Episode 79: All About Thriving Authors Academy

(upbeat music) Welcome to the Thriving Authors Podcast, where we delve into all aspects, what it takes to get your dream book out of your heart, onto the page and into the world, connecting with a wide audience of readers. I'm Dallas, and I don't just want you to be a published author. I want you to be a thriving author, confidently sharing your ideas, making an impact with your words, and owning your unique voice that deserves to be heard. I've spent the past two decades immersed in the publishing industry, building my career as the best-selling author of five books and counting. As a book coach, I have helped dozens of women bird their books and live their dreams. And here's what I know to be true. You deserve abundant creativity, a nurturing writing practice, and a supportive community that inspires and uplifts you through the ups and downs of the writing life. I want to help you write and publish your dream books that grow your audience, grow your business, and grow your legacy. On this podcast, you will find behind-the-scenes lessons from my own book writing and publishing journey, interviews with successful published authors, and tips and advice you can start using today to move you forward in your writing life. You don't have to do this alone. Let's get started. - Hello, hello. I hope wherever you are today, wherever you are listening to this, you are having a beautiful day and that you are enjoying a little burst of creativity in your life wherever you may be. I have a special podcast episode for you today. I am answering all of your questions about thriving authors' Academy. This is my signature six month small group book mentorship program. You've probably heard me talk about it. Here and there, it really is my baby in a lot of ways in the same way I talked about your book being like a baby that you're giving birth to. This program also feels that way. I'm just so proud of it. And when I was creating thriving authors' Academy, I really tried to take in all of my favorite nuggets and elements of the various writing programs that I have been in and teachings from mentors in my life and also adding things that I've discovered myself that really work for me and for other writers that I have met and interviewed. As I've mentioned, I think before on this podcast or other places that I studied creative writing in college and I also went and got my master's degree on creative writing and overall the experiences were amazing and I learned so much and I'm so grateful that I was able to devote that time and energy to really studying my writing. But there were some parts of those programs that were not so helpful. And so I think a lot of us as writers, we have experiences where we feel criticized about our work. It feels unsafe. Maybe we feel defeated or discouraged after reaching out for help with our writing. And so one thing that is just so important to me with thriving authors' Academy was to really to create a space that feels safe. That dare I say even is like this sacred creative space to come together every single week and feel really supported and nurtured in your writing project. And so that is really the main goal that I have in addition to helping people bear their books is to do it in a way that feels aligned and feels nurturing, feels supportive because I'm a big believer that yes, our end goal is to get this book birthed out of you. But also just I think the experience has the potential to be so life changing if we really do it the right way and do it in a way that is aligned with who we are and who we wish to be. And so yes, I just am really so overjoyed that I get to be a coach for people and get to lead this amazing program. And so I wanted to share a little bit more about it with you. I have been getting some questions from people about thriving authors' Academy, what makes thriving authors' Academy special, what makes this program different from other programs out there. How do I know if it's a good fit for me and for my book, how do I know this investment is gonna be worth it? So I wanted to just talk with you a little bit today about the program and kind of give you the ins and outs and us and bolts about it so that you can just decide if this is something that might be a fit for you. And I think even if this program isn't exactly what you're looking for, I think those are some great questions to ask yourself when you're thinking about the life that you're building around you as a writer, the support that you're calling in for yourself, the foundation that you're creating for yourself, asking yourself these questions about how am I supporting myself as I go on the journey of writing this book and what type of help, what type of container, what type of structure is most useful for you in general when you're going after a big goal. I think these are some really important questions to journal on and questions that I ask the people when they hop on calls with me to kind of figure out more about the program and for me to get to know more about their book. So just really think about those questions even if that every not there's the academy is not the right fit for you or if this is not the right time, I still think it is important to really sit back and reflect on that idea about support. You don't need to do this alone, right? You don't have to be a lone wolf. You deserve to have a nurturing community of support around you. So without too much further lead in, I'll get into this from an Instagram live that I did last year about the program. And I just want to share with you that the program starts on October 8th. And as I'm reporting this, most spots are filmed. So if this is something that really resonates with you and encourage you to reach out to me, you can send me an email. You can send me a message on social media. Adults would bring author, let's hop on a call, let's figure out if this