Okay. If you say so, then it’ll be so.

It’s going to take me 60 days to get the first draft done of the book that changes people’s lives. 

Okay. If you say so, then it’ll be so.

Which would you rather speak into existence?

Your Book in Your Time

Every book, subject, and author is different. But unless you are writing a textbook on the history of the world (or some other subject that might take your lifetime to research and synthesize) it shouldn’t take you years to write a book. That’s the truth. Some writers fall in love with the idea of writing a book and others fall in love with the idea of having their book in the world. Can you see how these two different ideas about a book can impact motivation and the action you take as a writer?

What if you could finish that draft in 60 days? What would that mean for your brand? For the work you do? For the lives you can impact? It could mean that in a year or less from the time you start, your clients and those you help could be holding your book in their hands (or listening to it).

Now, this is also true. I’ve had some books I’ve written and published in one month (and they are helpful and sell). Yet, the one that gets released this fall has been four years in the making. This doesn’t mean it took four years to write it. I wrote the first draft it in a couple of weeks and then I edited, rewrote, decided I wasn’t ready, changed parts up, took parts out, added parts in, edited again.  You get the point. Finally, four years later I gave myself permission to publish this book for other women who also needed to share their message. It was definitely an exercise of ‘healer, heal thyself’! It’s all a culmination of my own journey to this point and when I decided to do my one woman show, coming November 2022, I knew I could FINALLY share this book.

If you are struggling with getting your book done, setting yourself up for success helps. Even if you’ve started you can take these three steps to help you get mentally organized so you can physically do the work of writing.

The post Don’t Believe the Lies About How Long to Write Your Book appeared first on Mount Hope Media.

Before sending your work off to anyone – friend, agent, publisher, or as a submission for a journal or magazine you must edit.

Some places expect perfection in prose while others may accept that there will still be editing required. That can range from minor editing to rigorous editing.

In my experience as an indie author, self-editing is a required first step before sending your work to anyone.

DON’T SKIP IT! DON’T THINK READING IT THROUGH ONCE IS EDITING.

I learned my lesson with my first novel to not take for granted the editing process.

Take the time and even the expense to do the following when self-editing. This is before you send it to a professional editor.

1. Use spell-check AND grammar check. For long manuscripts I have found it won’t catch everything the first time. I find that I’ll go through it and correct things and run it again. I have also found that the Google Docs version finds things my MS Word doesn’t. So run it through both.
2. In prose especially, do a search for phrases you commonly use. Words I search for are JUST, SO, THEN. I also go back and edit dialogue so that I can minimize the use of SAID and especially ASKED, because I have a hard time saying that word when reading aloud. So figure out your overused words and search for those.
3. Read through your entire book or manuscript line by line, sentence by sentence. Very slowly and out loud. (first time I do this on the computer)
4. Make those edits and print it out and do the same thing – line by line, sentence by sentence. Read it slowly out loud. Things like missing punctuation, open quotations, missing words like a, to, the, will jump out at you much more in print form. Get yourself some red pens and go all English-teacher on your work.
   1. Reading it out loud lets you hear it in a different voice than the one who was typing it out.
5. Make additional edits based on this reading.
6. Find a helpful friend or beta-reader that can help you find anything egregious left in the manuscript. If you can find a few readers, this is even better. They can work simultaneously, providing feedback in a tool such as Google Docs. This way you can see their comments and choose what to do with that information. Don’t have them actually change anything so set it to comment only and not edit.
7. Once you’ve gotten all those comments, read it again line by line, slowly and out loud. I suggest reprinting it.
8. Have a fresh-eyed beta-reader read this draft and provide any final comments or suggestions and then integrate them as you see fit.
9. I’m a bit cautious so I’ll read through all the areas that were changed once more and I guarantee you – you will find something else to change either because you find a small error, misspelled word in the context, or a better way to phrase something.
10. Depending on the goal for your work, either secure a professional editor (it’ll cost you less and frustrate them less if you’re work has already gone through the process above) or submit it to wherever it is you’d like.

Most importantly #11 – Make sure you have a product that you will be proud to put your name on for years to come.

The post Eleven Steps and Tips for Self-Editing appeared first on Mount Hope Media.

A 2018 study of over 9,000 authors revealed that in 2017 the average author earned $6,080 per year. This included the spectrum between traditionally published and self-published authors.

