Latest / Mosaic Sparks with Lesley George / Stop Editing Yourself: How to Tell Your Story with Holly Totten

Transcript

Stop Editing Yourself: How to Tell Your Story with Holly Totten · Mosaic Sparks with Lesley George

• 0:01
  SPEAKER_01: What if the part of your story you kept editing out is the exact part someone else needs to hear?
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome, welcome back, sparklers, and welcome to Mosaic Sparks with me, your host, Leslie George.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_01: Last month I invited you to listen in on a conversation from another podcast where I had the opportunity to sit on the other side of the mic.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_01: Your response reminded me that these conversations belong here too.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_01: They give us another way to explore confidence, leadership, and the experience that shaped who we become.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_01: So today, I'm bringing you another special conversation.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_01: This time, I joined nonfiction book editor and writing coach Holly Totten on her podcast, The Edit.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_01: Holly and I began by talking about writing and publishing, but the conversation quickly opened the door to something much deeper.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_01: We explore why your story already has value, how editing yourself too early can silence your authentic voice, and why the experiences you consider ordinary may become a lifeline for someone else.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_01: The conversation was so rich that I'm sharing it with you in two different parts.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_01: In part one, we talked about finding the courage to tell your story, recognizing the power of your perspective, and understanding why your voice belongs in the rooms you enter.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_01: So, sparklers, your story carries wisdom, history, and evidence of how far you have come.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_01: Somewhere along the line, many of us learn to clean up our stories before allowing anyone to hear them.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_01: We removed the complicated chapters, softened the truth, and handed people the edited version.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_01: Some of us had been editing ourselves longer than Hottie Holly has been editing books.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_01: So today's conversation invite you to put down that red pen and listen differently.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_01: Get comfortable.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_01: Lean in.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_01: Here is part one of my conversation with Holly Totten on the edit.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_02: Come get the clothes, come feel the flame.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_02: Leslie George, remember the name.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_02: Island soul with a fearl spark.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_02: Truth speaks here and it leaves its mark.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_02: No dimming down, no brain small.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_02: Stepping strong and stand up tall.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_02: You walk in the boat, you move with grace.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_02: Mosaic sparks, come take your place.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_02: This is where brilliance learns to speak.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_00: Before we get started today, I want to let you know that this conversation is a little different from my usual episodes.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_00: When I sat down with today's guest, Leslie George, I expected we'd have a great conversation about writing and publishing.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_00: What I didn't expect was just how many directions this conversation would take us.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_00: We talked about confidence, authenticity, publishing, finding your voice, the responsibility that comes with sharing your story, and why protecting an author's voice matters just as much as correcting grammar.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_00: By the time we finished recording, we'd been talking for nearly an hour, and I realized there was no way I wanted to cut this conversation down just to fit it into one episode.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_00: So this is part one of our conversation.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_00: Today we're talking about confidence, authenticity, finding your voice, and why every writer has permission to share the story they've been given.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_00: Next week, we'll shift into the publishing side of the journey.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_00: What authors misunderstand about publishing, what publishers are really looking for, how to build a publishing team you can trust, and why your story is already worthy before anyone ever reads it.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_00: I think you'll find these two conversations really belong together.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_00: So let's dive in.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_00: Leslie George is a best-selling publisher, motivational speaker, confidence coach, and founder of Mosaic Inc.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_00: She helps women turn their stories, experiences, and expertise into influence, income, and impact.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_00: Through her work as an award-winning publisher and coach, she has helped authors become best-selling voices, guided women in showing up with greater confidence, and created spaces where people feel seen, heard, and reminded that their voice matters.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_00: And one thing that Leslie says is she believes every person has a story with power, a voice with purpose, and a message that can create movement when it is used with courage and clarity.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_00: If you've listened to the edit for any length of time, you probably already hear why I wanted Leslie on the show.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_00: We may come at this work from different angles.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_00: She is a publisher and confidence coach, and me as an editor and writing coach, but we share one belief completely.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_00: Your story matters, and your voice deserves to stay intact while you tell it.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_00: I think you're going to hear that thread woven throughout both parts of this conversation.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_00: Leslie, welcome to today's show.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_01: Holly, Holly, thank you so much for inviting me on your platform.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_01: As you know, I am such a big fan of the edit.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_01: I'm a big fan of you.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_01: And I just listened to your latest episode today.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_01: So thank you, thank you so much for being here.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, we are in similar spaces.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_01: As you mentioned, I'm an author and a publisher, and we'll talk about that a little bit later.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_01: But I so respect the work that you're doing and your platform that you have built here.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_01: So thank you for having me.