London Writers' Salon

So you've started a blog, written a book. What next? How can you find your first 100 readers and grow that to 10,000 and beyond? Chris Guillebeau talks about how he grew his audience, one by one, from zero readers to thousands hanging on his every step. He's authored multiple New York Times bestsellers. And today when he launches a new book product or even an event, it sells out instantly. Join us for our conversation with Chris Guillebeau about becoming a disciplined writer, building a global community around your work, and making it as a full-time writer.ABOUT CHRISChris Guillebeau is the author of seven books. His first book, The Art of Non-Conformity, was translated into more than thirty languages. His second book, The $100 Startup, was a New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller, selling more than 700,000 copies worldwide. His newest book, The Money Tree is all about finding fortune in your own backyard. He’s also built Side Hustle School, a wildly popular podcast with more than 2 million monthly downloads, to help people create a new source of income without quitting their job.*SHOW NOTES[03:04] Chris talks about his secret to getting an NYT review[04:28] Chris talks about his relationship with role models and the people that inspire him[07:39] The core components of being a writer, and the importance of serving others[10:36] Discipline as part of being professional and how doing things every day is sometimes easier than doing them less frequently[13:53] The abundance mindset and why this is important[17:16] Chris talks about what it's like transitioning from doing book tours to doing everything online during the pandemic.[20:28] How to allocate time to finish different projects without feeling overwhelmed[22:25] Chris talks about where he generates more income[27:02] Chris shares his thoughts on monetizing his works[29:21] How to build and grow an audience[32:47] Blogging before vs now[34:26] Chris shares his approach when it comes to talking about a difficult subject*QUOTES FROM CHRIS GUILLEABEAU“A guiding value has always been — there's gotta be something I can do today to help somebody … it could be highlighting other people's projects. It could be like doing whatever you can to get someone else to have attention or whatever it is.”“The other secret about the podcast is it would be easier for me, or it's easier for me to do it seven days a week than it would be to do it like three to five days a week. Like if it was like Monday, Wednesday, Friday, it would be harder than every day because every day it has to happen, right. Whereas if it's on like a staggered schedule, it's like, oh, you just kind of get off the rhythm.”“And so the only thing you can do is take more hits or try, you know, like you take more chances. That quote about, like, to be luckier…I'd like to have more luck, take more chances”*“Most of the time I'm not selling anything. Like most of the time, it's like for months or years go by without doing much. The podcast is free. The blog is free. Other stuff is free. I'm not really working on trying to build out that part of the online business. So I guess when the time comes to launch the book, I don't hesitate to push it a little bit because I mean like I said, I know that that's going to help people, and then I know it's going to help me as well.”*“...[A]nybody who joins my email list, that person has chosen to give me like their most valuable asset, which is their time and their attention…As much as possible, I want to build individual relationships with those people… And so for the first 10,000 people that joined over the course of, I don't know, two years, I wrote to each one of those people. Not just like an autoresponder, but I wrote an actual email to those people, and said, “Hey Matt, thanks so much for joining”, you know, “Hope you like it. Let me know what you're up to.” … [I built it] one by one.” *SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODEConnect with Chris GuillebeauWebsite: https://chrisguillebeau.comTwitter: twitter.com/chrisguillebeauInstagram: instagram.com/193countriesGretchen Rubin & The Happiness ProjectSeth GodinTim GrahlFor show notes, transcripts and to attend our live podcasts visit: podcast.londonwriterssalon.comFor free writing sessions, join free Writers’ Hours: writershour.comFollow London Writers’ Salon:Twitter: twitter.com/​​WritersSalonInstagram: instagram.com/londonwriterssalonFacebook: facebook.com/LondonWritersSalon*CREDITSProduction by Victoria Spooner. Artwork by Emma Winterschladen For show notes, transcripts and to attend our live podcasts visit: podcast.londonwriterssalon.com.For free writing sessions, join free Writers’ Hours: writershour.com.*FOLLOW LONDON WRITERS’ SALONTwitter: twitter.com/​​WritersSalonInstagram: instagram.com/londonwriterssalonFacebook: facebook.com/LondonWritersSalonIf you’re enjoying this show, please rate and review this show!

