Latest / The Daily Writer / How to Talk About Yourself Through Your Author Bio & Branding | Lindsey Hughes

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How to Talk About Yourself Through Your Author Bio & Branding | Lindsey Hughes · The Daily Writer

0:06
SPEAKER_00: Hey friends, welcome back to the Profitable Writer Podcast.
0:09
SPEAKER_00: If you're new here, my name is Kent Sanders.
0:11
SPEAKER_00: I'm an author and a ghostwriter.
0:13
SPEAKER_00: And this is the show that helps you grow your impact and income as a writer.
0:18
SPEAKER_00: Well, as you well know, your primary job as a writer is to communicate.
0:22
SPEAKER_00: Most of us feel really comfortable communicating our ideas, our stories, and our other content in a variety of formats.
0:30
SPEAKER_00: And if you write for clients, you probably feel right at home when you write in their style or their voice.
0:37
SPEAKER_00: For some reason, though, a lot of writers struggle when it comes to communicating about themselves.
0:43
SPEAKER_00: And it's critical that we feel confident and assertive when it comes to talking about our work and our services and our value and how we can help other people and serve them through our writing.
0:53
SPEAKER_00: That's why I'm really excited to bring you this conversation with my friend Lindsay Hughes.
0:58
SPEAKER_00: Known as the Pitchmaster, Lindsay loves helping people discover their superpower, create compelling content, and feel excited about pitching and networking.
1:09
SPEAKER_00: She teaches how to pitch like a boss, network like a VIP, and write like an Oscar winner.
1:15
SPEAKER_00: In her wide-ranging career as a Hollywood development executive, Lindsay has worked in everything from feature films, TV movies and TV series to animation and live action.
1:26
SPEAKER_00: She began her career reading scripts for Robert Zemeckis and Catherine Bigelow, worked under Michael Eisner at Walt Disney Feature Animation, and developed projects for John H.
1:36
SPEAKER_00: Williams, producer of the Billion Dollar Shrek franchise.
1:40
SPEAKER_00: Well, those are a few names that you probably know if you know anything about movies.
1:45
SPEAKER_00: You can connect with Lindsay at her website, which is thePitchmaster.com, or you can also subscribe to her weekly newsletter for actionable creativity and career tips.
1:56
SPEAKER_00: In today's conversation, Lindsay and I talk about ways that we can improve our author bio, our branding, and various other means that we use to communicate to people how we can serve them.
2:06
SPEAKER_00: And this episode is going to be really valuable to every writer who wants to create more value for their ideas and services.
2:13
SPEAKER_00: And of course, that includes you and me as well.
2:16
SPEAKER_00: Lindsay is full of energy and tons of really cool insights.
2:19
SPEAKER_00: And you're going to come away from this episode with lots of good ideas to boost your business profile.
2:24
SPEAKER_00: So here's my conversation with the brilliant Lindsay Hughes.
2:28
SPEAKER_00: Lindsay, welcome to the show.
2:29
SPEAKER_00: I'm so excited to talk with you.
2:31
SPEAKER_00: We've got a really cool topic here today, but before I get into that, um now I know listeners just heard me share a bio of yours, but um just so we have a really complete picture of what it is that you do, maybe give us a sense of your background and how it is that you help people and um kind of your background with storytelling and writing and business and whatever you want to share with us.
2:52
SPEAKER_01: Okay, thank you.
2:54
SPEAKER_01: So I call myself a story geek because my whole life I've loved story in all its forms.
3:00
SPEAKER_01: I've been a voracious reader.
3:02
SPEAKER_01: I'm a big movie fan.
3:04
SPEAKER_01: I love TV also, although I came to TV a little later.
3:08
SPEAKER_01: Um and I, when I was younger, I thought I wanted to write children's books.
3:14
SPEAKER_01: And as I got older, I discovered what the actual jobs were in the movie industry.
3:20
SPEAKER_01: And I became really interested in being a producer because a producer doesn't just come up with the story, they put together the team, they shape the story, and then they shape the look and feel of the whole film from beginning to end.
3:35
SPEAKER_01: And so I went out to Los Angeles uh to be an action movie producer.
3:41
SPEAKER_01: I wanted to be the next Gail Ann Heard, who she produced the first two Terminator movies.
3:47
SPEAKER_01: And I threw a series of events, as we like to say in storytelling, I ended up working in kids' entertainment, mainly in animation, and I found my happy place.
3:58
SPEAKER_01: I loved working on stories aimed at kids, mainly because they're happy stories.
4:04
SPEAKER_01: They have happy endings, no one gets murdered.
4:08
SPEAKER_01: And the stories that we love as kids stay with us.
4:12
SPEAKER_01: I'm still, I still love uh the Raggedy Ann books and Nancy Drew that I read as a kid.
4:20
SPEAKER_01: I still love Scooby-Doo, and it it felt like I was really making memories.
4:25
SPEAKER_01: And in my Hollywood career, I was the part of the business called creative development, which meant it was my job to find ideas for movies and TV shows.
4:35
SPEAKER_01: And so I listened to, I would guess conservatively, 100,000 pitches in my career and read probably that many uh scripts as well as books, because we we read a lot of books looking for ideas for movies.
4:50
SPEAKER_01: And so I got really good at pitching, recognizing a pitch, and knowing how to pitch because I had to pitch my bosses when I found something I liked.
5:01
SPEAKER_01: Um, and I loved working with writers, and I realized that I was giving, I call them my writers, the people I was working with, a lot of unsolicited career advice.
5:13
SPEAKER_01: Like, do you know this credit list your agent is sending out, or this bio is terrible?
5:19
SPEAKER_01: And why don't you have a website?
5:21
SPEAKER_01: As well as I was giving my friends story advice.
5:25
SPEAKER_01: And that sort of coalesced into me realizing that was the part of my job that I loved.
5:31
SPEAKER_01: And about, gosh, I guess about eight years ago now, I officially left Hollywood to concentrate on coaching writers and with the emphasis on teaching them how to write and speak effectively about who they are and what they do.
5:48
SPEAKER_01: Because no one is gonna buy your book or your script if you can't talk about it effectively.
5:54
SPEAKER_01: And people always want to know more about you as well.
5:58
SPEAKER_00: Gosh, that's that is such a great transition into kind of our main topic for this conversation, which is how to talk about yourself through things like your branding as an author and your author bio, those kinds of things.
6:11
SPEAKER_00: But I'm kind of curious about let me take a little 60-second side road.
6:15
SPEAKER_00: I always, you know, sometimes on the show, uh when something strikes my curiosity, I always say, let's take a little 60-second thing and then it ends up being like 15 minutes.
6:22
SPEAKER_00: I try to do that too often and derail the guests, but I am curious.
6:27
SPEAKER_00: So in a place like Hollywood where you have a lot of experience, I assume that you really don't get anything done unless you really are an assertive person.
6:36
SPEAKER_00: You you are showing up with confidence in your pitches, in your interaction with producers or budget people or finance people or the the talent, the actors, animators, whatever it is.
