Hello, Writer.

 

I'm Susan, the Every Adventure Book Guide. I want to hear about your book, but first, let me tell you a little about myself and my book journey.

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As far back as I remember, I wanted to write a book. But I could never find the time. Raising kids, working full time, getting my MBA, and maintaining a household took all my energy. Eventually, the boys grew up and moved out, and I finished school. Around the same time, I was laid off from my high-tech job. With no excuses and nothing but time, I wrote my first book. I had a lot of writing experience—penning TV scripts for an ABC affiliate and a cable provider, collateral for marketing companies, and instruction guides for high-tech corporations—but I had never written a manuscript. With the support of my publisher, my first book, Touring Colorado Hot Springs (2nd) came out in 2012. That led to seven more contracts and books: Hiking Waterfalls Colorado (1st and 2nd), Climbing Colorado's Mountains, Touring Colorado Hot Springs (3rd), Woman in the Wild, Best Lake Hikes Colorado, and Trails to the Top. Becoming a published author led to more writing gigs, including dozens of articles and more than 130 personal essays as a magazine and newspaper journalist and columnist.

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Along the way, I met other writers who wanted to write books. They didn't have any experience with book writing and publishing, so they hired me to help them write their nonfiction business books and memoirs. Over nine years, I worked with over seventy authors on more than sixty books. Sometimes, I coached them as they developed their ideas and turned them into manuscripts. Often, I acted as a ghostwriter, penning their manuscripts for them. Published by traditional and hybrid publishers, many appeared on bestseller lists. I have NDAs with these authors and my name doesn't appear on their books' covers, but I'm often mentioned in the acknowledgments.

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To augment my real-world experience, I completed a year-long copyediting certification at UC San Diego and more than 250 hours of coursework and practicums through the Author Accelerator  program to obtain certifications in fiction, nonfiction, and memoir book coaching. Writing and publishing never stop evolving, so I never stop learning.

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I haven't forgotten how hard it was to write that first book. And I know there are a lot of writers in the same situation, with great ideas and writing skills, but in need of guidance from an author who's written and published many books and can show them the way.

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I love meeting future authors with a story to tell, a lesson to teach, and a book to write. People with an idea for a book but without the time or experience to write it hire me to ghostwrite their books. Writers who just need a published author to guide them along the rocky path from idea to manuscript to book hire me as their book guide.

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Many of my projects focus on business and outdoor adventure. I'm especially excited about books that take place in the wild—on and off trails, in the mountains, and on the crags. I'm also drawn to prescriptive and how-to business books: leadership, management, finance, sales, marketing, operations, information technology, and culture. I studied these fields, taught them as a college instructor, and held corporate leadership positions in them. I also ghostwrote books about them and coached business leaders to write their own books on these topics. Adventure and business are in my blood! However, I'm not afraid to venture into new territory, exploring a variety of subjects and writing and coaching other types of nonfiction and fiction.

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Some people want to write a book, while others want to have written a book. ​If you really want to write one, you can do it. If you want to publish your book, thanks to all the options available in traditional, indie, hybrid, and self-publishing and marketing, you can do it.

 

If you're serious about writing and publishing your book, maybe it's time you took the first step. Contact me to set up a free thirty-minute call to discuss your book idea so we can decide whether we're a good fit. If we are, you'll take the second step on the journey from writer to author, mapping your book with me as your ghostwriter or guide. If we are not a good fit, I'll point you to other resources that might be a better fit for your book journey. Either way, you'll be a step closer to writing and publishing your first book.

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There has never been a better time to write and publish your book. Your book. Next year at this time, you could still be thinking about it. Or, you could be a published author. Like every great adventure, it all starts with one brave step.