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_00: You are welcome, Leslie, and thank you.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_00: And I am excited about today's conversation because I know the value that you bring to people, and I can't wait just to dive in.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_00: The first thing I think I would like to talk about, Leslie, before we go anywhere else, is your podcast.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_00: I want you to explain because you are currently building the success of your podcast to echo your message of the brag.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_00: Explain that because I love this.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_00: And then we will go on with more conversation.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_01: So thank you for for that question.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_01: So, yeah, currently billing my podcast, Mosaic Sparks with Leslie George, it has a little bit of different of a twist.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_01: So I take a lot of Disney stories and and and and kind of bring them into leadership, into confidence.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_01: But as you mentioned, the brag, the brag is an acronym.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_01: I am a military brat.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_01: So being a military brat, there's a lot of different acronyms in government and in military.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_01: So the brag is an acronym, and what it stands for is to be responsible for amplifying God's gifts.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_01: And simply that is you.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_01: So for you that's listening, when I hear women say that, oh, I don't mean to brag, but I've done this amazing thing.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_01: That's where that brag comes in.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_01: So that you don't need to preface, I don't mean to brag.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_01: You should brag because God has deposited these amazing skills, gifts, different things in you so that you can brag.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_01: And here's the thing brag has nothing to do with being arrogant.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_01: Brag is about you showing up in spaces and saying, I have been able to do this amazing thing because of the gifts of the talents that God has put in me.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_01: And what you're doing now is you're giving another person the courage and the confidence for them to do the same.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_01: And all we're doing is creating a ripple effect.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_01: You mentioned about impact to make income.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_01: It's always about impact.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_01: And for me, impact is about impacting one person.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, we want to impact the world, millions, thousands, but it has to start with one person.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_01: So with the brag, using that simple framework and keeping that top of mind that you are responsible for amplifying God's gifts.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_01: I said to my son some years ago, I said, you know, the way that I feel is that if I don't amplify what God has put inside of me, that's like saying he's made a mistake.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_01: And that's like giving God a slap in his face.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_01: That's literally how I feel.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_01: And so none of us should feel like that because he's equipped us with so many different things.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_01: So that's the brag.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_01: Be responsible for amplifying God's gifts, whatever that is.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_01: If you are an amazing housewife, you brag about that thing, you brag on your children, if you are amazing CEO, so it doesn't matter what it is, there's no cap on what it is.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_01: So that's the brag.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_00: And Leslie, that is so powerful because you are so right.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_00: We tend to skim over, water down, not say the things that we do.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_00: And it's our gifts that God gives us.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_00: You are exactly right.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_00: But we tend not to put those in the world because we don't want people to think we're bragging, which is arrogant.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, it's not the way you're describing it, but I love that you give us permission.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_00: So I think I'm going to coin the phrase to tell us about it because Leslie George says it is okay.
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_01: That's the movement.
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_00: That's the movement.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_01: I that's the movement for more people to feel confident about bragging on themselves.
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_01: That's the movement.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_00: That's awesome.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_00: I failed to mention the title of your podcast, and it's Mosaic Sparks or with Leslie George.
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_00: But your company overall, Leslie, is Mosaic Publishing.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_00: Correct.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_00: And the picture that comes to my mind when I hear the word mosaic is a modeled thing of just different pieces put together.
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_00: And I know that's part of your company, but why is this the perfect name for you and what you do?
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, oh, Holly, I absolutely love that question.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_01: Love that question.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_01: So when you think of a mosaic tile, first thing that comes to mind is beautiful bright colors, red, yellows, greens.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_01: And then you think of different textures.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_01: You think of different stones and sand and all these different things that come together, and you have this beautiful mosaic tile.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_01: And I tell people, mosaic is the perfect word for my company because I look at myself as a mosaic.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_01: And the reason why I say that is because I'm born in the Caribbean.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_01: My dad is from Greenwood, Mississippi.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_01: I've traveled all over the world.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_01: At one time, I spoke three different languages.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_01: I love culture, I love diversity.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_01: So, because of that, when I look at anything, business, publishing, my podcast, I'm always looking at it from a diverse lens.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_01: So mosaic is literally who I am.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_01: Just coming off of Caribbean American Heritage Month, where I did a different island every day for the month of June.
