Latest / The Shivan Show with Shivan Sarna / How to Write a Book About Your Life Story: Where to Start | Natalee Bloom

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How to Write a Book About Your Life Story: Where to Start | Natalee Bloom · The Shivan Show with Shivan Sarna

• 0:00
  Writer's block is a myth.
• 0:01
  The heaviest story to carry is the one that's unexpressed, and it lives in your blood, brain, and bone.
• 0:07
  And creativity that is not expressed can sometimes metastasize.
• 0:11
  And it is a lie that your story can't help someone.
• 0:15
  Do you want to write a book?
• 0:16
  Good idea.
• 0:17
  Very good idea.
• 0:18
  Do you feel like I've got a book in me, right?
• 0:21
  How many people have said that?
• 0:22
  How many people have dreamt that?
• 0:23
  How many people are doing it?
• 0:26
  And by the way, I have a big reveal coming up after I introduce my very special guest.
• 0:31
  Natalie Bloom is here at the Siobhan Show Health Wealth Wisdom.
• 0:35
  Hello, Natalie.
• 0:36
  Hi.
• 0:37
  Hi, Siobhan.
• 0:38
  Hi.
• 0:39
  And the reason why I am so thrilled, overjoyed, elated to have her here is because Natalie is a ghostwriter.
• 0:49
  Not just any ghostwriter, but one to New York Times bestsellers.
• 0:54
  Names to be never disclosed.
• 0:56
  That NDA baby.
• 0:57
  Man, they are locked down.
• 0:59
  You're never going to know who she wrote for.
• 1:02
  And that's kind of the big reveal about what a ghostwriter does.
• 1:04
  Like, we all have our favorite authors.
• 1:06
  We all love these celebrities who write the tell-alls or tell-nothings, whatever.
• 1:10
  And we think they went to a cabin in the woods with their sleepy time, Earl Grey, Bergamot organic tea.
• 1:19
  And a plume, a pen, and crafted these gorgeous notes of wisdom to impart upon us.
• 1:26
  Okay, honey, I'm just saying there are some people that must do that, but they're working with freaking behind-the-scenes ghostwriters who are helping them integrate their stories, writing it word for word, taking voice texts and notes and scraps of paper, and...
• 1:45
  congealing brilliance.
• 1:46
  And then the agent of the celebrity or author, if they're fairly big, you know, they look at it and they're like, applause, applause.
• 1:54
  You can definitely get behind this.
• 1:55
  It's the essence of the story.
• 1:57
  It's enough of the story.
• 1:57
  It's the story.
• 1:59
  Maybe they give notes.
• 2:00
  Maybe they're like, I'm good.
• 2:02
  And Natalie Bloom,
• 2:05
  is in the heart and soul of it.
• 2:08
  And she helped me write my second book.
• 2:11
  So it's when you buy the book, which is not out yet at all of your major booksellers.
• 2:16
  My first one, 20,000 sold.
• 2:18
  That's a big deal in book land, by the way.
• 2:20
  When my next book is released, just know that I wrote it and Natalie helped.
• 2:25
  Natalie was my ghostwriter, right?
• 2:27
  So on the front, it's going to say Siobhan Sarna.
• 2:29
  But on the inside, there's going to be accolades.
• 2:30
  And to my dear friend, Natalie Bloom, thank you so much for the inspiration.
• 2:36
  Like how many of us have read that in the four words and acknowledgements?
• 2:40
  That being said...
• 2:42
  Natalie, hello.
• 2:44
  That was the longest intro I've ever done in the history of my life.
• 2:49
  But like, it was brilliant.
• 2:50
  I loved it.
• 2:51
  Hello, darling.
• 2:53
  That was beautiful.
• 2:54
  Well, I appreciate you so much.
• 2:56
  No, the book isn't released yet.
• 2:57
  It's still like in the vault, but it's getting closer.
• 3:02
  Gestation is happening.
• 3:03
  It's getting closer, much closer.
• 3:05
  And it's 190 pages and it's fabulous if I do say so myself.
• 3:10
  And I can say that more
• 3:12
  even keeping my humility intact because you basically did the heavy lift.
• 3:17
  And it was awesome.
• 3:18
  And it was such a pleasure.
• 3:19
  And that is, to your point, you know, so many people, are you constantly writing?
• 3:25
  You know, like, yes, you're reflecting.
• 3:27
  You are Siobhan Sarna.
• 3:28
  We know who you are.
• 3:29
  But you have a craft and a skill of being able to be that live persona.
• 3:35
  You did it for so many years.
• 3:37
  And that is your excellence, right?
• 3:39
  Being able to take the written word and turn it into your legacy, that's mine.
• 3:43
  And I was saying this to you before, and this is how we work together so beautifully.
• 3:47
  We were one in one equals 10.
• 3:49
  We were able to exponentially expand your universe, your world, your thoughts.
