 Hi everyone, so I'm with Kim Smith today and we're going to talk about self publishing because she has self published several books and I wanted her to share some of the mindset and the tips around that experience with you all Kim great to have you here. Hi George thanks I'm glad to be here. So I'll just share a bit about your background and then we'll get into the conversation so you have a master's in degree in human development you've worked in the helping professions. And then you, you self published a memoir, and the way that the readers responded to your book, which is a you know combination of inspirational stories and transformational habits. And you've collaborated with multiple coaches and creatives and and published a high vibe book series called the unbelievable freedom habit guides. And your brand is called unbelievable freedom and invites readers to explore and expand freedom in their own lives. So one of the things you talk about with regards to self publishing is that these books are kind of like participating in magic. So what do you mean by that. Well I'm a believer in magic and an enjoyer of magic, and I think it is really. My husband and I had a big health transformation we had a significant weight gain and then we had a significant weight loss. And it led to the book we had a kind of an online community that was supporting us during the weight loss and they asked for the book they said, you know, put down how all this, how all this happened and, and then it was putting the book into print and and self publishing it which we did with relative ease I know you have also been involved with publishing. And it made me say wow you can you can put your story out there and let it travel as it will so it went around the world and people in Australia and Europe read it and we ended up selling the rights to that book to a traditional publishing house in South Korea so the book is in the Korean language. It just showed me that when you have this willingness to step up and take action and put something out there. The universe will kind of co create with you in terms of finding the people who need to hear it and move it move it through the world in a magical way. That's inspiring. So, tell us a bit about how you did get the book out there because I know that there are people who are watching this who some people watching this, maybe have self published their own books. And some are thinking about it. But of course getting the word out is one of the challenging aspects of it. What, what, what did you do that I'm sure you did multiple things but was there something you did that you found particularly helpful. We kind of had a very organic and non strategic experience where we started this Facebook community mostly just to share our story and share support and encouragement. And then because we had these thousands of people around us, we already had an audience for the book with no intention I now understand that that's one way to build an audience for a book is to start a community first but we did it. Not really understanding that we were doing a good job of being prepared for launch so we put the book out sold several hundred copies in a matter of a couple of weeks. And I was hooked on the idea that creating content would be a great way to have a business so I left my job and spent several months just promoting that first book then I wrote a second book and then I began the collaborations with others. Well, so that's, so you really put in the work of creating a free Facebook group first. And yeah, and that that's amazing that that does take a lot of work because, you know, it's it's passion, it was a labor of love. I really recommend to my own clients well you know Facebook group is one way but I said well Facebook ads is another way and so I really I've been recommending people like build use Facebook ads build a build a business page audience and then kind of go from there but Facebook groups as well one who is willing to do the work can can certainly get really far with it. So, one of the things I mean you really got into your own book because of your own story. And, you know, a lot of people. Well I mean your your story is, you know, quite dramatic. Right. You got this. There's a story arc to it. I also believe that doesn't have to be dramatic doesn't have to be traumatic. One's personal story to deserve writing a book. Is that right. I think it's, you know, one of the things that's happened to me as I'm the business is sort of just evolving and and I'm I think that is that people feel called to different things there's people who always wanted to dance or they always wanted to make art and then there are people who just always wanted to write a book and that doesn't necessarily need to be memoir or sharing their personal story but they're people who really want to. And I think when that desire is in you to share your story it's because someone needs it I feel the universe is putting that desire into the person for the, the someone out there that needs it Yeah, your story doesn't have to be in fact my story, although it has a dramatic aspect because of physical transformation is dramatic thing to see side by side pictures. It doesn't have. I always say there was no train wreck there was no big traumatic moment there was just a quiet struggle that led to a big weight gain and there was you know some spiritual inner work that went on to get ready to surrender the but it wasn't it's not dramatic it's like I think I refer to it as a thousand tiny tragedies in terms of what went on so don't judge your story as