Blisscraft Life With Christina Katz

My long-time students are total pros. They polish their work until it shines and then they polish it some more and sell it again. Writers who work with me understand professional grace under pressure and they practice it until they master it.

My students get paid to write nonfiction and they work their way up the published ranks. They eventually publish e-books and build their own publishing imprints. Some go on to get traditional book deals. Many of these women also self-publish and establish their name as a known brand of quality.

I also offer inexpensive learning opportunities for writers of every stripe that produce big career results. Two easy-learning opportunities I have launched so far include the 21 Moments Writing Challenge and Platform Bingo.

In the meantime, I write books, e-books, articles, columns, blog posts, and build my name as my own quality brand. In other words, I practice what I preach. I write, I coach, and I teach.

This is my writing life. The kind of work that combines creativity with care, skills with service, and endurance with consistency. If you are looking for these qualities (or even if you didn’t know you were looking for them), I would love to work with you to help you build solid career skills that will help you prosper in our rapidly changing economy.

Here are my August 2013 offerings:

Updated & Improved Dream Teams Begin August 1st For Five Months

Updated & Improved Classes Begin August 21st-23rd For Six Weeks

NEW! Platform Bingo Begins August 15th

Now With Four Levels! 21 Moments Writing Challenge Begins September 1st

I recognize that you have a choice in who you work with as a writing coach and I want you to know that I am committed to total professionalism and steady, lasting career growth every step of the way.

Whether you choose work with me or not, I hope you won’t settle for anything less than an instructor or coach who is invested in your personal success.

I hope to work with you starting in August!

One of the common refrains I am hearing this summer from my extremely productive students is, “Oh no, I’m not getting nearly as much writing done this summer as I did all year.”

Since many of my students are moms, and kids (and sometimes spouses) are home for the summer, this is not surprising.

I think they expect me to come at them, as I often do, with productivity tips. But instead I’m more inclined to say, “Let it go and enjoy the change of pace.”

Writing career growth is a spiral, not a sprint. And if you don’t allow yourself some time for your fields to run fallow, if you are always a slave to your to-do list, your nervous system is not going to reset itself in preparation for more growth.

The trick to growing your career is to learn new habits and apply them, while still applying the habits that you already have in your toolbox. But you don’t want your writing career to turn into slavish monotony.

So go ahead and read that trashy novel this summer. Buy fluffy magazines and flip through them on the beach. (You might be able to pick up lightly used magazines at your local book reseller for next to nothing.) If you usually read a lot of nonfiction, read some fiction. If you usually read fiction, read some nonfiction.

If you are always online, get offline. Take a break from compulsive social networking and rework your goals and dreams for the upcoming year. Remember who is in charge of your writing career success, and refine your vision of your hopes and dreams for your writing.

Summer is a great time to celebrate all that you have already accomplished, organize it, display it, and prepare for a whole new cycle of creative career growth.

But you won’t benefit from a break if you don’t take it.

Of course there is nothing wrong with working in the summer. Most successful entrepreneurs do not take the entire summer off. In fact, most successful entrepreneurs work more than folks with jobs.

However, recognize that summer is the time when you are supposed to take a step back and evaluate your progress thus far. Not the time to obsess and worry about all the ways you are not keeping up the intense pace from the rest of the year.

Working too much can become an addiction. You don’t want your creative work to become a compulsion and it’s not good for your career if it does. People who overwork are prone to illness. They also have trouble thinking for themselves because they don’t unplug from the group mind, which is more powerful than you may realize.

I support writing career success, but I also support work-family balance and individual happiness.

So, listen up—it’s summer. Step back a bit and smell the flowers. Take that walk on the beach. Try doing nothing. Cut back on your work schedule if you can and see what you notice when you do work.

I bet you will miss writing and that’s a good thing. I bet you will have fresh ideas you might not have had. I bet your long-term goals will start to come into focus in a way they might not have if you didn’t take a break.

Summer is not endless, it’s fleeting. Enjoy it. And come back to the keyboard refreshed.

If you like what you’ve read here, be sure to sign up for The Prosperous Writer ezine to claim your free gift and qualify for exclusive discounts on Christina Katz products.

