Pat Hastings and me at the Dream Party

Imagine going to a party where you dress and act as if it’s 5 years from now and your dreams have come true– the beach house, the love, the lifestyle…you’re a published author, of course–whatever you dream about, you get to show up at the party and be that person that’s living the dream right now.

There really is a party like that–the Dream Party–brainchild of Tara Sage Steeves. And while you may or may not be able to join me there on October 8 in Rhode Island (though if you’re anywhere near, I highly recommend you do), you can join the Dream Team for this wonderful virtual event–a week of powerful FREE teleseminars to help you manifest those dreams of yours.

Here’s where to sign up.

And here’s the fabulous line up:

This was the first issue with Aspire's new image back when it was a print magazine

Two plus years later, my community has grown significantly, partly through knowing Linda and being part of all that is Aspire magazine online and Inspired Living Publishing. Linda truly knows how to create a “village” and reach people with her inspired message.

You may know that recently Linda and I decided to team up and offer you our combined secrets on both sides of the book equation—book writing and book sales. To sell books, you need to work on your author platform before you write your book—and Linda is an  expert on how to grow that author platform.

Inspiring Publisher and Proponent of "Conscious Partnership" in the writing and publishing world, Linda Joy

Working  together on Birth Your Book: From Inspiration to Published Author, I’m learning so much just by watching Linda in motion. Here are 3 of the things I learned from Linda:

1.      Ask for help—people love to be asked, but they can’t read your mind: When Linda began inviting my clients and former students to promote our free teleseminar, I realized how little I invite my clients and students to do such things. While a handful may spontaneously retweet or comment on a facebook post, how much more powerful to have your very-happy clients promoting a new program of yours through a personal phone call or an e-mail blast to their tribes?

Linda brought in so many partners to help spread the word.

2.      Tend to your past clients and the people who know your work: These people already know the value and quality of your work. Introduce them to new business ventures—invite them to become affiliates and offer your programs to people to earn a commission when people sign up for your paid programs—it’s a win/win/win for everyone—from the new person who benefits from working with you to the past client earning a commission and getting to help a friend—and you grow your business and the list of people who want what you have to offer.

Linda created banners of different sizes so affiliates can promote on websites, in newsletters and other places.

3.      Give your community the tools they need to support you: Linda is so organized. She doesn’t just rely on the shopping cart’s affiliate center (which can be confusing). She e-mailed everyone several different sized banners they can use in newsletters, e-mails and on their website, as well as text they can use to promote the program.

Above all, Linda is a woman of integrity and love. She has tremendous passion for everything she does and she generates true enthusiasm for the purposeful work of colleagues, clients and friends, supporting and promoting their work. This powerful way of being in the world inspires me and all who know her to take our way of being to a whole new level.

Did this article spark any ideas for you in growing your community and author platform? Linda will be sharing more Author Platform Secrets on our joint teleseminar: Birth Your Book: From Inspiration to Published Author on Sept. 15 at 8:30 p.m. Eastern time. You can sign up here.

And if you’d like to spread the word about our Birth Your Book Teleseminar and potentially earn a commission for those who sign up for paid programs, here’s your link to become an affiliate or read more about the program here. Joining our campaign, perhaps you’ll be inspired to start one of your own.

Greg Miller

Are you writing a memoir? Worried of putting people to sleep in parts? Or just wishing it had a little more oomph? Most bestselling memoirs are funny, especially the painful ones. Humor helps us transcend our experience and release.

In a week and a half, I’ll be interviewing the brilliant and funny and brilliantly funny Greg Miller about writing a powerful memoir.

Here in my post, I thought we’d focus just on funny, a specialty of this co-founder of the sensational Uncabaret (where he’s worked with a who’s who of progressive modern comedians including Margaret Cho, Kathy Griffin, Patton Oswalt, Michael Patrick King and others) and co-director of The Comedian’s Way,  which he has taught at UCLA Extension, Kripalu and more.

Almost every woman in America wishes she'd written Eat Pray Love

Lisa: Greg, I know we’re going to cover this in more detail on our call, but what are some of the factors that make a best-selling memoir, like Eat, Pray, Love?

