What happens when your dream comes true after years of work? What happens when that dream twists into what feels like a career-killing nightmare?

In this episode, I'm telling the truth like never before—solo, my first in nine years—and it's the most real, vulnerable, and perhaps ill-advised show I've ever done.

Catch it quick before my Vulnerability Hangover kicks in, and I decide to take it down . . .

Book Mama, over and out. I love you, my book family. Doin' the hard work so you don't have to—or something like that.

Write on!
Linda xo

I can't with this soulmate client. I'm pressed for words to share how much I love this woman, author, and communicator. I promise you've never met anyone like Dr. Jody Carrington. I call her Canada's Brené Brown (mixed with some Jerry Seinfeld), so that's close. But, well. Just see for yourself.

When I met Jody at one of my Carmel retreats at the start of her writing career, it only took two minutes to know that I was sitting with a superstar. I'd never before encouraged someone to forgo traditional publishing and run straight into self-publishing, but that was the vibe. Within months, Jody had sold so many pre-orders for Kids These Days: A Game Plan for (Re)Connecting with Those We Teach, Lead, & Love that she funded her first two printings. A quarter of a million books later and a second in the series (Teachers These Days: Stories and Strategies for Reconnection), Jody was approached by a top-five publisher for her latest book, Feeling Seen: Reconnecting in a Disconnected World.

Jody is a mama, a wife, a speaker, and a connector. She's a first responder, the rare psychologist who cherishes going into schools AFTER a school shooting to soothe hearts and minds. Her capacity for caring for her people (and other people's people) is unending. Plus, she has the most delightful potty mouth while simultaneously making you laugh and cry. 

I could write my own book on her countless accomplishments and benefits, and I will. I want to get this posted now before a day of appointments. But for now, I'll close by saying that if you want to write, speak, and touch the masses, you couldn't be in better hands. 

Welcome.  

Ever feel like you need a miracle to realize your big dreams? Let me introduce you to my miraculous client and friend Hal Elrod, author of The Miracle Morning: The Not So Obvious Secret Guaranteed to Transform Your Life Before 8 AM. With over 3.5 million books sold, you'd think he'd have started with a top-five publisher. Instead, he launched a worldwide movement (the book series, a daily app, and a documentary featuring some of your heroes) on his own, self-publishing after his first two agent rejections! Say what? I'd just gotten started sending him out! But thankfully, Hal followed his instincts.

It's been a show highlight for me to cover the topic of self-publishing—something I haven't yet done here. Stay tuned if you've ever thought you couldn't make a fortune being your own publisher. Hal (and Dr. Jody Carrington, the author in the second episode) have wildly exceeded anything I thought possible without a traditional publisher's support, earning millions of dollars and more importantly, having a massive impact. 

As you're about to hear, Hal has repeatedly stared death in the face, overcoming nearly insurmountable tragedy. But you wouldn't know it by his attitude or his gratitude. Luckily, his miraculous mindset is fast, fabulous, and, in many ways, foolproof. 

Welcome.

It's open books all the way with these two TMI queens and their no-holds-barred, hilarious ways. They're the perfect duo to break my 6-month hiatus from the show. What a hoot to be back with three-time New York Times best-selling memoirist Jenny Lawson (Broken, Furiously Happy, and Let's Pretend This Never Happened) and her blogtastic comedic twin, Laura Belgray, joining us here while on book tour for her debut memoir, the national bestseller, Tough Titties: On Living Your Best Life when You're the F-ing Worst.

Y'all, this one's a mood booster! And a total love match, as you'll see. If you're in the mood to laugh and shake off the funk from your Doomscrolling, this is the show for you.

This may be Laura's first book, but she's one of the most successful career writers I know, starting in TV writing for NBC, HBO, USA, Nick at Night, Nickelodeon, TV Land, VH1, and others. Let's just say the girl gets around. Her blog and newsletters at Talking Shrimp are wildly popular (addictive!), as are her programs, like Inbox Hero and The Copy Cure, Laura's creation with Marie Forleo.

