Don't skip this because you're busy. I'm writing this post for you, to encourage you to celebrate on purpose...and to give you the courage, passion, and determination you need today to take at least one step toward getting your book in a new reader's hands. Last night, we held our Marketing Planning Party. And it reminded me that you are in the toughest part of the marketing journey: the middle. The beginning has energy. The idea is fresh. The dream feels close. The possibilities are everywhere. And the wins? Those feel good, too. The finished manuscript. The published book. The beautiful cover. The kind review. The moment when someone says, “This mattered to me.” But the middle? The middle is different. So I just want to say this: I’m proud of you. I’m proud of you for showing up for your book. I’m proud of you for showing up for the readers you haven’t met yet. I’m proud of you for being unsatisfied with mediocity. I'm proud that you are doing the hard work of being in the middle of the process — because the middle is where so many authors lose heart. The middle is where the reward markers are low. The dopamine drops. The excitement fades. The applause gets quiet. The past wins start to feel far away. The future wins are still somewhere out there — a distant point of light you can barely see. And that is exactly why you have to celebrate on purpose. You cannot wait for the world to clap before you acknowledge your progress. You cannot wait for the bestseller badge, the packed signing, the glowing review, the email from a reader, or the big visible breakthrough before you let yourself say, “This matters.” You have to celebrate the small things. The page you wrote.The email you sent.The plan you made.The post you published.The conversation you started.The fear you pushed through.The moment you chose not to quit. Celebrate everything. Not because every step feels dramatic. Most of them don’t. Celebrate because every step is evidence that you are still in motion.

The best memoirs succeed for one reason: They don't just tell us what happened…they show us something larger than the author’s life. The memoirs readers cannot put down create shared meaning...transformation...deep feeling. They make us feel less alone. To help you capture these points (and more), I created this downloadable infographic for you: Writing An Unforgettable Memoir: 8 Writing Points That Make Them Work Inside are the core elements that turn a memoir from a timeline into an experience readers carry with them long after the final page: • transformation over chronology • universal themes • emotional honesty • scene over summary • narrator desire • selectivity • voice • shared meaning Because memoir is not: “here is my life.” Memoir is: “here is the truth I discovered inside it.” Download it below — and as you look through it, ask yourself: What is my memoir *really* about? That question changes everything. Download here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yLa7TIMpF3-Khi9qNO8RvtRYfgZNzVnB/view?usp=share_link

I know what it's like to struggle with marketing your book. It's depressing sometimes. It's hard. And life is hard enough. It feels like, why should I bother? Is it worth the pain? Is it worth the effort? The truth is no one can know if it'll be worth it. No one can tell you if it'll work out. I certainly can't. I think it's like having children. As parents, we go in blind, anticipating the love and amazing connection we'll have with this little miracle that shows up out of nowhere. We think the newborn phase is hard with its sleepless nights and dirty diapers...then comes the stress of the teenage/adult years when we don't always know if they're safe, and they can't understand why we won't let them go to that college party when they're 15. Some kids turn out great. Some don't. And sometimes this is beyond our control as parents. We all know this, and it's a little scary. Of course, there are things parents can do to maximize the chances that things will turn out well...that those kids will become happy, functional adults. But there are no guarantees. I think our books are our creative children. We have already brought them into the world. For a lot of authors I talk to, their books are at that awkward teenage phase. They know it could go sideways. They wonder if planning that next marketing campaign and scheduling that next book signing will be worth it. Just like those parents duking it out with their kids over that college party...will be worth it? I don't know. What I do know is that this is the wrong way to think about it. Parents have to duke it out with their kids because they love them, not because it'll get them the result they want. It's the same for authors. We have to keep creating those campaigns and keep scheduling those events because we love our books and we want them in readers' hands. Even though we'll go through all the trouble and anxiety and effort (amidst the incredible load of things we already have to do)...and even though we won't know if it'll work out the way we hope.

Summer changes how people read. - more travel - more downtime - more casual discovery But most authors don’t adjust their approach. They either: - go quiet - or keep doing the same thing What Works in Summer Books that do well in summer are: - easy to pick up - clearly positioned - visible in the right places This is less about “launching” and more about: being present and accessible Practical Ways to Use This - Make sure your book is easy to find (Amazon + beyond) - Share content that fits how people read in summer - Focus on visibility, not perfection Action What is one thing you could do this month to make your book easier to find or easier to pick up?

If you have a finished manuscript...or if you're at least halfway...you're in the right place. Inside this Guild, we focus on the full publishing process: - Creation (writing) - Development (editing) - Production (turning the manuscript into an interior and exterior) - Distribution (where it’s available) - Promotion (how it gets into readers' hands) That’s what we’re here to work through—practically. Please introduce yourself! Share: 1. What you’re currently working on 2. Where you are in the process: writing, editing, production, publishing, marketing 3. What you feel you need the most help with right now