• 3:55
  And it was a great partnership.
• 3:57
  I was just able to elevate what you had already started.
• 4:00
  And in doing that, you were able to continue helping other people with your podcast,
• 4:05
  with Healing SIBO, which is a huge part of Siobhan's story.
• 4:09
  It's a huge way in which she's helped so many people.
• 4:12
  And so that was, that's, I mean, that's the gig.
• 4:15
  That's the gig.
• 4:15
  I don't need my name on it.
• 4:16
  My name is to help elevate my clients.
• 4:18
  And that, I was a professional dancer and performer for about two decades.
• 4:23
  And I got to ride a unicorn.
• 4:25
  This is the career lottery.
• 4:26
  Like, how cool is that?
• 4:28
  I don't need my name forward.
• 4:30
  It is about you being put forward and
• 4:35
  Yeah, it's beautiful.
• 4:36
  And what's so cool on anybody who's ever been out front before you with your dancing, me on HSN, you know, decades and on live TV.
• 4:46
  If you're not geared emotionally to have that be your main identity, which is totally fine.
• 4:55
  No shade there.
• 4:58
  Once that itches scratch, because I think a lot of people in America, especially globally, whatever, this like external validation, once that's checked off and it's done in a big way like that with a lot of exposure, if you have the other kind of mentality, it's okay.
• 5:15
  Like you're like, okay, I've done that.
• 5:16
  Now I can do...
• 5:18
  behind the scenes, wing woman.
• 5:20
  You can be the person behind the person.
• 5:22
  And it's, again, a spectrum, but it's a really interesting, I see it a lot with my friends who used to be hosts.
• 5:29
  And then I see the other way too, where they're like, I don't know who I am anymore.
• 5:33
  It is a really interesting relationship to careers and to being seen.
• 5:39
  I remember I was working on a different book to not be named, and I knew what I had done.
• 5:45
  Like, I knew the way in which I had helped someone.
• 5:49
  And I took a walk on the beach.
• 5:50
  I was living on the West Coast at the time.
• 5:53
  And I just remember saying...
• 5:55
  this client that I worked with is going to be on Oprah.
• 5:58
  And I knew what, like, I knew what I had done.
• 6:00
  And I was like, that's amazing.
• 6:02
  And then I went home and cooked dinner.
• 6:03
  Like, I didn't have an attachment to it.
• 6:05
  I wasn't, like, I was on, I was able to unleash myself in the best creative genius that I could and help this person elevate.
• 6:13
  And it was, yeah, like, that was the best.
• 6:18
  That is a great, great accomplishment.
• 6:20
  Yeah.
• 6:20
  Maybe less than, I'm going to say the 1%.
• 6:23
  It's like 0.0001% are the ones who are in the cabin in the woods or, you know, writing the great American novel during their lunch break.
• 6:32
  And that being said...
• 6:34
  The barrier to entry and the gateway is now also, the threshold is like below zero because you can just go on, create something, throw it on Amazon, self-publish and have at it.
• 6:46
  No excuse not to write a book or your short story or your essay or expanded, you know, Instagram posts that you're like, this was, this had a really good response.
• 6:55
  I could literally write.
• 6:57
  a whole book of essays.
• 6:59
  But also, Natalie, what do you want to say to anybody who says, somewhere inside, even if they never speak it, but it's just a quiet little back of the brain thought, I could be a writer.
• 7:12
  I think that there's two paths.
• 7:15
  I think there's one path of if you want to learn the skill, go baby, go.
• 7:21
  Like, go baby, go.
• 7:23
  That is something that you can learn.
• 7:25
  That's something that I love to teach.
• 7:26
  I love teaching.
• 7:28
  I love being able to give someone the skill and space to actually craft.
• 7:32
  story in a way that is transformational to the reader, right?
• 7:34
  Because that's what we're doing around here.
• 7:36
  We're not writing revenge reads.
• 7:37
  We're writing something that is going to stick in someone's mind because that why is locked in for me.
• 7:43
  I use so many nonfiction books to skill myself up.
• 7:47
  There were skills that I needed, and those books now live rent-free in my head.
• 7:52
  So I know the power of a transformational story.
• 7:55
  And we learn so much from someone's story.
• 8:01
  That's uniquely yours because the human experience isn't unique, but the way we experience it, massively different.
• 8:09
  And your perspective matters because that's what's going to change someone's life for the better.
• 8:13
  So if you want to learn that skill, go, baby, go.
• 8:16
  But if you are building something where...
• 8:18
  you want to tell your story, but you don't know how and you don't want to learn, that's when a thought partner, that's when an editor can come in.
• 8:26
  That's when a ghostwriter can come in and help you elevate that process because you have something else that you're doing.
• 8:32
  You're building a business.
• 8:32
  You're raising a family.
• 8:34
  You're
• 8:34
  Whatever it is, both of those paths are wonderful.