There is something about Holly. If you look through the online reviews you’ll see comments like _‘there were times I felt Holly had climbed into my head’ and ‘I cried so much reading this_’. Her writing has the gift to connect to the reader – we explore this in the interview from her first book written on a 45 min commute, to overcoming imposter syndrome, why she thinks a writer should spend only 33% of their time writing and how writing fiction is the act of destroying the perfect idea you have in your head. Holly also talks us through her ideation process, how she uses psychology to get into her characters’ heads and her approach to marketing her work.  *Holly Bourne has written 12 books over 7 years. She started her writing career as a news journalist, but after working with young people, was inspired to write teen fiction and won awards for her best-selling, award-winning ‘Spinster Club’ series. When she turned thirty, Holly wrote her first adult novel, How Do You Like Me Now about the intensified pressures on women once they hit that landmark. Her latest book Pretending has garnered praise from book reviewers, bloggers and authors Marian Keyes, and Dolly Alderton. Four of her books have now been optioned for film and TV.Alongside her writing, Holly has a keen interest in women’s rights and is an advocate for reducing the stigma of mental health problems. She is an ambassador for Women's Aid and their Love Respect campaign, educating young people about healthy relationships.*SHOW NOTES[02:18] Holly talks about her writing process and her coping mechanisms during lockdown[04:23] How to be kind to yourself while writing in lockdown[06:20] Having a hobby and doing other things apart from writing [09:49] Holly’s journey from having a full-time job to becoming an author, and how she wrote her first book while commuting to work.[13:18] How to overcome your imposter syndrome[17:08] Why you should only spend 33% of your time writing[18:37] Why the first draft is just like digging up a fossil[20:02] How psychology helps in Holly’s writing[22:36] How writing fiction is the act of destroying a perfect idea in your head[24:43] Holly’s writing process, the need to have the first line, and doing extensive research before the actual writing[29:56] On being authentic with yourself and asking the hard questions[34:55] Holly talks about marketing her writing and doing promotions*QUOTES BY HOLLY“Writing fiction is the act of destroying a perfect idea in your head…lots of people in this room have had that moment where they have this idea for a story or a character or a poem, screenplay, and they're so excited, and the temptation is to just leave it at that as this perfect unformed... once you start writing, it will never live up to the hype in your head. And then you might get a different idea or you might get bored of it, or you start having plot problems or characters...So it’s accepting the fact that you're going to completely ruin the best idea you ever had. But if you were that excited to begin with—if you were just buzzing when that idea land is, you've got to know that in the translation from head to work, there'll be enough of that. There will. You won't ever be able to get a hundred per cent, there'll be enough, and you cannot mend the blank page.”*SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODEConnect with Holly BourneTwitter: @holly_bourneYAInstagram: @hollybourneyaFacebook: Holly.BourneYAThe Science of Storytelling by Will StorrFor show notes, transcripts and to attend our live podcasts visit: podcast.londonwriterssalon.comFor free writing sessions, join free Writers’ Hours: writershour.comFollow London Writers’ Salon:Twitter: twitter.com/​​WritersSalonInstagram: instagram.com/londonwriterssalonFacebook: facebook.com/LondonWritersSalon*CREDITSProduction by Victoria Spooner. Artwork by Emma Winterschladen For show notes, transcripts and to attend our live podcasts visit: podcast.londonwriterssalon.com.For free writing sessions, join free Writers’ Hours: writershour.com.*FOLLOW LONDON WRITERS’ SALONTwitter: twitter.com/​​WritersSalonInstagram: instagram.com/londonwriterssalonFacebook: facebook.com/LondonWritersSalonIf you’re enjoying this show, please rate and review this show!