Join us as we dig into wisdom on crafting headlines, run-on sentences that hypnotize, avoiding husbands as beta readers, and how having children is like living with an undercover agent tapping all your phones. We also dish on hiding during Zoom calls, editing drunk, getting mailed boxes of dildos in the mail (like you do), blowjobs Laura gave in the early 90s, titties that grow back after reduction surgery, and the ghost living under Jenny's house.

I'm so happy you're here. Write on!
PS. This convo was such a blast that I RAN back into the recording studio to cover a new topic here—Self-Publishing—with two clients who've made millions via self-publishing (which brought the big publishers to them). You'll want to emulate our strategies, whether you're self-pubbing or not!

Three #1 New York Times bestsellers. Nearly twenty million books sold. One of the most popular self-development blogs in the world. What more could Mark Manson take on? As of this week, movie stardom.

Suppose you're a fan of Mark'sThe Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck (or his follow-up book, Everything's F*cked: A Book About Hope). In that case, I predict you'll LOVE how Universal Pictures depicts this beloved counterintuitive approach to living a good life from page to screen.

It was a blast for me to have Mark on the show finally. As you'll see, despite his success, he's still a humble guy. Quick to laugh and talk freely about the crap we creatives all experience. Including some extreme things few of us will face that he and I share. As a former ghostwriter (who co-authored a NYT bestseller with a man who experienced a tragic public fall), I've wanted to take Mark aside and ask him a few things confidentially. Why Mark? He was Will Smith's writer for Will, the 2021 memoir Oprah called the best memoir she'd ever read. You know, before the slap. 

I didn't intend to ask Mark anything about that on the record. Still, I'm glad I got the vibe to take the chance. Same for other topics, from the difficulty of recording our audiobooks to the weirdness of becoming well-known to keeping a marriage strong when one or both people are workaholics. Can I get an eff-yeah!

Happy New Year, friend. Thank you for another great year of shared book love. May 2023 bring us all a whole lot more magic than mayhem.

Linda xo (aka Book Mama) 

Marie Forleo is back on the show! HER show, actually. Say what? In a rare move for each of us, this is a replay of my recent appearance on MarieTV while touring for my latest book, Beautiful Writers. Since  Marie and I LOVE this episode and 80% of the population say they want to write a book, we're doubling up to help you beat those odds. You can also catch us on video on YouTube if you'd prefer to see and hear us.

Whether it's your first time listening to this episode or you're here for a refresh, let's dig into these mindset-changing concepts to get you in your writerly flow. Topics covered include:

— How to finish your manuscript like a pro.

— Marie’s “hackathon” method to write her book proposal in 48 hours.

— The #1 trick to writing faster and having more fun.

— What successful authors have in common.

— How to banish “writer’s block” for good.

— The secret to landing a huge book deal. (It’s not what you think!)

— A story on writing the hard stuff about others, with nearly unbelievable magical results.

And so much more. I'm excited to have you finish the year strong with us.
Write on! xo

PS. See you back here in a few weeks with Mark Manson, on tour for his new film, based on the #1 NYT bestseller, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck, where amongst other things, we talk about the totally f*cked up impossibleness of recording our audiobooks (something I'm doing now). Fun and funny stuff! :)

It's finally here! Pub Day for Beautiful Writers: A Journey of Big Dreams & Messy Manuscripts—with Tricks of the Trade from Bestselling Authors. To celebrate this happy day, I invited a few of my fave writers to join me for a writer's roundup for good vibes as we talk about the things we did that WORKED. The details we want to remember to do next time. There’s always resistance, sure. But so much magic, too, and that's what I wanted to focus on today.

You'll hear on the show why I chose this group of brilliant humans and what they've each meant to me on my writing path.

For the quickie bios, we've got Martha Beck, NYT bestselling author of a bunch of books, the most recently, The Way of Integrity, a 2022 Oprah Book Club pick.

