Frequently Asked Questions 

Photo by David Wright on Unsplash Begin doing what you want to do now. We are not living in eternity. We have only this moment, sparkling like a star in our hand, and melting like a snowflake. -- Francis Bacon Sr. Okay, there’s a bit more to writing a book than three steps but for natural health and wellness author-experts who want to write a nonfiction book about their expertise, say you’re a yoga teacher, herbalist, acupuncturist, or another type of holistic, alternative,

Photo by Amanda Vick on Unsplash Yesterday, I had a Zoom call with Cara Metz, the fabulous fitness maven, who I worked with as a book coach and editor on The Menopause Metabolism Fix: The Over-40 Woman’s 4-Week Program to Recover Your Strong, Sexy (and Sane) Self in 15 Minutes a Day (Fair Winds 2025). Meet Jane When writing the Menopause Metabolism Fix, Cara kept her ideal reader and client, who she named Jane firmly in mind. In the book, Jane acts as a stand-in for all t

Photo by oxana v on Unsplash The 10 Step Roadmap to Write Your Natural Health Self-Help Book Thinking of writing a natural health self-help book? If you are, it’s important to know what steps you need to take. Where are you on your book writing journey? 💡 1. The Idea: What problem will your book solve? Will it help people be happier, be calmer or go vegan? Is your idea unique or do you have a new angle on an old topic? Try this exercise: My natural health self-help book wi

"Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion." -- British naval historian and author C. Northcote Parkinson. I admit it. I’ve put off working on a new novel (I write fiction and nonfiction) until there was a right time. But what I realized is that there never is a right time. Not really. There will always be other things that demand my attention. So, I decided to make my writing a priority, and now I try to do it just about every day. Of course, there a

Photo by Dani Adkins on Unsplash Writing a book, especially your first one, can be stressful. That’s why I always advocate building a solid foundation before you start writing. This is something that I help my clients do so that they can move forward and write and finish their books. Having a plan reduces stress, anxiety and overwhelm and makes writing faster and easier. Establishing a foundation includes 1-2-3 which I often talk about: 🌿 The Idea: 1. An idea based on

Photo by Sabrina Mazzeo on Unsplash I’m an Anglophile, so in 2023, I left the US and traveled to London, England for the third time. Usually, I’m a planner but a friend of mind encouraged me to just book the first couple of days and see what I wanted to do next. In theory, this should have been fine, in practice, not-so-much. That’s because much of my energy while traveling was divided between where I was and where I was going next when my booking ended, which involved resea

Photo by Michaela St on Unsplash I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by. -- Douglas Adams During the Civil War, when the term deadline was first used according to Merriam-Webster, it meant a “line drawn within or around a prison that a prisoner passes at the risk of being shot.” Today, thankfully, a deadline means a date or time before which something must be done. I’ve had many publisher deadlines in my career as a nonfiction author and edit

“Success in creating AI could be the biggest event in the history of our civilization. But it could also be the last – unless we learn how to avoid the risks…..” – Stephen Hawking A few weeks ago, I used an AI chatbot because I felt frustrated about something that was happening in the world. I decided to see if it could help me parse this very complex situation and hopefully give me some perspective. But as we went back and forth, the answers I was getting didn’t assuage my

Photo by Vitaly Gariev on Unsplash A book is not about something. It’s for someone – AJ Harper, Write a Must-Read Book I love the quote by AJ Harper. It's so important. When it comes to writing a natural health self-help book, you are writing for someone. It's a someone who has a problem that they don't know how to solve. So, the problem, really, is one of the most important parts when it comes to writing this type of book. No problem, no book. If you’re not solving a pro

Photo by Amada MA on Unsplash “You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.” – C.S. Lewis Years ago, ABC Sports which used to be THE place for sports, had opening credits that featured these words: The Thrill of Victory, cue an ebullient gymnast sticking the landing on floor exercise or a sprinter running the fastest mile. and The Agony of Defeat, think a skier who doesn’t make the turn or a figure skater who falls on the ice. The Pursuit of Excellenc

Brett Jordon for UnSplash “What is the meaning of life? To be happy and useful.” – Dalai Lama One of the best ways to be happy and useful is to share what you know and what you’re good at. Writing a book can be a great way to do that. The best natural health self-help books take readers on a transformational journey that not only inspires but educates and informs. To do this you need a plan (in addition to your plan of how you’re going to write your book) that you’ve used i

Photo by Mateusz Górecki on Unsplash " A relationship, I think, is like a shark. You know? It has to constantly move forward or it dies. And I think what we got on our hands is a dead shark." – Annie Hall Whether you’re in a relationship or writing a book you need to keep things moving forward. When it comes to writing a book, that’s tough to do if you’re not sure where you’re going. Often, the process of writing a book gets derailed or comes to a halt. In fact, according t

Photo by Nam Anh on Unsplash "Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working.” – Picasso By the way, I would never eat an elephant, in fact, I love elephants, but this saying is so true when it comes to writing a book. I’m a certified book coach who specializes in nonfiction and recently I’ve also returned to writing fiction, specifically, a mystery. I felt good, purposeful and on track when I was writing every day. Then, the new year started and amidst the noise, I

“It is never too late to be what you might have been .” -- George Eliot It’s that time of year again and I refuse to participate. I usually don’t make New Year’s resolutions and have never kept the few I’ve made. Changing behavior just because the calendar has flipped a page is a good idea in theory, but as a human being, I find it just isn’t that easy. I like the approach that James Clear, the author Atomic Habits presents, which is as I understand it, to align your actio

Photo by Fallon Michael on Unsplash Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it’s worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains . – Steve Jobs If you’re a holistic health and wellness author-expert who wants to write a nonfiction book about your expertise -- say you’re a yoga teacher, therapist or herbalist -- focus on these three steps to make writing faster and easier. . The 3 Steps

“Sometimes what you’re most afraid of doing is the very thing that will set you free.” – Robert Tew Have you ever noticed that when you want to do something new, something outside of your comfort zone, that this pesky (or even destructive) negative voice can show up? It says: You’re not smart, creative or fill in the blank enough. You’ll make mistakes. You don’t have it. You’ll fail. Remember the last time you tried something new? It was a disaster. You’re not good with c

Photo by Mark Fletcher-Brown on Unsplash "If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.” – Henry David Thoreau, Walden. Thoreau’s Walden was published in 1854 but over 170 years later, his words have meaning, particularly when it comes to writing a book. In the beginning each book is both an idea and a dream. The difference between a dream and a published book is focused effort and hard wo

RichVintage on IStock "By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail." -- Benjamin Franklin Often the clients I meet with who want to write a book are stressed out and overwhelmed because they’ve tried writing a book on their own and are having problems. For some reason, they also think that they’re supposed to know how to do this complex task even though they’ve never done it before. This pressure only adds to their frustration. Think about this. If you didn’t know how to

Photo by Bundo Kim on Unsplash The first time that I worked with a natural health and wellness expert on a book project, I collaborated...

Photo by Jane Thomson on UnSplash If you’re a natural health and wellness expert—a yoga teacher, herbalist, psychologist, health...