The Steer

The Steer is great for people at any stage of the writing process. And if you haven’t started writing yet, then this one’s definitely for you. The Steer will save you money and time (SO much time). Quite often, my writers come to me AFTER having written an entire manuscript…and I find myself wishing they’d had something like The Steer much earlier in their journey.

I built The Steer because over time I’ve come to realize this is the conversation I wish I could have with every single person who starts out to write a book. It’s upstream even of The Blueprint.

In this half-day intensive, I’ll answer all of your questions. Bring ‘em!

PART I: DEMYSTIFYING THE PUBLISHING PROCESS

We’ll start things off with a bit of movement and breathwork to get us into a place of groundedness. Then…we talk. I’ll make sure you leave our session with a solid understanding of the publishing game, including:

  • the current state of the publishing industry, including where we’re seeing growth and trends

  • what’s involved in the publishing process, from end to end

  • the different paths to publishing (traditional, hybrid, self, newer publishing models that are emerging)

  • cost ranges for each part of the process

  • what querying agents looks like, and what’s required

  • the importance of investing in editing for your book, even if you’ve worked with a book coach

  • marketing strategy and your options for support here

  • what happens after the book comes out

  • advances, sales, royalties

  • crowdfunding your book to offset costs

  • how AI is shaping publishing

PART II: EXPLORING YOUR BOOK IDEA

This is when we turn our attention fully to your book idea. If you don’t have clarity on one idea just yet, that’s okay. Chances are you will by the time we’re done talking. In this part of The Steer, I’ll ask you so many questions (I’m good at that) to help with:

  • discerning your reasons and motivation for writing a book

  • examining your readiness

    • is there a market for this book?

    • do you have a plan for how you’ll reach those readers?

    • do you have enough content for a book?

    • do you have time to write a book?

    • what’s your appetite to write a GOOD book?

  • pinpointing the main message you want to get across with your book (fiction, nonfiction & memoir alike)

  • building out the relevant topics under the umbrella of that main message (nonfiction)

  • articulating the key arc of change for your protagonist (fiction & memoir)

  • helping you decide on the right path to publishing (traditional, hybrid, self, or one of the emerging publishing models)

  • figuring out who and where your particular readers are

  • discussing ways to build your audience so you’ve got readers ready to buy when your book is published

  • talking through a solid go-to-market strategy for setting your book up for max success

  • exploring possibilities for how you might structure your book to best differentiate your book within its category AND to best unfold the material for the reader

  • a thorough discussion about the centrality of the reader

The Steer is a half-day AMA and learning session. You’ll take away:

  • a TON of strategy

  • links to excellent resources on crowdfunding, the paths to publishing, and marketing strategy

  • some very clear next steps, and

  • a recording of our session.

You can see this isn’t a session inside your pages, and I don’t provide you with written feedback on anything. This is purely a strategy session. Bring all the questions that have been banging around inside your head (or in your Google / ChatGPT search bar).

You keep the recordings from our session.