Your Writing Life: Can you tell us when you first decided to pick up a pen and start writing? Do you remember the first piece you ever wrote?
Nancy: I began writing when I was 11 years old. I remember finding a bird on our driveway in Buffalo, NY where I grew up. The bird wasn’t doing very well and I began to notice that certain feelings were rising in me that I absolutely needed to express. I opened my first journal that day and started writing about the bird as a metaphor for my brother who had died. Eighty-one journals later and I haven’t stopped writing.

Your Writing Life: What’s easier: writing poetry or writing prose?
Nancy: Poetry is what comes most naturally to me. In my journal, I rarely write in full sentences. I hear, see, feel and experience life as a series of fragments woven together creating a tapestry. Poetry= Freedom. Prose, on the other hand, takes discipline and focus and is more forced than organic. In college, frustrated by all the boring assignments in the classes outside of creative writing, I’d often “poem a paper” – include all the content and research necessary, but write a long poem instead of a straight-up paper – for the fun of it, in fact I remember doing one in Astronomy 101, and I got an A.

Your Writing Life: You started out self-publishing both of your books—Writing For Your Life and Jump…and Your Life Will Appear. Can you explain how and why this decision helped pave the way for landing a book contract with Hay House?
Nancy: Self-publishing was a way for me to have a “calling card” that proved invaluable as I was – and continue to –  actively building my platform, which is the most important thing that every author must do, no matter which way you publish. When my second book Jump … And Your Life Will Appear came out – self-published with Balboa Press - I enlisted the aid of my author friends who generously offered to help me with the launch, and the book began having traction! So much so that Reid Tracy, President/CEO of Hay House called to tell me that he hasn’t seen Amazon numbers swirling down like that so quickly for a self-published book like mine and that he was serious about offering me a book deal! Now, you may be thinking, “Hello, you work for Hay House, of course he is!” but I promise you that thought was nowhere in my mind. Farther away than nowhere. I am still blown away and beyond grateful and honestly, if it happened for me, it can happen for you!

Your Writing Life: What are the advantages of self-publishing and how can it help beginner writers?
Nancy: I recommend self-publishing for several reasons:

• Timeline: You can have a book in your hand 3 months after signing off on final manuscript. With traditional publishers it takes 12-28 months on average.
• Content and Design: You have full control over the content as well as cover and interior design of the book. Please note: The best money you can spend while creating a self-published book is for an editor and cover designer.
• Money: You make more money on the sale of each book than you do with a traditional publisher. Yes, with traditional publishers you will receive an advance, but for first-time authors it will most likely be very small.

You can find out more writing tips and meet Nancy in person at the upcoming I Can Do It! New York and Pasadena. For more about Nancy and to sign up for her newsletter, visit her website at www.nancylevin.com.

Many of our authors at Hay House have talked to us about the power you can experience by saying the word No. Cheryl Richardson dedicates an entire chapter she calls “Let Me Disappoint You” in her book The Art of Extreme Self-Care. Wayne Dyer tells us to let go of our ego and be authentic with our words, saying no when we need to. Dr. Lissa Rankin drives this point home in a chapter about “Death by Overwork” in her book Mind Over Medicine. Gregg Braden stresses the importance of speaking our truth. And in their book The Power of No released earlier this month, new Hay House authors James and Claudia Azula Altucher find that a well-placed “no” can not only save you time and trouble, it can also save your life.

Have we been listening to these authors and exercising our power to say no? I have had trouble with it. When new ideas are presented to me and I see the potential of all the new projects that we could be pursuing here at Hay House, my first thought is to do them all. Just recently, I have tried to make myself say no to all other projects except the ones that I truly feel will benefit our community and our company.

Although it has been difficult to stick with, I am happy to say that I’m making progress. I see that when I say no to some of these projects, my employees at Hay House experience great benefits. They don’t have to divide and deplete their energy on multiple projects and can focus their best efforts on the projects we do choose to produce.

I have learned something else about the power of saying no. It has an interesting side effect. It attracts more abundance of what we want. When I say no to the marginal projects, I attract more and more ideal projects to our table. All it takes is focusing more on what we want rather than what we don’t want.

Try exercising your power to say no. It may take some getting used to, but you can do it. When you say no to all but the best opportunities in your business and your personal life, you will begin to see positive changes.

Here is an exercise from James and Claudia’s book The Power of No that can help you in your writing and business projects:

Daring to Try New Ideas

Try this today.
Write down ten ideas for your book or platform that you think will add above-and-beyond value.
Write down the ten next steps for those ideas.
Write down the ten people you need to share these ideas with.
Write to those people.

