In case you missed my live announcement on Instagram…
I GOT A BOOK DEAL!
GUYS! I’M GOING TO BE A PUBLISHED AUTHOR!
Things like this can sometimes seem like luck, so I’m sharing a few pieces of what led to this moment you’re seeing in that pic above (that’s the moment I signed my deal!).
Before I start, please know that I am sharing certain dollar amounts because I think it’s important for other business owners and hopeful authors out there. And I am passionate about normalizing wealth for women. I’m also passionate about normalizing success for moms! You don’t have to wait on your dreams until your kids are grown if you don’t want to 🙂
Also, as I venture into teaching business to other women with families, it’s important to me to be transparent. I view what I do as an example of what other women can also accomplish- and even more!
One final note: I realize that not everyone’s goals and desires are the same as mine. I realize that this is MY story, MY dream. I realize that it’s me who wanted to push hard and fight for something very specific, and very money related.
I’m certainly not saying that authors who go a more traditional route or accept book deals at a different phase than me are dumb. A book deal is a book deal, and a publisher won’t sink money into you unless they believe in your message!
But what I’m about to share with you is what felt right to me. I believe money is good, not evil. And I believe when good people make good money, they do great things. Like creating jobs for other people, like helping orphaned babies, like stopping sex trafficking and building safe houses for abused women. This is what I want to do, and if it’s not your vibe, that’s okay!
The Road to Authorship
In 1998, I was a kid who loved to read and loved writing my own versions of classic stories. I thought I could make the stories better and cooler, so I did just that in my little journals.
One day I read a book called The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and it changed my life.
I wanted to be just like the person who wrote this book and get paid to write words that changed people’s lives one day. I looked at the side of the book to see who made such an amazing thing happen – Harper Collins Publishers.
It stuck in my head for forever for some reason. I didn’t realize that I had just made a goal that would stay with me.
In 2010 I started a blog. I began sharing my heart with the world via the written word, and was instantly smitten. I felt made to be a leader who empowers others.
In 2016 I decided that enough of being beneath the US poverty line was enough, and I turned that blog into a business.
I self-published a tiny little book that I was so proud of, but at launch, it didn’t even make enough for me to pay a utility bill. SO discouraging!
I got back up and I kept going, following the tug in my gut to pursue this new thing called digital courses, and shelved my dream to be a published author.
In 2017, I got an email from a publisher I had never heard of offering me a book contract. The idea of getting to be published like I always wanted was so enticing!
They wanted to give me $5,000 and take ownership over so much of my intellectual property. I had ZERO pull in this potential deal, and I could feel that I would be owned by them if I took it. I didn’t like that. #enneagram8
A few months later, I got another offer from a semi-major publisher. They offered me double the money, but again, they wanted to take what was mine. The contract they sent over just did not feel good to me- my gut was screaming at me not to do this.
I had worked (and still was working) so deliberately on building a personal brand that people trusted and followed. Why should I take a few thousand dollars that will help my family for a little while, but not as much in the long run as I knew it could?
I decided that my business was safest in my own hands for now. I turned it down and kept pushing forward. I decided that I wanted to be published by a top 5 publisher (maybe Harper Collins or one of their divisions???).
I was going to wait to be published until I was in a position to not be taken advantage of.
I continued to work hard on my business. I felt like I was co-creating with God… I was so in tune with what my next right step was. It was like I was on fire and couldn’t stop growing this company. It turned it into something bigger than I was even envisioning!
I grew my email list to over 175k engaged, active women who want to hear my message.
I grew my revenue from $0-one million in 18 months.
I sold over 700 courses in a few hours one day.
I learned who my people are, and I learned how to help them. I learned how to enroll them in the programs I offer, because I know those programs will change their lives.
This led to a business that has power and influence. It also led to the possibility of a book deal that took my message way further without limiting me or my business.
At the end of summer 2019, I felt like the timing was right. And in January 2020, I submitted the final draft of my book proposal to my agent and I waited.
There were NINE offers submitted, all from major publishers. I never expected so many offers! I had no idea what sort of money to expect in these offers, but I knew that it needed to feel good to me. It needed to feel right, and the most important thing was that I had pull in the deal and could retain the rights to my intellectual property.
After lots of meetings, asking a billion questions to pub house leaders, loads of taking walks with God, I chose.
I CHOSE. I got to CHOOSE. That’s the power of listening to your gut, and building something that is yours, not waiting around for another company to come in and do the work for you.
My contract doesn’t hold me back, it launches me forward. My publisher isn’t trying to take from me, they’re supportive of me. They’re cheering for me.
I am being paid what I deserve to be paid based on what has been built with my two hands and the guidance of a Higher Force. There is abundance in this book deal, and I worked on myself to be open enough to receive it. I became ready, and it came.
KEEP GOING, GIRL. DO NOT STOP OR GIVE IN.
I am writing a book that will be published by Nelson Books, a division of Harper Collins Publishers, after more than 20 years of dreaming of this very thing.
Declutter Like A Mother will release in fall 2021.
Get ready, gals. This has been a long time coming.