Greg: My theory is that the major factor that made it such a publishing phenomenon is that it embodied a compound fantasy. 1) That Gilbert had the house and relationship to begin with. 2) That she was willing to walk out. 3) To chuck it all and just go traveling (which is a fantasy because, she got paid to write the book so she wasn’t really chucking it all: she was doing a job plus getting to eat in Italy, pray in India and find love again).

Also, getting featured on Oprah. That really helps sell books.

Lisa: It seems to me that humor is a factor in all the bestsellers from Eat Pray Love to Running with Scissors to The Glass Castle. Especially when writing about the horrific, these authors transport us with humor. Why do you think humor is important in memoir?

Greg: Three reasons:

One is the same reason many horror movies include laughs. A laugh releases tension that would otherwise become genuinely unpleasant if it continued uninterrupted.

Two, humor creates dynamics and introduces another color and dimension to a story.

Three, humor signifies authenticity. If you can laugh at yourself, it tells an audience you know yourself and that’s reassuring. It enhances your credibility.

Lisa: Does a memoir have to be funny to be successful?

Greg: No. But it has to be funny to be funny.

Lisa: What if someone doesn’t think they’re funny? How can they be funnier?

Greg: Some people have successfully suppressed their natural humor, but not many. Almost everyone is funny with some of their friends or family. A lot of people don’t think they’re ‘funny’ because they define funny too narrowly. If you laugh or make others laugh, you’re funny. Cultivating and channeling it is a little trickier.

Greg co-facilitates (and co-created) The Comedian's Way with his partner, Beth Lapides

How to be funnier is a vast topic. I’ve coached writers and taught writers and performers for 15 years in a workshop called The Comedian’s Way and I still haven’t come up with any hard and fast formulas. That’s partly because everyone is unique and, therefore, their sense of humor is unique.

There are a number of principles and techniques you can utilize to enhance your humor:

*  One is surprise: especially a surprising attitude or unexpected contrast.

*  Another is scale:  Tiny and huge are funnier than mid-size, especially when they’re right next to each other. We can get into this more in the teleseminar.

Lisa: Scale makes me think hyperbole, exaggeration–especially when you use a metaphor to exaggerate. I like that. How about in how-to books? Is humor an important element?

Greg: It depends on the topic and the writer. In a lot of situations, a little humor goes a long way. Also, humor is usually highly situational: what’s funny will depend on the context.

One major piece of advice I have for any writer is: always keep a pen and paper handy. Try explaining your ideas out loud to friends or relatives who are already inclined to think you’re funny. If they laugh, write down what you just said verbatim. If you don’t remember what you just said, ask them. Or even better, use a voice recorder; then you can go back, listen and transcribe.

You can sign up here for our free teleseminar: Put the  ‘Me’ in Your Memoir: Wednesday, September 8 at 12 noon eastern and 9:00 am pacific.

This group bonded in my 8 week Bring Your Book to Life Program

I love teaching in-person workshops–there’s a chemistry that happens when we get together in the flesh and connect as writers.

And I love taking in-person workshops, too. Sometimes, I experience a magical shift; other times I make a lifelong friend. At the International Women Writers Guild summer conference this year, I made two new writer friends.

I try to schedule at least one writing workshop at Kripalu each year–so I can enjoy writing in community, yoga and a walk around the lake and the labyrinth. I’m also lucky enough to live 15 minutes from one of the most inspiring holistic conference centers in the northeast–All That Matters–and have enjoyed many a workshop there as both presenter and participant.

In the zone...

As a book writing teacher, I know that sometimes people aren’t quite ready for an 8 week book writing course, but it may be perfect timing for an inexpensive half day immersion in writing.  I love to help these writers, too, and this fall I have several ways you can get a taste for what I do.

If you live in the northeast, you’re invited to join me at All That Matters on September 26 for Jump Start Your Spiritual How-to Book or Memoir. You can start your morning with a walk by the river, followed by a homemade organic lunch at the Alternative Food Co-op, followed by an afternoon of bringing clarity and organization to that book you’ve always wanted to write.