Reid Tracy is the president and CEO of Hay House, Inc, who transformed the company from a publisher of three books in 1988 to one of the largest independent publishing companies in the world. Reid offers insider publishing tips in a series of live workshops each year for new and seasoned authors and speakers. Upcoming events will be held in Australia, Pasadena and Chicago. Reid also conducts several ongoing online courses on Writing and Book Marketing. Sign up for Reid’s Present Moments newsletter where he writes a weekly column about Hay House’s newest authors and latest books along with his thoughts and tips about publishing. He always enjoys your feedback on his Facebook page.

Susan Lander is a writer with a special gift. She has the ability to communicate with spirits. In her latest book, Conversations with History, Susan channels a list of famous people including Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., one of the great American writers of the 20th century. He wrote award-winning novels, essays, short stories, and plays and his appeal continues to endure across generations, with a mix of satire, humor and science fiction. His most famous works include: Slaughterhouse-Five and Breakfast of Champions.

One night while she was having dinner at an outdoor café with her friend Fran, Susan mentioned her desire to interview Kurt Vonnegut and immediately the deceased writer popped in. He had a mustache, and his salt-and-pepper hair was thick and just a little bit shaggy. Susan said Kurt just felt very comfortable to be around. She immediately turned on her phone’s recorder and began asking him questions. Here is a portion of that conversation:

Susan: Tell me your writing process.
Kurt: Rewrites, rewrites, rewrites!

Susan: When did you like to write?
(He’s showing me a cup of coffee. He liked to write in the morning, with his morning coffee.)

Susan: How did you get your subject matter?
Kurt: It was based on my personal history and things I wanted to write about. And “what-ifs.” “What if?” is a great question. “What-ifs” are the fertile soil of the imagination.

Susan: How relevant do you feel your books are today?
Kurt: I do feel that my books have special relevance because we need to not lose the value of human life and livelihood in the name of expediency, corporate welfare, and cheap profits. It’s about the choices that we make as a society. We need to make choices about how we spend our money and the things we value. Humans should never be subsumed by machines. We need to actually choose, as opposed to letting things slide by.

Susan: Do you have any messages for writers?
Kurt: Write and write and write. Do it because you can. Do it because you love to. Always be satisfied with what you write, but never be too satisfied. Stay hungry. But appreciate what you do, and appreciate that you’re doing it.

You don’t need to produce salable books or magazine articles or journals or whatever is your preferred media. You don’t need to base your success on what you sell, because sales are based on other people’s opinions, and that doesn’t matter when you’re a writer. It matters to what you sell, but it doesn’t matter to who you are. And it should not, above all, matter to your identity as a writer.

Susan: What inspired your work more than anything?
Kurt: My personal truths and the truths that I didn’t tell anybody, except in my books.

Writing was cathartic for me. It saved my life. It allowed me to process everything I’d been through—all the hard things, all the wonderful things. It was nice for me to be able to look back at my body of work and see my own history.

Susan: Did you accomplish what you came to Earth to accomplish?
Kurt: Oh yes, most definitely! I would have written for another 100 years if I could have, but I had a good long run.

Susan: Who are you spending time with on the Other Side?
(Aw, he’s showing me Snoopy from the Peanuts comic strip! So he’s referencing Charles Schulz, the artist who drew him.)
Kurt: I have other literary friends. Authors like F. Scott Fitzgerald. Some war friends.

Susan: Are you writing?
Kurt: It’s more like creating. Creating is a high art here, and it’s very valued. It should be valued as much on Earth, but it’s only valued on Earth if you make a lot of money.

Susan: That’s so true! And it’s so not fair. Do you have any more advice for writers?
Kurt: As I said, my advice for writers is to always be yourself. Never feel ashamed to show who you are. Never be ashamed to show your vulnerability. Be proud of your art and your creativity, no matter what form it takes.

 

Since 1995, when I began interviewing people about their angel experiences, I’ve heard and received many stories about how Archangel Gabriel gives motivation, courage and opportunities to those who feel guided to write.

I believe that the desire to write is a signal that it’s part of your life purpose. Those who continually think, I should write, are getting Divine guidance to express heavenly messages through a book, article, blog, or other medium. In some cases, Gabriel will suggest journaling or keeping a diary as a way of opening the creative pipelines. Whatever form the writing takes, the process of putting pen to paper or fingers to keyboard is soul-stirring.

As this story below illustrates, Gabriel can also help you change the genre of writing you engage in:

Kevin Hunter had worked as a writer in the film business since 1996. He knew that he’d eventually write his own books, because of his passion for writing. Kevin feels that it is his calling and life purpose.

