VISIBILITY HANGOVERS, SKUNKS, AND TREASURE HUNTS

LIFE OF A BOOKMAN

Bookman: 1. a person who has a love of books and especially of reading. 2. a person who is involved in the writing, publishing, or selling of books. Oh, hi that's me!!

On a roll: Stone Diaries by Carol Shields. I just started this one, so I'll report back on where I land with it. So far, totally enjoying this fictional biography of an ordinary woman, Daisy Goodwill Flett. This one was recommended to me by my local bookstore owner! I had a lot of travel in the last week, so I'm slightly off my pages game. More soon!

What I've been writing: What haven't I been writing??? It's been super fun to get deep into some truthful, long-form narrative. If you've never written a 7,000 word chapter about a single scene in someone's life, highly recommend. You'll be bobbing and weaving in all the context that makes present day, present.

WOMEN’S STUDIES

What gets passed down becomes our history.

How much I make as a ghostwriter...I'm spilling the tea on the business of ghostwriting! I had a long, fun conversation about my career with Francis Zierer. What's it like when the bestselling work you've ever done was totally anonymous?? Well, we pulled back the curtain on what people need to know to get into the business. How my work in women's leadership led me to this moment. About my strong feelings on online courses. What I charged when I first started out and what it looks like now. Everyone go watch or listen!!

This is a hard time to start a career. These two words can help. I won't give away the words, but I largely agreed with this NYT investigative reporters assessment on how to build a fulfilling work life, no matter what stage you're in and no matter what technology disrupts or doesn't disrupt. Worth giving a read if you need a career pick-me-up or have some young graduates in your life.

What happens to incarcerated women inside a county jail I had the opportunity to meet Kate Bryan over the weekend and hear about the amazing work she does surfacing women's stories, which all took off after this documentary. Obvi I resonate with that work, with making sure women's experiences are told and told in new frame and containers that the ones the world typically allows.

Missed Fortune. The podcast kept my attention and then some! It's about what happens when a guy buried a treasure and sends most of America on a treasure hunt. I remember reading the original article many years ago, during pandemic times. But wow, a great retelling on Apple Pod. I always love hearing a reporters real life merge with their subjects...it makes the story more interesting and real to me. And that's exactly what this pod did.

Other stray links: Ok, Szn 5 of For All Mankind is definitely getting better!? Skye girl got slammed by a skunk and then ran all through my house so this PSA feels mandatory. Also, I'm currently obsessed with this Japanese doorbell my friend Libbie got me. LOVE.

PASS IT ON

Stories are heirlooms. Here's one of mine:

My interview on the Creator Spotlight (a pod with a large, engaged audience) didn't just happen. It happened because of the support Lindsey Stanberry, creator of The Purse (where my “What it Cost Me” profile published about Daisy). She is someone who's been a champion of my work since our books came out the same month in 2018. I asked if she'd introduced me to the host, Francis bc I'm a big fan of Creator Spotlight, and how it goes into the weeds and process of people who are making things, building things, and sharing what they've learned. I did a lot of that in our episode: how much my first book deal made me versus what they cost now...how much I've made on my LinkedIN courses...how the mechanics of my contracts work...etc. I'll be honest, I had a bit of a visibility hangover after the recording. Feeling a bit...worried?...about how much I shared and how my honest take on things in this industry would be received. But seeing the episode live, I know it'll be so helpful to people on their journey. People trying to write books. Trying to ghostwrite. Trying to create something in their life.

If that's you, watch/listen to the episode. Which only happened because I asked a friend for the intro, wrote the pitch she should send, and took a chance. These things don't happen. They happen because we put ourselves out there, and because surrounding ourselves with amazingly supportive networks typically leads to good things.

Woman on xx