not worthy but just ask yourself when you're putting it out there what do you what are you hoping to accomplish A self published book is not a get rich quick scheme. It's a it's a it's a lot of showing up for that story and putting your energy behind it and being willing to tell it over and over again in fact I was so excited to talk this opportunity to talk with you because this isn't a weight loss podcast and I've been on many of those and simply told my story through the lens of what did I do to change my physical size and shape and and health and now I prefer to tell all of the rest of the creative parts of this. Yeah yeah no this is this great I mean because you do have multiple facets of the story that are that are inspiring and useful to others so so when you were writing the book I mean of course it was a labor of love it was a response to your audience saying please tell us the story more more of a story. So you were thinking that you weren't thinking about it as a get rich quick scheme and and I think that is one of the mistakes that people who haven't yet published the book may have this fantasy idea that yes a book is what makes me rich and famous. And then they go through the publishing process, usually we can't we can't get a traditional major publisher right away right usually we have to sell publish or yeah there are those hybrid publishers well actually you you are you have have had that right now you're not at this very very moment you're not taking clients for that but there are publishers that can work with you on that. So, so yes the purpose of a book is not is not to make money right. I think that you know I'm this is I'm fairly new to this it's been over the past year that I've worked with. I call them collaborators really I've connected with several friends and colleagues who do coaching, who have their own message that they wanted to get into a book and wanted to kind of follow the format I, I did my own workbook first. It actually was a motivational email series that I was selling as a subscription to motivational emails and I just bound them into a book, shot it out there into the world and it did pretty well and so I thought well that was fun I want to do that again and I needed more content. So I worked with those authors, really kind of like a traditional publisher on a work for hire basis they brought me the content. They packaged it up we put it out there and created the unbelievable freedom habit guide series which is a series of workbooks, but in terms of going forward. I'm really understanding that there's a book is an asset and you can do that as a status piece or or a tool in your toolkit to have something to give away at conferences. It's a fine motivation to me, but if you don't love this book, and you aren't going to show up for the book and talk about it. It's going to be de energized and I know that because I wrote a couple other workbooks in my series that they just weren't special enough for me to keep showing up for them and so they just fizzled and I'm great and people in my audience love me. But if I don't care about the book they're not going to care about the book so don't write a book and then just think it's going to go participate in magic on its own it's like a continual co creation. Yeah, so the workbook that you put together and that you've been helping others put together. Tell us about that a bit so you call them habit guides that right call them habit guides and there's you know all sorts of branding conversations going on I'd love to know what you think about it but some people love workbooks. Some people hate workbooks you can never please everyone but I'm really trying to think as I go forward about what kind of energy I want these books to have I pictured them as they're breezy and brief. You know they're for people who say things like I don't read or I don't have time to read or I don't have time to work on myself I really wanted them to be inviting for those people that have those blocks about I don't do self improvement. They're not heavy on content they're 70 to 90 pages every other pages blank to give dot grid for notes and reflections. So they're meant to be written in. And they just introduced the author's story in a kind of brief little hook, get the emotional involvement of the reader, and then they just teach a framework of habits. They're not meant to ever be I have one on emotional freedom technique I a coach that I know who teaches that just a little workbook with tapping scripts. Nobody's pretending one workbook is going to be everything for you to develop that as a life changing practice but it's an introduction it's just to kind of break the seal, move people into action and then when they take that step if it resonates, they'll go seek out more books, a coach a program. They're meant to introduce self improvement topics in a really accessible way and then hopefully people will go beyond that. I really like so so essentially you're you're helping a coach or a teacher to break down their framework into really bite sized actionable steps that the reader can go okay that's very doable let me try this. I'm going to take some notes and then go to the next step. Yeah, yes, that's the that's the format and so what I, what my dream was because I'm a big dreamer was to create a brand and unbelievable freedom that is as recognizable as like chicken soup for the soul, as as visible as that for dummies series member for dummies how popular those were. And I wanted to think that people would say, Oh, I want to learn about plant based eating or oh I want