Platform Bingo is an idea I have been developing for a long time, and I am thrilled that it is finally time to launch it.

You know how writers know they need to develop platform skills but the whole concept can seem so complex and overwhelming that it makes it hard to even take the first step?

Well, Platform Bingo With Christina Katz makes platform development fun, expansive, and educational again.

Because platform development is not just about what others see when they look at your work, it is also about what you feel when you look back at your work thus far and what you get excited about when you think about next steps.

After all, if your work in the world is not personally enriching to you, then what’s the point?

And you can’t learn about platform by following somebody else’s formula. If you do, your work is going to feel rote and seem trite to you and to others.

So if you know you should work on your online platform, but you feel intimidated, uninspired, or stuck, stop making it such a big job. Platform Bingo will get you unstuck and on track.

This brand-new 24-day platform challenge will help any writer prepare for, create, and sustain a clear, recognizable online presence twenty-four short lessons at a time. You are allowed to take time to work on your platform. In fact, nothing will happen until you make the time.

The challenge is broken down into monthly levels. The first challenge is for those who are either just getting started with their first platform or for those who need to update the platform content they already have.

Either way, Platform Bingo With Christina Katz will help you get the job done happily and with personal satisfaction. And unlike other platform programs that cost a fortune and  cover so much material that you could never even make a dent in all that work in the allotted time, Platform Bingo is designed to give you a challenge a day that you can actually finish in one day’s time. Just work at each challenge a little bit here and there throughout your day, and you’ll get the job done.

Sign up for the beta launch of Platform Bingo and put the last month of summer to constructive, inspiring use. I guarantee, if you do all 24 platform exercises, you’ll fall in love with your writing career all over again—regardless of what anyone else is doing (or not doing) out there.

By tackling manageable platform challenges one day at a time, you can get the work done that goes into the creation of a successful, sustainable writer platform. And you will get better quality work done thanks to experienced guidance from Christina Katz. All for only $24 per challenge.

So, what are you waiting for?

Put your most-up-to-date platform forward. Sign up today for the August 15^th launch of Platform Bingo With Christina Katz: Level One!

Why pay more for platform instruction? Register Now for the August 15th launch and you’ll get instructional e-mails delivered straight to your inbox for 24 days in a row starting on August 15th.

And if you miss a day here or there, you can always catch up. None of the assignments are so difficult that you could not do a few all in one day, as needed.

Questions? See the FAQs below.

FAQs:

I already do the 21 Moments Writing Challenges and I was excited to move up to the next level in September. Can I do both challenges?

Yes, you can. Both challenges are designed to be small enough to fit into an already busy day. Therefore, you could conceivably tackle one challenge in the early part of the day and the other in the later part of the day. And it’s good practice to work on both at the same time, too, since this is what most published authors do all the time.

Can I skip level one and sign up for level two the next month?

Nope. You must take Level One to proceed to Level Two, just like the 21 Moments Writing Challenge. Each level builds on the skills learned in the level before, in this case.

But I already read Get Know, Discover Your Platform Potential, and took Discover Your Specialty & Launch Your Platform. Do I still need to start at Level One?

Yup. And you won’t be sorry. Platform development is an evolution that lasts as long as your writing career does. You are not the writer you were yesterday. Let’s get your platform refreshed and up to date. Since it’s so inexpensive to take the challenge, you may as well.

And if you’ve never read any of my work on platform development, that’s fine too. The challenge includes everything you need to know and offers daily assignments.

What if I just want to write and I don’t want to work on a platform?

Well, you’ll be invisible to the millions of folks who spend considerable time online and you will miss out on the important lessons to be gained from the process of working on your platform. Platform building creates a feedback loop. It encourages you to connect and network with others who can assist you in reaching your goals. And even writers who are shy in real life can perform platform work gradually over time and gain confidence and connections from doing it.

I’m in a writing group and we are always saying we should work on our platforms together. Can we use this challenge as a group?

Sure you can. All I ask is that each member of the group sign up individually. You are then free to share your journey with each other and troubleshoot and consult amongst yourselves.

More questions?

Feel free to e-mail me at christina at christina katz dot com.