Full time authors fared a bit better, but still only earned an average of $20,300 (it was $25,000 in 2009). To put this in perspective, the federal poverty level for a family of four in 2022 is $27,750.

What authors earned solely from sales of books in 2017 was $3,100. Amazingly just in four years that number dropped 21% from where it stood at $3,900 in 2013.

BUT, there are authors doing well.

One Hot Market

If you’re a romance writer or romance suspense writer, you’ll likely fare better than other self-published authors by a factor of almost five. These saucy writers average over $10,000 per year compared to the next highest genres (mysteries and thrillers) coming in at under $2,000.

Authors who earn enough to cover their living expenses by writing amounts to a whopping 21% of us. Writing means their income is book-related and not from teaching and such.

Traditionally Published Versus Self-Published Author Earnings

To visualize the difference between traditional publishing and self-publishing I’ve shown two comparable authors, one with a traditional publisher and one who is publishing independently. For ease, we’ll look at sales and royalties for eBooks priced at $9.99. This is the highest you can charge on Amazon and still get 70% royalties. Now the traditional publisher and the indie author are both publishing on Amazon and earning that 70%. The author published traditionally has a royalty rate of 20% (which is pretty common for an eBook).

Before a traditionally published author with an advance can earn additional royalties, the initial advance must first be earned out. This advance is an advanced payment against future royalties to be earned. So, if the author earned a $5,000 advance, they would need to sell 25,000 copies before seeing another payment. If they earned a $10,000 advance they would have to sell 50,000 copies, and so on. A $5,000 advance is on the low end but becoming more common for emerging authors who don’t have an established audience or track record.

The indie author must calculate the expenses of publishing their book. An indie author might spend $2,000 to hire a regular editor who does copyediting and proofreading and a cover designer. These are two fairly common expenses for self-publishing.

In this case of similar matched authors both selling 10,000 eBooks for $9.99 the traditionally published author still must earn out $3,000 more dollars against their $5,000 advance. The self-published author has made a profit of $5,000. You may be saying, wait they both made $5,000! And you’d be correct. The traditionally published author received an advance of $5,000 that they don’t have to pay back so they earned $5,000. The self-published author made a profit of $5,000.

However, the traditionally published author has the pressure of closing the gap on those sales, another 15,000 copies. Otherwise, they may be considered a risk in the future. The indie author, by selling another 15,000 would have a profit of $12,000.

Advances at one time were often five digits for midlist authors. Today, they are usually five digits. This puts less pressure on the author, but it’s also less money in their pockets at the start. By comparison, the indie author gets no advance and must earn out every penny, but keeps all their rights.

What do you think of author earnings today?

Get my free book, Should I Self-Publish My Book?

The post How Much Do Authors Make? appeared first on Mount Hope Media.

If you are struggling with getting your book done, setting yourself up for success helps. Even if you’ve started you these are three steps writers should take immediately to get mentally organized especially if you want to become an author. That mental organization will help you physically do the work of writing.

1. Plan Time in Your Schedule to Write

The first of the three steps writers should take is planning out your time. Time is a funny thing. You have it, until you feel like you don’t. But you still do, if you want it.

If you are creative first thing in the morning carve out as much time as you can during the time that muse moves you. If it’s 10pm or 11pm at night (like me) settle the house down and get working. Saturday morning? Whatever time works for you, set it and commit to the book the world needs. And to yourself. You deserve this book to be out there.

This might mean informing others that you’ve blocked out time. This might also mean getting in your planner or calendar and scheduling your writing time in so that it’s just as important as that block of time you’ve got for an important phone call or attending a networking event. Prioritize your writing time just as you would other important areas of your life and work.

2. Plan What You Will Write

The second of the three steps writers should take is plan what you’ll write. Perhaps during your first session or two you can write your outline for the book. You may even choose to write a list of topics you want to cover. I have found this is a great way of organizing nonfiction as you will see the gaps and can add in a topic. As you are writing you’ll think of something new and can add it in. Look at the topics to make sure they make sense.

You don’t necessarily have to write in the order of the topics but you’ll need to order them, eventually. Pantsing (writing by the seat of your pants) for nonfiction and self-help will likely only get you so far before you need to incorporate some planning. You can also do the combination of pantsing (channeling that initial wisdom) and then planning out how to most effectively present it.