is something that you want. I would love, love, love to have you as part of this next round. It's going to be an amazing group. I'm already so excited with all the ladies that have signed up. I just have such a great feeling about them, just the miracles that are going to happen these next six months in Fibing Authors Academy. And also if this is something that you've been thinking about, this might be the last time that I host this program until 2024. So I would just really encourage you if you've been on the fence if you're thinking about it. Now might be the time to dive in, because I'm not exactly sure when the next time is it all be offering this program. Okay, so here is everything about the Fibing Authors Academy. I hope you enjoy this. And I would love to hear your takeaways, what resonates with you, and I'm just curious to hear like what do you feel is most important for you when you're looking for support around writing your book? Hello, hello. And so I just wanted to pop in with a quick reminder about that and also just answer some questions. I've been getting about driving Authors Academy just to give you a sign. Hey, all of you, all of bully joining us tomorrow, all of this private driving Authors Academy. But just wanted to kind of answer some questions to give you a sense if this program might be a good fit for you. I have one spot left, so I'm sort of just putting it out in the universe, just feeling like maybe this spot is for you. And so what I like to tell everyone that hops in a call with me to kind of chat about it is my main priority is to help you make the decision about whether this is the right program for you and your book. So what, just to know if you ever do hop on a call with me to kind of talk through your book and talk through any blocks, it's really not, I don't see it as like a sales call. It's really just about giving you the information about the program to help you figure out if it would be the right fit for you and for your book, because we're all different. Every writer is different. Every book project is different. And there are so many different programs out there. And so it's really important to me, hey, Anna, that everyone who comes into driving Authors Academy feels really excited about the support and the program and the commitment and they feel like it's going to be the best fit to move them forward and to move their book forward and the writing curve forward to where they want to be. So the first thing about driving Authors Academy that I think makes it different, someone asked me on a call the other day, what do you feel like makes your program special or what makes your program stand out from other programs out there? And I would say I think a main thing about it is the container of support being six months long. And also it's very high touch. And by high touch, I mean that you get a lot of personal feedback, personal accountability, like personal time with me and with other group members focused on your project specifically. There are a lot of programs out there that give a ton of helpful information, but that are more of a kind of do-it-yourself, go at your own pace, sort of programs, which can be great for some for some writers. I think that the people that really thrive in my program are those like if you know about yourself that accountability is really useful for you, maybe you pursued other goals, maybe you've never tried to write a book before, but you've pursued other goals before. And you like, okay, I think accountability is really, really helpful for me, you know, to have someone there with me as I'm progressing toward this big goal, like writing a book is such a big goal. Hey Elaine, and so I think having that accountability and that like personal connection is really huge for so many of us when we're going toward a goal, whether that's writing a book or some other big goal we have in our life. And so I think that is a big thing of what makes my program different is that it is an extended time frame and at the same time it's also very personalized and very high-toucher we have meetings every single week, you get to meet with me and with the other ladies in your small group, your pod sisters who you become really close with and who all they know about your project, you know about theirs, you're encouraged in each other on, and we also have a private Facebook group for extra accountability during the week in between our coaching calls. And so I think that that really makes it just makes it special. I've known for my own writing life that community has been the biggest difference in me being able to move forward in my writing career, not only achieving goals that I accept for myself that had previously seemed unreachable, but also just having so much more, I guess just joy and fulfillment along the way, you know, along the process. So I'm a big believer that writing your book is a transformational process which means it's not always going to be easy. It's a period of growth, you're stretching yourself, you're challenging yourself, you know, you're doing, you're doing this action that is going to kind of bring you to this next level version of yourself, which means that it's not, I'm not saying it's going to be easy, but I am saying it's going to be very fulfilling, especially when you do it surrounded by community that is there supporting you every step of the way. And by other writers who are working toward their own growth, their own big book projects themselves. So I found for myself, I spent way too long trying to kind of struggle along on my own with my writing. And when I began to intentionally create a nurturing and supportive community around me, it made me just enjoy the process so much more. And probably the biggest thing I've learned so far in my writing career is that when I first started out, I was so focused on the end goal of publication, holding my book in my hands, which I can tell