I hope you can join us for the fun and expansive writing career boot camp!

I am revolutionizing writing, authorhood, and publishing one writer at a time.

It’s slow, patient work, kind of like the slow food movement. But I love it and it’s worth it. And I am not going to stop until I am done.

I can see the payoff in the abundant success of the writers I coach who have not just followed my advice once and then scurried on to find a new shortcut, but who have followed my advice and then repeated it over and over, even as they have added new skills.

Careers are not built on what gimmick you are going to try next.

Careers are built on the quality of the work you have already done. And then you add more quality work to that and you create a career based on quality, not hype, or dancing as fast as you can.

In the end, writing career success is quiet, heartfelt work. It’s much more like chop wood, carry water than the media would like us to believe.

We writers have to be smarter than our sources. We have to dig deep consistently if we want to create lasting, positive, prosperous careers.

Here’s some advice and inspiration to help you on your way:

24 Little Things That Mean A Lot In Any Business

I Teach Writers How To Turn Potential Into Action

Empowering Writers: Think Twice Before You Take That Ghost Gig

Ten Reasons To Read The Writer’s Workout

28 Things You Must Have To Succeed In Publishing

Constant Contact: One Of The Best Career Investments I’ve Made

Authors, What’s At The Center Of Your Writing Career?

Authors, How Will You Multi-spoke What’s At The Center Of Your Career?

Writer’s & Authors: What Does Your Audience Already Thank You For?

Writing Career Exercise: List Ten Verbs That Describe How You Spend Your Worktime

The Future Of Publishing Looks Like Infinite Creativity & Prosperity To Me

The Seasons Of A Writing Career: Where Are You?

Writing Joy = Discover Your Own Worth & Work It

Ready to write?

Ready to grow a body of work?

Ready to make the most of what you have to offer?

Check out my upcoming classes. Next round begins on August 22nd.

Whether you have never been published and you’d like to publish your first clips or you have been published and you’d like to get your writing-for-publication groove back, here is a roundup of my best online writing advice.

I have helped hundreds of writers write their first articles, get published, and get published more often. Give these a read when your writing needs a boost.

One thing you can learn from me is how to see the possibilities that are right in front of you, start close to home, and build skills from there. Happy reading!

Compel Us: 19 Ways To Write Better

Tips For Practicing Writer Mamas Who Want To Get Published

Top Ten Questions About Breaking In As A Freelance Writer Answered

How To Ignore Interruptions And Get Your Work Done

Turn Off Your Monkey Mind And Get Back To Work

Use Article Writing To Discover What You Value

Writer Productivity: Seven Narrative Writing Tips For Nanowrimo Success

Memoir Writing Tips: How To Get Your Story On The Page

How To Never Ever Run Out Of Great Ideas

Even Writers Get Sophomore Slump, What To Do About It

Helping Mom Writers Transform Frustrations Into Published Writing Is What I Do

Ready to start writing? There are many ways I can help.

I am the author of Writer Mama, How To Raise A Writing Career Alongside Your Kids, which is widely considered one of the most helpful and timeless books for mom writer success. Learn More

I am also the author of the e-book Writing For Regional Parenting Publications For Fun & Profit. Because this e-book covers the beginning writing and selling steps for new mom writers, it is quickly becoming as popular as Writer Mama. Learn More

I offer the e-mail course, Writing & Publishing The Short Stuff, which begins August 21st. Take the course if you would like to stop making excuses and start creating and submitting publishable work.

I also offer two intermediate writing classes, 60 Ways To Flex Your Content & Prosper In Your Niche and Pitching Practice, Write Six Queries In Six Weeks.

I hope that my body of work for writers will help you write better so you can earn more money writing and getting your work consistently published!

Thinking about creating or improving your platform this fall?

I have helped hundreds of writers create solid and evolving writing platforms that increase professional credibility and profits.

One thing you will learn from me that you won’t learn from others is how to not waste your time, as you lay the groundwork for a creative and dynamic writer platform.

Here is some of my best work on the topic of writer platform:

Grow For It: Activate & Reactivate Your Perennial Platform Power, in the June issue of Pacific Northwest Writing Association’s Author Magazine.