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_01: And that was absolutely amazing.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_01: Why?
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_01: Because, like I said, to brag, I mentioned in on every single live that I did.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_01: I'm a Caribbean-American woman, I'm from the island of Antigua, went down the list.
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_01: So many people joined in.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_01: Oh my goodness, I've been to what this island and tell me more, and just so many different things.
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_01: And so if I was not willing to move forward in who I am and what I represent, I would not be given all these thousands of people because my page has blown up, all these thousands of people permission for us to have this conversation about the Caribbean.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_01: So that's why it's so important.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_01: So I love that question.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_01: Mosaic is the name of the company, but Mosaic is who I am.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_01: Ever since I've been a child, I know I'm a walking mosaic.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_01: So thank you for that question, Holly.
• 14:01
  SPEAKER_00: There are so many layers to you.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_00: And I love that you explain that with the colors and the textures.
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_00: I because I see the colors, but the textures is the key.
• 14:13
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, the colors are beautiful, but I think textures are key because there's so many different layers to you.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_00: And from what I know of you, the different fronts that you bring for people, you can help them in so many different ways.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_00: And each one of those is a different texture.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_00: I love it.
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely love it.
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_01: Love it.
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_00: So, okay, so let's talk about your writing for a little bit because you are a best-selling author.
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_00: Want to know a little bit about your books, what you've written about, and then we're gonna talk a little bit about that writing process.
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_00: So the listeners can hear what it takes to do what you've done.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_00: Tell me a little bit about your writing.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_01: Awesome.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_01: Love it.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_01: So, kind of a weird author, because that's what people have told me.
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_01: My first book was a co-author book with eight women.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_01: The youngest woman at the time was under 30, and the oldest woman at the time was in her 70s.
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_01: And we're back to diversity and mosaic again, right?
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_01: Because that was that was just on purpose.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_02: That's true.
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_01: We did a co-author book and it launched on International Women's Day 2019.
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_01: And the publisher that I worked with had been in business for over 10 years.
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_01: I told her, I don't know anything about publishing.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_01: I don't, all I know is this is gonna be a best-selling book.
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_01: And the process that I kind of created at the time was I'm dealing with eight other women, different personalities.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_01: Two of them had abuse and foster care, one of them had a child at 15, and they said she will never amount to anything.
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_01: Just amazing stories.
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_01: And Holly, what I will tell you is all I gave was the title.
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_01: The title of the book is International Day of the Girl: A Walk in Your Life.
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_01: That was the title.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_01: Every woman came up with her own title and it blended so perfectly.
• 16:15
  SPEAKER_01: We had one that was about doubt, how she's gone through her life just constantly doubting herself.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_01: We had another one that became an attorney at 40 years.
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_01: Everybody told us she couldn't.
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, the stories were absolutely amazing.
• 16:29
  SPEAKER_01: So we had our book launch, and the night of the book launch, the publisher calls me and said, Are you sitting down?
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_01: And I said, Yeah, what's going on?
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_01: She said, I just checked the book hit number one.
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_01: We sold about 300 books that night.
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_01: Wow.
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_01: Here's the thing about that, Holly.
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_01: She had been in business for 10 years, never had a number one best-selling author.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_01: And I was her first.
• 16:53
  SPEAKER_01: Because when she said, Are you sitting down?
• 16:55
  SPEAKER_01: I said, Yeah.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_01: She says you were became a number one best-selling author.
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_01: I said, That's amazing.
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_01: And I said, What number am I?
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_01: She says, You're my first.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_01: I was like, My God.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_01: I'm perfect.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_01: Since then, she's this is eight years ago.
• 17:13
  SPEAKER_01: Since then, all of her authors have been best-selling authors because it's like a system that I kind of created.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_01: And she has a YouTube channel.
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_01: Anytime I get on her live, she will still say that to this day that I was first number one best-selling author.