you is an amazing moment. I know Elaine's experience that Elaine's watching right now. That is, I mean, just like goosebumps, it's hard to even describe in words how that feels when you're holding your own book in your hands for the first time. But I also believe more strongly than ever before that the real magic lies in the process of writing your book. If you hate every second of kind to ring those words out of yourself onto the page, I don't think that's worth it for you to get to that fine. I mean, that final moment when you're holding the book in your hands is still going to be amazing. But if you hated every second getting there, to me, that's not what we want. We want you to have, yes, a sometimes challenging and sometimes nerve-wracking and sometimes hair pulling out, yes, experience writing your book. There are going to be those times. But when you have community and when you have support around you, you have someone to go to when you're feeling stuck, when you're having those mindset blocks or that anxiety or you're just feeling like, I don't know what to do or is this normal or you feel like you're not alone in this and you have people that say you're totally normal. We're there with you. Let's help you move forward and get through this. So the actual process of writing your book becomes something that you've just find so much fulfillment in itself because really my friends, like that's what we have control over. We don't have control over publishing deals. We don't have control over book reviewers. We don't have control over book awards or bestseller lists or any of those things. Yes, there are things we can do to get your best book out there and definitely to help you get your book, you know, just in front of people and get awards and get recognition in that way. But all of those things are when it comes down to it out of our hands. What we really have control over is the process of writing your book. And so that's where I hope that you are able to find support and fulfillment and just like nourishment through that process of growth. So that's really what when I was sitting down to create thriving authors, Academy, that's I feel like really the kernel, like at the heart of it, of what matters most to me is that everyone in the group feels so supported and feels part of this writing community, like you're not alone. You have these people with you journeying along and you are able to push each other to grow and stretch and like, you know, help go further than you ever would on your own. I'm also a big believer that you don't need me as your coach. You have all the answers inside of you already. You could get from where you are to point be on your own. But I do think that hiring a book coach like me being part of the thriving authors Academy helps you get there so much faster and helps you get there with less pain and frustration. I feel like I learned I've learned so many things in the writing in my writing career through trial and error through like making a mistake and learning from it through Google searching, you know, hours on end trying to solve something that I was really stuck on. And my hope of what I try to do with my clients is be able to give you that hard earned wisdom and lessons and knowledge and expertise, be able to like give that to you from the starting date from the get go so that you're able to avoid some mistakes that I made in the other writers may. And just be able to like I said get to where you want to be faster, easier, more joyfully and just feeling really supported. Because the thing about writing a book is it's a very vulnerable process that's also why I have it as a small group container. Everyone who is there is like meant to be there meant to be together. And so it's vulnerable. So you want to make sure that you are you know investing in a program that feels like aligned with you and aligned with your book. And like I tell everybody who signed up for my program it's such an honor to me that you are welcoming me into your creative process that you're like trusting me to be on that journey with you. It's not something that I take lightly. It's something that really just it's like the highest guess I guess the highest compliment or just that I take it as such an honor for everyone who joins my program. And so you know if you do decide to join thriving authors academy or for whatever writing program you're looking at entering I think one thing to really ask yourself is to make sure that you that you feel safe that it's a place that you feel safe that you trust and that you feel like you're understood and that you're safe to be to be yourself to be the writer you want to be and to be writing your book. You're not writing somebody else's book. You're not writing the book that your book coach would write. You're writing your book and your book coach is there. I am there to help you on earth that book inside of you that is yours that is yours alone that is your voice. Your lessons your experience your teachings you know what what you want to bring out into the world. So I think also something to pay attention to with different programs or with a book coach is thinking about are they prescriptive of like this is the way you must do it or do they give you a lot of options and lessons and wisdom that then you can choose what you want to take in or how you want to approach it. So that's another big belief I have is that I am giving you tools that you can use with this book that you're currently working on but with all the future books that you have inside of you as well. So that's why my clients will often ask me well what should I do should I should I self publish this book or should I try to get an agent and traditionally publish or should I you know try to go with a small publisher and what I like to say is okay well let's talk through all the options like instead of me saying this is what I think you should do let's