Top 3 Things You Need to Write a Book and Start a Podcast
by Joyce Glass
When I became a writer, I wanted to teach too.
In college, I wanted to be an elementary school teacher. I have always loved teaching from when I was a little girl. I would come home from kindergarten and imitate my teacher, Mrs. Earl.
I first wrote devotionals and spiritual blog posts and wanted to teach women’s Bible study groups. Life has a funny way of evolving.
Why Writers Need Coaches, Books, and Editors
After writing my first book, I attended a conference for speaker training. At the conference I hired a business coach, and eventually she encouraged me to coach writers.
As with any new endeavor, I dove in and read every book, plus took courses to help me coach and become a better writer. Each course, book, and conference I ever attended has continued to help me grow as a person and as a writer, editor and coach.
I am a firm believer if you want to do something, then learn from others further down the road than you. Investing time in yourself will only help you guide others behind you. Become a master at what you are excellent in doing.
No one becomes excellent without putting in the time and doing the work. Excellence comes from practice. Athletes practice. Musicians practice. Painters and dancers practice. Every skill takes time and practice. Put in the time to learn the skills you need to be a better writer, person, or whatever profession you do.
My original idea to teach ladies Bible studies is something I still love to do, but now I spend more time helping my clients write the book on their hearts. Some are spiritual in nature, and some are business oriented.
The Top 3 Things a Writer Needs to Complete a First Book
The top three things to complete your book:
1) Create a writing plan/outline. Your work needs to have focus. I teach my clients something I created and call The WRITE Plan. It simplifies the writing process and helps keep their focus throughout the book.
2) Use fiction techniques in your nonfiction to bring life to your stories and illustrations.
3) HIRE an EDITOR! If you want to be a professional, then hire a professional to help you polish your work. A good editor will help you grow as a writer and teach how to create a powerful manuscript.
Why I Started a Writer’s Podcast, and How It Benefits My Business
I started a podcast because I wanted reach a much wider audience.
However, after hosting The Write Hour podcast now for almost two years, I discovered I love interviewing people on this writing journey with me. It is fun to connect with them before and after the interview, and each one becomes a new friend! Not all are writers, but have an expertise to help writers.
Hosting the podcast has helped me answer questions of potential writers and writers. Now as I hang out on social media or working with clients, if someone has a specific struggle, I can direct them to a podcast to help them.
The podcast has clarified how I can help my clients. The more I learn and teach others the better my coaching becomes for my clients.
How I Find Guests to Appear on My Podcast
1) I mainly find my guest through my own connections of the connections of friends. People will refer me to people who would make a great guest. Sometimes, people contact me.
2) If someone would like to be a guest, they can reach out to me.
3) No big secret. I look for people who can add value to my listeners. My listeners are personal development leaders looking to write a book, new writers, and professional speakers.
The Top 3 Tools a Writer Needs to Start a Podcast
1) Definitely a decent mic is the first thing. It doesn’t have to be crazy expensive. My mic was about $70 when I bought it a few years ago. The sound is smooth and professional.
2) My favorite software for creating and editing a podcast is Auxbus.com. They are a new company who came on the market this year and have so much to offer. You can record, edit your sound, and publish all in one place.
3) Then as with anything invest in some kind of training. You can tell a difference between podcasters who learned from a professional, and those who plugged in a mic and went for it…
Now, I know sometimes experience is the best teacher, but like with writing if you can save yourself some time and headaches then find some professional training. I worked through Podcasters Paradise with John Lee Dumas, and he has an excellent free series to start you on the process.
Which is More Lucrative: Coaching or Editing?
Well, my coaching and editing go hand-in-hand. I don’t do just one or the other.
It is hard for me to just edit for someone. I have and do edits, but I prefer working with them through the entire process.
When someone comes to me for coaching, they receive editing of their entire manuscript. I prefer developmental editing which is what I do for my private clients.
This includes complete editing of their book. We work on content flow, sentence structure, do they keep their focus through each chapter, and do they bring their work to life with fiction techniques.
Apps that Help You Run Your Writing/Editing/Coaching Business
I am a digital girl. I love all kinds of apps.