There's the legendary Steven Pressfield, author of a bible in our field, The War of Art, and other massive hits, including his new riveting read: Put Your Ass Where Your Heart Wants to Be, and a few movies, too.

The incredible novelist, writing teacher, and ex-Hollywood marketing mind Aditi Khorana is here (and promises to blow your mind with her cutting-edge thoughts on time and the creative process).

And we're so blessed to have New York Times bestselling memoirist Elizabeth Lesser who co-founded the famed Omega Institute, where she's been supporting creatives and leaders like Oprah hands on in a big way for decades.

We had such a blast together. (I might have to schedule roundups more often!) I think you will find that whatever stage you're in with your writing, they will bring you ah-has and RELIEF. As often as I've had them on the show or read their work, they continue to surprise me.

THANK YOU for celebrating with me, with us. Thank you for being part of my cherished writing community. I have felt your love and cheerleading at every stage.

And thank you for buying my sweet book baby (and hopefully recommending it to your people). In so doing, you’ll be supporting sustainable paper choices, my greatest writerly dream. How cool is that? I hope that the information in the book will likewise make it easier to realize whatever dreams you are holding close. That would make my heart so happy.

Go to BeautifulWritersPodcast.com for all the links to this episode. And, of course, you’ll find all sorts of book buying links over on BookMama.com or BeautifulWritersPodcast.com.

LOVE you, beyond. Write on!

Lindagrateful x

New York's # 1 book influencer, author, DAILY podcaster, and publisher, Zibby Owens, is here! Joining her is Peruvian mountaineer, humanitarian, and social entrepreneur, Silvia Vasquez-Lavado, the first openly gay woman to climb Everest and all seven summits (who happens to be one of Zibby's favorite writers). Welcome to another literary love-fest!

Hello! With only seven days until pub day for my Beautiful Writers book, I couldn't help myself. I had to record a podcast with these fantastic authors and miraculous human beings. Why now? Because I couldn't get their missions or memoirs out of my mind. Zibby's Bookends: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and Literature and Silvia's In the Shadow of the Mountain: A Memoir of Courage (Selena Gomez will soon play in the movie) stole my focus and my heart.

Sometimes the best thing to do when you're busy is dive into a great book—or TWO! I'm so excited to share this episode of the Beautiful Writers Podcast with you, where we get honest about the magic and mayhem of taking our work and manifestations to new heights. 

From overcoming extreme shyness, abuse, loss, and addiction and channeling our pain into healing words (and, in Silvia's case, trekking to help victims of sexual violence find a sense of peace and closure), you could say we're women on a mission. One of surpassing our limitations, living large, and changing the world—one step, one reader, one beautiful book at a time. 

We're so happy you're here. Write on! ✍️ xo

We’ve missed you, Danielle LaPorte & me! Our season of book delivery kicked our asses. (How to Be Loving for Danielle and Beautiful Writers for me, both available now for preorder.) But that’s what it takes, often, to create our best work. So, since we know we’re not alone in this endeavor to leave a legacy, we’re back together to dish, deal, and laugh about the absurdity. The hours! The focus! The OMG never-ending details! Now that we’re on the other side, mostly, we couldn’t wait to share the backstory with YOU!

Because, like us, you’ve been trying to write something valuable, right? Something that, dare I say, stands the test of time?! (That’s the hope, isn’t it?) We know you know. We raise our glasses to you for endeavoring to attain such a lofty goal:).

Thank you for listening, sharing, commenting, preordering, and helping us celebrate this milestone on the platform that started so much for us both. Dig deep with us as we cover: Networking chutzpa (naive much?). Wrangling celeb permissions & blurbs (when to push on; when to give up). When Oprah doesn’t call (or, rather DOES, but whoops… Lol).

DISTRACTIONS. REJECTIONS. DISTRACTIONS. REJECTIONS. The backstory of why this SuperSoul 100 Leader and author of a heap of bestsellers left the podcast—and how I nearly bailed myself but instead went ALL in. The reason we called each other sobbing over past books. And why Danielle opted out of the testimonial game for this new book. Plus, eleventh-hour miracles. And more.