And on the evening of September 16, you can join me at the Women’s Club SWANS event in Fall River, where you’ll meet lots of amazing women (sorry guys–I think this one is a gals only event) and I’ll facilitate you to “Expand into Your Most Radiant Self: Connect with Your Creative Source.”

And it’s not to early to make space in your calendar and register for “Writing in the Zone: Tap into Your Creative Genius,” also at All That Matters.

Making a point at the start of class--in costume! It got everyone's attention!

In fact, if you sign up for one or more of these workshops by September 1, I’d like to extend a gift to you. You’ll receive a beautiful handmade bookmark by one of my book writing students, Dawn Warnock. Just e-mail me and tell me which writing courses you’ve registered for, along with your address and I’ll send you your bookmark.

Hope to see you this fall for some writing and fun! Feel free to tell me what other courses you’d like to see in the future, too.

Your book writing coach

Yesterday, I edited a chapter from one of my students in my Bring Your Book to Life Program. With her permission I share her mistakes–mistakes that I made when I first started and mistakes many novice authors make.

Ironically, her book teaches women about sexual intimacy (and how to reignite passion in their marriage) and yet her errors—so common to many new aspiring authors—went against many of her top lessons about foreplay, trust and intimacy.

Here then are 3 Rules of Good Writing right out of her passion toolkit :

1. Know Where to Start:

Foreplay is about what will turn your partner on.  So, what will turn your reader onto what they’re reading?

This author began chapter one with a dialogue without any action or description.  I needed to meet the author first, or meet the couple who were arguing—at least be able to picture them.

Think about what your reader needs from you so they will be compelled by the material and committed to reading further.

Take off those sunglasses and establish some real intimacy with your reader. Much as I like this photo (maybe because the glasses hide my wrinkles) I had never used it in a blog post until now--because the sunglasses get in the way of intimacy. They send the wrong message.

2. Get Intimate with Your Reader:

Good writing is about relationship. As an author, you are developing a relationship with your readers. Readers, plural, but one at a time. Readers don’t want to think of themselves as a mob. As a reader, I am most seduced by a writer to addresses me as “You.”

I often find new writers address their readers as, “Many of you…” as in, “Many of you will see yourself in these stories.”

I asked my student to imagine saying, “Many of you…” to her husband in bed.

As a writer, you are establishing a relationship with your reader, an intimate relationship—the more intimate the better.

Instead of addressing your readers as, “Many of you…” if you are afraid to make an assumption about all readers, just say, “You may see yourself in these stories….” Or “If you see yourself in these stories…”

Just say, “YOU.”

If you think about your reader as a person, rather than a mob, that will come through in your writing—and your reader will feel a stronger connection to you.

3. Trust Your Reader:

Don’t do what I just did two sentences ago: Do not capitalize, underline or bold words just to emphasize them. Trust your reader.

In a blog, for visual purposes, you may want to bold, underline or color certain words. That can help keep the blog post visually interesting.

However, when writing a book, even a how-to book, you must trust your reader to understand which words to emphasize.  Occasionally, if it really helps clarify, you can italicize a word, but I’d save that for a definition or something akin to defining a word.

For a bullet list, such as a list of instructions, you can bold certain phrases that begin a bullet or numbered list. But don’t bold or capitalize a word just to emphasize. Use bold more for a visual effect and to organize the material.

Now you’re ready for some sizzling…writing.

Your Book Writing Coach Lisa Tener

On Wednesday I’ll interview Dr. Carrie Barron about creativity: why it’s so crucial, how to bring more of it into our lives, the benefits of it…as well, of course, as how to employ creativity as you write your book.

As a preview, I thought I’d ask Dr. Barron a few questions about creativity:

Lisa: Carrie, you’ve mentioned to me that you’ve seen creativity transform people’s lives.  Can you tell me how you began to connect the dots with your patients?

