What I Learned About Confidence from Writing Growing Strong Girls: A Guest Post from Lindsay Sealey

This post was written by Lindsay Sealey, author of Growing Strong Girls.

Last year, I set an intention to become a stronger, more resilient person. I committed to taking one risk every day for a year—one act of bravery that would challenge me to grow. Out of these 365 actions, the bravest one was my decision to write a book.

I had wanted to write a book for a long time because I felt strong... keep reading


An indie author’s guide to selling foreign rights

Every author dreams of seeing their book translated into many languages so that readers in far-off lands can enjoy and learn from it. But how does an indie author sell their publishing rights abroad? And what can a traditionally published author do to be sure they are getting the best deal?

I asked Kelvin Kong, Rights Manager for Toronto-based agency The Rights Factory, to explain how book rights are sold into foreign markets.

 

What exactly are foreign language / foreign territory rights? What are the various component... keep reading


How to Boost Your Public Speaking Fees by $10,000 or More

Everybody knows that a successful book can launch a career as a public speaker. But what is less widely understood is how publishing a book can turbocharge an already successful speaking career.

Here’s the problem. Every professional public speaker will eventually hit a plateau. The market gets saturated, or everyone has heard your speech, or the event planners seek a new topic, or the conferences evolve. If you are a professional speaker, you must practice continuous self-reinvention. I know this because many of the authors we work with at LifeTree Media are professional public sp... keep reading


Is it worth it to pay to publish? Six ways to recoup your investment, beyond the bookstore

If you’re thinking of investing money in publishing your book through a hybrid publisher or by self-publishing, you’re likely trying to work out whether you’ll get a strong enough return on investment to make the endeavour worthwhile. And rightly so: publishing a book to a professional standard is a significant investment, especially if you are considering using a ghostwriter.

Most authors think online and in-store book sales will be their primary revenue stream, an understandable but overly limited assumption. There are many other ways in which your book-publishing venture ca... keep reading


7 Creative Ways to Fund Your Book

“I can’t afford to publish my book right now.” We hear this a lot. And we get it–publishing can be a large investment for many people, and sometimes publishing seems like it can wait. But when we hear authors shying away from a publishing project because of funding, we simply smile and say, “Not so fast!” There are plenty of creative ways to finance your publishing project, so if you’re looking to publish but don’t have the means, consider these seven creative ways to fund your book.

Use a crowdsourcing website

<... keep reading

How to write a world-changing manifesto

When I sit down to work with a new author, I always ask them about their goals for their book, and invariably I get a version of the same answer: They want to make a difference in people’s lives. Very often, they want to change the way people think, elevate a conversation, and bring new understanding to a vexing problem.

That’s a great mission. We all want to have an impact on the world, and most of us would like that impact to be a positive one. But changing the world through a book begins with changing the mind of one reader, and then the next. Most of us are stubbornly attache... keep reading


Writing groups: what they are and how to join one

You might stumble across them in libraries and coffee shops across the country: a circle of writers surrounding a paper-covered table. Armed with their notebooks and a desire to master the use of language, these writers have committed to their writing groups, and you may want to as well.

At its core, writing groups (or writing circles) are places for you and other writers to come together, share ideas, and get feedback on your work. They might be a peer critique in your living room over a glass of wine, a workshop or class with an instructor, or even a Facebook discussion group with ... keep reading


Footnotes vs. Endnotes: How to Choose and How to Use

There are four ways to deal with citations, explanations and references: In the text, in footnotes, in numbered endnotes, and in contextual endnotes. Most publishers have a house style and preference for how and when they use each method. It’s useful for you to understand the difference and determine your own preferences, especially if you are self-publishing.

In text: Writing a reference directly into the text itself is the most reader-friendly way to cite your sources. This works best when the reference is simple and easy t... keep reading


8 Writing Habits for the Enlightened Author

As writers, we consider it our duty to sit at our desks every day and put down ideas that we hope will inspire the masses and make a meaningful contribution to society.

Doesn’t mean we have to enjoy it. In fact, writing is very often painful, boring and difficult.

But it doesn’t have to be. By making some adjustments to the way you write–and the way you think about writing–you can produce more in less time and even enjoy doing it. Here are eight writing habits that will transform your work sessions from bitter and barren to the best and most productive par... keep reading


How to Write a Killer Book Introduction

Of all the book chapters you will write, your introduction is likely to confound you the most. What should go in it? How long should it be? Is anyone even going to read it? Most authors find themselves scratching their heads over questions like these. I hope to answer them here.

A book introduction isn’t strictly necessary in every book, but most non-fiction books will benefit from having one. If you’re going to include one, it’s critical to get it right. Potential readers often skim the introduction to help them decide whether or not to buy a book. An introduction that’s eng... keep reading