There are so many business books I have read that have benefited our publishing company or my author platform. Over the next few months, I will highlight some of my favorite business books with a brief synopsis of the book as well as my top ten take aways or quotes.

Book Title: Ditch the Fear and Just Write It!

Author: Alexa Bigwarfe

Book Synopsis:

You KNOW you have a book in you, you KNOW you want to write and publish a book. But as soon as you start thinking about it, your palms get all sweaty, you start to breathe faster, you come up with a MILLION reasons why no one would read or buy your book. So, you put it off. Again.

Stop doing that!

Yes, writing a book is overwhelming! Yes, there are a lot of excuses that may stop you from moving forward.
Yes, there are a TON of things you have to do beyond JUST WRITING to get your book published.

But at the end of the day, if you don’t JUST WRITE IT! you will spend the rest of your life wondering WHAT IF?

Hiring a coach to help you through the process and get your book published is expensive. So why not let me “coach” you through this workbook, at a minuscule of the coaching cost!

Don’t be that person who watches book launch after book launch and thinks – that should have been me.

Ditch the Fear and Just Write It! The No Excuses Power Plan to Start Your First Book is the answer to your problem.

My Review:

Disclaimer-I was a writing contributor in this book. Ditch the Fear is a quick, actionable book that will take you from the idea to writing a book through the process of getting it done. There are fantastic stories of success from women publishing books.

Top Ten Quotes:

1. “This is the NO-EXCUSES, NO-FEAR plan, and these are the tools you are going to need:
   1. Commitment and dedicated writing time
   2. SMART goals
   3. A “living” outline – including mind mapping
   4. Research and data based on your outline
   5. The belief that your book is needed
   6. A solid support network”
2. “Think of the things you do every day that are not moving you toward your book goal. This includes watching television, chatting on the telephone, Facebooking or otherwise scrolling through social media in a non productive manner, and so forth. Ditch these and write during this time instead!”
3. “A great way to hold yourself accountable is to announce to the world that you are working on a book. Once other people know that you’re working on this project, they will start to ask you about it. This alone is enough motivation to keep on track and to make the writing a priority.” – Kelsey Humphreys
4. “I wanted to use the book to set me up as an expert. Part of what I want to do in my business is offer consulting to businesses related to this topic and to speak at large company events and industry conferences. This book helps set me up as that expert.” – Suzanne Brown
5. “When Herchel set out to write her book, she wasn’t sure if the topic would be the one that was even needed in the community because of the apparent lack of search traffic on it. After speaking to a group of women that included many that are in her target audience and seeing their reactions as she described what she wanted to write about, she realized that this is a struggle that many bloggers have.” – Herchel Scruggs
6. “Writing a book has shifted my business approach. I not only consider myself a brand photographer but now also an educator, consultant, and author. I am spending more time teaching and speaking about the topic of brand photography. My best advice 1) Hire people to help you! Invest in experts – this will help the book process. 2) Find a support network. I was in a mastermind group that held me accountable with my writing goals. Their support on deadlines and content was amazing. 3) Schedule the time to write into your day. I blocked off two afternoons per week to focus on the book.” – Mallika Malhotra
7. Implementation Tip:
   Don’t sit around waiting for the perfect moment or the perfect content! Use Jennifer’s story as and example. She took what she already had, put it into a book, and boom, she was off. If you’ve spent any time at all blogging, sending emails to your list, or any of those types of scenarios, you have content.
   Action Tips:
   1. Have some transcribe your Facebook lives, YouTube videos, or other recorded content.
   2. Pull together any blog posts, content from Social Media, and emails. Organize by topic and pull the best information from this.
8. “I’ve self-publish,hybrid, and traditional. I prefer self-pub because that’s how I’ve made the most money and have the most control. And publishing houses don’t do EVERYTHING. That’s a fallacy. You still have to do all your own marketing. My advice: Learn about the publishing industry. Understand that it’s business focused on what will sell. Being an author is owning a business — you will pay taxes on royalties. Have realistic expectations — one book will not get you on Oprah’s sofa. Book marketing is required. If you can’t or won’t do it yourself, hire someone to do it for you. Nobody buys a book they’ve never heard of. Expect to spend money on advertising, marketing, and promotion. Blogging this is a must!” – Rachel Thompson
9. “Maria’s advice: Get going TODAY. What are you waiting for? Honestly, there are so many “what ifs” that can hold you back and they will if you let them. Ask yourself the question. Why am I doing this? Find the passion and the purpose in your work and your writing with be authentic.” – Maria Dismondy
10. “I worked with a collaborative writer. She took all of my words, interviewed me for stories, etc. and kept me on track. We discussed deadlines together and make sure we stick to it. I know having that accountability held me to it.” – Stacy Tuschl

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My name is Maria Dismondy. I am a children’s book author who also founded the publishing company, Cardinal Rule Press.

Finding ways to market my messages is a passion of mine. I want to help you gain greater recognition of your brand, to generate new readers and improve your sales. Why? Because I love to GIVE and CONNECT and I truly believe we are all in this together!