to learn about, you know, astrology. I'm going to go to the unbelievable freedom habit guides and find someone out there who practiced a new habit shared their story and like invited me into it because that's really what happened with our original book was we just shared our story and a little bit of our history and people showed up in droves wanting coaching and we weren't coaches, we were like, What do we do now. Wow, that's that's awesome you know I want to share on my screen. A couple of things one is I want to share the book page on Amazon. And this is this is a legit. This is a legit book I mean you got 404 ratings. And that is not easy. I would tell you, it is not easy at all. And it's been only quote unquote only two years, you know, and 404. I have, you know, I did I did, obviously, a book launch for my own, for my own book, the first, the first book. I did more of a launch. And I had, you know, over a dozen blurbs from different colleagues, etc. And I had a whole sort of volunteer team of people who said oh I'm all right reviews blah blah blah. And I was able to get like, maybe 3040 reviews. And that work that took a lot of hard work people don't realize how hard it is to get someone to review you on it I mean it is really hard. Okay, just Tony. No, it's not it's it's even getting one review on Amazon is hard. And so getting for me getting 40 was a big big deal. And you have 400. So, so it's really amazing. Now, anything you want to say about how that happened. Well that is a testimony to what was going on at the time. And that is, I had started the Facebook community I had been part of a larger Facebook community when I was in the initial part of our weight loss journey. And I kind of stood out as someone who loved to show up and make a lot of posts. And then when I created my own group I became kind of enamored of being live so I was live in my group a lot and I think people just came to this point of feeling like, you know they they knew like entrusted me again I wasn't an online entrepreneur I didn't understand any strategy around what it is that you do to create. You know, trust with people or have increased their willingness to engage with you. But it, it happened organically. And I think you probably can tell I have like a big passion for this this is really related to my grandmother's legacy it was my grandmother's death when she was 95. On her deathbed in essence in her final months of life she was just imploring me to enjoy my life and I was really really struggling my, my weight problem was only a manifestation of just a really real struggle and I had been through some career failures and some other personal tribulations. And I really felt and feel that in honor of my grandmother, I need to enjoy my life. So you know, in doing my own podcast which is a very stripped down Ron real confessional style. Kim Smith is my podcast and, and I, I close every episode saying enjoy your life and that's how my grandmother would close a conversation with me. And she gave me so much permission. And just saying that to start creating the same kind of changes that I'm trying to invite readers into which is you don't have to like meditation you don't have to like yoga you don't have, but you are allowed to try things and explore other things and see what's going to help you enjoy your life. And so I think people felt that passion from me and those early months with the books were just a complete. We were featured in a Korean documentary. It aired on a Saturday night at the equivalent of NBC and Korea's sole broadcast services and on Monday morning we got two offers for the Korean rights we were like, they were like, are your Korean rights of your books still available we were like, we're just self published we don't have an agent we don't have a publishing house we don't have any of those things so it's been really exciting and it comes back to that participating in magic which is just do things open heartedly now I'm, I'm learning that I've made some mistakes I've left money on the table but I truly do things with a lot of love and I'm willing to take the take the good with the bad in terms of the things I've done wrong. I think if you're going to air on any side air air on the side of doing it with love and generosity. I think when when you are your grandmother's age, you will say well those so called mistakes. You know, it was probably okay, you know, it's probably something you could look at you could be proud of. And I think when I came to follow you, I don't know how that happened it's possible you are running really great ads. Instagram probably Instagram. People like people like me who are looking for people like you but it. I think the posts that I first engaged upon was you talking about this idea of resisting showing up for your creativity and waiting to be spirit led to everything which is a lot of what I do through the world I might be out in the forest and I'm trying to lean into what you were saying which is blocking off time and trusting that creativity will meet me there. So that that you saying that is proof of how you can you can make a piece of content you can put something out there and when it just really speaks to somebody I'm like, I'll follow him up a clip no no no but I'll be loved to be interviewed by him. Well, you know, I think your creativity is certainly I mean you you've figured out a way to stay in creativity because look you've got these books here on fasting I guess that's another we haven't even, you know, touched that at all but this is very fascinating. And then you've got, you've