6:47
SPEAKER_00: I I assume that that is really a big part of the success of the success for anybody in the Hollywood industry.
6:52
SPEAKER_00: But that is that a correct assessment?
6:55
SPEAKER_01: Yes.
6:55
SPEAKER_01: I mean, I think what I would say it's really all about, especially I can't speak to other industries because I've only ever had corporate jobs in Hollywood, but it is really focused on networking.
7:10
SPEAKER_01: So no matter where you are on the totem pole, no matter where you are in the industry and what you're doing, whether it's you want to be a gaffer on a set or you want to do what I was doing, you have to be networking and talking to people.
7:23
SPEAKER_01: And building your network is how you get new opportunities.
7:27
SPEAKER_01: Um, because of that, networking has this kind of icky feel to a lot of people when I talk about it, because they they have that picture in their head of the Hollywood slickster who's talking about all this stuff that they're doing, and it's you know it's a lie, and it's and you know they're looking over your shoulder, trying to find someone more important to talk to.
7:51
SPEAKER_01: And the whole thing just feels gross.
7:53
SPEAKER_01: And so, because of that, a lot of people, and I've noticed especially writers, recoil from networking because they only think of it in that it true.
8:04
SPEAKER_01: I mean, cliches are cliches for a reason.
8:07
SPEAKER_01: That guy and that gal, they're around, but that doesn't have to be how you show up to network.
8:16
SPEAKER_01: And you have got to learn how to talk about yourself in a way that is interesting.
8:23
SPEAKER_01: And I I love using the word authentic, so that people remember you and they want to hire you or they want to read your book or your script.
8:31
SPEAKER_01: And so there are ways to network and show up with confidence that are positive instead of that negative vibe that the word networking and the idea of networking has for a lot of people.
8:46
SPEAKER_00: Okay, that's that is really, really good.
8:48
SPEAKER_00: Uh, and I appreciate you going this direction with it.
8:51
SPEAKER_00: I know there are there are a lot of people listening right now who, and I I'm kind of aiming this a little bit toward like the stereotypical writer.
9:00
SPEAKER_00: By stereotypical, I mean kind of introverted, the person who would rather sit in their cave all day reading or working on their stuff rather than kind of being out there, whether in person or Zoom calls, pitching and engaging and networking and interacting.
9:15
SPEAKER_00: So I know you've got a lot of practical things to share with us, but can you speak for just a moment to uh to that person who, when we talk about things like networking, uh they're thinking, this is like my worst nightmare.
9:28
SPEAKER_00: Where in the world do I summon the emotional energy to get out there and network with people and be assertive and talk about myself and put myself out there?
9:36
SPEAKER_00: How can introverted writers maybe not be so introverted all the time and do things that would actually really, really help their career as far as networking and this kind of more assertive emotional energy?
9:51
SPEAKER_01: Well, first of all, I I I would like to say I recognize I'm the weirdo.
9:55
SPEAKER_01: I like talking to strangers, I like meeting new people.
9:59
SPEAKER_01: And so I know that this what I'm talking about is almost everyone's worst nightmare.
10:04
SPEAKER_01: I mean, I think this and public speaking are the number the number one and number two things that people fear even before being dying.
10:11
SPEAKER_01: So I want to say, first of all, if that's you, be kind to yourself and also recognize you're not alone.
10:18
SPEAKER_01: Almost everyone else in the room is feeling the exact same way.
10:23
SPEAKER_01: And even me, I have my moments where I'm just like, oh, I don't feel confident.
10:28
SPEAKER_01: I I don't want to be here.
10:31
SPEAKER_01: So just when you recognize when you kind of remind yourself that everyone is going through the same thing, I feel like it humanizes the people you're trying to talk to and it makes it a lot less scary.
10:44
SPEAKER_01: So that's the first thing I want to tell people.
10:47
SPEAKER_01: Um, the second thing is if you are super low energy, um, like kind of an extreme introvert, or you get overstimulated by a lot of noise and a lot of um just energy, which is what like a big networking event or conference is.
11:04
SPEAKER_00: Gosh, that's me.
11:05
SPEAKER_00: Like you've just described me 100%.
11:07
SPEAKER_00: Like this the stimuli, like I work from home and like even just like a barking dog outside or trucks driving by or something, like it it like produces this irritation within my spirit that I that I feel like is like I shouldn't be that irritated by those like external distractions, but I just kind of am.
11:26
SPEAKER_00: So you described me to a T.
11:28
SPEAKER_01: Oh, that's so interesting.
11:29
SPEAKER_01: I think to I don't I think most people have that.
11:33
SPEAKER_01: It's just like it's to varying degrees.
11:36
SPEAKER_01: And so that's another reason I wanted to bring it up because I think you have to again recognize that everyone is having some version of that experience, and also know that it's okay to guard your energy.
11:51
SPEAKER_01: So um, I just wrote an article about conferences because I've just been to one.
11:56
SPEAKER_01: So it was fresh on my mind about what to do.
11:59
SPEAKER_01: And if you're going to a big conference or even just a small local networking event at a bar, it's okay to say to yourself, I'm only gonna go for an hour.
12:11
SPEAKER_01: Or if you're at a conference, I'm gonna go to two workshops and then take a nap in my room.
12:17
SPEAKER_01: I mean, you you don't have to be out there at level 10 energy and perkiness for eight hours a day.
12:26
SPEAKER_01: Like nobody can do that.
12:27
SPEAKER_01: I everyone has to take breaks.
12:30
SPEAKER_01: So if you know that going in, I feel like it's gonna take some of the pressure off.
12:36
SPEAKER_02: That's good.
12:37
SPEAKER_01: And then you can design your networking experience to serve you best and know it's okay to take breaks.
12:44
SPEAKER_01: Even me, if I'm going to something where I don't know anybody, two and a half, three hours max at the party, and then I I've got to go.
12:54
SPEAKER_01: Like it's it's a lot of energy.
12:57
SPEAKER_01: So it's okay to limit your exposure.
13:01
SPEAKER_01: Um, and and I think knowing yourself and then realizing that you can design your night or your conference how you want, how best serves you is another thing that's gonna take the pressure off.
13:18
SPEAKER_01: Because and and don't and we as people and especially artists, we compare ourselves to everyone all the time.
13:26
SPEAKER_01: I mean, uh just so don't be don't be like, well, Jane was there for five hours and she like everyone took a bathroom break.
13:34
SPEAKER_01: I mean, it's you, it's like I hate the saying you do you, but that's this is it's really pertinent in when you're networking.
13:45
SPEAKER_01: And if if you have a lunch or a drinks or a you know, some kind of uh beverage or a meal plan, that's great because it's already a prescribed length.
13:58
SPEAKER_01: You know, you know you're gonna get in, you're gonna get out.
14:01
SPEAKER_01: So I uh I hope that helped sort of answer your question.
14:06
SPEAKER_01: Um the other thing is just um introverted people well it's not introverted people, actually.
14:15
SPEAKER_01: It's just I've noticed that writers in general feel embarrassed to say they're writers.