• 8:39
  But the finish line is being able to give your story to the world.
• 8:44
  And that's what I want to encourage people to do because the heaviest story to carry is the one that's unexpressed.
• 8:50
  And it lives in your blood, brain, and bone.
• 8:53
  And creativity that is not expressed can sometimes metastasize.
• 8:57
  And being able to do that is a skill.
• 9:02
  How can you tell this story that not only serves you, but your audience?
• 9:07
  Whoever that audience might be.
• 9:08
  Your audience could be your children.
• 9:09
  Your audience could be...
• 9:11
  Your co-workers, your audience could be your social media platform, this podcast, what have you.
• 9:16
  How can you tell that story that transforms someone's life for the better?
• 9:20
  Which is the coolest game ever.
• 9:22
  It's glorious.
• 9:23
  I mean, it's the ultimate influence, right?
• 9:26
  I saw you just did a glorious, that's my word apparently today with you because you are, the retreat.
• 9:32
  That looked so good.
• 9:35
  That was really fun.
• 9:36
  That was really fun.
• 9:38
  That was really fun.
• 9:39
  That was like the full package.
• 9:41
  I saw the guy in the kitchen.
• 9:43
  I saw, you know, it was like a full service situation there you got going on there, sister.
• 9:49
  It was pretty remarkable.
• 9:50
  So I had worked with these authors for about seven months.
• 9:53
  I gave them the skill and they wanted to write their book.
• 9:56
  And so I wrote it with them.
• 9:58
  I gave them the skill and the space to be able to do so.
• 10:01
  We met on Zoom.
• 10:03
  I took them through my methodology because...
• 10:06
  there is a methodology to writing a transformational read.
• 10:08
  And when I first tried to write my first book, I was so bad at it.
• 10:13
  And I have an MFA in literature, folks.
• 10:16
  So like- Master in Fine Arts from NYU.
• 10:21
  That's my undergrad.
• 10:22
  My BFA is in Theater Arts and Shakespeare from NYU.
• 10:25
  I know I'm going to nerd out.
• 10:26
  I know.
• 10:27
  And then my MFA is from Trinity College, Dublin, which is basically the second oldest university in the world.
• 10:33
  It was fabulous.
• 10:33
  It was amazing.
• 10:34
  Like,
• 10:34
  No big deal.
• 10:35
  Casual.
• 10:36
  But I share that because I had these skills and I tried to write my own book and it was, Siobhan, it was so bad.
• 10:44
  Like it was so bad.
• 10:47
  And it pissed me off so much.
• 10:48
  And I let that anger fuel me to figuring out how can I write this?
• 10:53
  How can I do that?
• 10:54
  I created a methodology and then I started to be able to share it.
• 10:57
  So I host cohorts, workshops.
• 10:59
  I do all of that to help people have the skill and space.
• 11:02
  But I helped these authors for about seven months to write their book.
• 11:05
  And they were at that point where they knew they had something to express and they didn't know how to do it.
• 11:11
  And I loved it.
• 11:12
  So we finished up.
• 11:14
  their process of developing their manuscript at Bergstone Estate, which is an 1800s manor house in the Hudson Valley.
• 11:23
  We were there.
• 11:24
  We had a private chef.
• 11:25
  We had hiking trails.
• 11:26
  We had s'mores.
• 11:27
  We had emergency champagne so that when someone finished their book, it sounds like a champagne emergency.
• 11:35
  So we would celebrate that or a mocktail, whatever they needed.
• 11:38
  And we finished their books.
• 11:40
  It was copy edited.
• 11:41
  It was line edited, which basically means that
• 11:44
  Correct.
• 11:45
  All of that is taken care of.
• 11:46
  But all of the development of, yeah, chapter two, this is tight.
• 11:51
  Chapter eight, I think it needs to be cut.
• 11:53
  We cut chapters while we were there.
• 11:56
  We added chapters.
• 11:57
  We developed this and they knew, yeah, this is it.
• 12:01
  This is it.
• 12:02
  That is cool.
• 12:03
  It was so good.
• 12:04
  It's like literally going on that retreat I was talking about by yourself with the plume.
• 12:08
  But Natalie is there along with your co-editors, the team that you work with.
• 12:14
  So like if you have that book in you or it's almost finished, definitely reach out to Natalie so you can cross the finish line and do it with grace and glory.
• 12:25
  Yes.
• 12:26
  And that is that is my purpose here on Earth.
• 12:28
  Like I know that I know that within my blood, my brain, my bone, that my job is to help people become fully expressed with the written word.
• 12:37
  And it's the coolest gig.
• 12:39
  I love it.
• 12:41
  I'm like so turned on by it.
• 12:42
  So, yeah.
• 12:43
  Okay, we're going to continue to get personal.
• 12:46
  Have you ever been bloated?
• 12:47
  Like really bloated?
