Writing Advice
Sara’s story: The Long Version
I had no idea I was a writer. In fact, I hated writing and never dreamed I would wind up creating books for a living – the things I treasured most. I was a government employee for the first eight...
Your Book Deserves Time
The availability of self-publishing has changed the book world forever, and with the removal of the gatekeepers of the traditional publishing world, anyone can publish a book. Overall, this is...
FAQ: What to Know About Comparing Book Editing Prices
Question: I got a quote from 2 content editors recently. They said they typically charge $.05 to $.08/word and were referred by a reputable publisher. I understand you get what you pay for and have...
Desire and Creativity: Why You Have to Want It
If you talk to most book coaches in the self-publishing world, they’ll tell you that everyone has a book in them. Just a few days ago, I read another post from yet another blogger endorsing this...
How to Hire a Ghostwriter
I’m a bit of a collector of bad ghostwriter stories – and that’s not a hard thing to do, given that there are so many. There’s the story of the six-figure ghostwriter who ghosted (pun! Sorry, I...
What Being a Book Doctor has Taught Me About Writing a Good Book
When I tell people I’m a book doctor, their eyes light up with curiosity. What the hell is a book doctor, they wonder. Although they’ve never heard the term unless they’re in the publishing...
What is a proposal and how do you write one?
So. You’ve decided to go the traditional publishing route, your non-fiction book idea has been validated by an agent, and now you’re ready to start your proposal. But where the hell do you start?...
To Newsletter or Not to Newsletter
The other day, a friend of mine asked me about the importance of an email list. “Don’t tell our friends I’m asking you this,” she said, since many of our friends are marketers and entrepreneurs....
Avoid the Faceplant: Why Authors Need a Platform
At the beginning of a book project, clients almost always ask the question that they’re embarrassed to ask: What is a platform, and why do I need one? Picture this: You’re a musician and you’ve...
Is Now the Right Time to Write Your Book?
When the pandemic first started and we all began to physically distance ourselves, I wondered if would-be authors would finally find the time to write their books. With all of this newfound time,...
Katrina Bos: Testimonial
“Sara Stibitz was a godsend as the editor for my book. I knew that I wanted to work with her from the moment we “met” on Skype. We instantly clicked and I knew deep down that I could trust her with...
Erin Rollenhagen: Testimonial
When I finished the manuscript for Soul Uprising (at the time called The Trust Code), I thought to myself “I’m 90% of the way done with this.” Ha! Let me explain. HA! No, seriously. The thing is, we...
You Feel What You Feel, and Your Feelings Are Real
I used to be (and sometimes still am) a very talented emotional “stuffer.” I could stuff with the best of them, put on a stoic face, and keep going like nothing was happening. Years ago when my...
Uncertainty (and the things we do to manage it)
For the last week, I've been swinging back and forth between feeling calm and feeling anxious, as if I'm holding my breath and waiting for something to happen. It's made all the weirder by the fact...
How to Hire and Work With a Literary Agent
If you've decided to go the traditional publishing route, your next step is to think about how to hire and work with a literary agent. Below, I've included some of the most frequently asked...
How to Stick with One Idea and Make It Work for You
If you’ve ever picked up a copy of Domino magazine, you know that they have an eye for two things: design, and finding obscure and absurdly expensive items. The other day I was flipping through an...
How to Conquer the Mental Blocks that Can Keep You from Writing Your Best Book
We can talk about outlines, writing schedules, accountability, and proper time allocation all day long, and while these are important aspects of writing a book, they won’t get your book written. If...
How to Get Clear on the Premise and the Promise of Your Book
You’re finally sitting down to write your book. You might even make it through a few chapters. But then you read back over your work and you feel a lack of firmness in your writing, as if you’re...
Traditional Publishing versus Self-Publishing: Which Way Is best?
When you’re starting out on the book-writing path, the options for publishing can be confusing – should you go the traditional route or self-publish? Which is best? The conundrum reminds me of the...
Setting Your Goals: Why Your WHY Is So Important, Part II
Getting clear on your WHY is one of the most important parts of writing a book. In my last post, we talked about the importance of identifying your goals and the difference between internal and...