On Wednesday, I interview Dr. Carrie Barron on "Cultivate Your Creativity"

Dr. Carrie Barron: Sure. Over the years, I have treated many people who suffer from depression or anxiety.  I learned that traditional treatments, psychotherapy, cognitive therapy and medication are not very effective for certain people. For some, the only thing that works is to be involved in a creative process.

Lisa: What kinds of things did they do that helped them? Was it a specific creative project–like a book or painting–or was it creativity in general?

Dr. Carrie Barron: Different things help different people. My clients and I work together to try to uncover their sequestered desires and capacities. Each person is unique. So for one it may be writing, for another, design.  The most important part of our work is to create the mental freedom and habits that allow the true self, the creative self, to emerge.

Lisa:   Why are you so excited about creativity? Why do you want everyone to know about creativity?

How do I get started!  Some form of creative expression enhances well-being for most people, even if they have never labeled themselves talented or artistic.  It allows the soul to emerge, it can foster deeper understanding of the self, it can be calming or stimulating. Creativity can take many forms: cooking, whittling, gardening, designing a home, painting a wall.

There is so much despair in our society. Depression and anxiety are rampant and, though twice as many antidepressants are prescribed than a decade ago, people are still suffering, searching, feeling empty. Creative acts provide meaning, connect to the soul, help us know our true selves, and allow us to move through the day in an elevated way.

Lisa: From many of the stories I’ve read in your manuscript, it seems that creativity provides many people a path through and out of that despair. Perhaps our culture is suffering largely from creativity dampening! Write your book and heal your life–creativity can turn things around.

Carrie, what can people expect to get out of tomorrow’s free teleseminar?

Dr. Carrie Barron: To come away with ways to develop, honor and maintain a creative self–tips and insights to free you up and get started.  Also, I hope that people will reach out to others and keep the conversation going because connecting to others can powerfully impact our creativity.

Join us tomorrow and ask your questions on the call. Here are some more burning creativity issues that Dr. Barron will cover:

• Three Ways to Get Into a Creative State
• Tips to Remedy Writers Block
• How can I write when I have so many time constraints?
• How can I choose a place to be creative (and is that important)?
• How can other forms of creative exploration help my writing?
• Why is routine so important and how can I foster it?
• How can I make myself finish things?

Register here. And feel free to ask any questions of Dr. Barron or me as a comment to this blog post, as well.

Your Book Writing Coach and Inspiration Partner

While preparing to give a talk at the UU Church in Peacedale, RI about Inviting Transformation into Our Lives (tomorrow), I realized I needed this talk myself.

So many times we find ourselves stuck in “What is…” that we forget “What’s possible…”

Today, I’m returning to what’s possible, to my vision. In that vein, I am off to the beach to enjoy my family and a long walk in the surf.

I won’t give you the whole talk and experience about transformation just now, but I’d love to hear what you see as possible in your life. Forget about what is today:  What do you want to see three weeks from now, or six weeks, or six months…?

Share your inspirations of what’s possible as a comment below. Or share how you create transformation in your life.

Your Writing and Creativity Coach

The other day, as Tamara Kleinberg, Chief Imaginator of Imaginibbles.com, and I were planning my interview for her radio show, I became intrigued by hearing about her creative process, especially how she has gone about creating space for being creative. I couldn’t wait to share with you some of her insights and ideas, so I turned our conversation into an interview for my blog.

Lisa: What were your concerns/challenges as a creative person in working alone at home?

Tamara K, Chief Imaginator

Tamara: Home seems like the ideal place to set up shop and for many it is. But, there are also some challenges to working out of your living space, especially for creative types. First, being alone at home can be isolating. Creativity often comes from feeding off the energy of others or collaborating directly with colleagues. Being at home can remove you from that creative energy. Second, being at home can be very distracting. The TV, laundry or lollygagging and fixing the yard, can get in the way of my imagination. It’s as if everyday tasks fill my brain instead of creative thoughts.

Lisa: What systems did you set up to help you get the interactions you needed and support your creative process and life as a home-based business owner?