14:22
SPEAKER_01: And I and so I want to just talk about that for a minute.
14:26
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, please do.
14:27
SPEAKER_00: I I'd love to hear your thoughts on that.
14:29
SPEAKER_01: That feeling of insecurity is another reason that networking events turn into your worst nightmare because you're like, I'm gonna have to go talk about how I'm a writer and tell people I'm a writer and explain what my writer is or what kind of things I write.
14:44
SPEAKER_01: And for whatever reason, they they don't feel like they are a real, I'm using air quotes, y'all, a real writer, right?
14:53
SPEAKER_01: So everyone has their own versions of what a real writer is.
14:56
SPEAKER_01: They've sold a book, they're a bestseller, they've made millions of dollars.
15:01
SPEAKER_01: No, the only thing that makes you a writer is that you are writing.
15:05
SPEAKER_01: That is one of that to me, that is one of the best things about being a writer, is you don't have to wait for permission from anybody.
15:13
SPEAKER_01: I mean, those poor actors, they don't get to do their love of their life unless someone points at them and says yes and hires them, right?
15:21
SPEAKER_01: Right.
15:22
SPEAKER_01: If you are writing, even if you haven't finished your book, if you haven't finished your screenplay, if you finished it and you think it's garbage, you are a writer.
15:31
SPEAKER_01: And I really tell writers, stand tall in that energy of I'm a writer.
15:40
SPEAKER_01: Um it just I've noticed that I like I went to I was out too often four nights a week at different um events in Hollywood.
15:49
SPEAKER_01: That's one of the nice things about that industry, is there's so many cool drinks, mixers, and things where you can go meet people.
15:58
SPEAKER_01: And the right and I would sometimes meet someone who was really successful.
16:03
SPEAKER_01: I mean, they might even be making a million dollars a script or have a TV show on the air.
16:08
SPEAKER_01: And they would still kind of look when I'd ask them what they do, they would look down and be like, Well, I'm a writer.
16:15
SPEAKER_00: Which is crazy.
16:16
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
16:17
SPEAKER_01: So you have to get really comfortable saying you're a writer.
16:23
SPEAKER_01: And then the part two of that is being able to say exactly what kind of writer you are, which I have a very strong opinion about.
16:30
SPEAKER_01: So we'll get to in a second.
16:32
SPEAKER_01: But that's the first thing is you are a writer.
16:36
SPEAKER_01: To everyone listening, you are a writer.
16:38
SPEAKER_01: You're listening to this podcast because you want to improve your craft and you want to improve your business, and that's amazing.
16:45
SPEAKER_01: That makes you a better writer than 99% of the people out there who don't do that kind of work to get better at what they're doing.
16:54
SPEAKER_00: Gosh, that is so good.
16:56
SPEAKER_00: Everything that you just said.
16:58
SPEAKER_00: And I appreciate your emphasis on helping writers to understand that what they do is really important.
17:08
SPEAKER_00: And none of us should ever have that internal um sometimes like you said, we have this kind of internal thing where we want to almost apologize for being a writer.
17:18
SPEAKER_00: But the reality is nothing, nothing in Hollywood happens or anywhere else happens.
17:23
SPEAKER_00: No music happens, no Broadway plays happen, no presidential speeches happen, no laws get passed, no TV shows get created without a writer behind it.
17:32
SPEAKER_00: I mean, really, nothing happens of value in culture unless there is a writer or creator behind it.
17:39
SPEAKER_00: And they may not be the person out front or on screen or whatever, but writers basically create all of the value in the world in terms of culture and books and literature and you know, meaning and those kinds of things.
17:52
SPEAKER_00: So, like we we do things that are pretty darn important.
17:56
SPEAKER_01: Yes, I I love everything that you just said.
17:59
SPEAKER_01: Um, and I want to emphasize I really feel like stories run the world.
18:04
SPEAKER_01: Uh we that's how we as humans are hardwired to communicate.
18:10
SPEAKER_01: Um, it's hire, you know, it's how we are hardwired to teach, to learn, to connect.
18:17
SPEAKER_01: Um, I've my family, whenever we get together, we tell stories and we all tell stories about events that we were all there and we'll tell the story, and even though we all know what happened.
18:30
SPEAKER_01: Um my I grew up hearing uh both of my parents tell me a lot of stories about their family and their childhood.
18:38
SPEAKER_01: I mean, I we are hardwired for story as humans, and um and being able to write effectively and communicate effectively, as writers, we think it's no big deal because we do it all the time.
18:53
SPEAKER_01: And even though writing can be challenging, it comes naturally to us, right?
18:59
SPEAKER_01: My father um was a federal judge, so he read lots of bad writing by lawyers.
19:07
SPEAKER_00: Interesting.
19:08
SPEAKER_01: And a long time ago, he said to me, I was just starting out in my career and I was frustrated about something, and he said, You do not realize how far being a good writer will take you.
19:21
SPEAKER_00: Wow.
19:23
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
19:24
SPEAKER_01: And so it is it is something to be proud of and to celebrate, and it and and just the fact that you're doing it should give you confidence.
19:34
SPEAKER_01: Do you know that like everybody and their brother wants to write a book or a screenplay?
19:39
SPEAKER_01: I mean, everybody, and who's doing it?
19:43
SPEAKER_01: Almost no one, but everyone listening to this podcast is doing it, and that's exciting.
19:49
SPEAKER_00: So you know what's interesting, like um, you know, there's there's a lot of talk kind of in in the publishing and book world about book covers and designs and quality and not quality, and and those are really important conversations, but even even when like somebody sends me a self-published book that has a really like bad cover, or the formatting is off, or like there are a lot of things that need to be improved about it.
20:14
SPEAKER_00: My first impulse is always to think hey, they they're actually doing it.
20:20
SPEAKER_00: They wrote a book, they put something out there.
20:22
SPEAKER_00: I think the same thing about bad YouTube videos or uh, you know, sort of badly recorded songs that people people are just trying to get started and put stuff out there.
20:32
SPEAKER_00: I just always think, man, they put something out there.
20:35
SPEAKER_00: That's the very first place to start.
20:38
SPEAKER_00: And you can always improve what you put out into the world, but you can't improve something that you haven't first published.
20:44
SPEAKER_01: Yes.
20:45
SPEAKER_00: Like you have to publish something to just get started.
20:49
SPEAKER_01: And I think the painful part of being an artist, because I I I in my career in Hollywood, I worked with visual artists and I still work with them sometimes.
20:57
SPEAKER_01: So I like to rope them in with the writers, is that we learn in public.
21:05
SPEAKER_01: So you get better the more you write, the more you perform, the more you create, and it's it's all in public, and that can be painful.
21:16
SPEAKER_01: And that's why lots of people dream of doing it and never do.
21:20
SPEAKER_01: So, again, yes, if you have finished something, that's amazing.
21:26
SPEAKER_01: That is something to be celebrated till the cows come home.
21:30
SPEAKER_01: If you are starting something, that's another cause for celebration.
