I’m an author. I’ve dreamed of being an author for most of my life, and now that I’ve reached the fifth decade of that life, I’m not giving up on that dream.
But it needs funding. And I don’t think any of those fancy GoFundMe and the like will do it. Mostly, I don’t want to beg for money because my mother taught me to work and earn my keep.
Which has made the last year pretty hard on me. I’ve felt like a lazy slug. And some days, I was even slimier than that.
I applied for a slew of copywriting jobs and then broke out my escrow closing skills and applied to some mortgage and banking jobs. But I didn’t want any of those. And the “market” for substitute teaching went a bit haywire.
The question of “what do I love to do?” collided with “what might someone pay me to do?” this past summer. I wrote about it then.
I’m here today to talk about the reason that I’m excited to launch a business as a writing coach and mentor. Well, nervous is the cousin of excited right? I think that was mentioned in one of the Hallmark Christmas movies I watched last week. (Hey, don’t judge me for watching them before Christmas. It’s been that kind of year!)
My Why
I love writing. I love talking about writing. And I don’t mean talking about what I’m writing. Most of the time, I’d rather not.
But I do love talking to other writers about what they’re working on. When they get stuck, I love to throw out tons of ideas that might get them unstuck. Not that they have to use my ideas, but many times something I suggest will loosen the monkey wrench that’s keeping their creative cogs from turning.
They’ll get an ah-ha moment and speed off to write more of their story.
And that feels like a win to me.
I’ve been struggling to come back from creative burnout for a year. One of the big things that creatives need to do is fill their creative well with energy. I haven’t been doing the best job of that since I got it in my head to churn out four books in a single year.
My own green-light moment happened recently as I was working with my first coaching client. I felt energized after our call, stoked and ready to tackle my own project.
Whoa! You mean helping other writers adds juice to my creative well? Yes. That’s what I discovered.
That means the reason I’m branching out to coaching and mentoring is a two-sided coin. On one side, I love helping writers, and I can because I’ve been where they are now and made it to the other side.
The flip side? Helping writers energizes me and adds energy to my creative well. Since I’ve already announced that I’m an author first, that’s great news. Rather than getting a job as a bank teller or store clerk where I might constantly drain my creative well, I’m going to earn money doing something that will give back to my own creativity.
My How
Before the writing focus that is the month of November, I have been taking courses about launching a coaching business. So many of them want to turn me into a six-figure coach, but that’s not what I want.
I’m an author. I want to write books.
But networking involves attending writer’s conferences. And that costs money. Since my publishing contracts are gone, I need a source of income. That’s why my Author Services freelancing page was born.
I’ll be running two separate webinar launches through a Facebook group. This is a method I learned from a local launch queen. I have no idea if I’ll even sell the first five slots in my mentorship program, but I’m going to do what she calls a base launch on December 10.
Depending on the feedback I get from that event, I’ll have a minor launch in January.
The purpose of a base launch is to validate my product, or in this case, service. It tests the water so to speak and starts building the group where I’ll host the future launches.
If you check out my services page, you’ll see that coaching isn’t all I’m offering at great value to other writers and indie authors. I’m also offering critiques and editing, both of them at rates that are less than one-fourth of what I paid Kristen Corrects.
Join Me
If you’re a writer who:
- Struggles to finish a manuscript
- Has a story that isn’t very strong
- Isn’t sure what to do now that you have a messy first draft
- Wants help brainstorming
- Needs honest input about your story
You could be my ideal client. And the truth is, I want to help you.
The first five people who sign up for my mentoring program (minimum of three-month commitment) will get it at $100 per month off the usual price.
Check out my live event on Thursday, December 10. Here’s the link to the group.
What is a skill that you could market? Have you ever considered doing that?