Tamara: My favorite system is something my colleagues and I call “future Fridays.”  Every Friday from 12 – 3 pm we all work from the same funky little café. Sometimes we chat and brainstorm but more often we work in the presence of other creative people. Knowing that my Friday afternoons will be filled with visionary work (no administrative task allowed) and by visionary people is very motivating.

I also like to meet in person as often as possible. It means a lot of driving but it also means a lot of interaction. My goal is to have at least 5 in-person meetings a week so that I’m always out, engaging and creating. I use after hours for all that admin, left-brained stuff.

Lisa: You’re moving into new office space that’s focused on being co-creative. This space sounds unique and inspiring. Can you share more about what the space is like?

Tamara: I am crazy excited about this new space. Denver is a very entrepreneurial city and we are fortunate enough to have a place called the Taxi district. It oozes creativity from the minute you turn into the parking lot. There are indoor and outdoor meeting spaces, cafés, warehouse offices, loft offices, entrepreneurs, designers and, soon, me.

For me, it’s about being surrounded by innovative people and a creative aesthetic that is bound to spark new ideas and creative mojo. On top of that, the people that have businesses in this district share a mindset of true collaboration and entrepreneurial spirit so you never know who or what is going to spark the next big idea.

Lisa: What most attracted you to this work space?

Tamara: Everything! It’s the entire pot. Not to mention that because it’s built for entrepreneurs I can scale up as my business grows. I’m looking forward to moving into a space with glass garage doors that open when my business hits a certain level.

One of my favorite creativity inducing workspaces. My in-person book writing classes overlook this beach.

Lisa: How can people who are working from home simulate some of the benefits of space like this, if they don’t have access to co-creative office space?

Tamara: Most important, don’t take for granted that because you work from home your environment has to be homey. Carve out a space that represents your creative spirit. I have an uber-funky retro lamp and an old door leaning against the wall that I turned into a roaming chalk board.  Sometimes it’s the little things we do that matter.

Lisa: You offer so many wonderful creative products, I’ve bought your creativity cards and I love your new t-shirts.  What’s your favorite of your products and why? [and note, I am not getting a commission on sales--just find this stuff fun and love supporting entrepreneurs like Tamara].

Tamara's favorite creativi-tee

Tamara: I have no loyalty. I fall in love with every product we create. In fact, right now I am wearing the Think Sideways t-shirt and loving it. So soft and fun. Every time I wear one of my t-shirts in public someone asks me what it’s about and it always sparks a creative conversation. I love that!

Join me and Tamara on Tuesday,  July 13 at noon Eastern, 9:00 am Pacific when she interviews me about the creative process in writing books and related creative topics. Our post-interview conversation was very co-creative and stimulating–I can’t wait for our Tuesday conversation. Here’s the link for the show.

Join me and Dr. Barron Wednesday for a creativity upgrade.

And, speaking of creativity, you’ll want to follow Tuesday’s call with a free teleseminar on Wednesday, July 14 at the same time, noon Eastern, 9 am Pacific. I’ll be interviewing creativity expert Dr. Carrie Barron.

Dr. Barron, a faculty member of Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons and Columbia Psychoanalytic Center, as well as  psychiatrist in private practice, will share some of the latest research on creativity, what works and doesn’t, and some of the benefits of creativity.

Register here for Write Your Book: Cultivate Your Creativity.

Your book writing coach

One could easily write a book (or a series of books) on the subject of social media for authors. Let’ see how much meat I can put in one blog post. Here are some takeaways from my interview last night with Leili McKinley, who has helped many award winning authors hit a home run with their social media.

Below are my insights and a link to the audio recording of the call (over an hour chock full of examples of bestselling authors’ secrets, specific steps you can take and answers to listeners burning questions). We didn’t get to everyone’s questions, so please list your questions as comments and Leili has offered to answer them below!

Leili McKinley, Social Media Expert

Three reasons you need social media more than ever as an author or aspiring author:

1. Publishers expect it: For a book deal, you need to show you’re adept.

2. Social media creates viral word of mouth fans:  The kind who buy more than one book and give them as gifts and who tell everyone about your book (often, through social media!)

3. You want the momentum of people who want your book before it ever comes out. If your book is in bookstores, you’ll need those pre-sales and immediate sales to stay on the shelves.

