Today’s Topic: We Are the Expert of Our Greatest Wounds - Writing an Impactful Book That Leads the Healing Journey…

I talked a bit about sitting with our greatest challenges in a blog post over on my personal page (nicolekristingabriel.com). It’s a work in progress over there, but ultimately, I want to begin opening up about some of the challenges I’ve faced in my life and how those obstacles I’ve learned to overcome have turned into my life’s greatest strengths.

For many years I have watched how authors use a book to tell the story of what they’ve learned…on the other side of something they have come through. Many are cancer survivors, some have lost loved ones and are restructuring their lives, some are business leaders that have stepped up after many years of bootcamp in lower ranks, some have healed their sick children, and I’ve even had some authors that have been through sex changes and have had to say goodbye to...

Today’s Topic: Self Publishing Vendor Agreements - Rights, File and Design Ownership, and Correcting Something That’s Gone Wrong…

It was recently brought to my attention by a new client wishing to hire me for services that perhaps there are some misunderstandings with ownership of files and rights in the book publishing process. I thought this might be a good topic for discussion for the self-published author. I think we can easily cut through some of the red tape with a pretty quick episode to help you gain an understanding of how to protect yourself and move forward as a self-published author.

What I learned in conversations with the gal, that did eventually hire me, was that there is more than likely a breakdown in the understanding of processes more than anything else. You see, if you’ve never done this before you just don’t know what you don’t know. And knowing the process will clear up a lot of misunderstanding. You still need to...

Today’s Topic: Bella’s Utah Mountain Rescue - The Little Dog That Brought the Globe to Prayer

I’ve recently been through something that has forever altered me. I wanted to tell you the story of what happened but, since this is a podcast about writing a book, I wanted to keep it in alignment with the theme of book publishing. Everyone that witnessed the event told me I have the next book and I have to write about it. But, you know… its hard to think about that at the moment as I’m still digesting what happened out there on that mountain last Monday night.

It’s always my goal to try to keep topics in alignment with the topic of writing a book for this podcast. I’ve mentioned it before that my life seems to always be a bit too grand to keep that focus and I’ve talked about developing a completely new podcast, but because there are so many dynamics always in great flux in my life it’s hard to know how to position...

Today’s Topic: Self-Publishing Chatter - Continuing to Clear Up the Myths

This episode is kinda a hodgepodge of topics floating around in the publishing world, so lets see if I can bring coherence to any of it. Several times a week I receive messages from a variety of different book publishing coaches and businesses. I often laugh when I see how they are selling their services and then I get upset that people are buying what they are selling. I also get upset that I continue to tell my listeners the truth and I don’t know if they believe me yet.

I’m all about being positive, but I’m also unable to sell a lie. I’m a realist and a practical person and the way I see it, there is going to come a point where you’re book will be compiled, printed, and produced and you’re going to be out trying to market and sell it. It’s unfortunate that at completion is likely where you will see that many of these organizations are selling false...

Today’s Topic: I Didn’t Know About eBook Pirating - Digital Designers, Protections & Self Publishing Mistakes…

Where do we start with today’s episode? I’ve been in the marketing, advertising, and book business for most of my career and the one thing that gets under the skin as a professional in any industry is when someone has a quick fix solution or work around for the thing you do professionally with great pride.

Now, it’s not something to get agitated about, because business people need quick solutions and that’s why services like Canva or Fiverr or some of the others are so successful. You have a need and there is a quick fix solution to keep rolling along in your business. But, there’s a huge difference between digital and print that is a bit challenging to explain to someone that doesn’t have a background in it.

Print is nearly obsolete these days outside of the book industry. Most things go into a system and...

 Today’s Topic: The Scary World of Audiobooks and AI

You’ll likely be stepping into an unknown as you step into the creation of an audiobook. It can be a similar journey to writing your book, but this time you’re just in the business of reproducing it in audio form. You’ve already done the hard work but now you’re trying to decide both if an audiobook is for you and if so, how to create it.

I can’t tell you how many are giving bad advice on audiobook creation and wow! Every time I hear something, not just about the scams, but scary new processes, you know I’ve got to bring some truth to it. Honestly, I get really angry when people get taken advantage of. So, lets clear up a few things in the world of audiobooks…

Let me first begin by telling you that I created my audiobook for FREE!!! It’s shouldn’t break the bank unless of course you want nothing to do with any of it. I mean… that’s the sure way...

Today’s Topic: Writing a Legacy Book - Outlasting Web & Tech

There is one thing for sure that tech will never outdo - leave a lasting legacy! All things tech come and go… whether that is a quick instagram post, a social media page, or a website. They all get dated or obsolete at some point. And, I tell you this as someone that has an MBA in Technology Management. I’m not afraid of tech but I also know where the limitations are.

Have you ever gotten into a place where you weren’t sure if you were offering enough, not sure if you were sharing your true message, if you were misunderstood, you tried to make amends of something but maybe weren’t sure you hit the mark, or you wonder if you are even even being heard?

Let’s be honest, when you are a content creator you try to offer what people want to hear and you look at stats and what draws people into your world and when you find that thing they are interested in you create more of it....

Today’s Topic: Book Funnels & Tech Layoff’s. Using a Book to Secure Your Position

There were at least 154,000 layoffs from more than 1,000 tech companies last year, according to Layoffs.fyi, a website that has been tracking tech layoffs since March 2020.

Google alone just let go 12,000 employees. Amazon let go of 18,000, Microsoft 10,000, 11,000 at Meta, 8,000 at Salesforce, and many more have followed suit, like Twitter (3,700), Uber, Cisco (4,100), Caravan (4,000), Peloton, booking.com, Airbnb, Instacart, Wayfair, Capital One, and so many more. What’s going on?

Many believe this has something to do with massive hiring at the height of covid and all the lockdowns. Amazon gained 800,000 employees between 2020-21, while google gained 52,000, Meta gained 27,000, Microsoft gained 58,000. Tech people are saying that Apple only slowly hired 17,000 and has yet to let any go. Many are saying that there is a re-normalizing occurring now. Basically,...

Today’s Topic: A Book As A Business Card - How to Use a Book to Start A Business

Have you ever taken the time to search the web for hot topics? If you’re in the business of creating content that people want to see, hear, listen, to or read then you start to pay a bit more attention to how to satisfy an audience. I love entrepreneurism and I love the power a book gives to people just starting out on any topic. The writing of a book crosses off so many hot topics in the top business keyword searches all in one giant swoop. The top keywords in business right now are very much about entrepreneurialism. Here are the top eight and let me tell you how a book gives you a gift that keeps on giving!

1. How to start a business
2. How to write a business plan
3. How to start your own business
4. How to start a small business
5. How to start an online business
6. How to make business cards
7. What is a business model
8. How do you promote your business

I can tell you that without any doubt a...

First let me say Happy New Year! If a book is on the agenda for 2023 - we can help!

We talked about the back end business of your book in the last episode, but now I want to talk about a great tool that will not just build your website to sell your books from, but it will grow with you as you build out your platform.

When you are new to writing a book there is so much information out there for you to digest as a new author. Bridging all the functional elements together can be overwhelming. Every approach is unique. When you first think about writing a book and you begin a few random online searches you will likely first get hit with all the support for making a best-seller. As you start to weed through the information available you will probably learn that many systems make promises for high returns on sales, while others talk about speed and getting your book done quickly. But, in general you will find very few systems that are designed to support you by actually designing...