• Cloze – For CRM, email, and Client Contacts. You have the option for project management too, but I don’t use it. It helps me keep up with current clients and prospective clients. Knowing when to follow up and keeping up with all the contacts I make with them. I keep up with my email in there too.
My favorite thing about Cloze syncs all my contacts, calendar, and emails. I didn’t have to spend hours adding people into the system. They sync from the contacts on my phone or computer. The constantly sync. So, if I add a contact on my phone, it will sync to Cloze immediately and vice versa. So, I don’t have to go into the app to make a call or look for an email.
• Dropbox – to store all the stuff! I have system I learned from Amy Porterfield to keep my folders organized, and easy to find information. Too many writers have lost their manuscripts or portions of it because of computer failure or stolen devices. Solve your problem, by using some kind of cloud service to store your information.
Dropbox also has a feature you can restore old versions of files for up to 30 days on the lowest pricing tier. My Dropbox plan gives me 120 days to restore deleted files or look at old versions. ALWAYS BACK UP YOUR WORK SOMEWHERE OR STORE IT IN THE CLOUD! You can have the same problems with external hard drives. They can be corrupt, stolen or damaged. I prefer and recommend a cloud storage service over a thumb drive or external hard drive.
• ClickUp – Task and Project management for my team. It is Trello, Slack, Asana, and Google Docs all rolled in one. We started using this a few months ago, and love how I can keep all my client tasks, podcast tasks, and marketing information all in one place for or mighty team of three. I added a business partner, Cherrilynn Bisbano, in December. We have a virtual assistant, Chela Hardy, who is fabulous with keeping us going.
• Book Like A Boss is great for keeping up with appointments. Connects with Zoom and my calendar. You can schedule auto reminders to clients.
• Informant – is a Task & Calendar App – I used this before ClickUp. I have personal and some business tasks in here, and it syncs with my Google Calendar. Works on all my devices. I love being able to see my calendar anywhere on the go.
– Evernote – I always say Evernote is EVERAwesome. It is like a big digital file cabinet. I used to keep even more in there before ClickUp, but it still stores a ton of information for me. This syncs with Cloze, my CRM. When I have my discovery call with a prospective client, I have a template of questions I use. I take notes as we talk and then tag it their name.
Cloze picks it up, and when I look under their name in Cloze, I see all of my Evernote notes on them, as well as, emails and phone calls I have made with them. I have a few videos on my TheWriteCoach.biz site about how to use Evernote. It is great for many things. I have used it for almost ten years.
• Kartra – We are in the process of moving over to Kartra. It is a membership/course platform, but so much more. I am moving my email service over there, and it will replace Book Like A Boss once I figure out the calendar portion.
They host videos and courses. I fell in love a few weeks ago, and we are in the process of migrating info from Kajabi (Old course platform) and Drip (email service) to Kartra. I actually love Drip, but Kartra can do it all and very similar to Drip, but integrates with courses and calendar, etc.
I love anything to make my life easier… Like any software, it usually is a pain at first to set up, but once you get going, it is awesome!
Advice for a Young Writer: Treat it Like a Business
First, become excellent at writing, and if you love to help others, then learn how to coach. Take courses, join groups. Treat it like a business. Invest in your learning, and you will become an excellent coach.
Coaches need to be coachable, and coaches need coaches. I have a business coach now who has helped me grow tremendously over the past year.
Always continue to grow and learn as a writer. You can best coach others by helping them learn what you have learned. Your experiences will help you become a better coach.
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Joyce Glass is a writer, speaker, writing coach and lover of most anything chocolate! Her desire is to encourage you to write your book and share your expertise with the world. She loves to teach the power of story in nonfiction, and has a passion to see you connect with your clients and customers.
She is a writer and helps others create their nonfiction book. Weekly she shares writing tips on her podcast The Write Hour ~ Nonfiction Tips From The Write Coach.
The best part of being a writing coach is watching her clients create their own masterpiece, and seeing their joy when they share it with the world.
Find more about Joyce and her work on her website, and connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