21:34
SPEAKER_01: That's something I say a lot.
21:36
SPEAKER_01: Just start.
21:37
SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
21:38
SPEAKER_01: Start, you know, and then if you're in the middle, the what you know, we what we call the messy middle, that's great too.
21:44
SPEAKER_01: I I'm we're always in the messy middle of something, and that means you're halfway home, right?
21:50
SPEAKER_01: So definitely be excited about um being a writer and your stories that you're telling.
21:57
SPEAKER_01: And that's gonna come across when you talk to people.
22:00
SPEAKER_01: And an excitement and an enthusiasm is contagious.
22:04
SPEAKER_01: And it makes you memorable because so many people are very dead energy and kind of boring.
22:10
SPEAKER_01: So if you're excited, people are going to remember you.
22:14
SPEAKER_00: Um, I feel like you should like take what you've been talking about the last 15 minutes and take the transcript of this conversation and like rewrite it into a little short book because that would make a really powerful book.
22:25
SPEAKER_01: Well, thank you.
22:26
SPEAKER_01: I love that idea.
22:27
SPEAKER_01: I might just do that.
22:30
SPEAKER_00: I'm really being serious.
22:31
SPEAKER_00: Like, I think that's really good stuff that a lot of writers need to know and need to they just need to feel that encouragement.
22:37
SPEAKER_00: I think the biggest stress points of of the biggest stress points for writers is not the self-publishing mechanisms and Amazon and KDP and figuring out the publishing stuff.
22:50
SPEAKER_00: I think the real hard part is just getting started and getting your stuff out there.
22:54
SPEAKER_00: That's where a lot of people get tripped up, is they never start and they never publish anything just because they're afraid.
23:01
SPEAKER_00: So if you could do that, everything else is just mechanics.
23:04
SPEAKER_01: I think it's part it's two parts.
23:07
SPEAKER_01: It's it's starting and finishing.
23:09
SPEAKER_01: Um, because a lot it a lot of people start and they never finish.
23:15
SPEAKER_01: And that's where that's so true.
23:18
SPEAKER_01: Community comes in.
23:19
SPEAKER_01: Where I mean, like you said, you and I, we both work at home.
23:22
SPEAKER_01: We're typing a lot, we're writing, we're in our heads.
23:26
SPEAKER_01: And um, it's important to have writer friends and um that you can ask advice and get feedback and not feel, you know, so alone.
23:37
SPEAKER_01: And it's also important if you do work at home to get out of the house, which is again where networking and talking to folks can come in, right?
23:47
SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
23:48
SPEAKER_00: Um, let's transition into um because I could talk about this stuff with you forever, Lindsay.
23:54
SPEAKER_00: Um, let's transition into uh I guess ostensibly what this conversation was supposed to be about, but uh sorry I derailed us.
24:01
SPEAKER_00: Um, which is some thoughts on our author bios and branding and the actual things that we're putting out there to communicate what we do, who we are, what we're about, how we serve people, the value we add, and so forth.
24:17
SPEAKER_00: Um, where should we start with this conversation?
24:19
SPEAKER_00: Would it maybe be with what kinds of things we should include in our author bio?
24:24
SPEAKER_01: Um I yes, but I'm gonna back up even further than that.
24:30
SPEAKER_01: So to figure out author branding is such a amorphous thing, it means a lot of different things to different people.
24:39
SPEAKER_01: So for me, and for purposes of this conversation, I want to help your listeners figure out what kind of writer they are.
24:48
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
24:49
SPEAKER_02: That's good.
24:49
SPEAKER_01: Um, because that that's kind of gonna be the foundation of your brand.
24:54
SPEAKER_01: And your brand can evolve and change over time.
24:57
SPEAKER_01: But where we start is what kind of things you write.
25:00
SPEAKER_01: And what kind of things you write is is is really who you are because it's what you're interested in.
25:10
SPEAKER_01: So the first thing is if you are lucky enough to have written more than one thing, and I'm gonna count articles, blog posts, as well as books and screenplays, um, take a look at your in in the film business, we call that your slate, the stuff you've done or and the stuff you're planning to do.
25:29
SPEAKER_01: So if you've got some ideas that you haven't gotten to, I would say write all that stuff down.
25:35
SPEAKER_01: Just pre-form it, don't don't self-edit and set a timer for 10 minutes, maybe, and just dump it all out on a page.
25:45
SPEAKER_01: Then spend some time looking at it.
25:48
SPEAKER_01: And you're gonna notice that there are there's some connective tissue to all that.
25:53
SPEAKER_01: So and what I mean is you might have, you might notice everything has the same trope in it.
26:01
SPEAKER_01: Everything has the same theme, you've got a setting in common, you've got um a time period, something.
26:10
SPEAKER_01: And whatever that thing is, it's it's something that you as a storyteller may not have even realized.
26:17
SPEAKER_01: You're subconsciously attracted to.
26:20
SPEAKER_01: And that is where we start building your author, what I call your writer log line, because it's it's who a one-sentence description of the kind of writer you are.
26:33
SPEAKER_01: A log line usually applies to a movie or a TV show, and it's the one sentence description that you see and or you used to see in TV Guy.
26:43
SPEAKER_01: Now it's like on your Netflix screen when you're paging through, right?
26:47
SPEAKER_01: But you, as an as a creative person, have your own log line.
26:53
SPEAKER_01: And so you that's where we start is you've kind of figured out the kinds of stories you're attracted to.
26:59
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
26:59
SPEAKER_01: Um, and then you're gonna say, I'm a writer, and then you're gonna say the kind of writer you are.
27:05
SPEAKER_01: So I'm an I'm just gonna run through them because your audience is varied.
27:09
SPEAKER_01: I'm a screenwriter, or I'm a TV writer, I'm a comedy writer, I'm a novelist, I'm a nonfiction writer, you know, whatever it is.
27:18
SPEAKER_01: So that you're gonna say, and I write the kinds of books or the kinds of stories that X, right?
27:26
SPEAKER_01: And you're gonna talk about your themes or your characters.
27:29
SPEAKER_01: And my two, my, my two favorite examples of this happen to be romance writers, just because romance has obviously all this juicy emotion in it, so it's easy to find.
27:40
SPEAKER_01: The first one is Inez Johnson, and she introduces herself.
27:44
SPEAKER_01: Hi, I'm Inez.
27:45
SPEAKER_01: I write kissing books.
27:47
SPEAKER_01: It seems really simple, but you get it because it doesn't just say the kind of things she writes, it's got her personality in there too.
27:57
SPEAKER_01: And that's the secret sauce of your log line is I'm this kind of writer, I write these kinds of things, plus your personality.
28:05
SPEAKER_01: So the other one is Jamie Albright, and she says, I write books that are sexy, swoony, and pee your pants funny.
28:14
SPEAKER_01: Again, I hear that, and I I know so much about her and the kinds of things she works on.
28:22
SPEAKER_01: And the great thing about that is if I'm not into that, I know I know not to click on her book, I know not to buy her book, right?
