I published my first blog post back in August 2012, nearly six years ago. I have warm memories of waking up at 5am to go down to Common Ground Coffee House to do my art. Eventually I wrote a manifesto, Do Your Art, daring and equipping others to do the same. Click here to check it out.
My blog’s original tagline was “Reflections on Writing, Publishing, Life, and Creativity,” which eventually morphed into “Find Your Voice. Do Your Art.” Now it’s “Helping Writers Get Their Books into the World.”
The tagline’s evolution is reflective of my developing understanding of my calling. I’m here to help writers build platforms and write books and navigate the publishing world—to help them “make a ruckus,” as Seth Godin recently encouraged me to do.
My last post gave five reasons I loved working at Baker Publishing Group. Now I’d like to take stock of what’s ahead. So, without further ado, following are five reasons I’m beyond excited to begin my journey as a full-time writing coach.
1. Books!
I’m passionate about helping more people get their books into the world. One of the drawbacks of working in the traditional publishing world is I had to say no even when I thought some coaching could reverse that no into a yes. Often I just didn’t have the bandwidth to do the coaching.
Now I get to say a gigantic YES to just about anyone who wants to make progress toward their goal of getting a book in the world. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not interested in crappy books, and neither is the marketplace. But you’re not interested in that either, so let’s do this thing! Through resources like BookCamp (stay tuned!), Book Proposal Academy, and coaching I get to help more and more people make this dream come true.
2. More Writing!
Some of my happiest moments are when I’m doing what I’m doing right now, sitting at a keyboard tapping out my musings, doing my best to serve readers. I love it, and I’m excited to do more of it.
3. Live Events!
Imagine getting away to a beautiful location to make hay on that project you’ve been struggling to finish.
Imagine being in the company of fellow writers who can help you expand your influence and improve your writing.
Imagine meeting at a B&B with a small group of people to mastermind book proposals together.
Imagine yoga in the morning, powerful talks during the day, and friendly conversation at night.
These are the dreams I’m having, and I hope some of you are as excited as I am to make them happen!
4. Partnerships!
Just in this first couple weeks of full-time self-employment I’ve had some amazing conversations with people I deeply admire. I’ve begun partnering with some of them already, and it’s just an enormous blessing to me. These are my heroes, and now I get to collaborate with them!
5. Greater Joy!
Recently I was talking with Jeff Goins about the importance of gratitude. We both acknowledged that sometimes we get so caught up in the next thing we have to accomplish, we forget to enjoy the journey. But these days I’m constantly pinching myself. Is this really my life? To be living out my purpose and helping writers do the same—wow!
Bonus: Casual Wardrobe!
I was getting pretty tired of button-down shirts and khakis. I’ll dress professionally when the occasion calls for it, but otherwise, picture me in shorts or jeans and a T-shirt or hoodie. Now we’re talking!
One Last Thing . . .
Earlier this week I sent emails to ten people who have made a huge impact on me and helped me make this transition. If I could, I’d send a personalized email to each of you who read this blog or have purchased one of my products or sent me an encouraging note. This whole thing is only possible because of this community. All I can do is say thank you. That seems too small in light of what you’ve given me, but it’s what I have. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I’ll do my best to honor your attention, to serve you as well as I possibly can.
OK. Enough musing about what I’m going to do. It’s time to do it.
Question: I’m curious, what do you feel called to do? It might be related to a book or blog or podcast or a particular audience you want to serve. I’d love to hear about it. You can leave a comment by clicking here.
Congratulations, Chad! I’m so excited for you, my friend! And I’m looking forward to scheduling some fresh coffee and conversation in the near future. #YouRock ???
That is awesome! When I think about my future, especially post SAHM, I always imagine that it is a life full of books and mentoring. I look forward to watching your story unfold!
Faith, thank you! I hope my journey is useful to you. Thanks for taking the time to comment!