got a series of books with, you know, these that's the collaborations with other people. These are the different habit guides workbooks. And look at this I mean there's a lot of different. This is the EFT tapping one probably right now. Post a girl. Yeah, that's something that's your Instagram. Yeah, tell us about that. So after I wrote my, my first workbook was on fasting fasting was a big part of the practices that helped us change our weight and physical health. And I bound together those 31 motivational emails that were for helping people acclimate to their fasting practice and then it was so fun to make that workbook. I was like, I just want to make another one and I was like what other kind of content. I love to share with the world and I was like, I'm going to put my contentment practices into a book and it's like things like collecting easy delights which is like, you know, looking for bumblebees asleep inside flowers it's very whimsical it's, it's very much another side of me. Great. Well this there's a lot of goodness to explore here it's so much fun. And so, so let's kind of complete by talking about creativity, you know this this process and I mean yes we are all on this journey of finding a better ways to be creative but so people who some people watching watching us may go well you guys are different kinds of people you guys are naturally creative. Right. I can tell you that I fought writing for most of my life so I know that that you know now I write regularly. It wasn't it wasn't natural for me for most of my life, but really most of my life, but but tell what are your thoughts on this I mean how can we break the barrier will get more freedom I guess with our creativity. Yeah, I think that what happened for me and the reason fasting. I've moved away from my weight loss influencer persona or the, the kind of accidental branding that was coming over me when I shared my weight story so publicly. It was also in the fasting and which is still something I do every day. I have a time restricted eating window. It was during my fasted times of the day that I became much more spiritually awakened and had this idea that these ideas that I've always had I've always had ideas were worthy of speaking out into the world, putting on paper writing in a journal. It's not that the creative impulses weren't with me during those years that I describe as myself as having been stuck in a mire. But I didn't, I didn't have a mindset that my impulses were worthy of exploration. I thought if you're not an artist you don't do art and if you're not a writer you don't write. I was working in a hospital job. I do have a master's degree in human development but I had burned out on a mental health career and kind of retreated to my good typing skills to do like a medical transcription scribe type job. And so I would thought why would I be writing, and it was the weight loss journey. Suddenly I was micro blogging in these Facebook communities every day I was showing up and writing and sharing my thoughts and feelings and perspectives, and people were responding to my writing and saying, Oh the way you said that made me think differently. The way you said that made me feel differently and I was like, Oh my goodness, maybe I'm a writer. So, you know, it's just like I dabbled with running when I started taking the weight off I don't run anymore. But I started to realize, you know, people who run or runners it's not about marathons and you just you do something if you decide that you want to do it and you don't put these parameters on yourself or you say, this person's creative and this person isn't I'm now of the mind that if you're working on your own personal development. That is a creative process if you're working on yourself. You are your own creation, even if you don't journal even if you don't do art. And I think creativity is for everyone. It's a way to enjoy life which is what my grandmother wanted. So I want to show everyone on screen, just your podcast pay. Well, this is the Apple, the Apple page for your podcast got 32 reviews already congratulations and that's also, that's also very hard to get a single podcast reviews very hard to get. Also, and it's beautiful I mean you're going into season two now. So some really inspiring things. I look forward to checking it out. Very heartfelt, it's very much my own examination of. I know I'm sure you're familiar with gay Hendricks and the upper limit problem and I am continually watching my own thoughts and seeing how I recreate situations that bring on struggle because it's so familiar and comfortable to me and how I need to watch my thoughts in order to continue moving forward in this journey. Is there anything you'd like to share in terms of your any offers I mean we talked about your books your podcast anything right in our in our brief email exchange you right now you're mentioning that you're not available for clients, but that that probably will change right in the future. I love for people to connect with me if they have any interest in any of the things that I'm doing because there will be more books and so publishing is of interest. I have a new membership community coming that's around guided journaling and getting on zoom live to do a guided journal and ritual so yeah find me on social everything's that unbelievable freedom calm. Kim, great to connect with you. This has been a lot of fun. Thank you so much for the inspiration, the inspirational work that you do but just also the being that you bring forth and the presence that inspires others. Thank you. Thank you so much.