28:32
SPEAKER_01: Because you want to find your people.
28:34
SPEAKER_01: It's just as important to get your no's as your guesses.
28:38
SPEAKER_01: But this writer log line is a great way to introduce yourself.
28:43
SPEAKER_01: Um, when I teach this material, I always say, again, I've met thousands of writers in my uh career, and every single one of them, I say, Well, what do you do?
28:54
SPEAKER_01: And they all go, I'm a writer.
28:57
SPEAKER_01: And I then have to say, Well, what kinds of things do you write?
29:01
SPEAKER_01: I have never ever had a writer introduce themselves to me this way.
29:06
SPEAKER_01: And I would, it's so memorable, it's so exciting.
29:10
SPEAKER_01: I automatically, when we're talking about in-person encounters and networking, want to know more.
29:17
SPEAKER_01: I want to ask them more questions, right?
29:20
SPEAKER_01: So you start with your writer log line, and then you go to your origin story.
29:26
SPEAKER_01: Um, superhero superheroes have origin stories, and you do too.
29:32
SPEAKER_01: And this is important for your bio because readers love to know, especially if they're crazy for your books.
29:40
SPEAKER_01: They want to know what got you interested in writing these kinds of stories.
29:46
SPEAKER_01: And so the origin story, uh, it's called It All Started With.
29:51
SPEAKER_01: And I it's it's a technique taught by this wonderful writing teacher called Alexandra Franson.
29:58
SPEAKER_01: And it tells basically your inciting incident.
30:02
SPEAKER_01: So you literally start with, well, it all started with, and then you say, What kind of got you started?
30:08
SPEAKER_01: And it could be something crazy like, you know, staying up late at night, watching movies with your dad, or building model railroads in your basement, or something.
30:18
SPEAKER_01: And that's when I realized is part two.
30:22
SPEAKER_01: And now I write books, right?
30:26
SPEAKER_01: So my origin story is about the old spy thriller, uh, Three Days of the Condor.
30:34
SPEAKER_01: My dad took me to it when I was very small, um, probably was too little to be going to a spy movie.
30:41
SPEAKER_01: And and the climax, the bad guy has the drop on Robert Redford, who is of course the good guy.
30:47
SPEAKER_01: He's he's holding a gun.
30:49
SPEAKER_01: And the whole audience in the movie theater went, and I said in my little three-year-old voice, that of course carried throughout the whole theater, well, don't worry, he used to be a bad guy, and now he's good.
31:03
SPEAKER_01: And that was what happened in the next moment of the story.
31:07
SPEAKER_01: And so I always like to say, that's when my love of both movies and storytelling was born in that moment.
31:14
SPEAKER_01: My dad, when he tells that story, he's always like, How did you know that?
31:18
SPEAKER_01: Like, I don't, I don't know.
31:20
SPEAKER_01: I knew I knew what the story was.
31:23
SPEAKER_01: Um, and so you tell someone your origin story, and it's great for both networking and your written bio.
31:30
SPEAKER_01: Again, it makes you memorable, it makes you authentic.
31:34
SPEAKER_01: Uh, people get excited, they're interested, they want to hear more.
31:38
SPEAKER_01: If you're in person, they want to talk to you.
31:41
SPEAKER_01: If you're they're reading your author bio, they're like, oh my gosh, that Kent is so cool.
31:46
SPEAKER_01: I can't believe that's how we figured this out.
31:48
SPEAKER_01: I can't wait to read his next book.
31:50
SPEAKER_01: Um, and so that's part two of the author bio.
31:54
SPEAKER_01: Then you gotta want to talk about when I'm not, and you see this in everything.
31:58
SPEAKER_01: When I'm not writing, I'm and mine is when I'm not writing, I'm hanging out with my dog and searching for the perfect chocolate chip cookie.
32:07
SPEAKER_01: It's something weird and quirky like that.
32:10
SPEAKER_01: Oftentimes this is where authors will will where will put where they're living, especially if it's someplace really interesting.
32:17
SPEAKER_01: I just met a woman that lives in Iceland.
32:20
SPEAKER_01: Um, that's like, you know, that I'm never gonna forget her just because she lives in Iceland.
32:26
SPEAKER_01: And by the way, she introduced herself as she was married to a real life Viking and lives in Iceland.
32:31
SPEAKER_02: Wow.
32:32
SPEAKER_02: That's pretty cool.
32:33
SPEAKER_01: So yeah, so that's a short and sweet, really memorable bit of bio information that gives you that bit of personality we're talking about.
32:46
SPEAKER_01: Okay, so okay, one more one more part that's very important for your written for your written bio.
32:51
SPEAKER_01: Then you want to end with a call to action to sign up for your newsletter.
32:56
SPEAKER_01: Um anyway, so go ahead.
32:58
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
32:59
SPEAKER_00: So give us a run out of those real quick again.
33:02
SPEAKER_01: So So you've got your author log line, which is I write your genre plus your kind of books, plus a little bit of your personality.
33:13
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
33:14
SPEAKER_01: And then you have your origin story, which is it all started when.
33:20
SPEAKER_02: Uh-huh.
33:20
SPEAKER_01: That's when I realized, and now I write books.
33:26
SPEAKER_01: Then you've got a little bit of personal stuff, maybe where you're currently living and when what you like to do when you're not writing, again, kind of quirky, personal, memorable things like I'm married to a Viking, or I'm on a quest for the perfect chocolate chip cookie.
33:44
SPEAKER_01: And then if it's if you're if it's a written bio in your book, you want to end with a call to action and a link to sign up to your newsletter or a link to buy the next book.
33:55
SPEAKER_01: What one of the, you know, something marketing related.
33:58
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
33:59
SPEAKER_00: We'll get back to the conversation in just a moment.
34:02
SPEAKER_00: But first, I want to take a second to give a big thanks to today's sponsor, The Word Wizard.
34:07
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34:23
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34:53
SPEAKER_00: Now back to the conversation.
34:55
SPEAKER_00: That's perfect.
34:56
SPEAKER_00: What are what are the what are the best places where we should include uh an author bio like this?
35:03
SPEAKER_00: So my mind automatically goes to obviously on your website, um when you're introducing yourself like in an email newsletter, when you're on podcast interviews, uh the back of your books, obviously.
35:16
SPEAKER_00: Those come to mind as the the most obvious ones, but are there some other places or do you have some thoughts about where we should use this kind of bio?
35:25
SPEAKER_01: Well, you named the big four.
35:27
SPEAKER_01: So I I mean, you definitely need to have a bio on your on your website.
35:33
SPEAKER_01: And it's generally the same one that's in the back of your books.
35:37
SPEAKER_01: Um, the author bio is a absolute must-have for your back matter, which is as I'm sure you guys know, the stuff in the back of your book.
35:47
SPEAKER_01: And you need it for when you're pitching yourself to podcast producers.
35:52
SPEAKER_01: Um, I'm sure I'm sure you've covered in other episodes how podcast appearances can really sell books.
35:58
SPEAKER_00: Totally.