talk through here's what it would look like if you self publish here's what it would look like if you went with a small publisher here's what it would look like if you tried to get an agent let's I want to give you all the information let's let you have you hold you hold the keys you have the power so let's give you all this information and then we can talk through together what what do you think would be the best strategy for this book you're working on which may change with other book projects you have in the future but Michael is that you have all the information and you are the one that has that wisdom nobody knows your book better than you I'm just able to give you some of my thoughts give you my expertise of what I've noticed and then also just hold the mirror up to you so that you can see your own intuition, your own wisdom reflected back to you. So another big thing to notice, if you hop on a call with a book coach or with somebody who has a writing program, is I would pay attention to how many questions they ask you. 'Cause like I said, this is really about your book. You're the expert on this. So you want someone who is able to give you advice or give you feedback, but when it comes down to it, you're the decision maker on this. And so what I do with my client flat, I spend a lot of time in session, just asking a lot of questions and listening and giving my feedback when it's appropriate, but I definitely do not spend a lot of time saying, well, here's what you must do, and then you've got to do this, and then you've got to do this. Because like I said, this is your book, and you're the one who has the power, and you're the one who holds the keys to this. I'm really just there to be a mirror for you, to be asking questions, to help you perhaps think of things that you hadn't thought of before, that hadn't crossed your mind, or to maybe think of things in a new way. One of my favorite writing teachers, Amy Bender, I talk about her all the time. She was really just such a role model for me, and I feel so grateful and so lucky that I had her as a writing teacher, so early on in my own writing journey, because she gave me a lot of confidence, and myself as a writer, and in my own unique voice, that's different from any other voice out there, which is the same with you. No one else out there on this planet has the same voice that you do, so that's why it's so important to really tap into your own unique writing voice on your own perspective. But she used to say when we were workshopping our giving feedback on each other's work, she would say, when you're giving feedback, I want you to think about not necessarily what you would do if you were writing this story, but what feedback you can give, how to help that writer write the best version of their story. And that's really stuck with me. I've been in workshops before and writing groups before, where I felt like the other people in the group, where the teacher were trying to kind of change me into a different sort of writer than I wanted to be. And just that was not only not helpful, I think that also can be harmful to us as writers. So what we really want is someone who's in our corner rooting for us, sharing us on and helping us become the best version of ourselves as writers that we can be. So I want you to write the best version of your book that you can write. I don't want you to write my book. I don't want to write your book for you. I don't want you to write some other person's book. I want you to be able to have the tools, the confidence, the support, the accountability, the structure, just the community for you to be able to birth the best version of your book as a right now that you can write. And that's the whole other thing too, is we're talking about this book right now, this version of it, which is different than the version that you would write five years from now. But like that's okay. It's this continual journey, this continual process. I was just interviewing the wonderful author, Robert Waltany for my podcast, an episode that's coming out in a few weeks, but he was talking about his amazing debut novel, The Psychiatry, which I cannot recommend highly enough. I just love this book so much, but he was saying he feels like, you know, if he wrote this book today, it would be different than the version that he started writing a few years ago that just came out. So it's like understanding that we're continually evolving as writers and people, but we want to find those containers of support, community around us, an expert or a coach or someone to just like hold us accountable to help us write the best version of our book that we can write right now. So that's really what I wish for you, whether you choose to become part of the driving author's academy, whether you find a different program, whether you have a writing group or some other accountability partner, I just hope that you really feel confident in yourself and your vision for your book and that you're able to take steps forward to bring that book to light starting now, starting today, not waiting until tomorrow, not waiting until next year, not waiting until some other, you know, situation in the future where you feel like the stars are aligned and everything is perfect because that's the other thing about when people join my program, when people sign up for driving authors' academy, even before we have our first kickoff call, I've had people who have joined even like a month ago and they tell me, you know, we haven't even started our meetings yet, but I've been writing consistently ever since I signed up for your program. And I think the reason is that when you invest in yourself, when you invest in your book with a monetary investment, a time investment, a commitment, you are, you're really like drawing a line in the sand, you're saying you know what, I'm gonna do this, like this matters to me, this is important. My book matters, I'm