• 12:48
  Have you ever had diarrhea or constipation?
• 12:50
  Or maybe have a combination of all of it?
• 12:52
  Maybe you have SIBO, small intestinal bacterial overgrowth.
• 12:56
  I have answers for you.
• 12:57
  The ones that I couldn't find for so many years.
• 13:01
  The website, my website, SIBOSOS.com, has a ton of free information, some premium courses you can take, small group coaching, and discounts on supplements and other health products.
• 13:13
  What changed everything for me was working with Dr. Allison Seebecker, and she is involved in so many of these projects.
• 13:20
  She is a true and legitimate SIBO expert.
• 13:24
  So if you'd like to work with us, you'd like to find out more, even just want to just take a little look and see if maybe that might be you, then check it out.
• 13:31
  You'll see the links in the description, and I hope you don't have SIBO, but if you do, I'm glad we found each other.
• 13:39
  Oh, by the way, are you going to be on a reality television show?
• 13:42
  The rumor mill is going wild.
• 13:44
  Yes.
• 13:45
  Yes, I am.
• 13:46
  Let's do that first and then we'll talk dance.
• 13:50
  Yes.
• 13:50
  So Whitney Uland is a brilliant entrepreneur, actor, all the things, a client, a friend, a peer.
• 13:58
  Yeah.
• 13:58
  She has many hats she wears in my universe, and she has a reality show that's happening, and she's bringing me in to help her clients tell better stories.
• 14:08
  How do you tell a story?
• 14:09
  Again, human experience, not unique.
• 14:11
  How do you make your lived experience unique to your audience?
• 14:14
  And so I'm coming in for that.
• 14:16
  So I get to play a little cameo.
• 14:18
  I love it.
• 14:18
  Just cameo in, cameo out.
• 14:21
  Okay.
• 14:23
  So yes, I will be doing that.
• 14:24
  It's perfect for us.
• 14:25
  So I'm excited.
• 14:26
  Yeah.
• 14:26
  I know you'll post that all over your Instagram to let everybody know and that I have no doubt will be entertaining and useful because we all need to know how to be famous.
• 14:36
  Thank you, Whitney.
• 14:38
  Yes.
• 14:38
  When more good hearted artists, creatives and entrepreneurs have the resource of fame, we can dramatically change the world.
• 14:45
  OK, now let's talk about dance for a second, because you're talking about creativity and the expression of creativity, and then you bring the body into it.
• 14:54
  And then you bring choreography into it.
• 14:57
  So it's not just like somatic movement, freestyle, busting a move.
• 15:02
  You know, I've seen some clips of you dancing and it's incredible.
• 15:05
  Like, what do you say to someone who would love to know how to dance and didn't grow up at, you know, Dance Academy down the street?
• 15:12
  Every floor is a dance floor, baby.
• 15:14
  Every floor is a dance floor.
• 15:17
  And that the expression...
• 15:21
  I'm just having so many flashbacks.
• 15:22
  I'm seeing disco balls.
• 15:24
  I'm seeing RuPaul.
• 15:26
  I'm seeing you on stage.
• 15:29
  Every floor is a dance floor.
• 15:31
  Could you please have some t-shirts?
• 15:32
  Go to Zazzle.com and make some merch.
• 15:35
  But it is something that I still incorporate now.
• 15:39
  When Siobhan and I worked together, we were on long Zoom calls, which were fabulous.
• 15:44
  But I also would stand up and move while I was talking to you.
• 15:49
  If the viewer is watching on video right now, you're seeing I'm incredibly animated.
• 15:54
  And I'm having to tone that down for the screen in which we're in.
• 15:58
  Because being able for me to be fully expressed...
• 16:02
  is an art, is movement through my body.
• 16:04
  And that's not everyone's flavor or color in which they would express themselves.
• 16:10
  Stillness is just as powerful as bombastic movement.
• 16:14
  And how you navigate between those ranges is the art and craft of skill of expressing yourself through the physical body, which is amazing.
• 16:22
  But I also think writing is dancing.
• 16:25
  And so because writing is two skills, if you really come down to it, writing is and everyone can write writer's block is a myth.
• 16:31
  Everyone can write because if you can ideate and then push it through a physical medium, which is typing.
• 16:37
  Yeah.
• 16:37
  writing with a plume or voice note, that is writing.
• 16:41
  And when I write, sometimes I get up and I write this way.
• 16:44
  I'm writing with a voice note.
• 16:46
  I'm writing, I'm like punching the keys.
• 16:48
  It is a physical expression.
• 16:50
  And so for me, it feels just like a lateral move having this career as a professional dancer.
• 16:57
  I was always writing.
• 16:58
  I was editor-in-chief in my high school newspaper.
• 17:01
  I was always expressing myself through that way.
• 17:04
  One was just a written word.
• 17:05
  The other one is just through my fingers and off.
• 17:07
  Yeah.