35:59
SPEAKER_01: Um, and then if you are doing any um in-person sales, like if you are someone who goes to like a science fiction or a comic book convention, or I know that the romance writers have them, and you're you've got a table where you're selling, you you want it print, you want it printed out and in a frame.
36:23
SPEAKER_01: Um, this is what I just did at the conference I was at.
36:26
SPEAKER_01: Um and uh just because you you may not have a chance to personally chat with everyone who comes, hopefully your your your booth is mobbed, right?
36:38
SPEAKER_01: But you want people to know about you.
36:40
SPEAKER_01: So that's another place I would do it.
36:42
SPEAKER_01: Um again, when you're selling, it's helping form that connection and and um people want to know more about you, especially if they've read your books or if they're going to, it just makes it less risky.
36:55
SPEAKER_01: Um I'm trying to think of another place.
36:57
SPEAKER_01: If you're ever lucky enough to speak at a conference or on a panel, you're gonna want a bio to have to give uh to the moderator when they introduce you.
37:08
SPEAKER_01: Um and um if you you mentioned email pitches um and podcasts, but sometimes you're you're trying to land an agent or you're trying to land a publisher or um trying to land a gig at a conference.
37:27
SPEAKER_01: All those kinds of things are you want your bio to be able to be included in your email as well.
37:33
SPEAKER_00: Um they should always or that they should they should change based on who you're what you're trying to accomplish, correct?
37:42
SPEAKER_00: For example, so um I really have two sides to my business.
37:47
SPEAKER_00: One is the ghostwriting side, the other is I would just call it the profitable writer side, which is my membership community, this podcast, other related kinds of things.
37:56
SPEAKER_00: So if I'm trying to land a ghostwriting client or connect with an agent or something with ghostwriting, obviously I would want that to be the main thing in my bio.
38:08
SPEAKER_00: Whereas if I'm on a podcast talking about the profitable writer, like my membership, um, the ghostwriting is not going to be the main thing that I would emphasize, but I would emphasize my own stuff and the way that I help writers.
38:21
SPEAKER_00: Would that be a fair way to say that that it should change somewhat based on what we're trying to accomplish and who the audience is?
38:29
SPEAKER_01: So yes.
38:30
SPEAKER_01: Uh first though, what you are talking about is a little different because you've got you've got two brands.
38:36
SPEAKER_00: I've got my I I essentially have two brands, two businesses.
38:39
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
38:40
SPEAKER_01: Right.
38:40
SPEAKER_01: So you have, and a lot of us do, right?
38:42
SPEAKER_01: I have Pitchmaster and I have my creative um projects that I'm developing.
38:48
SPEAKER_01: And so, yes, the the bios would be different.
38:51
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
38:52
SPEAKER_01: Um, if you have two two brands or two jobs, or one's a side hustle and one's your main thing for sure.
39:00
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
39:00
SPEAKER_01: Um, and I think that's there's I think that's great.
39:04
SPEAKER_01: And I think you just want to make sure because ghostwriting is really interesting that you mention that somewhere in your profitable author bio, and vice versa.
39:14
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
39:15
SPEAKER_01: Because again, you're it just adds more breadth and depth, and also it it adds to your your aura of expertise.
39:23
SPEAKER_01: You know a lot of things, you have a lot of experience, and they and both sides, both businesses uh kind of feed into each other.
39:32
SPEAKER_00: So yeah, that's that's a good point.
39:34
SPEAKER_00: That's very true.
39:35
SPEAKER_01: So for in that instance, you definitely need to.
39:38
SPEAKER_01: But the the the other question that you were asking is should your bio change depending on what you were you're trying to accomplish?
39:45
SPEAKER_01: The answer is yes.
39:47
SPEAKER_01: So ideally, you want to get in the habit, um, especially when you're networking, of thinking of uh this this introduction that we've talked about as it's your it's your foundation, but you're not just you're not reciting it.
40:03
SPEAKER_01: You're not, it's not memo, it is memorized, but it isn't, because you want it to be a conversation.
40:09
SPEAKER_01: And if you find out, say you're talking to someone and you find out that they hate romances, but they love World War II stuff, and you write World War II romances, so then you you there's still actually a potential customer for your books or your whole brand, if that's your brand.
40:29
SPEAKER_01: But you you want to be comfortable enough with your bio that you can do what I call chiropractically adjusted on the fly.
40:38
SPEAKER_01: So you hear that, you're in conversation, and I'm like, oh, Kent hates kissing books, but he's really into like the allies versus the Nazis and World War II aviation.
40:49
SPEAKER_01: So I'm gonna talk up that.
40:51
SPEAKER_01: And we have a lot to connect with about because I've done research and I've been on the beach in Normandy and that kind of thing.
40:58
SPEAKER_01: So does that answer your question?
41:01
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it really does.
41:02
SPEAKER_00: Um so it it sounds like just the overall idea here is you need to have an awareness of who you're trying to connect with and what's important to them and what kinds of things you would want to emphasize in your bio without having to change it every time you use it or send it out.
41:17
SPEAKER_00: So I I I assume that you would want to have kind of a standard author bio that then you could tweak as needed for different things.
41:27
SPEAKER_01: Yes, I think exactly.
41:28
SPEAKER_01: So say you are again, you're trying, you're pitching yourself to um a romance publisher, then you want to really up that kissing book feel in your in your pit in your personal pitch, which is your author bio, right?
41:47
SPEAKER_01: But if you are trying to um land an agent that that is interested in World War II stuff, and then you you wanna that's what you want to build up in your in your intro letter.
42:04
SPEAKER_01: So it just depends.
42:05
SPEAKER_01: But yes, it's it's like you have this foundation that you can add or subtract to.
42:10
SPEAKER_01: And and and I do, I have several bios.
42:13
SPEAKER_01: I have my pitch master story coaching um bio.
42:17
SPEAKER_01: I have I I'm not interested in exec jobs anymore, but I still have my Hollywood executive bio, um, you know, and um I have one that's just focused on workshops, if that's what I'm pitching.
42:31
SPEAKER_01: So, but but once you've got like the skeleton of it, it just takes the pressure off when you have to use your bio in all these different ways.
42:41
SPEAKER_01: And it's not written in stone.
42:44
SPEAKER_01: You can always change it if you find something's working better, and you want to change it when you have more accomplishments, when you have more books that you sold, or you the someone optioned one of your books and or what whatever it is, or now you've you you're teaching at a university.
43:00
SPEAKER_01: So you you it's just like if you had a corporate job, you want to keep your resume up to date, you want to keep your bio up to date too.
43:09
SPEAKER_00: This is an important thing, I think, because we don't have to include everything in our bio all the time.
43:15
SPEAKER_00: Like I I was a college professor for 17 years.
43:18
SPEAKER_00: I don't now that I think about it, I I don't include that in any of my bios.
43:22
SPEAKER_00: I mean, that's like a whole massive period of my life that isn't mentioned in my bios because it's not really relevant to most of the people.