Author Platform Redux: 10 Smartest Things I Ever Said About Author Platform from this blog

Nine Things To Clarify About Your Platform (this has two parts, part two is here)

50 Simple Ways To Build Your Platform in Five Minutes A Day is an article I wrote for Writer’s Digest Magazine

Elements of a Successful Fiction Platform is another article I wrote for Writer’s Digest Magazine.

Ready to get to work on your platform? There are many ways I can help!

I am the author of Get Known Before The Book Deal, Use Your Personal Strengths To Grow Your Author Platform from Writer’s Digest Book. Learn more.

I am also the author of the e-book, Discover Your Platform Potential, which is a hands-on workbook to accompany Get Known that will help you get started discovering and building your platform. Learn more.

And I offer the e-mail course, Discover Your Specialty & Launch Your Platform for folks who are ready to roll up their sleeves and get to work putting their best face forward in today’s marketplace.

Hope that my considerable body of work on writer platform will help inspire your writing career to greater heights!

Thank you in advance for spreading the word about my work. I appreciate your support.

~ Oak Tree by MunstiSue

This article appeared last month in The Prosperous Writer. Don’t miss the next article like this one, subscribe here.

Writers write. This is what we do. And in order to write, we need material.

And where is your best material hiding? It might just be right under your nose.

Before you head out into the world looking for that ever-elusive fountain of inspiration that is supposed to be out there, make sure you check your own back yard first.

A very wise little girl once said, “There’s no place like home.” And although far-away places can certainly thrill and inspire us, they make the greatest impressions on those who have practiced turning the everyday into the universal…right from home.

If you are creating an interesting life, you will never run out of inspiration.

Here are some ideas of where to look for topics that interest and inspire you close to home:

• The biggest problems in your life that you are trying to solve or resolve

• Your lemons into lemonade stories

• In the bookshelves where you collect your favorite books

• From topics you already like to read about

• Snippets of thoughts from everyday life that you jot on a pad or white board

• From keywords that you use to describe your audience

• From mixing and matching keywords you use to describe your audience

• By updating what you know about yourself to make a new story

• Inside the jar of coins you are saving up

• From the bills you have already paid

• Flowing from ideas you think you have finished writing about but have not yet finished writing about

• By what is created when you collect your old work and see it in a new way

• By zooming in on one subtopic or zooming out on the over-arching general topic

• By flipping through your portfolio and seeing what you’ve already done

• By digging through your tickler file and seeing what you have not done yet

• By looking around the house and seeing how you live

• By looking around the house and seeing how you’d like to live

• By sorting through your old photo albums and scrapbooks

• By creating new photo albums and scrapbooks

• By getting out of the house and going somewhere new

• By paying more attention to the interesting conversations you have

• From news stories that attract your attention today

• By predicting trends in the future

• From eavesdropping live or on social media

• By tapping into the Zeitgeist however you do that best

• After rearranging a room

• While redecorating a room

• By printing and posting questions around the house that help you come up with ideas

• By working with a therapist, coach or spiritual adviser

• By deepening the relationships closest to you

• By paying attention to every moment

• By doing a little research on topics you think might interest you

• By writing lists of ideas and continuing to update and add to them over time

• By thinking about what you already know how to do

• By thinking about what you don’t know how to do but would like to do

• By studying forms and playing around with them in your own writing

• By paying attention to your dreams

• From thinking about what you value most in life

• From thinking about what you’ve done so far

• From thinking about what you enjoy doing most lately

• From thinking about your hard-won expertise

• From thinking about ways you can serve

• By considering what moves you that you also think will move others

Leave no stone unturned…ever heard this expression?

This might just be the best writing career advice ever.

So much inspiration, so little time! Please subscribe to the Create, Share, Prosper Blog and sign up for The Prosperous Creative Newsletter for exclusive discounts you won’t find elsewhere. Click on the Enter School tab above to put your creativity to prosperous use right now. Join my monthly pep talk video series because all the other prosperous writers are doing it. Like words? Check out my Etsy shop. Thanks for reading and thanks for sharing this post with fellow creatives!

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