3. Plan Your Physical Space for Writing

The last of the three steps writers should take is planning your physical writing environment. As a stay at home mom, I work from home. I’ve considered getting a space somewhere but people are a distraction for me. Oh and then there’s the dog who I’d either be paying even more for daycare for or looking at my watch constantly to get back to walk her. It seemed like that was more added stress than needed. I have my office with a desk and large monitor to work on.

During the day my husband’s at home several days (post-Covid life) and talks on conference calls or the phone ALOT. Not to mention he can be a pacer, wandering through the house and even casually pacing into the office on the phone at full volume before realizing I’m working. I’ve had to adjust my writing time a bit with this.

My solution is that on the days he’s in the office, I’m doing heavier more thoughtful writing. I may do easier writing when he’s on a heavy conference call day. Or I’ll do marketing and social media those days. I’ll also close the door and his office door to create a sound barrier if I really need to get writing done. 

Perhaps you use a closet, the kitchen table, or some other claimed space. If you do, plant your flag and let other people know that when you are in that space you are in the Do Not Disturb zone. Sometimes a visual cue like large headphones to block out the noise also helps – both you and others. If you’ve got young children, sorry, but this isn’t going to help. You’ll need to just go in the bathroom with your laptop and close the door and steal twenty to thirty minutes at a time. I may be speaking from past experience.

Questions for you?

• When do you write your best work?
• Are you a planner, a pantser or somewhere in between? How does it work for you?
• Where do you work and how do you keep your focus requires some thought ahead of time?

Get my free guide for formatting your paperback book in Word.

The post 3 Steps Writers Should Take Immediately appeared first on Mount Hope Media.

Shocking, but true.

Your potential and current clients, customers and fans don’t care about what you’re selling. They care about what you’re solving for them.

You need to solve a problem, maybe one your target client, customer or fan doesn’t even realize they have. Ask yourself, “what do they get out of what I offer?” instead of answering the question of what you sell. 

For example an insurance salesman doesn’t sell insurance policies they sell peace of mind, security, a feeling of responsibility. They sell family peace because you’re not stressed in an emergency, etc. 

A Reiki practitioner doesn’t sell a healing session. They sell the lifestyle and freedom you can have after you’re healed. 

People don’t care about what you’re doing as much as how it benefits them. So the idea is to ask what problem you’re solving and what are the benefits after the obvious benefits. Think of it this way – because of this, then this and because of that, then that until you reach something that becomes emotional not logical. Remember, people buy emotionally and then rationalize it logically. We’re funny that way.

Now how does this help you as a presenter or speaker? You can be selling all through your time in front of your audience without ever mentioning exactly what you’re offer is. You do this through stories, through understanding who is in the audience and what their needs are, and then speaking to the outcomes that are going to benefit them.

If you’ve worked with me for a half day or full day you already have my Success is in the Story course which helps you break this down and apply it to your 3V Hollywood Style Story Model. You know what I’m talking about and are hopefully applying it. (Ehem, if you aren’t, maybe we need to chat about why.)

It is part of the strategic planning process to delivering an effective message that pays off in whatever ways you’ve established are important to you.

Now rock that stage!

If you think you want a little support, check out my coaching and mentoring services.

The post It’s Not About You! appeared first on Mount Hope Media.

A polished presentation or stage performance is generally NOT going to happen the first time around. Even the natural speaker who seems to flow off the cuff has been speaking to an audience of one in the bathroom mirror.

Athletes, intellectuals, and performers who do well also put in time and have to exercise patience.

Save the judgment and allow yourself to develop and grow into the presenter you need to be to meet your personal or professional goals. If it’s just to have confidence to give the best man’s speech at your best friend’s wedding, you can do it. If it’s to have a knock out audition, you got this. If it’s to nail an onstage question, yes! If it’s to help others connect with you so you can help them, you are able.

If you need a coach, learn more about my services.

The post Are YOU Maybe Your Potential Killer? appeared first on Mount Hope Media.

Recently I was preparing to sing a song I have not performed in public before and some of the notes are at the top of my range. I was getting frustrated because I wasn’t hitting them like I wanted to. During a later practice I’m singing and my daughter is with me. We’ve invested a great deal into her talent development. She’s taken performing arts classes as well vocal lessons.

She reminded me of what our vocal coach told us; which is to pretend there is an egg in your throat while singing. That egg is to keep your throat open because it’s really hard for breath, air, and power to come through if you are closed off. This feedback along with another note she gave helped me nail the higher notes.

