Being Both an Author and Book Coach can be a lot!
Being both an author and a book coach requires a high degree of juggling and integrating. On the one hand, I keep busy writing, revising, editing, and ultimately promoting my own books. On the other hand, I am working to support other authors through the process to help them get their own creative works out of their hearts and heads and onto the page and into the world.
It can be…a lot! But the separation between these two endeavors, like narrative distance in story, is dependent on a number of things and is driven by what I, the author and book coach, determine works best for my personal journey.
IT’S NOT ALWAYS EITHER/OR
There’s a great deal of overlap between the two careers of Author and Book Coach. Both revolve around writing and publishing. Both involve maintaining and managing a website, social media presence, and other methods of connecting with readers and/or writers. And, both require me to continue to develop and hone my craft game and my understanding of the publishing industry.
That said, there are times and places where it is important for me to separate the two roles.
DEGREES OF SEPARATION
Double the Websites: Two key careers means two websites. Not all author/book coaches maintain separate sites for what they do, but I chose to do so.
Double the Blogging: Having to keep fresh and relevant content on two separate websites means that I write two blog posts per month. One for the Author site and one for this Book Coach site.
The challenge is that it doubles the work of blogging.
The upside is that I can write book coaching content here and then post all sorts of fun and personal stuff on my author site, like the posts I write about my time in the Navy. (You can see those posts by clicking here.)
Double the Podcasts: I do an author podcast, facilitated by my publisher, Brick Cave Media, and co-hosted by author and colleague Bruce Davis. For this one, all the production work is done by the publisher. I just show up and talk about books and writing and such. Easy!
I also co-host the Coaching KidLit podcast with Book Coach, Christy Yaros. For this one, the production is on us, which requires Christy and I to split the workload of production. This requires a bit more work on my (our) part. But I still get to also show up and talk about writing and books and craft. Yay!
My Monthly Newsletter: While I do have the ability to mail readers with information and events, etc., for the most part, I leave that email and list management to my publisher.
I do send a monthly newsletter to a list of writers interested in book coaching, craft, etc. These are people who sign up through my website, or provide their email addresses during the writing workshops and I teach.
That said, since I am talking and writing about craft for the most part, and also because writers might also be interested in seeing what I am doing in the world, my newsletter includes all the links to all the things. This includes both blogs, multiple podcasts, my appearances, etc. Everything all in one place. And BONUS, I include a writing/editing/writing tip every month, as well as links to things I have found around the web that I think might be helpful to my subscribers. (You can sign up for my newsletter here. :wink, wink, nudge, nudge:)
School Visits: This one is me just showing up as an author and hanging out to talk to kids about books and writing and maybe read to them. Fun stuff!
ALL TOGETHER NOW
Social Media Combo Meal: Social media presence is hard enough to manage without compounding. Here is one place where there is total overlap between my being present as both the author and the book coach.
Since I post about all the things Sharon is doing, including the silliness of who I am in the world, the joys of life, etc., etc., I can easily post both my author and book coaching posts to the same social media handles. I mean, it’s not like I am trying to keep either career/persona a secret or anonymous. And it isn’t like I am both a butcher and a surgeon. Though, maybe those aren’t as disparate as they seemed when I first wrote that. But I think you get my point.
Book Festivals and Events or “Wherever you go, there you are.”: Well, this one is easy because, I am me. While the focus of a book festival/event is me as the author being there to talk to readers about and sign my books, it’s also a place where writers are. Most writers are fans/readers. (See my post “5 Reasons Writers Read” and/or listen to my Guest appearance on the Most Writers Are Fans podcast here.)
So, much of the time at these events is talking about…what else but books and writing? And if a writer is looking for help with their writing process, I am happy to provide them with my book Coaching card to see if I can be of help.
Total win-win!
Writing Conferences, Workshops, and Webinars: Yes, I teach and present both IRL and virtually. Everything from University sponsored writing conferences to local workshops and library hosted webinars.
There is total overlap here, as I am able to speak from experience from both sides of the writing and publishing equation. The cool thing about this is that when I teach I also learn. The craft concepts become more deeply integrated into my process as I find new ways of explaining and expressing them by teaching others.
Also, I get the opportunity to promote both my books as an author and my book coaching.
Another fabulous win-win!
Book Coaching and Writing: While these tasks are completely separate activities, they are completely aligned. Coaching writers deepens my own understanding of craft. So, while I am not writing while I am coaching, the coaching feeds the writing. And, as an author, the more I write and deepen my craft, the better I am at coach other writers.
Yes, it’s…a lot. Lots of balls in the air. But, as you can see, these careers feed one another (and, truth be told, both feed me). And, ultimately, all those balls in the air tend to blur together. All in support of getting great books into the world for readers like me.
Win-win-win!