worth it. This is something that I'm not gonna put off any locker and I'm gonna do this thing. And so I think just that action of signing up and investing, even before you actually get all the resources from the program, like just you investing in yourself in that way, it makes such a huge difference. I mean, it's transformative. And that's why so many people we have on a call in there, like, you know, this sounds amazing, but I'm actually a little bit scared. I'm kind of, you know, I'm nervous. This sounds like exactly what I've been looking for and wanting, but then why do I feel so nervous to get started? And what I say is it's because you know that when you sign up for this program, you're actually gonna do this thing, right? It's like what we want to do. We have this dream. We've been dreaming about forever, but it's safer when it just kind of stays this far off dream. But when we actually take that step forward to achieving that dream and being like, yes, I'm committing to this dream and I'm gonna make this happen and I'm investing in support to help me make this happen. We get a little nervous sometimes because we're like, oh, this isn't just gonna be a dream. But let me just tell you that even though your dream of your book is beautiful and amazing and incredible, nothing compares to like I was talking about before actually holding that published book in your hands and just that pride that you have and that confidence you have in yourself and just proving to yourself that you can do it and that you made it happen that you literally made your dream come true. You're holding your dream in your hands right now. That they could compare to that. So I wanna tell you, if you do feel a little bit nervous, if you feel like, I don't know if I'm quite ready, if you feel a little bit scared, that's perfectly normal. And I think it's actually a good thing because it means that this matters to you and that you're taking it seriously and that when you sign up, you're gonna be ready to go full steam ahead, commit 100% to this program and watch your dream literally come true, become a published author. And not just a published author, but like I was talking about a thriving author who enjoys the journey the whole way through. So like I mentioned, I have one spot left. We start tomorrow is our kickoff call, Saturday, April 9th. If you're interested, does this spot have your name on it? I hope so. Let me know you can always send me a direct message. If you have any questions, I even have a little bit of time this afternoon. I could hop on a call with you. If you have any questions that you wanna talk to, like I said, my main goal with everyone that I talk to about the program is to answer your questions and to be able to help you, to empower you, to make the decision of is this program the right fit for you and for the season of your life and for your biting dreams and for the book that you're working on. So I am here to answer any questions that you have. Let me cut the time. Okay, I have just five minutes of practice. I go pick up my daughter, but just to give you a little rundown of what the program looks like, six months long, we have weekly calls. So about four times a month, we have a weekly call. And this is also the first time with the program that I'm opening up a weeknight call slot. It's an actually, we have an international group. So for some people, I guess it would maybe be in the mornings, but so we're opening up a call spot for Pacific time where I live, it'd be like a weekday evening. And then we also have a call time on Saturday. So I'm also excited about that. If you're like unsure about, I don't know if the Saturday time really worked for my schedule, maybe a weeknight would be the perfect time for you to have a weekly coaching call for some accountability. On those coaching calls, a main thing about it is like I was talking about accountability. We always start off the calls with everyone sharing a win that they're celebrating in their writing life. And you might be thinking about, oh my goodness, a win every single week, like I don't know what I would share. And a lot of people start with the call saying, I don't know what I did this week with my writing, but if you think about it a little bit longer, everyone can come up with a win. Maybe your win even is just being there on the call and showing up for the call. But I think so often as writers, we don't give ourselves enough credit. It's like we have these high goals for ourselves and if we don't hit that goal, it's like we give ourselves a big fat zero. So oh, I really want to try to 1000 words today and I only wrote 200. So I failed today. That's not true at all. You wrote 200 words. That's amazing. And so I think beginning to recognize your wins every single week, whether that is time you spent writing, time you spent researching, time you spent learning by reading blog posts or listening to podcasts or doing the video modules and thriving authors Academy course, time you spend connecting with other writers, time you spend staring out the window, like thinking about your book, brainstorming or body or storyboarding, all of that counts as wins. And once we start giving ourselves more credit for those things, we feel better writing becomes something that we enjoy, not something we like beat ourselves up about. We want to do it more. So that kind of a side tangent. But so we have accountability every call where we check in about what did you do this past week? And some people tell me I would not have done any writing this week if I didn't have to like come sit on that call and report back to people of what I've done. So it's a huge thing for a lot of people that accountability. And then at the end of the call, we set a little intention or a goal or something we're going to be focusing on for the week ahead. So it's a way of breaking down this huge book that you are working on and breaking