An entrepreneur-author who lost her partner in 2020 used writing to help her deal with her grief, and wrote her latest book, Heaven On Eleven, in a matter of months.
Elizabeth Barry is Josh Steimle’s latest guest on the Published Author Podcast. She tells Josh how the loss of her partner in a boating accident in January 2020 led to a growth in creativity. Elizabeth explains that Heaven on Eleven is an inspirational spiritual book given couples guidance on romantic love.
“I focused on getting that book out, because that was where my mind needed to be. It took me away from what happened,” explains Elizabeth. “I wrote about love, so that everyone who's looking for love or breaking down through their relationships can understand how to nurture it with building a foundation through healthy communication and being vulnerable with someone.”
The amazing thing is that Elizabeth completed another book last year, too. Little Book of Love was published at the same time as Heaven on Eleven.
Top Takeaway: Be Accountable For What You Want
As a coach of authors, Elizabeth says the biggest issue she encounters is would-be authors who want to write but for some reason aren’t accountable for their choices.
“People say: ‘Oh, I have a book half-written’, or ‘I want to write a book, but’,” she explains, noting that the word but often reveals a lack of accountability. “I think that a lot of the people that have a book inside of them that say ‘But’. But it's not really the content, it's the accountability, and they let time pass and they're sitting, they could be sitting on something that they could be so proud of.”
She says some potential writers feel comfortable in our surroundings and keep telling themselves they’ll write their book tomorrow. “Or we sit down to write and we scrap it because it's not good enough. Or we let time go by, and we put everybody else and everything else first. So the accountability, I think, is one of the biggest things.”
For other writers, there is a hesitation about starting their book due to a fear of being judged. “Imposter syndrome comes up and says: ‘Why would you write a book on that? There are other books on that’,” adds Elizabeth.
She believes that the key is just starting and using a coach to help hold an author is accountable for their goal of writing a book.
Elizabeth self-publishes all her books and sells all of them on her website. She’s used Amazon in the past but prefers to handle the marketing, printing, packaging, and distribution herself. When readers order her books, they are specially wrapped and sometimes include personal touches, such as little meditations or other items.
Her target audience is adults who are looking for personal transformation. And for entrepreneurs, her books help uplift and support. “We have to feed the soul, feed the mind, and nourish the knowledge that will give us the necessary tools to keep our businesses running.”
Elizabeth hosts her own podcast, Beyond Ego, and is a speaker and marketing pro. She is also author of The Kind Communicator. In this episode, she shares a great deal about her approach to writing, printing, why she doesn’t use Amazon, and her upcoming book, Lead By Example.
LINKS
TheKindCommunicator.com
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Josh Steimle’s book: Chief Marketing Officers At Work