We’re keepin’ it raw & real for you. Open books, as they say.

Write on!

L&D xo

Spooky smart. Miraculously mystical. Devilishly delightful. Listen in as two prolific bestselling thriller authors, Patricia Cornwell (over 100 million copies sold) and Tosca Lee (award-winning NYT bestseller), sweeten up our Halloween with this perfectly low-cal, high magic treat. And I'm not just throwing the M-word around. The true tales shared here are nothing short of supernatural and will help you BELIEVE in a universe that wants what you want. One that can't help but clear the path when you keep showing up.

I had full-body goosebumps several times during this conversation. With NO idea when I imagined matchmaking for this episode that Patricia and Tosca would have such outrageously mysterious stories BEHIND their stories or that they’d have shared such unbelievable synchronicities, I'm still in a bit of a daze.

Patricia joins us at the start of her tour for Autopsy, the 25th novel in her #1 bestselling Scarpetta series. Forensic pathologist Kay Scarpetta has returned to Virginia as the chief medical examiner to hunt an ingenious killer who's mastered cutting-edge science for the most nefarious ends. Patricia, who in real life has been described as a female James Bond—and you'll soon hear why—tells us how to use our fear as fuel, and I'm all ears. The woman who admits to being scared all the time has somehow made me feel twenty kinds of courage in our hour together.

I asked Tosca which of her novels (A Single Light, The Legend of Sheba, Iscariot, Demon, the Book of Mortal series...) would be a good fit with Autopsy. We decided onThe Progeny and its sequel, Firstborn, about the descendants of the real-life Blood Countess, Elizabeth Bathory of Hungary, the most prolific female serial killer in history—which may or may not have been a conspiracy.

We've got a lot to cover. Craft. Passion. Destiny. Rejection. Locations. Training. And ghosts, as in real ones who write through us. Does that make them ghostwriters? Hmmm.

Boo! I'm frightfully happy you're here. xo

Subscribe, so you're always the first to know when an episode drops.   www.beautifulwriterspodcast.com 

Today's a very good day! This Book Mama is giddyhappy. Since meeting Jenny Lawson over five years ago, I've ached to have her on the Beautiful Writers Podcast, and it's finally happened on this, my post-book-delivery return to the show. After taking months off, I couldn't be more excited to be back with this literary lovefest! Jenny, who's on tour for her latest #1 NYT bestseller, Broken, and I are joined by the great Martha Beck, whose recent immediate NYT bestseller, The Way of Integrity, is my new bible. I didn't know how well they'd hit it off ahead of time, but the pairing is pure beauty.

We cover so much here! Mothering and writing and life-ing with depression and OCD and all the crappy things that make mothering and writing and life-ing so much more complicated (but with odd benefits). We cover truth-telling and how it makes for all kinds of mayhem and magic. (Of course, I had to ask how that works precisely with telling an unbelievable story on the page.) We talk about energy and how ours goes freaking haywire with electronics. Plus, what about editing and idea-ing and mustering up the courage to show our chapters to other humans? I don't know about you, but handing those babies off is scary AF, even for the pros, it turns out.

Jenny, who's talked about taking half a year to work on ONE chapter—maybe you know the feeling—calls herself a notoriously slow writer. But perhaps that's what it takes to be this masterful? You may remember a blog post this award-winning humorist wrote in 2011 that went viral, about Beyonce, the giant metal chicken. Check it out. The behind-the-scenes story of what was really going on at home with her husband, Victor, that you're about to hear around that silliness is too good.

I feel like the luckiest girl who's ever had a dream and a microphone. Listen in, share, and leave a comment. I cannot wait.

Write on!

Linda
PS. To get on my Book Mama mailing list and never miss an episode—and receive my free 45-min audio of my favorite + fast writing & publishing tips—go to bookmama.com/gift.