• 17:09
  Really, one of the main things we also want to talk about today is just to remove the obstacles and the barriers to one's mind.
• 17:16
  and thinking that it's for other people and not for them.
• 17:20
  I said it before about there being no barrier to entry anymore into the publishing world.
• 17:25
  But the fact is, journaling, journal prompts, writing the diary, right?
• 17:31
  You can just express yourself.
• 17:33
  And Barbara Barna Abel was on recently.
• 17:35
  She's an incredible life coach and casting director and mentor of mine.
• 17:40
  And she quoted something, and I don't have the like,
• 17:44
  citation at the moment, but she said that expressing your emotions in the written word can reduce anxiety by 30%.
• 17:50
  And that just like stuck.
• 17:51
  I was like, wow, whether that's the right number or not.
• 17:55
  And I would trust Barbara with that anyway.
• 17:57
  It makes a lot of sense to anyone who's ever even attempted to write the journal, didn't continue, but let's like, maybe, you know, grab that scrap of paper and get back to it.
• 18:07
  Come on now, you can do it.
• 18:09
  It's true.
• 18:10
  And I'm curious for even you to speak about your experience in writing your book that I say this all the time to my authors when I'm working with them.
• 18:20
  If they go on this journey, they will transform for the better.
• 18:25
  There's not a lot of guarantees in this world.
• 18:26
  Death and taxes, baby.
• 18:28
  But if you're going to work with me in this process of going through it, you will transform for the better.
• 18:34
  Because you will see it so often...
• 18:37
  we can't see the label from within the jar.
• 18:40
  We just can't.
• 18:41
  We don't know how we're being perceived by others until an editor or a thought partner can come along and show that parts of us.
• 18:48
  And there were times where I was like, hey, I think, Siobhan, what you did here was pretty remarkable.
• 18:53
  And we need to highlight circle and focus on this because this mattered.
• 18:58
  And this part of your story is going to help someone.
• 19:00
  So can we double down on that?
• 19:02
  And your ability to
• 19:06
  Yeah.
• 19:09
  That part of claiming your story and sharing it with someone else, that was powerful.
• 19:15
  So regardless if it isn't a published work or if it's in a piece of journaling where it's like, wait, I walked through this really difficult season and I handled it.
• 19:24
  Good job.
• 19:25
  Wait, I did that?
• 19:27
  Dang, well done.
• 19:29
  And I think that's the bridge that writing and fully expressing ourselves is the gift that we can give through that artistic process.
• 19:39
  it's so powerful.
• 19:39
  And this is where, you know, I love social media, but I had exposure trauma from being on TV for so long.
• 19:46
  And I think that's a thing.
• 19:49
  And so it's taken me a long time to like, kind of want to go back out.
• 19:54
  And like you were saying, like, it's not that I didn't want to, I wanted to want to, but I did not want to.
• 20:00
  So social media,
• 20:01
  has its pros and cons.
• 20:02
  We all know that.
• 20:03
  But one of the things that I am mesmerized by is when people tell the simplest, in my opinion, story and it...
• 20:14
  Absolutely is something I can relate to.
• 20:16
  Right.
• 20:16
  And I think to myself, I could have just made a piece of content about that.
• 20:20
  And the fact that it was so simple.
• 20:23
  And I'm not even just talking about like people making a baked potato or like, you know, I'm just telling like a life story.
• 20:29
  And the things that I take for granted.
• 20:34
  They've just sat there and eloquently expressed and it helped me.
• 20:37
  I'm sure it helped the thousands of people with like shares and comments.
• 20:41
  And so I think we tend to take for granted our life experience and that it couldn't help someone else.
• 20:49
  But in reality, it absolutely could.
• 20:52
  And everyone has a story to tell.
• 20:54
  And even if that story to tell is you trying to discover what your story is, I mean, there's just so many angles and so many ways to get there.
• 21:02
  So if you have this desire to tell your story or to tell a story of some aspect of your life or learning, then by all means, please get started.
• 21:13
  This is your call to action.
• 21:15
  It's never too late.
• 21:17
  And it's also like a really good idea to start as soon as you think of it.
• 21:22
  Because that's the impulse, that's the intuition, that's the God wink, the tap on the shoulder, whatever you want to call it.
• 21:27
  That's us here right now speaking to you about that inner voice that you have and that inner desire and urge.
• 21:36
  So we say, go for it.
• 21:39
  Oh, please.
• 21:40
  Natalie, when you think of a good time to start writing, when would that be other than yesterday?
• 21:48
  Well, I think most people that I talk to, and this is common, you had this experience too, they've been writing forever.
• 21:56
  They've been writing this book forever.
• 22:01
  It's 47 different Google notes.
• 22:03
  It's when they're washing the dishes and that line, I wonder, that moment.
• 22:10
  They're writing.
• 22:11
  When they want to put it down and organize it,
• 22:15
  That is the call.