A note on feedback. There’s a way to give feedback that can be kind and helpful. I believe that we should be uplifted when we are working towards bettering ourselves. There is no need for being mean or critical. You can critique without being critical. 

Now why is being open important? Being open allows you to get the resources, support, and information you need. Information, support, and suggestions that you may not even know you need to listen to. Remember my young teenage self? Case in point.

The post Want to Grow? Be Open. appeared first on Mount Hope Media.

What does that mean in the real world that has gone virtual in many ways? 

It means being comfortable both in a room AND on Zoom. Whether you’re 25 or 65, you can no longer use technology as an excuse. It’s time to embrace the change that has happened. It’s been coming for years but it was like 2020 fast forwarded us into the future in an instant.

If you don’t feel comfortable with zoom technology or being the center of attention in the room or on the stage it’s time to get past that you can show up as you are meant to in this world. It’s time to move past the excuses, gain the competence, find the confidence, and share your message.

You may be wondering now, “how do I do this?” The first thing I suggest is to practice. I know this sounds very basic but it’s the best way to improve confidence and through competence you gain confidence. If there is something in particular you struggle with doing properly, take time when you aren’t under pressure to go through the steps, or what you will demonstrate or say. I know from experience as a performer the necessity of practice.

I still recall the embarrassing experience as a young teen performing a song I hadn’t practiced enough, despite mom’s insistence that I spend more time on it. Let’s just say having her help me write out the lyrics was a humbling lesson.

This brings me to the second thing I suggest, which is to be open. Be open to feedback and new ideas that may be coming in. (Blog post on this coming soon.)

The post Get Comfortable Presenting Now appeared first on Mount Hope Media.

Question: So what is this festival?

Answer: Who better to tell you than the originators. So, from SheNYC’s page: Each summer, we produce our Summer Theater Festivals in New York City, Atlanta, and Los Angeles. Year-round, we provide women writers, composers, and directors with resources to jump-start their careers in the theater industry, including CreateHER, our program for high school students interested in pursuing careers as playwrights and producers.

I’m one of the women chosen to be a part of the SheATL Summer Theater Festival this year. 

Question: What can we expect from this performance? Is it a full on production?

Answer: It’s actually a workshop project for me. This is not a full production as I’ve edited the script down to under 90 minutes and eliminated the intermission for the festival. It will give me, as well as theaters looking for new shows, an opportunity to see its potential. It may very well change after the August production and hopefully a theater will want to produce it in their theater.

Question: What’s the theater like?

Answer: The Windmill Arts Center, where all of the shows will be performed, is a 90 seat black box theater. A limited set will be part of my production, calling on the audience to co-create the world with me. The story lies in the characters and well…the story…which will leave you eyes wide open!

Question: When does the festival start and when is your show?

Answer: I’m so glad you asked (wink)! The festival starts with my live performance on August 25th at 7:30pm EST. And God Forbid it Should Be So is on Friday the 27th and, To Free a Mockingbird is on Saturday the 28th; both at 7:30pm EST. The digital (online) shows start on September 9th with my show, Four Wives and a Will.

If you miss the live performances you can still catch it digitally from September 9 to 12th.

Question: How can I see your show and the other shows?

Answer: Another great question. (I tickle myself, really.) You can grab tickets to any of the shows by going to the SheATL page here: https://shenycarts.org/she-atl/. From there scroll to the show and click on the button to get tickets for the live show or for the digital (online) show. You can also go straight to this link (https://www.donorup.org/event/86/shenyc-arts-the-sheatl-summer-theater-festival-digital)  for the digital tickets. 

Question: What’s next for you as the playwright?

Answer: We’ll see! My primary work is being The Messenger. This involves my work as a coach and spirit communicator, in addition to being a writer. My goal is to support and inspire others in walking in their Golden Purpose. As far as Mount Hope Media goes, I really enjoyed hosting Scenes & Spoken Word in August and hope to do it again either virtually or in person in 2022. Mount Hope Media will also be involved on the production side of performance events held by me and in publishing of any future books. There may be one in the works for 2022, but again, we’ll see.

The post An “Interview” with Playwright Bernette about Four Wives and a Will appeared first on Mount Hope Media.

(Her exact time will be on the agenda.)

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