So he began calling upon Archangel Gabriel to help with his writing career, and has come to do so daily. As a result, ideas for writing pour into him, and he’s enthusiastic and motivated to write. He even polished and rewrote three old stories that had sat dormant for years.

Since calling upon Archangel Gabriel, Kevin has written, edited, and published three books, with more on the way. He says, “The ideas are overflowing in me and haven’t stopped. My writing continues to improve, and I owe it to Archangel Gabriel for being my own personal author’s agent.”

I also call upon Archangel Uriel to infuse me with ideas and highlight the next step. When I write a scene for my book, Gabriel and Uriel show me the next scene, and so forth. It’s like the old Michael Jackson video “Billie Jean,” where he’s dancing outside on the street and each of the steps lights up in front of him as he moves.

Fabienne Fredrickson is an inspirational mentor to thousands of clients worldwide and is the founder of The Client Attraction Business School™. Last year, she decided to self-publish her first book Embrace Your Magnificence with Balboa Press. Fabrienne originally wrote the book as a love letter to her young daughter about self-esteem, but its message of courage and self-love resonated with women of all ages from around the world. We are proud to announce that Hay House has picked up this amazing book and Fabienne is now one of our newest Hay House authors.

Here is an excerpt from Embrace Your Magnificence:

Sharing Your Brownies

We’re all here to be of service, in our own special way and in a big way. You see, each one of us came into the world to contribute, to serve others. We’ve each been given specific talents, unique abilities and skills, ways of being and ways of doing, and life experiences (both good and not so good) that have contributed to the whole package of who we are. None of this was by accident. It was all for a purpose, one that is much greater than you may be able to see right now.

I call it sharing your brownies.

Imagine that you are alone in your kitchen while the rest of your friends and family are in your living room. Quietly, secretly, you’ve been baking up a batch of ooey, gooey, chocolaty brownies. As they’re about to come out of the oven, a close friend pokes her head into the kitchen and says, “Something smells really good! What are you making in there?”

Imagine that your response is, “None of your business! I’m not doing anything. Go back to the living room.”

Puzzled, your friend leaves. You take the tray of brownies out of the oven. Once they’ve cooled a bit, you cut up them up into perfect squares and stack them beautifully on a round platter. You pick up the tray. But instead of taking the platter out to your friends and family who are eagerly waiting for you, you choose to go to the corner of your kitchen and eat all the brownies by yourself—the entire platter, down to the last crumb.

Would you consider that being stingy? Maybe even a little greedy? It’s the same thing with your gifts, talents, and unique abilities.

You were given these, along with your personal life experiences (remember, the good ones and also the not so good ones), and the combination of all of these things makes up who you are.

You were not given these gifts to squander or to hoard. No—you were given these tools and created exactly as you are for the purpose of making a difference in other people’s lives in the way only you can. There is no one quite like you, and there never will be.

This is why I believe that if you don’t say yes to your natural inclinations and use them in a big way, you are hoarding these divine gifts. Would you consider that being stingy, too?

I continually tell my clients that it is their divine duty to share their brownies with the world. Otherwise, it is the equivalent of slapping your Creator in the face.

This person you’ve become, the one who’s here to be of service, absolutely must get out of her own way. Use your life to serve in the way only you can serve. This can be through your work, by embracing your creativity, volunteering, teaching, even creating a movement. Most especially if you’re in business for yourself, I believe that you must play a much bigger game. Do whatever you can to let yourself be found by the legions of people who need what you provide but don’t know about you yet.

Your gifts are meant to be shared—even if you’re scared, even if you don’t want to, even if you fear failure, or success, or criticism. If you choose not to share your brownies, my belief is you’re wasting the gifts that were divinely given to you.

Deep down, we’re here for one thing. It doesn’t matter what we do for a living, what industry we’re in, what our strengths and skills are. Life is about living in a way that matters. When you realize that it’s your divine duty to use these skills, and you do so, you begin changing the world.

Our mission at Your Writing Life is to provide you with the information you need to help you on your path to writing, publishing, and promoting your work. If you’d like to see a particular topic covered here, please write to us on our Hay House Writer’s Workshop Facebook page.

The best way to sharpen your writing skills is to write, write and write more. In this issue, Hay House author Nancy Levin (Jump…and Your Life Will Appear) shares an exercise for you:

Here’s one of my favorite writing exercises that I do quite often, especially when I am staring at the blank page and know something needs to be pulled up to the surface. It’s also a great way to generate jumping off points for content creation using your own personal stories that you can return to for blogs, articles, books, talks, etc.

