Today I’m sharing a bit about my own author journey—in hopes of saving you years of wasted effort.
When I started out to write a book, I had a message that I knew could change the world for students and parents. I’d already been a professional writer for over 25 years, so I already knew how to write sentences and paragraphs. I knew how to organize thought and communicate effectively. But writing a book?
What I didn’t know about writing a book could fill a book.
The process of writing and publishing a book has so many moving pieces, so much unfamiliar vocabulary, and so many complex, interdependent steps.
I felt lost. I wondered, “How can I produce a creative, brilliant, and helpful book—when 75% of the book writing and publishing process is foreign to me?”
At first I thought that surely, a publishing contract would be the answer.
I thought that if I landed a publishing contract, that would be the easy route to getting my raw manuscript to finished product—and my book into readers’ hands. Let others do the work!
But after landing a publishing contract and realizing how little money I’d make from it and how at-risk I’d be for losing my rights to my work if my book went out of print—I turned that publishing contract down and decided I’d be my own publisher.
I used CreateSpace on Amazon (now called Kindle Direct Publishing) for my printing, and got professional help navigating all the other steps of the book publishing process.
I really love Kindle Direct Publishing, and I’d do that again in a minute. But the most important, most life-changing help I got was from Stacy Ennis.
The moment I decided to be my own publisher, I was immediately on my way.
No more waiting around to be noticed. No more spending years traveling to writers’ conferences to try to get literary agents and acquisitions editors interested in me.
Being my own publisher rocketed me to my end goal of holding my own published book in my hands, of keeping all the profit from it, and of rapidly growing my business by leveraging off of an author credential.
Caution. If you’re going to write a book, you don’t want it to be a bad book.
If you slap together a poorly organized, poorly designed, amateurish, sub-par book and quickly put it up on Amazon so you can say that you’re an author, that’s going to backfire on you.
If your book doesn’t get reviews, or if the bulk of your reviews are negative, that will hurt your name, your brand, and your business.
I saved myself from this by getting help from Stacy Ennis.
Hiring Stacy was one of the best business investments I’ve ever made. She worked with me to engineer the structure of my book, to shape and polish it, and to navigate all the moving pieces I had to master to have an outstanding, well-reviewed result.
At this point, parents are reading my book, libraries are stocking it, schools are putting it at their front desks for parents to read, and financial advisors are buying copies in bulk for handing out to clients.
I could have never achieved this without Stacy.
Until now, only a few lucky authors have been able to get Stacy’s help.
Stacy’s in such high demand that she’s able to accept only 1% of the projects offered to her. The wait to get on her client list can be months and even years long.
Now, you can get Stacy’s best help for a fraction of her regular price.
Join Stacy’s live, in-person 6-month book coaching and author mentorship program called Idea-to-Draft. Afterward, keep the momentum going with her Author Influence Circle community.
You owe it to yourself to give your big idea every possible chance to succeed.
Join Idea-to-Draft when the doors open and you’ll get top-notch, expert guidance that walks you through each step of writing your book, from initial idea to finished manuscript. All in one 6-month program that allows you to make progress on your book while still living your regular life.
Listen to my live interview with Stacy Ennis. It’s fun and fast-paced.
If you’re parenting a kid ages 12–18 and you’d like to hear what I personally do for free to help parents get kids through college debt-free, zoom straight to minute _____.
When my book got rave reviews on Amazon, that was a game-changer for me.
It got me attention that literally changed my professional life.
Let Stacy give you the help she gave me.
I have no affiliate agreement with Stacy Ennis and have not been compensated in any way for writing this article.
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Who is Jeannie Burlowski?
Jeannie is a full-time academic strategist, podcast host, and sought-after speaker for students ages 12–26, their parents, and the professionals who serve them. Her writing, speaking, and podcasting help parents set their kids up to graduate college debt-free, ready to jump directly into careers they excel at and love. Her work has been featured in publications such as The Huffington Post, USA Today, Parents Magazine, and US News & World Report, as well as on CBS News.
Jeannie also helps students apply to law, medical, business, and grad school at her website GetIntoMedSchool.com. You can follow her on Bluesky @jburlowski.bsky.social.
No part of this article was written using AI.
This article was updated on March 19th, 2024.