How to Get Serious About Your Writing

How many times have you scolded yourself for being lax about your writing? You’ve been wanting to write a book — maybe to promote your business, establish yourself as a subject matter expert, document your family’s history, record a memoir or indulge that creative itch.

But you’ve put it off for years.

I did the same.

Despite my love for writing and desire to start publishing books, I procrastinated. There was always something “more important” to focus on.

I would tell people, “There’s no better compliment you can give me (other than asking, “Have you lost weight?”), than telling me you love my writing.”

And I know there are many of you on my subscriber list who feel the same way. (About your writing and weight loss, not mine!)

But here’s something people don’t tell you.

You can get serious about your writing step-by-step, in chunks, by immersing yourself in the process. You can give yourself a few smaller things to feel successful about rather than an “all or nothing” commitment to one big thing you are struggling to finish.

It took me a while to finally get serious. And along the way I learned a few things I’ll share with you.

8 Ways I Got Serious About Writing

1. I started small and with something I knew well. I compiled tips for wildfire survivors based on what I learned from losing my home in a wildfire. I then independently published an ebook entitled, Wildfire Survivors: A How-to Guide On Your Road to Recovery. It was a first step dipping my toe into the online publishing world. Later on, I’ll do more interviews, re-write that book, publish the print version and market it in earnest.
2. I’m using my newsletter as the basis for a book. In May 2024 I moved my personal growth newsletter, Laura’s Letters over on Substack, a free platform with a social media component. I then promised myself I’d write a weekly article, which I’ve done (mostly) for the past year. It’s been good discipline and I think publishing consistently has helped improve my writing skills. Subscriber numbers have tripled and as a big plus, I’ve made new friends.
3. I broadened my audience by launching a LinkedIn newsletter. Laura’s Leadership Letters offers some of the same articles as what I publish on Substack, but not all. I’m up to 122 subscribers and it’s growing steadily. This is a different audience of people and another segment of folks who are potential book readers.
4. Because my goal is to publish my own books, I set up a DBA (doing business as) and named it Pinehurst Press. I used Canva to create a very simple logo of a pine tree. Easy peasy.
5. I purchased Vellum software to format my books. It costs about $250, but it can be used for all the future books I plan to publish. It also converts your file into many formats, especially EPUB3, which is compliant with the European Accessibility Act (effective June 28, 2025). You can read more about that on Michelle Buck’s post.
6. I hired a talented book cover designer. Over the years, I’ve worked with Stephany Janaky in Colorado Springs to design logos and book covers. Having a local graphic designer I can count on who is affordable and does good work has been a real blessing. People who know about books say not to skimp on the covers.
7. I bought a great book. It’s entitled, Write Useful Books: A modern approach to designing and refining recommendable nonfiction by Rob Fitzpatrick. I finished it in one day and I can’t recommend it enough!
8. Last month, I published The Camp Book on Amazon with my 93-year old Mother. The book is about my mother’s growing up years at a cabin her father built in the 1940’s. I first interviewed her on video, transcribed her stories, included input from my siblings and me, friends and cousins, then put it all together in a book. While it was originally intended just for family, other people are now enjoying stories of simpler days and cabin life in the woods of Upstate New York.

How to Create Multiple Projects

Since I’ve always wanted to write books, I’m going all in. Some would say I’ve succumbed to the “Shiny Object Syndrome,” but I believe these projects are all important. And I plan to be around for a while, so I need to stay busy!

So, here are the six books I’m working on:

1. The CARLA Concept: How to Speak Up, Stop Rambling and Prove Your Point in 5 Simple Steps. This is a revised and expanded version of a handbook I published years ago after creating my CARLA Concept Communication Model. It has a new title and will have lots of interviews with people who have used the CARLA Concept Model.
2. Personal Horsepower (working title). A collection of stories and strategies from LauraLollar.com about professional growth, leadership, communication and personal success. Converting blog articles from your website is a great way to build the bones of a book.
3. Layoff First Aid. Tips and how-to’s for those who have gone through a layoff or who want to change jobs or careers. Based on a recorded class I held years ago, I’m expanding and updating the content. If you’ve ever delivered a seminar and someone has recorded it, you may have enough content to draft your first book.
4. Cabin Mama Stories. This is a collection of stories from my humor blog, CabinMama.com about life in a cabin, critters, married life and outdoors adventures. Again, blog articles will form the basis for my humor book.
5. A Farmer’s Family (working title). This is a book about my grandparents who raised ten children on a truck farm near Rochester, New York. Family members have already given me stories from their youth with permission to use in this book.
6. And finally, a book about my Mom and Dad and their life together raising six children — presently untitled. I’ve been recording my parents over the years and will soon prod my siblings to submit their stories as well.

I haven’t even considered the traditionally published track, because I’ve already tasted the fruits of being an independent publisher. I’m sold on it for reasons I’ve outlined below.

6 Reasons Why I Publish Independently

1. First, I don’t have a lot of patience. I’d rather not wait years for a traditionally published book to come out on the market. And finding an agent, then a publisher for your book is a time-intensive process.
2. We must market our book ourselves one way or the other. Even if you have a publisher, their marketing attention and money is limited, unless you’re a big name. And nobody can market your book better than you can — it’s your baby.
3. I am a control freak. I want a say-so over the book cover design, pricing, how it’s marketed and the content. Other than engaging beta readers (see below) and editors, I’m invested in writing a book that reflects my personality and voice. Selfish, I know.
4. If I want to revise the book, I don’t want to have to go through a six-person committee to do it or try to buy the rights back.
5. Independently published books are more popular than ever. Self-published titles have more than doubled over the past decade. And the numbers of traditionally published books have dropped. Perhaps it’s because the culture has shifted and people want a broader variety of books to read. Maybe it’s because the talent big New York publishing houses overlooked have found another way to reach readers.
6. We can more easily connect with our readers. This article states, “…self-published authors are able to form closer, more reader-pleasing relationships with their audience…the secret sauce of these ‘superior author-reader relationships’ is greater control. With more power over their ‘pricing, promotion, and distribution,’ indie authors are finding they can connect with their audiences ‘faster, and more profitably.’”

Help is Available

Anyone can write a book. Most of us have a story lurking somewhere within our family, career, community, church, school, life experiences or relationships. The trick is to be sure you can maintain your enthusiasm long enough to sustain writing the entire book.

There’s a tremendous amount of help available to help you launch your book or writing career. I can recommend AuthorMedia.com with Thomas Umstattd Jr. who “…helps authors build their platforms, sell more books and change the world with writing worth talking about.”

Finally, if you have been pondering the benefits of writing a book, I encourage you to pursue it. There are few things more satisfying than seeing a stack of books with your name on it and your creative talent emanating from within the cover!

In Closing, I Need Your Help

In the months to come, I’ll be looking for “beta readers” for The CARLA Concept, Layoff First Aid and Cabin Mama Stories. After they read the book(s), they’ll hopefully provide feedback on their experience to help me make those books as good as humanly possible!

So, if you’re interested in being a beta reader, please send me an email and name the book(s) you’d like to read. I value your time and effort to help me with this important process.

Warmly, Laura