43:30
SPEAKER_00: They don't care that I was a college teacher.
43:33
SPEAKER_00: You know, that's not really relevant to what they're wanting from me or needing from me.
43:37
SPEAKER_00: But if I was if I connected with the university and they wanted me to teach a course on something about ghostwriting or publishing or something, um I would most certainly put that in there.
43:49
SPEAKER_00: So th there is an element of this where you kind of have to set aside chunks of your life and just realize, okay, that's not relevant for my current bio or whatever.
43:58
SPEAKER_01: Yes.
43:59
SPEAKER_01: And I think That's a good example.
44:01
SPEAKER_01: So a lot of people uh these days are hung up on expertise.
44:05
SPEAKER_01: They're hung up on well, do you have a degree?
44:08
SPEAKER_01: Which I I could go on a whole thing about, but it's off topic.
44:11
SPEAKER_01: So um, so for you, that's actually a great um uh uh personal uh nugget to have in your back pocket because you can anytime anyone starts questioning your expertise or your knowledge, you can just throw that out there casually and it'll shut them down.
44:30
SPEAKER_01: But right, if you it really is irrelevant to hiring you as a ghostwriter.
44:35
SPEAKER_01: But if someone starts questioning you because you're podcasters or teachers, um you I mean, that's that's great.
44:44
SPEAKER_01: I love that.
44:45
SPEAKER_00: It is kind of funny that now that you mention this, um, so the school where I taught was in North St.
44:51
SPEAKER_00: Louis.
44:52
SPEAKER_00: I mean, at our max, we had like a little over 300 students.
44:56
SPEAKER_00: So it was a really small college.
44:59
SPEAKER_00: Uh it was focused on training pastors for ministry for church min ministry.
45:04
SPEAKER_00: So like it was a very specialized niche kind of a college.
45:08
SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, none of us ever were paid very much.
45:10
SPEAKER_00: It was a very mission-driven kind of a thing.
45:12
SPEAKER_00: But it's funny because I always thought of myself as the little pipsqueak in the education world, you know, like my brother, he's always worked at this big successful church, and uh he's very well respected, and there was a part of me that I always kind of thought of myself as, well, everybody in my world sort of, you know, they look at me as sort of a little bit of like the lesser of the two brothers in terms of like church quote unquote success or whatever.
45:39
SPEAKER_00: But it's funny because people who were not in that world never asked how big my college was or what I had studied, or did I have a doctorate?
45:48
SPEAKER_00: It's like all they heard was college professor, and they were like, oh, you taught college.
45:52
SPEAKER_00: So it's funny how sometimes we think certain certain things about our experience, and we sometimes minimize things, whereas other people see those same things and they go, Oh, you did this or that, or you know, like all that I hear, Lindsay, in your bio is hey, I worked in animation and Hollywood, and and I talk to people who I know people who like have done TV shows, and like to somebody like me who's not in that world, that seems really cool, and that's a big deal.
46:20
SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, wow, that's really awesome.
46:24
SPEAKER_01: Yes, I think I love that.
46:26
SPEAKER_01: I first of all, you have to remember that people don't know to use to use some writing terms the backstory of your business.
46:38
SPEAKER_00: Very good point.
46:39
SPEAKER_01: Right.
46:39
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so I I have lots of negative opinions and experiences and about Hollywood, but I never share that because everyone is interested in Hollywood.
46:49
SPEAKER_01: And and I and I do love, I do like universal.
46:53
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and I still I still love the movies, but I hear you taught at a you were a college professor for 17 years, and I think that is super cool, right?
47:04
SPEAKER_01: You also don't know who you're talking to.
47:06
SPEAKER_01: I I think it's super cool.
47:08
SPEAKER_01: We're training pastors.
47:10
SPEAKER_01: I mean, oh, and there's lots of people that would want to hear more about that.
47:14
SPEAKER_01: So that's another that goes back to what we were just saying about knowing your audience and and your goal, your goal of the interaction.
47:22
SPEAKER_01: Because I'm sure you know there's a huge Christian uh publishing community.
47:27
SPEAKER_01: Um, I oh it's massive.
47:29
SPEAKER_01: It's massive.
47:30
SPEAKER_01: And I just started learning about it like a month ago, and I'm so excited.
47:34
SPEAKER_01: I'm like, oh my goodness, this is an a new audience that I didn't know about for stories.
47:40
SPEAKER_01: It's amazing.
47:41
SPEAKER_00: Oh, it's it's huge.
47:43
SPEAKER_00: I mean, well, one thing is faith-based, the face, the faith-based crowd, um, they buy a lot of books, they they write a lot of books and they read a lot of books and they buy a lot of books.
47:54
SPEAKER_00: So, like that's one element of it, but it's it's a very literary-based thing, you know.
47:59
SPEAKER_00: Like the the Bible is a holy book to a huge percentage of the world's population.
48:05
SPEAKER_00: And so there's very much a literary bent that's already uh present in you know the faith-based community.
48:12
SPEAKER_00: So yeah, and yeah, there's a huge interest in storytelling and um all anything surrounding that, yeah, massively.
48:21
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
48:22
SPEAKER_01: So I think that this is this personal anecdote that you shared is such a great uh illustration of something that we all do, which is we all think we're not cool, we all minimize things that are no big deal to us, but to other people, they're gonna think they're really interesting.
48:41
SPEAKER_01: They're wanna, they're gonna want to hear more about it.
48:44
SPEAKER_02: Yep.
48:44
SPEAKER_01: Um, another thing that writers do uh is they they don't mention when they're this is this is more Hollywood, but it does apply to novelists when they won awards.
48:54
SPEAKER_01: There's all kinds of awards, um, both screenwriting and for novels that you can get.
49:02
SPEAKER_01: And maybe it doesn't mean anything.
49:04
SPEAKER_01: It's they rarely help sales, right?
49:06
SPEAKER_01: But it still means that someone tapped you on the shoulder and said, We like your book.
49:11
SPEAKER_01: And if you're not in the writing and publishing space and you hear someone has an award-winning novel, they it's a huge deal.
49:20
SPEAKER_00: Nobody says who gave the award.
49:22
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and writers never mention that very rarely, and so that's another thing.
49:28
SPEAKER_01: Um, I call it your kudos.
49:30
SPEAKER_01: Go through.
49:31
SPEAKER_01: Have you won any awards?
49:33
SPEAKER_01: How are you on?
49:34
SPEAKER_01: I mean, we we also know bestseller lists are kind of a weird thing, too, but the public doesn't know that, so you can say it.
49:41
SPEAKER_00: So, you know, that's a really, really good point because we tend to, you know, like it whatever industry you're in, there's always awards and recognition for things.
49:53
SPEAKER_00: And most of the time if you're kind of in the know about how those things actually get chosen, you it's easy to be cynical about that kind of stuff.
50:01
SPEAKER_00: You know, it's the same thing in like the academic world, you know.
50:04
SPEAKER_00: When I started teaching, I was always sort of irritated because there would be like the same two or three profs who would get professor of the year.