• 17:31
  SPEAKER_01: So the process was absolutely amazing.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_01: I learned a lot.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_01: And then from that, the women in the book kept on saying, Leslie, you need to do this.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_01: I said, No, I don't need to do this.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_01: No, I want to do events, I want to speak, I don't need to do this.
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_01: Kept on and kept on.
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_01: People kept on coming to me about Leslie, you need to publish.
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_01: So that's how come I ended up in the publishing space.
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_01: Now, the second book that I did was another co-author book as well.
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_01: That one was International Day of the Girl, the Pandemic Edition.
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_01: And what that one was, it was during the pandemic of women coming together and sharing their stories of their feelings of how they were processing this pandemic.
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_01: Because the way that I looked at it is that this thing happened a hundred years ago.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_01: We don't know.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_01: Hopefully, we won't need to experience it again.
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_01: But families, their different generations have something tangible that their mom, their grandmother, great-great-great-great-grandmother wrote about the pandemic.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_01: So those were the two books, and they both became the best-selling best-selling books.
• 18:48
  SPEAKER_01: I've gone on to help probably about 55 women become best-selling authors.
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_01: Women have created businesses and different things from their books.
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_01: So it has been an incredible, incredible journey.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_00: It has been.
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_01: 2020, the book launch, 2019.
• 19:09
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, 2019.
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_01: March of 2019 was the first book launch.
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_00: So tell me about confidence in this role, Leslie.
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_00: How do you think these women's confidence or lack of it shows up when they're writing their chapters or their books, the people that you've worked with?
• 19:30
  SPEAKER_01: So I'll be honest and I'll say that in this publishing space, I have run into doctors, medical doctors, MDs, attorneys, the gamut in terms of profession.
• 19:50
  SPEAKER_01: And I don't have MD next to my name.
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_01: And I'll be honest, when the first MD approached me, I what do you call it?
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_01: Syndrome.
• 20:03
  SPEAKER_00: When you when impostor imposter syndrome.
• 20:07
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, okay, this is a medical doctor.
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_01: Like this person has gone to school for umpteen years and so forth, right?
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_01: And what I learned in the process of working with first-time authors is that you're coming to me because I know more than you.
• 20:29
  SPEAKER_01: You may be whatever it is that you're named judge, attorney, doesn't matter what your title is.
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_01: But I had to learn, so for me, I had to gain my confidence in my role as well.
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_01: And that's one of the things that I'm I always want, I never want to be the professor that knows everything.
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_01: I always want to be in the student role.
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_01: And so part of me being in the student role and absorbing this whole process working with women at different levels.
• 21:05
  SPEAKER_01: So, in terms of you mentioned about confidence, I had to realize that when these women are coming to me, I even had a marketing expert, has been a marketer for 25 years, top companies from Coca-Cola to ABC to you name the company.
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_01: But what I had to learn is they have not gone through this process.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_01: I have gone through this process over and over.
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_01: They're coming to me for me to help walk them through.
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_01: So, one of the things that I had to learn as I'm walking women through this process is we just gonna take this thing one step at a time.
• 21:45
  SPEAKER_01: And I love, I love your podcast because especially your last episode.
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_01: So the book is done now, what?
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_01: But before we even get to that, I want women to know that we're just gonna take this.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_01: Step at a time.
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_01: And some of the processes that I that I go through is I'll do a lot of body doubling where I'll just open a Zoom room and we'll be in a Zoom room for maybe about an hour, have some music on, and I'm there.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_01: And so that they are in a container where they're in the correct environment where they can now start to write.
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_01: One of the other things that I do, I also do memory joggers.
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_01: So from our conversations, there would be some things that I would be jotton down, and then I can now regurgitate that to you to help you with your writing.
• 22:35
  SPEAKER_01: It's very intentional to help women get through, get to the finish line.
• 22:41
  SPEAKER_01: And the first draft is so important for me to get that first draft.
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_01: And I love what you said about celebrating, and that is exactly what we do.
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_01: Just let's get to this first draft, and then we will work on the different things, and you're gonna get it back.
• 22:57
  SPEAKER_01: But at least you have come through, you've passed that hurdle.
• 23:01
  SPEAKER_01: Holly, I have met women that have written since 1998, but has not pushed a button to release it from themselves to give it to someone else.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_01: Like we've had consultations, oh, I'm ready to write my book, but they can't release it as yet.