Alastair Humphreys has built an impressive career as a creator using a simple formula:Step 1: Go on an adventure.Step 2: Write a story about it.Step 3: Earn money from it.Step 4: Repeat.Sounds Simple. But far from easy.In this episode, we dive into Alastair’s creative process – from planning, adventuring, writing to publishing and eventually, getting paid. We’ll also discuss how Alastair has navigated hard times to persist as a creator for 15+ years, his journey from teaching to writing to filmmaking to children’s books to podcasting, balancing family life with adventuring and creating, and tips for writing stories about your personal experiences that readers will love and publishers will buy.*Alastair Humphreys is a National Geographic Adventurer of the Year, podcaster, filmmaker, and author of 13 books. He spent over 4 years cycling around the world, a journey of 46,000 miles through 60 countries and 5 continents. More recently Alastair has walked across southern India, rowed across the Atlantic Ocean, run six marathons through the Sahara desert, completed a crossing of Iceland, and participated in an expedition in the Arctic.In 2018, Alastair trekked over 350 miles across Spain in the footsteps of his adventurer-author hero Laurie Lee, feeding himself only with money he earned busking. He turned that story into the enthralling, raw memoir, My Midsummer Morning: Rediscovering a Life of Adventure.*SHOW NOTES[05:07] Alastair's rowing experience across the Atlantic Ocean[07:06] How to push yourself in your path of adventure by starting small[09:48] Big adventures and how to turn them into micro-adventures when life gets in the way[12:10] Alastair’s coping mechanisms during the pandemic including climbing a tree, plus the importance of passive income[15:49] How to find an audience for your writings that's beyond friends and family[18:24] Alastair’s love for travel books and what inspired him to write[19:13] About Alastair’s busking adventure in Spain and how this led to this book, My Midsummer Morning, and balancing adventuring life and home life[28:31] Alastair’s journey from having a publisher to self-publishing his own books[33:22] On trying new things and becoming an expert in your own niche[37:04] How to get paid gigs with brands & and how to approach brands[40:11] On self-doubt and how to get past it[42:53] What would your eighty-year-old self tell you to do today?*QUOTES FROM ALASTAIR“There's a blog post called, The Long Tail, which shows you graphically like, how many times you'll hug your parents again, how many times you'll swim in the ocean again, and if you see it graphically, there are so few. And if he'd been so inclined, he could probably have written on his little bar chart: here are the books you have time to write in your life. And I suspect once you see that, your eighty-year-old self would suggest that you begin.”*“If you're a writer and you compare yourself to Shakespeare, it's pointless. If you're going to play football in the park and you compare yourself to Lionel Messi, it’s pointless. But we spend all our lives measuring ourselves against people like this. It’s ridiculous. So call yourself a working whatever, and then get to work and try and find a thousand people who read your books and then repeat the process and try and get 2000 for the next one. And you'll probably be alright.” *SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODEConnect with Alastair Humphreys:Twitter: @Al_HumphreysInstagram: @al_humphreysFacebook: Al Humphreys Facebook PageWebsite: www.alastairhumphreys.comWait but Why Blog by Tim Urban - The Long Tail*FOLLOW LONDON WRITERS' SALONFor show notes, transcripts and to attend our live podcasts visit: podcast.londonwriterssalon.comFor free writing sessions, join free Writers’ Hours: writershour.comTwitter: twitter.com/​​WritersSalonInstagram: instagram.com/londonwriterssalonFacebook: facebook.com/LondonWritersSalon*CREDITSProduction by Victoria Spooner. Artwork by Emma Winterschladen For show notes, transcripts and to attend our live podcasts visit: podcast.londonwriterssalon.com.For free writing sessions, join free Writers’ Hours: writershour.com.*FOLLOW LONDON WRITERS’ SALONTwitter: twitter.com/​​WritersSalonInstagram: instagram.com/londonwriterssalonFacebook: facebook.com/LondonWritersSalonIf you’re enjoying this show, please rate and review this show!