Congratulations Chad! Onward and forward to your next adventure. Happy to be part of your coaching community, learn from and be nudged by you, and I share your excitement. Best to you!
Very thankful you’re helping me as my coach, @chadrallen:disqus! It’s been a huge blessing in my life and I’m glad you get to now help others as well. One of the best decisions i’ve made in the past 20 years was signing-up to get coached by you – no exaggeration!
Your journey is an exciting one, Chad! I’m so happy that you’re making this leap. 🙂 I’m called to help people become savvier, more confident, more powerful communicators. And every year that I work at this, I gain clarity on this mission. It’s not just about teaching people how to speak well, it’s about helping create a more information literate society, help people do better with the words they say and help them better evaluate the messages they hear. Speaking (via keynotes, workshops, and video content) and coaching are two of the modes I use to do this. The third mode – and a hugely important one – is via my writing. I was blessed to have my first book opportunity fall into my lap, but am now getting the next book off the ground and bring it into the world. And you’ve been a huge help in that process…even though it’s still in it’s infancy stages. Guess what I’ll be cracking down on this summer?
Thanks for all you do,
Lauren
Awesome Chad! I have watched you take this journey and so inspired by your ability to set a goal and stick it out. A lot of lives (a lot more) will be changed because you decided to go full ahead to serve others in their career to bring their writing to life!
Chad, I am so excited for you! I wish I knew the answer to the question. Our succession plan at the church has been wildly successful. I step down 8/15/18. Jan and I are waiting on the Lord for His next vocational calling. I am wondering how writing might play a part. Thanks for posting and following your dream. You encourage me!
Your musings remind me of Jason Gray’s song, “Good to Be Alive.”
I’ll try to keep up and follow you through this blog/your email updates.
I hope to continue the development of Christian ministry titled Shepherd’s Heart Chaplaincy “To inspire the compassionate presence of the ministry, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ through the Pastoral Care of Christian Practices for Veterans, Bereaved Men, Crime Victims, and Those Near Death.” I hope my first book Be There: How to Embrace Compassinate Presence with Those Near Death will be a catalyst for this ministry journey.
I’ve just started my journey to become a children’s book author this year. I took a manuscript writing/revision class this spring with Storytelleracademy.com and I have at least one completed manuscript from that class. I’ve also started writing the first draft for a Christian young reader fantasy novel. I have my degree in art so the writing feels like a whole new challenge. I feel the story is inspired though so that motivates me.
So my audience is children and my voice I want to have is fun and/or inspirational stories to care for animals and creation.
My next challenge is to find an agent and actually make an effort to get published.
Congratulations, this is such an exciting time for you!
The B&B meetups and casual wardrobe sound like a dream!
I have been considering coaching for my writing, maybe we can chat sometime.
I have already published two books but I need publicity. I was going to enter a writing competition with another book, but I cannot as it is for unpublished authors. The book I was going to enter is a detective story. I wrote a short story when I was on a writing course and since that, I have written a few more short stories. What I had intended to do was combine two of the stories, add a bit more and make a novel out of the stories. I already have a few people asking me when I will write the next story. I have also written a few plays and two of them I will be entering into competitions. So far, that is it.
1. Never underestimate the power of the work from home wardrobe.
2. My new calling is to create the most positive membership site for proactive women who want to navigate their 40s and beyond with power, wisdom, and grace.
Hi, Chad! Congratulations on your new adventure and casual wardrobe hehe! I feel called to keep writing but would love to branch out and do more. Perhaps a podcast or even a course of some type. I want people to realize their worth and value and why the world needs their God-given gifts and talents.
Love your enthusiasm! Excited to see what comes next.
Congratulations Chad, the world is lucky to benefit from your considerable talents. So looking forward to watching your new chapter unfold and all the goodness you have to share!
I’m so excited to see where your creativity takes you, Chad. And I’m happy to benefit!
Thank you, Andrea! You’ve played a big role in all this and will continue to do so no doubt! Blessings!