• 23:19
  SPEAKER_01: And the material is written, right?
• 23:21
  SPEAKER_01: So there's so much, there's so much mind gymnastics that's going on there for you to actually release.
• 23:29
  SPEAKER_01: So for me, that guide, that coach that understands, and I think that because my very first project was working with eight women, I had eight different personalities.
• 23:42
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 23:42
  SPEAKER_01: So the fact that I had different personalities and I had to come up with a system that would work for everyone.
• 23:52
  SPEAKER_01: I had women tell me, Leslie, no, I'm not gonna do this.
• 23:56
  SPEAKER_01: And then I'll I'll let it breathe for probably about a week and I'll go back.
• 23:59
  SPEAKER_01: And I said, Yes, you are.
• 24:00
  SPEAKER_01: So working with those personalities on my first run really gave me a lot of education and confidence moving forward as I'm dealing with new authors.
• 24:13
  SPEAKER_01: So I hope I answer that question.
• 24:14
  SPEAKER_00: You did.
• 24:15
  SPEAKER_00: You answered it wonderfully, and it takes my mind in a little different direction than I thought I was gonna go.
• 24:20
  SPEAKER_00: But I have a question for you to follow up with that.
• 24:23
  SPEAKER_00: So you talked about you had you've had professionals in their fields writing and they come to you and they don't know your field.
• 24:34
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 24:35
  SPEAKER_00: But when people start writing, and really from what I've experienced, it doesn't matter what their background is.
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_00: They come to you with a story, they know their story better than anybody else in the world because it's their story, but they wrestle with being able to tell it and then write it down and then being able to let it go, just like you talked about the lady from 1998.
• 25:01
  SPEAKER_00: What is your perspective on that?
• 25:03
  SPEAKER_00: Why do you think we do that as people?
• 25:07
  SPEAKER_01: You made me think of something that actually happened in my first book.
• 25:11
  SPEAKER_01: So, in my first book, one of the ladies, after she wrote her chapter, before she turned it into me, she let her husband read it.
• 25:27
  SPEAKER_01: When we had the book launch, she came up to me and she said, Leslie, that was not my chapter.
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_01: I didn't know what was going on in the background.
• 25:35
  SPEAKER_01: She says that was not what I wanted to write about.
• 25:38
  SPEAKER_01: Wow.
• 25:38
  SPEAKER_01: So sorry, but now going forward, she and that person is divorced.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_01: But because of that process, I usually tell my authors about that.
• 25:50
  SPEAKER_01: So I tell my authors, this is your story.
• 25:55
  SPEAKER_01: It may involve other people, but it's your perspective, it's your story.
• 26:01
  SPEAKER_01: So let's just really and truly stay close to the vest as we're going through this.
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_01: You are gonna be tempted to have your husband, your sister, your whatever, but unless they are a professional editor, developmental editor, a publisher, unless they are any of those, do not, do not share with them.
• 26:26
  SPEAKER_01: And that has been successful since then.
• 26:29
  SPEAKER_01: I actually have one right now.
• 26:31
  SPEAKER_01: She's in Tennessee, she has an incredible story, and we talked about she said, Oh, Leslie, don't even worry, I don't have nothing to say to nobody.
• 26:38
  SPEAKER_01: I said, that's fine.
• 26:40
  SPEAKER_01: And I understand about marketing and all of that.
• 26:43
  SPEAKER_01: All of that comes later because we can we build in all those timelines, but the most important thing is to let go of that story, and that's what I tell them over and over when we meet.
• 26:55
  SPEAKER_01: I tell them, this is a partnership, this is a relay race.
• 26:59
  SPEAKER_01: I need you to hand off the baton on the first leg of the race.
• 27:05
  SPEAKER_01: After you finish the first leg, then we can continue with, but I need you.
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_01: So for me, I really and truly stress how important it is that I need them.
• 27:17
  SPEAKER_01: Now, whatever we do, the different tactics that we may do to get to that story, but I need them.
• 27:24
  SPEAKER_01: They need it to be authentically you because written this book and it's gone through the process, and and I send you your your draft so you could take a look at what it looks like, and then you're holding it in your hand, get the real copy.
• 27:41
  SPEAKER_01: Like, there's no feeling like that.