Setting Your Goals: Why Your WHY Is So Important
Before I begin working with any client who wants to publish their book, I want to know what goals they've set for their book. I want to know their WHY for writing it. And much of the time, I get the...
Why Writing Your Book in a Weekend is a Bad Idea
If you’ve googled the words “how to write a book,” you’ve probably been bombarded with ads for writing services in the days (or minutes) that follow. You might see things like “Make this the year...
Why You Need to Embrace the Shitty Rough Draft
When we sit down to write, we have in our minds all of the beautiful stories and prose of all of the books and essays we’ve ever read. When what comes out of our fingertips is drivel, we’re upset...
How to Avoid Bad Influences in Your Writing
When you’re deep in the process of creating your own work, there comes a time when it will suit you far better to avoid any other writing influences and to focus solely on what you want to say and...
What Kind of Writer Are You? And Why This Matters
I’ve worked with dozens of writers who are stuck in their writing process and they don’t know why. They might say: I can’t outline my book. I know what it’s about, but when I try to write an...
How to Navigate the Creative Journey
Writing a book is a transformative process, though we tend not to think of it in those terms. Instead of thinking about how to navigate the creative journey we're about to take, we tend to be...
How to Choose the Best Early Readers for your Book
You’ve finished your writing and you’re ready to share with your early readers to get their advice about how to improve it. You’re pretty sure “early readers” means friends, family, and even your...
What You Need to Know About the Writing Rules & When to Throw Them Out
Writers, especially new writers, tend to get hung up on the mechanics of writing. How do I know what to do? What’s the proper way of writing this sentence or that word or that past participle (and...
How to Ignore your Inner Critic and Write Better
Writing isn’t just a challenge in the cognitive sense… it’s an emotional challenge as well. It defies the inner critic, the voice who won’t shut up long enough to let you get a thought out. The...
Why “Everyone” is Not Your Reader
Who is your reader? If you just said "everyone," I have news for you. "Everyone" is not your target audience. Your book is not for everyone. Stephen King writes for his "Ideal Reader," which he...
The Simple Meditation That Will Inspire You — and Save Thousands
When I'm walking my clients through the planning and execution of their book, one of the most important questions I ask them is this: What will it be like to hold your book in your hands for the...
Mind the Gap: How Time & Space Solve Problems
You don’t have to work so hard. So often we get stuck on trying to solve a problem: we work it, think it through again and again, chew our nails over it. But over and over, I keep seeing that it’s...
Embodied Writing: Using the Senses to Reach Your Reader
As someone who spends most of her time in her head and has to consciously make a decision to move, to be active, to stretch my body, embodied writing seems like...
Your Voice Matters to Your Reader
A talented writer friend of mine keeps telling me, “For the love of god, please stop keeping your voice to yourself.” My immediate impulse is to wonder what it is she likes about it, and what the...
The Power of Moving Through Pain Instead of Around It
There are days when I forget about the pain of losing my mother. That sounds kind of harsh, as if I’m saying “I forget about my mother,” which isn’t true. I think of her nearly every day, usually in...
From the Greats: Steinbeck’s Travels with Charley
My dear reader: If you've ever studied copy, you know that the most oft-repeated advice is that you must write by hand the best copy you can find. Hands down, it's the most effective way to learn...
How to Hire the Best Editor For Your Book
Yes, you need an editor for your book, and here’s what you should know You’ve finished your book and you’ve done as much as you can on your own. Now, you need to know how to hire an...
Dealing with Doubt
When I was pregnant, I woke up to some pretty bizarre dreams – dreams of people walking in my room, dreams of wild sex, dreams of being a terrible parent. Three nights in a row I had dreams about my...
How do I know when my book is done?
If you’ve ever written a book, or article, or anything that required deep thought and work, you’ve probably run into the same problem. When is the book finally done? Many a writer has...
How to Keep Cliches From Sucking the Life From Your Writing
Avoid it like the plague. Low hanging fruit. If only walls could talk. Think outside the box. But at the end of the day. What do these have in common? They’re all clichés, and they cause...