• 22:16
  Like that is there is a knowing.
• 22:18
  And again, like you are carrying those ideas like the ram in our brain bowl is finite.
• 22:25
  Like there's only so much that we can hold and remember.
• 22:28
  And that is when the it's the Ania Sinan quote where the risk to remain closed in a bud.
• 22:37
  I'm going to butcher it just a little bit.
• 22:40
  Became greater than the risk it came to blossom, to bloom.
• 22:43
  Yeah.
• 22:44
  And so that's the moment when you want to pick up and take action.
• 22:48
  And that is what I help people do.
• 22:50
  And I'm helping people do that starting in January.
• 22:54
  I run a 12-week cohort where I take you through my methodology.
• 22:58
  The one that I created for myself, it's the one I use with New York Times bestselling authors.
• 23:03
  It's the one that I use with Siobhan.
• 23:05
  It's the one that I use with anyone specifically.
• 23:07
  Because there is a methodology that happens when you want to tell a story that's going to change someone's life for the better.
• 23:14
  And it is a lie that your story can't help someone.
• 23:17
  Absolute lie.
• 23:19
  Because when we think about how we learn and change and grow, when we watch someone that we admire and we see how they did it, I can do that.
• 23:28
  Wait a second.
• 23:29
  I might.
• 23:30
  That's inspiring.
• 23:31
  It activates something in us.
• 23:33
  It encourages us.
• 23:35
  And your story does the same.
• 23:37
  And that is, that's what's remarkable.
• 23:41
  So, and that's what I do.
• 23:43
  Oh, I love it.
• 23:43
  I love it.
• 23:44
  If you can get in on that, if this is, you know, the time, the time is now for sure.
• 23:48
  And there's really never a convenient time unless you like move heaven and earth.
• 23:53
  You know how hard it is to go on vacation, right?
• 23:55
  And then how many of us have ever, the bags are packed.
• 24:00
  You're waiting for the Uber driver to take you to the airport and you think, what if I just canceled the whole thing and stayed home?
• 24:07
  Has that ever happened to you?
• 24:09
  I like literally...
• 24:11
  I could just stay here and like, right.
• 24:13
  Or be quiet or whatever.
• 24:15
  But I wouldn't have any appointments because everyone thinks I'm out of town.
• 24:20
  I'd still pay the gal to take care of the cat.
• 24:23
  Like that, it'd be okay.
• 24:25
  She'd be happy.
• 24:26
  And like, no one would know.
• 24:29
  Like, and if you've ever had that feeling, that's a call, a sign right there that you need to take some time.
• 24:35
  You need to take some time.
• 24:36
  Try to find 24 hours at least and get started there and then build the muscle.
• 24:41
  Because that valuable time, space, and place to think, to collect yourself, to connoiter, to whatever is incredibly, incredibly valuable.
• 24:55
  So if that is you, that's another call to action today.
• 24:58
  Make the time.
• 24:59
  Find the time.
• 25:00
  Do it in secret.
• 25:01
  I had a client who did that exact thing.
• 25:04
  She worked with me.
• 25:05
  Yeah, she worked with me for seven months.
• 25:08
  No one in her life knew that she was writing a book.
• 25:10
  Like two people close, because it was such a personal process of excavating and going through it.
• 25:16
  And it was powerful.
• 25:18
  And now she's ready to unleash herself on the world.
• 25:21
  And I can't wait.
• 25:22
  I can't wait for the world to read it because it's really good.
• 25:25
  Yeah.
• 25:26
  Speaking of like publishing, so when I had my first book, Healing SIBO, which Avery...
• 25:37
  Penguin Random House.
• 25:39
  They all have these names within houses, within houses of publishing, published.
• 25:43
  And it was so fun.
• 25:44
  Like I got them the, you know, the proposal.
• 25:48
  I had, I got an agent.
• 25:50
  I got the proposal.
• 25:51
  The proposal was shopped around.
• 25:54
  And then a year later, you know, I had all this time now to write the book.
• 25:57
  The book was basically written, but because the proposal is the framework for it.
• 26:01
  And then my agent did a great job and I had six publishing houses that I did.
• 26:07
  It was during the pandemic, so I did phone calls with them where they got to meet me and would I be a good author for book tours and what's the deal?
• 26:16
  And then there was a bidding war over the book.
• 26:19
  It was fantastic.
• 26:20
  I had a six-figure book deal.
• 26:22
  It was awesome.
• 26:23
  And freaking thank you, God, and all involved.
• 26:26
  One of the reasons why was because I did have a big email list.
• 26:32
  And I was on HSN at the time.
• 26:34
  And, you know, I told them, like, books don't sell on HSN, but I'll do my best.
• 26:38
  Like, I'll pitch it.
• 26:39
  And it didn't go anywhere, which was fine.
• 26:40
  And no one wants to talk about poop on home shopping TV or whatever.