• 27:44
  SPEAKER_01: And so you need to be proud of what you have produced.
• 27:48
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm gonna take it a step further.
• 27:50
  SPEAKER_01: In the world of AI, I hear, I see all this stuff on AI, do this book quick, and I just kind of chuckle because in the world of AI, yeah, you could do a book in, I don't know, in maybe 24 hours or whatever.
• 28:04
  SPEAKER_01: But how authentic is that?
• 28:06
  SPEAKER_01: And really and truly, how are you really gonna feel about that book?
• 28:12
  SPEAKER_01: So that's the other part to it as well.
• 28:14
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm not saying that maybe AI can't help you with your outlines and different things, but that story needs to come from you.
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_00: I agree.
• 28:23
  SPEAKER_00: I think there's a place for AI, research, things like that, but there is no way that AI can keep you your voice authentic to your writing.
• 28:35
  SPEAKER_00: And that's something that I've heard you just in this conversation, Leslie mentioned over and over and over is talking about your voice and your authenticity.
• 28:45
  SPEAKER_00: And obviously that's something that I care about deeply as well.
• 28:49
  SPEAKER_00: So what does an authentic writing voice actually sound like to you?
• 28:59
  SPEAKER_01: The way you speak, and that's why it's important for us to have a few calls because I don't usually know my authors, they're brand new authors, they're brand new clients to me.
• 29:10
  SPEAKER_01: So that's why it's important for us to have a few conversations.
• 29:15
  SPEAKER_01: If you are on social media, I do some social media research as well because I want to make sure that as I put that mosaic publishing seal on that book, I know that this is a book that is authentic to who this person says that they are, and they feel proud about what they have, what we've produced together.
• 29:40
  SPEAKER_01: That's one of the things I use the word produce because this is what I tell my clients all the time is that this is your book.
• 29:50
  SPEAKER_01: I just kind of help you in the back end.
• 29:53
  SPEAKER_01: You know what I mean?
• 29:54
  SPEAKER_01: The book will say produce by Mosaic Publishing.
• 29:58
  SPEAKER_01: This is your book, this is your book.
• 30:00
  SPEAKER_01: And the other key, which a lot of people tell me I'm kind of silly about that, but I don't really care.
• 30:06
  SPEAKER_01: I don't hold any royalties to people's books.
• 30:11
  SPEAKER_01: You pay me to help produce this book.
• 30:15
  SPEAKER_01: Once we are done and we've gotten to what you want, 100%.
• 30:22
  SPEAKER_01: Every dollar that's from that book is yours.
• 30:25
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not taking any percentage.
• 30:27
  SPEAKER_01: Why?
• 30:28
  SPEAKER_01: Because I did experience that myself.
• 30:30
  SPEAKER_01: I experienced that I was told it's gonna be what is it, 70-30 split, and okay, I did my calculation, and then yeah, it's a 70-30 split from Amazon, but then out of the 70, there's another 30 split out of that.
• 30:49
  SPEAKER_01: I don't want to be no part of that.
• 30:50
  SPEAKER_01: I don't want to be no part of that, and that's one thing that I make sure that I tell my potential clients when we meet.
• 30:57
  SPEAKER_01: So this is your this is your thing.
• 31:00
  SPEAKER_01: I'm so proud of.
• 31:02
  SPEAKER_01: I have an author that her very first book was 2021, I believe that was her first book.
• 31:09
  SPEAKER_01: This lady has gone on to do like eight books, Holly.
• 31:13
  SPEAKER_01: Three children's books.
• 31:15
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, and she is a licensed mental health something.
• 31:20
  SPEAKER_01: She lives in California, and she has gone on to just do some amazing things.
• 31:26
  SPEAKER_01: Another one of my authors we met in 2020.
• 31:31
  SPEAKER_01: She has a television show in Tennessee, and I mean, just some amazing things that I am so grateful to just be a part of the story.
• 31:43
  SPEAKER_01: You mentioned what does authentic voice mean?
• 31:47
  SPEAKER_01: Authentic voice means that based on your book, you can go on to have a television show in Tennessee.
• 31:54
  SPEAKER_01: Authentic voice means you can duplicate that over and over and over, even in a children's book.
