subscribe via Substack to keep the forward movement going for us all.And when more of your book is ready to emerge, the space we made today will be here waiting for you.And so will I. Get full access to B is for Book Coach at bisforbookcoach.substack.com/subscribe

Welcome back to B is for Book Coach. Today, we’re making space for a guided 5 Minute Outline.When you are writing for something more than the transaction of it all, the bigness of the work is twofold.There’s the complexity of constructing a book, and then there’s the complexity of leading change in your corner of the world.So when I say “start with the small,” I don’t mean that we’re going to shrink that bigness down at all.The complexity stays. It has to.This is a structure that can hold it.You might want to check out this introductory post if this is the first 5 Minute Outline you’ve worked with.Otherwise, grab a pencil and paper, write the numbers 1 through 5, and start with your pencil at number 3. Because beginnings are hard, so we’re not going to start there.By the end, you should have something written at each of those 5 points that resonated most, and it can be mad-libbed in to look something like this:* There is [a problem, difficulty, or complicated situation] that [the thing I want to say] can address.* It’s complex because [reasons].* If I weren’t worried about those reasons or how I’d say it, I would say [the thing].* Still, despite all of that complexity, [the thing] is important to say because [big reason].* When I say the thing to the person who’s waiting to hear it, [things will change].This is complex work you’re doing.It’s good work that you’re doing.And it doesn’t have to be done in isolation or simplified into oblivion.Hey, thanks for creating this space with me today. The B is for Book Coach space is one way I create direct support for authors as they bring their books to life.If you’d like to expand that space for yourself and someone else, contributing to the Mutual Momentum fund brings those services to authors who need more than just space to get started.Whether or not you’re ready to dive into writing just yet, remember that the best authors show up fully, just as they are. That’s all it takes—and you’re already doing it.Be sure to subscribe on Substack or wherever you listen to podcasts to catch every coaching moment to come. And when more of your book is ready to emerge, the space we made today will be here waiting for you.And so will I. Get full access to B is for Book Coach at bisforbookcoach.substack.com/subscribe

Welcome back to B is for Book Coach. Today, we’re making space for weeds.Do you remember last spring, when I landed in the middle of a tangled mess of roots in my garden bed—one that I decided could serve as a metaphor for my life?It started with an attempt to clear surface level weeds from a garden bed tucked alongside my house, journeyed through the pit of despair that was the realization that those roots ran deep, and ended with the hope that the medicinal plants gifted to me by a friend would take root.Months later, I am pleased to announce that…this project is still a metaphor for my life.- An update on the garden bed (spoiler: the weeds won)- Weeds as stories- How obligation overwhelm is fueled by stories- Where we find choices that lift the weight and reframe our next stepsThe B is for Book Coach space is one way I create direct support for authors as they bring their books to life.If you’d like to expand that space for someone else, contributing to the Mutual Momentum fund brings those services to authors who need more than just space to get started. You can make a one-time contribution here, or you can subscribe to keep the forward movement going for us all.Be sure to subscribe on Substack or wherever you listen to podcasts to catch every coaching moment to come. And when more of your book is ready to emerge, the space we made today will be here waiting for you.And so will I. Get full access to B is for Book Coach at bisforbookcoach.substack.com/subscribe

Welcome back to B is for Book Coach. Today, we’re making space for a guided 5 Minute Outline.Over the last few weeks, I’ve been immersed in Anne Frank’s world. It started because Alice Hoffman, author of Practical Magic, is one of my favorite authors, and I needed a new audiobook to listen to at night. Her most recent, When We Flew Away, happened to be a fictionalized prequel to Anne Frank’s diary.First things first: If you read fiction, I highly recommend this book. I also know it’s a tough time to be into anything World War 2 related, so I also recommend you take it (and the rest of this episode) slowly. It’s okay to tap out whenever you need to.And that permission to walk away brings us to Anne Frank’s diary, the Clarity Spectrum book type it represents, and the 5 Minute Outline exercise I have for you today.- Anne Frank's book type on the Clarity Spectrum- What is your core reason for writing?- Who can you imagine would be your reader?- What context does that imagined reader need to have?- What truth comes out when it’s just you and that reader?- What might happen if that truth were published?- A Tale of Two AnnesThe B is for Book Coach space is one way I create direct support for authors as they bring their books to life.If you’d like to expand that space for yourself and someone else, contributing to the Mutual Momentum fund brings those services to authors who need more than just space to get started.You can create a one-time boost of Momentum by clicking the button below, or subscribe to keep the forward movement going for us all.Whether or not you’re ready to dive into writing just yet, remember that the best authors show up fully, just as they are. That’s all it takes—and you’re already doing it.Be sure to subscribe here on Substack or wherever you listen to podcasts to catch every coaching moment to come. And when more of your book is ready to emerge, the space we made today will be here waiting for you.And so will I. Get full access to B is for Book Coach at bisforbookcoach.substack.com/subscribe

Welcome back to B is for Book Coach. Today, we’re making space without obligation.“I guess everyone wants to write a book at some point, right?”I hear this so often it’s hard not to roll my eyes—not at you, the person I’ve probably only just met face to face and am so glad to hear from. But at the messaging that has so heavily influenced our world.- The overwhelming messaging that "you need a book."- How that builds into "you need...everything else."- How obligation overwhelm pulls our focus- How to get it backHey, thanks for creating this space with me today.Whether or not you’re ready to dive into writing just yet, remember that the best authors show up fully, just as they are. That’s all it takes—and you're already doing it.Be sure to subscribe on Substack or wherever you listen to podcasts to catch every coaching moment to come. And when more of your book is ready to emerge, the space we made today will be here waiting for you.And so will I. Get full access to B is for Book Coach at bisforbookcoach.substack.com/subscribe