One Little Library

No Platform Required: When Publishers Break Their Own “Rules”

Everyday, I get a newsletter from Publisher’s Marketplace reporting the major book deals that have been signed by agents and editors. It’s an absolutely essential tool for editors and publishers; I read it religiously and love seeing the new deals that come through (sometimes with people I know IRL!).  Usually, the newsletter recaps go like this: NYT-bestselling author with appearances on GMA,…

Finding Your Voice as a Writer

Last week, I attended a couple small business networking events in Chattanooga. I have mixed feelings about networking. For one, I’m an introvert and I know I can only Cinderella so much before I turn back into a pumpkin. And two, you just never know if you’re going to meet anyone who might actually help your business, whether as a client or a vendor. But this time, I’m glad I went. I spoke with…

#AskMeAnything: What’s the Difference Between Traditional/Self-/Hybrid Publishing?

This month, I’m answering all of the questions you have about publishing! Quite often, I get asked some variation of this question: What’s the difference between traditional, self-publishing, and hybrid publishing? Which one is better/best? Which one would you pick? I still run up against authors’ perceptions that hybrid and self-publishing is “bad” or less desirable than traditional…

Infertility in A Minor

In March of this year, I started taking piano lessons again, after a fourteen-year break. I started the first time when I was six years old, taking lessons from our neighbor next door. After failed attempts at soccer, Highland dancing, gymnastics, French horn, and clarinet, the piano was the only thing I liked well enough to keep going with it. I really started to love it when I joined my…

#AskMeAnything: Do I Need a Literary Agent [to Publish My Book]?

This month I’m answering all of the questions you have about publishing! Many people think it’s a straightforward manufacturing process—closer to producing zippers or bubble gum or anything else we use and hold every day. But the truth is, publishing is much more complicated than that. This week’s question: Do I need an agent [to publish my book]? Excellent question! I get asked this question…

#AskMeAnything: How Do You Request Endorsements?

This month I’m answering all of the questions you have about publishing! Many people think it’s a straightforward manufacturing process—closer to producing zippers or bubble gum or anything else we use and hold every day. But the truth is, publishing is much more complicated than that. Today’s question came from Jennifer and has to do with endorsements, which can be a fraught subject because no…

#AskMeAnything: What does the publishing process look like?

This month I’m answering all of the questions you have about publishing! Many people think it’s a straightforward manufacturing process—closer to producing zippers or bubble gum or anything else we use and hold every day. But the truth is, publishing is much more complicated than that. With publishing, you’re not just creating a physical object, something to be used or consumed. You’ve entered…

Inspiring and Engaging Your Reader with Simple Genius

There are four defining features of bestselling personal development books:  They are written for a distinct audience. They solve a sticky problem that is a constant source of pain in their readers’ lives. They propose a novel approach to solving that problem. They cut through the clutter with simple genius. Last time I wrote about making a strong promise to your reader with an enticing hook,…

Informing & Instructing Your Reader with Your Novel Approach

There are four defining features of bestselling personal development books:  They are written for a distinct audience. They solve a sticky problem that is a constant source of pain in their readers’ lives. They propose a novel approach to solving that problem. They cut through the clutter with simple genius. Last week we got clear on the right and wrong types of problems for your book to solve,…

The Right and Wrong Problems for Your Book

There are four defining features of bestselling personal development books: They are written for a distinct audience. They solve a sticky problem that is a constant source of pain in their readers’ lives. They propose a novel approach to solving that problem. They cut through the clutter with simple genius. Last week, we talked about your reader. Hopefully you know your reader pretty well, and…

How to Identify Your Distinct Audience

There are four defining features of bestselling self-help/personal development books: They are written for a distinct audience. They solve a sticky problem that is a constant source of pain in their readers’ lives. They propose a novel approach to solving that problem. They cut through the clutter with simple genius. Today we’re talking about the first, most foundational piece of a bestselling…

4 Qualities of Bestselling Books

Part of the reason I became an editor and a book coach is because I’ve always been fascinated with what makes things work—including books. At a young age, I started asking, Why did I love this book so much? How did the author win me over?  I started noticing patterns at the micro level—ways that authors could string together a beautiful phrase, such as one of my favorite lines from Jane Eyre: “A…

A Simple Framework for Writing a Great Introduction

If you’ve done any coaching with me, you probably know I’m a huge fan of a good sentence frame. Sentence frames help us set our thoughts on the right paths, and they’re incredibly effective because they’re easy to use. All you have to do is fill in the blank—kind of like doing a madlib!  Great teachers find ways to distill complex thoughts into frameworks that we can fill in and replicate. This…

7 Creative Beliefs That Will Change Your Life

If you read enough books about writing, creativity, art, and innovation by experts, you start noticing something. There’s something fundamentally different about how they view their work. There’s something intrinsic and hidden that drives them and that causes them to be more successful at what they do than others. I got curious about this, and I started trying to uncover the beliefs that these…

The Problems With Tik Tok’s Creator Fund

I don’t know how you feel about Tik Tok. But if you are in the business of creating content—meaning that you create content and you receive any kind of monetary compensation for that content—or you want to grow a platform on social media, you need to listen to Hank Green’s excellent breakdown of the problems with Tik Tok’s Creator Fund.  Here’s my quick two cents, not just about Tik Tok, but…

Owning Your Creative Power

What you believe about your creative self determines everything you do.  If that’s the case, then we need to start paying attention to what we believe. Today, we’re talking about one of the most fundamental beliefs we hold as creators and writers: How much control do I have over my success as a writer and creator? If you believe you have no control over whether you’ll succeed at something, you’re…

The Label Doesn’t Matter. Your Beliefs Do.

What do you believe about your creative life? Your beliefs are the most important thing about you. I’m not talking about politics or religion, though of course those are important, too. I’m talking about your beliefs about your own life. What you’re capable of. The relationships you cultivate. The stories you tell yourself about why things happen in the world. How you explain your successes or…