• 26:43
  pretty much at all anyway.
• 26:45
  So there's that.
• 26:46
  But the other thing is, if you want a book deal with traditional publishing, make sure you're having that platform, you're building that social media.
• 26:57
  That's actually one of the reasons why I haven't released my second book yet, is because I'm still working on building the social media and not just relying on
• 27:05
  my email list.
• 27:06
  So by the way, anybody in online marketing, own your email list.
• 27:11
  Do not rely on other platforms because they can go away and you will be in deep trouble.
• 27:18
  Okay.
• 27:18
  So make sure that's it.
• 27:20
  Okay.
• 27:20
  But you have to diversify the portfolio.
• 27:23
  So I want to encourage everybody about that.
• 27:25
  But
• 27:28
  That's another option.
• 27:29
  So talk to us about that a little bit, Natalie, and the industry there.
• 27:32
  When you go to work with a publisher, that is a business transaction.
• 27:36
  That is a business relationship.
• 27:38
  You're offering the publishing house your audience.
• 27:43
  In return, they are printing the book.
• 27:45
  They are doing all the things.
• 27:47
  However, you are still, as the author, responsible for marketing it.
• 27:51
  The publishing has changed so much that they don't offer the marketing.
• 27:56
  They do some of it, but it's really the onus is on the author.
• 28:00
  So if you don't have a marketing machine behind you or a way to get your audience to be excited about what it is you want to share with the world, that is going to be a difficult experience.
• 28:12
  Yeah.
• 28:13
  with the public.
• 28:13
  And that's why you want to think of it that way.
• 28:15
  It's a business transaction.
• 28:16
  What value are you both giving each other?
• 28:18
  A lot of times I've seen a lot of authors take it personally when publishing houses reject them.
• 28:23
  And it's like, this isn't the right fit.
• 28:26
  This is a business transaction.
• 28:27
  You are hiring them.
• 28:28
  They are hiring you.
• 28:30
  You want to make sure you're a good fit, just as you would hire anyone to file your taxes or, you know, do your roof.
• 28:36
  Who knows, right?
• 28:37
  And so if that is not something available to you, or maybe you don't want that to be
• 28:43
  then self-publishing is fantastic.
• 28:45
  I do that.
• 28:45
  My team and I do that.
• 28:46
  So we're able to facilitate that for you so that you can have all of the rights to your IP, to your intellectual property, which is the book, and that you can put it out on Amazon.
• 28:58
  You can put it out on Ingram Sparks, wherever you want to do that.
• 29:01
  Let's say you're a speaker.
• 29:02
  Let's say you are a
• 29:04
  giving speeches, but maybe your social media is growing.
• 29:09
  You're not getting publishing deals.
• 29:11
  Okay, great.
• 29:11
  But you're in front of thousands of people every single week.
• 29:14
  All right, great.
• 29:16
  Self-publish and your book can then be sold there.
• 29:19
  So then you can actually own the right.
• 29:20
  So there's benefits to it, but you really want to think about how is this book
• 29:25
  helping your audience.
• 29:27
  That's the whole gig.
• 29:28
  Yes, it's going to build your brand and platform.
• 29:30
  We know this.
• 29:31
  But how?
• 29:32
  How do you want to do that?
• 29:33
  Do you want to go with a publisher?
• 29:34
  Do you want to do this independently?
• 29:35
  Do you want to be on your phone telling about your book?
• 29:38
  It really depends.
• 29:39
  But those options are available to you, which is great.
• 29:43
  And by the way, once you do get your book published, however you do it,
• 29:48
  One of my other mentors, JJ Virgin, will tell you to never stop marketing it.
• 29:53
  Do not ever stop marketing it.
• 29:54
  You have to act like it's brand new every day.
• 29:56
  Go, Natalie.
• 29:57
  Yeah, no.
• 29:58
  I'm like, JJ is, yes, JJ is 1,000...
• 30:02
  Like every single day.
• 30:03
  And you have to believe within the core.
• 30:05
  And again, Siobhan mentioned this earlier, the limits, the mindsets that you have to have.
• 30:11
  You have to believe that your story is going to change someone's life for the better.
• 30:15
  And when that is locked in, and that's what I help authors realize by helping them shape and curate their story, that is when you press go.
• 30:23
  Baby, you can tell I'm so excited right now.
• 30:26
  And I know I have to be
• 30:27
  Take my voice down because I'm on a podcast.
• 30:30
  But it is one of those where if you can lock into the idea that your story is going to help someone, that feels so good.
• 30:37
  You've gone through hell and back and you have something to offer this world.
• 30:42
  You have a voice.
• 30:43
  You have something to say.
• 30:45
  So yeah, market it every day.
• 30:46
  Thank you, JJ.
• 30:47
  Okay.
• 30:47
  Yeah, every day.
• 30:49
  It's every day.