How to brand your business and book online:

1. Know your target market: NY Times Bestselling author Tim Ferris, author of the Four Hour Work Week, knew that his target market were self employed, small business owners who wanted to grow empires and have their freedom, too.

2. Make your key messages align with what your target market believes: Tim’s message was, “You can build an empire by outsourcing most of the work.”

3. Deliver those messages everywhere your readers hang out online: The experts use more than one kind of social media, because people usually need to hear the message more than once to buy. Tim blogged to build a loyal following and also connected with his audience on YouTube, Facebook, Linked In, Twitter, Plaxo, Flikr and Friendfeed. You may want to be a bit more targeted if you can’t do all of these–find out where you folks hang out.

On the call, Leili also shared details about how to position your brand to get results, including a client of hers who was relatively unknown in the US.  Her publisher is recording record pre-sales of her book due to niche branding.

Leili also gave details about how one of her most successful clients used social media to connect with journalists, radio hosts, TV producers and other PR contacts before his book game out. He was on the Today Show, Good Morning America and Tyra Banks.  I encourage you to LISTEN TO THE AUDIO HERE.

In addition, if you’re serious about creating a following for your book before it comes out (or if it’s out already), you’ll want to look at Leili’s social media for authors course. I won’t list all the benefits and features here, but you can go to this page for all the information you need to make a decision.

I don’t participate in many affiliate programs. However, I knew my clients, students and readers desperately need how to make social media work for them. I’ve searched around for a program that I know has the power to help you. I’ve taken three different courses, two from some of the leaders in the industry and found them difficult to use (too much information, too many assignments, no assignments, etc.).

Leili’s course addressed all my concerns and is targeted for authors. For this reason, I am proud to be a paid affiliate of her program. Leili’s program offers:

1. Assignments that are truly relevant for authors and aspiring authors.

2. Ability to do the classwork (watch the 20 minute videos and do assignments) when it’s convenient for you.

3. Weekly coaching calls to get your questions answered personally.

I know many of you still have questions for Leili…ask away. And good luck with developing your brand and setting yourself up to make your book a big success.

Anyway, can’t share the photos because I don’t know how to e-mail them from my phone.

The first lesson of the day, then: if you blog, bring an extra battery for your real camera. Or, if I were to generalize: be prepared.

Second lesson: Enjoy writing; be playful. I’d been putting so much pressure on myself to write the next blockbuster middle grade novel/screenplay/Broadway musical that I felt completely overwhelmed.

Meeting with novelist Crystal Wilkinson for a one on one, I realized that all the things I see as possibly insurmountable problems in my novel clearly are just that: possibly insurmountable.  And, still, I’m attracted to the story.

Crystal gave me some exciting ways to play with the book: write pages of “What if’s” about the characters, their actions, the world I’m creating. Some images came to mind that made me laugh out loud as we toyed with what if’s and my muse came out to play.

I’ve given myself permission to make this fun–it’s a children’s novel, after all–and I finally realized that, in my previous state of seriosity (yes, new word), there was no way I could ever write the book. In my new found state of openness and chill, there’s potential, possibility, spark.

Lesson Three: Do your homework; put the writing first. Peter invited conference presenters to Jamestown for a light dinner after the reception and readings. And then he invited the whole gang. But we had homework!

I almost went. It’s a wonderful thing to meet writers, connect, find company in the sometimes-lonely world of writing.

But I knew that if I went to dinner, I would never get my homework done. Or I’d do a slipshod job and go to bed too late and wake up tired. I tell my book writing students all the time to get enough sleep and write when you”re fresh. I tell them to cut down on the socializing for the short time they’re writing their books. They can use socializing as a reward after completing some writing commitment. But don’t give up writing time to go out.

For the record, I took my own advice. And it felt great. I rewrote my “scene.” I read the three well-crafted stories we received in class. I’m going to bed by 10 and I may even have time to take a bath before bed. And I can socialize at dinner tomorrow as my reward. ‘Night.

More this weekend from the conference.