50:12
SPEAKER_00: That was something students voted on.
50:13
SPEAKER_00: But I was always like, yeah, but those are like the gen ed teachers who all the students have.
50:18
SPEAKER_00: And people like me teach specialty classes, so I'm never gonna get that award because the system is just rigged in their favor.
50:25
SPEAKER_00: I didn't really care about it.
50:26
SPEAKER_00: Well, obviously I did because I'm still mad about it, but no.
50:30
SPEAKER_00: Even though it's like 20 years later.
50:32
SPEAKER_00: Um, that there is an element to where if you know how the sausage is made for awards, you kind of get cynical about it.
50:38
SPEAKER_00: But if you're not in an industry, you have no clue about it.
50:41
SPEAKER_00: All that you know is somebody won an award, which is cool.
50:45
SPEAKER_01: Yes.
50:46
SPEAKER_01: So that's just another way we minimize.
50:49
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
50:50
SPEAKER_01: And um, and just remember something that what in whatever you're writing about, or whatever your day job is, or whatever your chocolate chip cookie obsession is, whatever it is, there's something that you're you might think is mundane that's in your background that is gonna be really interesting for most people, and you should include it in your bio.
51:10
SPEAKER_01: That's good.
51:13
SPEAKER_00: That's really, really good.
51:14
SPEAKER_00: You know what's funny is like you can see behind me.
51:16
SPEAKER_00: I don't know if you can make it out on my bookshelf.
51:18
SPEAKER_00: I've got um, it's actually a phone holder, but it's the Han Solo frozen and carbonite thing from the stretch back.
51:26
SPEAKER_00: And so I actually took them down.
51:28
SPEAKER_00: I've also got a DeLorean from Back to the Future.
51:31
SPEAKER_00: Uh, that's Back to the Future part two.
51:33
SPEAKER_01: Well, this you can't see because it's too far away, but that's a Raiders of the Lost Star.
51:36
SPEAKER_00: Oh, I can actually tell.
51:37
SPEAKER_00: Now that you mentioned it, I can tell that's what it is.
51:39
SPEAKER_00: It's kind of blurred in the background, but I can still tell what it is.
51:41
SPEAKER_00: But it's funny how many times, like when you have stuff like that on your background on a Zoom call, people will comment on things like, oh, it's Star Wars or it's this movie or that movie or whatever.
51:50
SPEAKER_00: And it's I guess a bio is the same way where you have something in there that's just a human element.
51:56
SPEAKER_00: It gives people something to latch on to emotionally.
52:00
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
52:01
SPEAKER_01: And and to latch on to emotionally and remember, and it's that whole thing of being memorable and authentic.
52:09
SPEAKER_01: And I one reason I love meeting strangers is I just think people are fascinating.
52:16
SPEAKER_01: And I so to everyone listening, there is something incredibly interesting about you.
52:21
SPEAKER_01: And if you're really struggling to figure out what it is to put in your bio, ask your friends and family, like say, what's your favorite thing about me?
52:30
SPEAKER_01: Or what do you think the weirdest thing is about me?
52:32
SPEAKER_01: Or, you know, what what whatever it is to try, and you'd be surprised what they say.
52:38
SPEAKER_01: And I bet you'll find some gem that you can include in your bio.
52:41
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's a great suggestion.
52:43
SPEAKER_00: Just asking people around you what's what's interesting or unique or weird about you.
52:47
SPEAKER_00: So um gosh, Lindsay, this has been such a fascinating conversation.
52:52
SPEAKER_00: Um, I took some notes here that I'm I need to revisit.
52:55
SPEAKER_00: Uh, this is really, really good stuff.
52:57
SPEAKER_00: Where can people find out more about you and your writing and the way that you that you help writers and authors?
53:03
SPEAKER_01: Uh, the best way to reach me and find out more about what I do is at my website, the pitchmaster.com.
53:11
SPEAKER_01: I have a free newsletter that I send out every week.
53:15
SPEAKER_01: Uh, you can sign up for it there.
53:17
SPEAKER_01: Um, and you can also read the blogs if you'd prefer.
53:20
SPEAKER_01: And I offer one-on-one coaching, and there's a list of workshops that I teach if you run an organization and you'd like me to come in in person or over Zoom.
53:30
SPEAKER_01: Um, and you can also email me.
53:32
SPEAKER_01: I'd love to hear from folks.
53:33
SPEAKER_01: So feel free to email me, Lindsay L-I-N-D-S-E-Y at the pitchmaster.com.
53:41
SPEAKER_00: Perfect.
53:41
SPEAKER_00: I love the title, by the way, The Pitchmaster.
53:44
SPEAKER_00: That is like thank you.
53:45
SPEAKER_00: There should have been an 80s movie titled The Pitchmaster.
53:49
SPEAKER_00: Like, doesn't that just sound like a movie title?
53:51
SPEAKER_01: The Pitchmaster starring Arnold Arnold or something like that.
53:57
SPEAKER_01: I would love that.
53:58
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that would be really cool.
53:59
SPEAKER_00: That was my bad Arnold voice.
54:01
SPEAKER_00: So well, this has been a lot of fun.
54:02
SPEAKER_00: Thanks for making time to be a guest and uh love to have you back uh some point in the future and continuing this conversation.
54:09
SPEAKER_00: You have a lot of good stuff to share, and I appreciate your enthusiasm and your encouragement for authors.
54:14
SPEAKER_00: I've come away from this conversation really inspired, and now I'm a little bit smarter with these things too.
54:19
SPEAKER_00: So thanks for all your good work in the world.
54:21
SPEAKER_00: It's making a difference, and can't wait to get this episode out there.
54:24
SPEAKER_01: Thank you for having me.
54:25
SPEAKER_01: I had such a good time talking.
54:27
SPEAKER_01: It was amazing.
54:28
SPEAKER_00: Awesome.
54:29
SPEAKER_00: Thanks again.
54:31
SPEAKER_00: Well, I gotta tell you, I had an absolute blast talking with Lindsay, and she's so much fun, in fact, that when we first connected, I think it was back in last December or November or sometime a few months ago, we just connected on a call just to say hello and get to know each other a bit.
54:47
SPEAKER_00: Um she was so much fun, and we had such a fun conversation that we ended that conversation with uh with us saying, Man, we should have recorded that.
54:56
SPEAKER_00: That would have made a great podcast episode.
54:58
SPEAKER_00: So of course we had to schedule another Zoom call and record an actual podcast episode.
55:03
SPEAKER_00: She is just an absolute blast, and as you can tell, she knows her stuff, and I so appreciate her taking some time to share that wisdom uh for our podcast listeners today.
55:13
SPEAKER_00: I want to encourage you to go to her website, which is thePitchmaster.com, and make sure and sign up for her weekly newsletter that has actionable creativity and career tips.
55:22
SPEAKER_00: It's really, really good stuff that's going to help you build your business.
55:26
SPEAKER_00: As always, I so appreciate your time listening to this episode.
55:28
SPEAKER_00: Thanks for your support and I'll see you next time.