• 30:49
  It's not just launch time.
• 30:51
  Every day is that launch.
• 30:53
  Every day.
• 30:54
  It's on the bottom of your emails.
• 30:56
  It's, you know, it's on t-shirts, whatever.
• 31:00
  Every day.
• 31:02
  It's a fresh start every day.
• 31:04
  And by the way, if you have a book and you kind of stop marketing it because for all the reasons...
• 31:11
  Pick it back up.
• 31:11
  Get it back out there.
• 31:14
  No reason not to.
• 31:15
  Lots of reasons to do it, for sure.
• 31:17
  For sure.
• 31:18
  Okay.
• 31:18
  I had to just literally turn on my phone because I'm having so much fun.
• 31:21
  I feel like it's been two minutes and it's also been an hour.
• 31:24
  And so we are going to start transitioning and wrapping up.
• 31:27
  But I could just keep talking to you, Natalie Bloom, for days and days and days.
• 31:31
  Let's have a special guest.
• 31:32
  Come join us.
• 31:32
  Come here, Sadie.
• 31:33
  Come here.
• 31:34
  Sadie, Sadie, married lady.
• 31:35
  Come on, Sades.
• 31:36
  Come on.
• 31:37
  Who's the baby?
• 31:39
  Who's the baby?
• 31:40
  Oh, look who's here.
• 31:43
  It's Aunt Natalie.
• 31:45
  Hi girl.
• 31:46
  Hi Sadie.
• 31:48
  I love you so much.
• 31:50
  I know.
• 31:51
  Sadie, I remember when you weren't even a thought.
• 31:56
  And yeah, I remember the transition into dog mom.
• 32:00
  That was a fun transition.
• 32:02
  And now you can't imagine her not being a part of your life.
• 32:05
  Just wish she was here sooner.
• 32:09
  She's obsessed with our neighbors.
• 32:11
  I think she has x-ray vision and can see into their home.
• 32:13
  I don't know.
• 32:15
  I love you.
• 32:16
  I love you, Natalie Bloom.
• 32:18
  I love you, Natalie Bloom.
• 32:19
  I love you too, Siobhansters.
• 32:21
  I know.
• 32:22
  Thank you very, very much for being in my life.
• 32:25
  I don't know if you know this.
• 32:26
  Did I tell you the story before we wrap it up about the psychic that I went to who told me to go with you?
• 32:32
  Did she say that you were supposed to go with me?
• 32:34
  She didn't say my name, but like you had met her before you met me, right?
• 32:38
  Yes.
• 32:39
  And I was looking at you and someone else.
• 32:41
  And you're the Pisces, right?
• 32:43
  Oh, yeah.
• 32:44
  Yeah.
• 32:45
  Fishy, fishy, fishy.
• 32:47
  And she goes, oh, go with the Pisces.
• 32:49
  Yeah.
• 32:53
  I was like, okay.
• 32:55
  I have water in all of my houses.
• 32:57
  Like I am all water, all water, but I still get shit done.
• 33:01
  I know it's crazy.
• 33:02
  Yeah, I'm so sorry for you.
• 33:05
  I love it.
• 33:06
  I love it.
• 33:07
  I love I I'm water.
• 33:08
  I go where I'm needed.
• 33:09
  It is perfect for you.
• 33:12
  It is perfect for you.
• 33:13
  Siobhan, thank you for having me.
• 33:14
  I always love hanging out with you.
• 33:16
  You have such a light, such a gift.
• 33:19
  I always learn something when I'm with you.
• 33:20
  I always feel so good and I'm just excited for you.
• 33:24
  I'm excited for people to know more about you, the things that you've done and the wisdom that you have because there's a lot of it.
• 33:31
  I receive and I send it right back to you in deep admiration.
• 33:35
  Thank you all so much for watching.
• 33:37
  And I hope you got something out of today, a call to action.
• 33:40
  There were multiple of those, and I will put information on the show notes so you can find Natalie and work with her and get inspired by her and get that book out.
• 33:52
  See you next time.
• 33:53
  Thanks for watching The Siobhan Show.
• 33:55
  So that's a wrap on today's episode.
• 33:57
  Thank you so much for being here.
• 33:58
  It genuinely means
• 34:01
  If something in this conversation sparks something for you, share it with a woman or a guy in your life who needs to hear it.
• 34:08
  That's how this show grows.
• 34:09
  That's how we heal the planet together.
• 34:11
  And that's how we really connect.
• 34:12
  For more resources, free tools, and everything we talked about today, head over to SiobhanSarna.com.
• 34:17
  That's S-H-I-V-A-N-S-A-R-N-A dot com.
• 34:22
  It's all there waiting for you.
• 34:23
  And until next time, keep asking the questions, keep finding the answers.
• 34:27
  You deserve the full picture and the very best.
• 34:30
  Namaste.
• 34:31
  you