it down little by little week by week into those manageable nuggets. And I think that's a huge reason why I've had a lot of people sign up for my program a little bit skeptically. Like I've tried everything. I've tried all these things in my book. I've been working on it for five years. It's still halfway down. I can't finish. I'm like, let's just see. And I think that accountability week by week with a nurturing community of other writers who are cheering you on is huge. And that's why I think I did the stats are like 87% of people finish at least their first draft of the book during our time together. So that's kind of what the weekly calls look like. And during the call itself, it's time for coaching. So it's a chance for you to bring in any questions that you have or like blocks that are coming up for you that week or maybe you have just something you want to kind of brain dump about or you want to brainstorm with other writers on the call. It's almost like you get to borrow seven or eight other writer brains for an hour every week to be thinking about your book and about your problems and what you're working on. So I mean, it's really just the energy and the synergy is incredible. And I think it's just magical. I've learned from my own writing. It's like, I'm never going to go back to just writing alone by myself because being part of a community like that is just, it just changes everything. So that's a big part of our coaching calls. It's also where I am there with you every single week to answer any questions that you have that you want to post to me or help me, you know, do you want me to help you work through. And it's also a time to ask, I send out a weekly little video lesson. I call the modules, everything from creating a writing routine to writing your book to editing your book to marketing your book to getting published like the whole gamut. And I send out one a week, which you can watch later. If you miss it that week, you can always go back and watch it, but to make it so it's not too overwhelming. You just get them one every week to focus on. So it's really like you're taking this kind of master class on writing and publishing week by week. So it's also a time you can bring up any questions you have about that week's video lesson just to really make sure that it's locked in. It's clear. You understand all that information because it really is like a college class on writing and publishing. You just get so much information through the course of the six months and those videos are yours to keep forever. So it's not just during the six months of the program. You have access to them forever more. And I have, it always makes me happy. I'll sometimes get emails from previous clients here. They'll be like, I'm working on a new book and I rewatched, you know, your module about XYZ and it helped me so much. And I'm like, oh, I'm so, you know, I'm so happy that able to still keep watching those videos or sort of your toolbox that you just have access to forever. And then the other part of the academy is we have monthly workshop calls. So if you've ever been part of writing workshop, you might know how this works where you have a chance every month to bring in a piece of your writing, just share with the group and to get feedback from other writers. One way that I do workshop differently than maybe workshops you've been in in the past is I really, it's important to me that everyone leaves workshop feeling more excited than ever to get back to work on their book. I've unfortunately been in some workshops before. I've been like a part of workshop where it can get sometimes a little bit negative where people are giving too much criticism for the person being workshoped and people leafling a little bit discouraged about their project. And to me, that's like the opposite of what workshop should be. And so yes, it's important to get feedback and to get, you know, some people up there confused or they have questions or they have ideas. But the whole tone of workshop, the way that I lead it is just a very positive and generative and like I'm talking, you know, some of these words are nurturing, supportive, encouraging. And you also have control over what you want to get from workshop. So you could, if let's say you're just feeling at a place in your writing where you're feeling kind of down about your writing, you're like, I don't think this is really good. I'm kind of struggling. You might say, can I share two pages with you all from my latest chapter? And can you just let me know what you love about it? Can you like help me fall in love with this again? And we would just do that. We would just be giving you compliments and positive feedback and things we left. You can also guide the feedback into what would be most helpful for you. Maybe you have a certain character that you're struggling with or you have a certain anecdote you're sharing from a client story or some principle that you're writing about in your nonfiction book that you're just like, I don't know if this is really clear. Can you guys, you know, give me feedback on what's confusing? So it's like you really get to set the tone and to set the questions that you're looking for feedback on. Thanks for spending time with me today. Please hit that subscribe button so you'll never miss an episode. And I would love for you to join me in my free Facebook group. It's called Book Breakthrough Community and it's full of other heart-centered writers sharing resources and supporting each other. We discuss the podcast episodes I regularly go live with free challenges. And you may even meet your new writing partner to swap pages with. Join us on Facebook at Book Breakthrough Community and you can always reach out to me personally at Dallas Whitburn author on Facebook and Instagram. I would love to hear your thoughts on the podcast and your ideas for new episodes. Until next time, happy writing. [BLANK_AUDIO]