Set a timer for 5 minutes and write a list, each line beginning with “I remember…”

I remember…
I remember..
I remember…

The dream of an editor is to polish all copy so it shines brightly whenever anyone reads it. And the quest of a writer is to keep your editors happy! Here are inside tips from the razor-sharp and talented Hay House editors at our Carlsbad, New York and global offices:

Today’s Tip: The Correct Usage of Literally and Figuratively

If you’re a baby boomer, your hands may have been literally whacked with a ruler if your grade-school teacher heard you misusing either of these words.

Okay, here’s the real deal. These two words have two distinct meanings. Literally means “The event you are describing really and truly happened.” Figuratively means “You are implying an event that would be impossible to occur.” For example, if you say your writing deadline is literally giving you a headache, you’d be correct, especially if your head is pounding. But if you say your writing deadline is making your head explode, you’d better use figuratively because it’s unlikely that your deadline is about to detonate your cranium.

However, here’s where it gets tricky. Since the digital kids (Gen Xers and Millennials) are continually using literally to state the impossible, and since popular TV shows (Parks and Recreation, How I Met Your Mother) are encouraging them to do so by creating characters that blatantly misuse the word, the tables are turning. Last year, several dictionaries (including Webster, Macmillan and Cambridge) and Google have given their go-ahead to use this word if you want to emphasize a point, even if it isn’t true. Are you literally kidding me?

So what is a writer to do? As crusaders for truth, justice for all words and the grammarian way, we’d like to lovingly suggest that you use these words as they were originally intended. Remember, you can create a new list of colorful words if you want to add extra emphasis to your stories. We also believe that most seasoned book editors will literally toss your manuscript to the nearest receptacle for this type of grammatical violation. The choice is yours.

If you have any other grammatical violations or writing faux pas you’d like us to address, send us an email.

So you have a message you want to share, but you have no idea how to deliver a compelling speech? Did you know that the most well-known professional speakers weren’t always so, um…professional? Most, if not all, of them had extensive training and coaching to become the stage stealers they are today. While not everyone is meant to be a public speaker, anyone can learn to become a professional speaker with a little training and a lot of practice. If you have a strong desire to spread your message, here are 5 more steps to help you deliver your message with confidence, conviction and class!

Step 1: Rehearse. Set up a video camera, a timer and practice, practice, practice. Then practice some more. Did I mention you have to practice?

Step 2: Watch yourself. Review your recorded sessions as an objective observer, or better yet, recruit a friend or coworker to give you feedback. And don’t choose that friend or coworker who likes EVERYTHING you do. Pick the person who is honest and able to give you constructive feedback, even if it means hurting your feelings.

Step 3: Bring in the New. Now that you have good solid feedback, record your speech again, incorporating the feedback you received from that brave honest friend or coworker. Repeat Step 2.

Step 4: Memorize your lines. If you have any problem areas, like tongue twisters or sentences that sound awkward, now is the time to make final edits. And please, for the love of your audience, remove filler words such as “like” and “you know.” These absolutely make you look ill-prepared, unprofessional and downright juvenile. Sorry for the harshness, but if you do nothing else on the list, at least remove these words for a vastly improved speech.

Step 5: Dress to impress and enjoy the limelight! Make sure you give yourself plenty of time to primp and plan to arrive at least 15 minutes prior to your scheduled speaking time. Take a deep breath. If you’ve followed these steps, you’re prepared, ready and able to share your message with your audience!

If you really get stuck and don’t know how to begin, one great way to get started is watch a couple of speakers you really enjoy and make note of the qualities you like. Then, try to use a couple of these qualities in your own speech. One word of caution here – don’t lose your unique voice or style in the process. The audience spots a fake like an eagle spots his prey. Be yourself, do the work and commend yourself for being so brave!

—Kelly Stokes Brown, Hay House Email and Web Marketing Copywriter

Affirmations for Writers

I am always presented with new and wonderful writing opportunities.

I am pleased with all that I write.

I recognize my writing as my good friend.

I am the creative power in my world. I express myself creatively as much as I can.

I was born to write. And so it is!

“Inspiration exists, but it has to find us working.”
—Pablo Picasso

Do you want to become a successful published author? Do you want your book to stand out from the rest of the competition? Do you want to be financially successful doing what you love to do—write? Then you’ll want to sign up for “Insider Publishing Secrets”—a free online event that takes place from noon to 1:30 PM on Wednesday, August 6th.

During this event, Reid Tracy, president and CEO of Hay House—today’s leading publisher of self-empowerment books, and Keith Ogorek, senior vice president of Author Solutions, will be sharing their insider secrets and answering your questions on how to become a successful self-published author.

Whether you’ve been published in the past, you’re a multi-product author or you’re a first-time author, Reid and Keith can give you the tools you need to get your important message to the people who need it most.