My favorite part of being a ghostwriter, editor and writing coach, hands down, is meeting truly remarkable people. Anyone with the focus and the guts to write a book is someone to admire and to celebrate. Andrea M. Pearson, founder of Slaying It! Books, is no exception. Throughout the process of working together over the last several months, Andrea and I found we share many things in common. We are both mothers, new Floridians with Northern roots, hard workers, and dedicated entrepreneurs who get up early and can’t help but share ideas and helpful advice with those in our circles.
For some great information about Andrea’s experience releasing her excellent book Single Mom…Slaying It!, check out today’s Q and A:
What inspired you to write a book?
Being a single mom myself, I see all the struggles that other single moms face. I wanted to write a book to inspire and empower them. I wanted single moms to know they aren’t alone in their journey and that they can not only survive, but thrive as well.
What advice do you have for other entrepreneurs who want to write a book?
My advice would be to break it down into bite size pieces. Start with an outline and table of contents. Schedule in your work so that you are committed to working on your book daily, even if it’s just 30 minutes a day. Always remember your why, because that will allow you to push through the times when it’s difficult. I would pick a topic that you are passionate about and make it personal so the reader can connect with you.
How was the writing process? How long did it take for you personally?
I’m sure each author will have their own process. For me, I wrote out my first draft rather quickly. Then I did research and added to it. As a result, I had to do a lot of editing to rearrange the flow of the book. You learn a lot throughout the process. I learned what I needed to do at each point that I needed to know it. You could get easily overwhelmed if you feel the need to know it all upfront.
I honestly don’t know how many work hours it was since the process was so broken up. I did it a little bit here and there when I could. My book took me about two years to complete, because I took my time and took breaks from it. This allowed me to come up with new ideas and see it with fresh eyes. I work full-time and am a single mom, so I don’t have much down time to write. It really took me being disciplined to actually complete it.
Can you speak about your experience with publishing? Were the platforms you chose difficult or expensive to use?
As a first-time author and not extremely tech savvy, I was pleasantly surprised at the ease of self-publishing. These platforms walk you through the process. Of course, I had the help of Laura formatting the manuscript for me. It would have been much more tedious for me to figure it out on my own. I am a big fan of outsourcing areas you are not strong in so that you can focus on the areas you excel.
Both platforms, Amazon and Smashwords, have resources to answer your questions along the way. Smashwords has an extremely informative podcast, The Smart Author, that really helps break down the overall process as well as tips for marketing your book. I highly suggest listening to them as early in the process as you can. I wish I had known about it while I was writing my book. Both platforms have dashboards where you can create author profiles and see your sales reports. Each offer slightly different services and tools.
You're getting lots of positive reviews already. How does it feel?
It is the most amazing feeling to get reviews for my book. I love when readers tell me they felt the same way as I did and it helped knowing they weren’t the only ones who experienced it. My book is helping them not feel as alone. Many readers tell me they are inspired by me. The feedback has been incredible so far. They all say the book is an easy read yet full of wonderful information. It means a lot to me that someone took the time to purchase, read and write up a review. We live in an extremely busy world, so to receive a review is a huge compliment to me and makes me feel good about writing the book. I hope many people benefit from it.
Single Mom…Slaying It! is available in print and as an ebook at Amazon and Smashwords. Grab your copy today, and don’t forget to leave a review!