• 32:00
  SPEAKER_01: Authentic voice means you can get up on stage and speak anywhere in the world.
• 32:06
  SPEAKER_01: That's what authentic voice means.
• 32:08
  SPEAKER_01: So, yeah, there's AI, there's all these different things, but authentic voice means you can get up anywhere, you can replicate that thing, you can do that thing over and over anywhere, because that is your voice.
• 32:23
  SPEAKER_00: That is you.
• 32:25
  SPEAKER_00: I agree 150% with that.
• 32:28
  SPEAKER_00: When I'm working with an author, I tell them and they'll they'll come back and they'll say, Oh, I'm never gonna be a speaker.
• 32:34
  SPEAKER_00: And I tell them, you know, sometimes when we say never, God makes it happen.
• 32:39
  SPEAKER_00: So you have to be careful.
• 32:41
  SPEAKER_00: But when you write something, this is what I tell my authors, whether you're getting on a stage and speaking, or you have a great grandchild or a great great grandchild somewhere down the line, and anything in between that picks up that book, you want to make sure it sounds like and because you're leaving a legacy when you write, you're paving a pathway to speak on a stage.
• 33:08
  SPEAKER_00: One of the worst things that I can think of that could happen with an author is to have their voice edited out or use AI to write their book and they go somewhere to speak from people that have read their book, and then they get up on stage and people are looking at them like, I don't know who you are.
• 33:27
  SPEAKER_00: This is not what I read.
• 33:28
  SPEAKER_00: And it happens.
• 33:29
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, you know, it does happen.
• 33:31
  SPEAKER_00: So that voice, just being able to share your story and be true to yourself is just such a it's such a big thing.
• 33:40
  SPEAKER_00: It's a passion of yours, it's a passion of mine.
• 33:42
  SPEAKER_00: I love that we share that in common.
• 33:45
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, it's priceless.
• 33:46
  SPEAKER_01: One of the things I wanted to mention as well, I was in a network marketing company, this probably almost 20 years ago.
• 33:54
  SPEAKER_01: And I remember that some of the top guys would repeat the same story over and over and over.
• 34:03
  SPEAKER_01: And even now, 20 years later, Holly, they still repeat their origin story into the company.
• 34:10
  SPEAKER_01: And every time I see that, I smile.
• 34:13
  SPEAKER_01: And the reason why I smile, we're talking about authenticity.
• 34:17
  SPEAKER_01: That's their story that they've been repeating for 20 years.
• 34:22
  SPEAKER_01: A lot of times we think that we need to change up something or do something different, but people, that's your story, right?
• 34:30
  SPEAKER_01: Oprah Winfrey's story, we know her story.
• 34:33
  SPEAKER_01: You can say everybody has a story, so it has to be authentic and unique to you that you can repeat, rinse, and repeat this thing over and over for 20, 30, 40 years.
• 34:46
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's a great point.
• 34:49
  SPEAKER_00: And Leslie, when we tell our stories authentically, they are the same today as they are tomorrow, as they are 40 years from now or 150 years from now.
• 35:05
  SPEAKER_00: Before we wrap up today's episode, I want to tell you this conversation with Leslie was so rich that there was simply no way I could fit it into one episode.
• 35:17
  SPEAKER_00: Next week, we're picking up right where we left off, but we're going even deeper.
• 35:23
  SPEAKER_00: We're going to talk about what authors often misunderstand about publishing, why so many writers question whether their stories are worthy, how to build a publishing team you can trust, and why the stories we choose to share today become the legacy we leave tomorrow.
• 35:43
  SPEAKER_00: There's one part of our conversation where Leslie shares a childhood experience that completely changed the way she works with writers today.
• 35:52
  SPEAKER_00: It's powerful, it's personal, and I think it's something every writer needs to hear.
• 35:59
  SPEAKER_00: We'll also talk about what makes a manuscript truly connect with readers, why protecting an author's voice matters at every stage of the publishing process, and why your story may be more important than you think.
• 36:14
  SPEAKER_00: So if today's conversation encouraged you, don't miss part two next week.
• 36:20
  SPEAKER_00: Until then, remember, your story without your voice is only words.
• 36:27
  SPEAKER_00: I'll see you next time on the edit.
• 36:30
  SPEAKER_00: This is Holly, and I'm out.