The Profitable Writer Kent Sanders

I’m a big fan of learning from other industries and professionals. It’s very easy as a writer to spend all your time around other people who only think about books and publishing. Yet it’s important to remember that at the end of the day, you’re a business owner.

That’s why I’m excited to bring you this conversation with my friend Anastasia Forrest, a rockstar real estate agent!

Anastasia Forrest is a lifelong learner, creative, and sobriety-enthusiast based out of St. Augustine, Florida. She has two amazing daughters and an awesome husband who builds beautiful houses.

Her main profession is helping people buy and sell homes as a Real Estate Broker Associate with EXP Realty. Her creative passions are songwriting, authoring books, and painting. Her favorite things to do with her family are to go out on boat adventures, explore new places together, and have pizza and movie nights.

Anastasia is also the author of The Creative Real Estate Agent: How to Build a Rocking Real Estate Business and Be More Creatively Productive Than Ever in addition to her previous book, The 30-Day Sobriety Experiment: A Guided Journey of Self-Discovery.

I was fascinated by Anastasia’s ability to write a compelling book for real estate agents, but do it through the lens of creativity, which is a passion of hers. On today’s episode, she shares some lessons from her experience as an author and real estate agent that you can use to boost your creativity and grow your business.

Topics in our conversation include:


Why real estate is indeed a creative field
How she developed a unique take on a familiar topic
Various ways to cultivate a creative mindset to work and wealth
How to build great relationships … especially if you’re an introvert
How she has found success on social media by just being herself

Be sure to check out Anastasia’s book, music, and real estate business at https://www.anastasiaforrest.com.

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Today’s episode is sponsored by Karen Hunsanger, an incredible editor known as “The Word Wizard.” I’ve worked with Karen many times, and she is your secret weapon for crafting the highest-quality book possible. Visit the link above for a free sample edit.

 

On today's episode, we dive into three key ways you can demonstrate your credibility to prospective clients.

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Thanks to today's sponsor! Vellum is the go-to book formatting software for indie authors who care about creating beautiful ebooks and print books. Use the link to download Vellum for FREE. 

 

As a ghostwriter (or someone who wants to be), it's easy to worry about whether you have the right credentials to be perceived as a pro. However, there's a far more important question you must ask first.

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Thanks to today's sponsor! Vellum is the go-to book formatting software for indie authors who care about creating beautiful ebooks and print books. Use the link to download Vellum for FREE. 

The #1 topic people ask me about is ghostwriting. On this episode, we'll dive into ten reasons ghostwriting is a great business for writers.

1. You can work on your own time.

2. Books are pretty straightforward to write. 

3. You only need a few projects per year to make a good income.

4. “Ghostwriter” is a compelling term that makes people curious. 

5. Ghostwriting is easy to explain to people.   

6. Everybody wants a book!

7. You can set your own income.  

8. Ghostwriting is not a commodity-based business.

9. You become a trusted confidante to your clients. 

10. As a ghostwriter, you can explore your curiosity.

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Thanks to today's sponsor! Vellum is the go-to book formatting software for indie authors who care about creating beautiful ebooks and print books. Use the link to download Vellum for FREE. 

We live in an incredible time! As an author, you have a variety of options for publishing and funding your books. If you’re doing self-publishing, one of the most interesting ways to fund the book is by crowdsourcing it through Kickstarter.

If you’ve ever wondered how to use Kickstarter to fund your book launch, today’s your lucky day!

Lestie May Zachary is a Southwest USA native who loves to write about her family roots. She is a veteran homeschool teacher of sixteen years. When Lestie isn’t writing or doting on family, she and her husband enjoy the cabin life on Crown Lake in Horseshoe Bend, Arkansas.

I wanted to have Lestie as a guest today to talk about her new When Old School Meets New School, which is an exciting new guidebook from LMZ Publishing, perfect for children ages 11-14.

When Old School Meets New School is full of fun and engaging activities that mix old-fashioned games and activities with modern technology, giving children the opportunity to learn and have fun in equal measure. With puzzles, activities and stories, this book helps children bridge the gap between the traditional and the contemporary.

She funded the book through an impressive Kickstarter campaign last Fall, and I was thrilled to be one of her backers. I was even more impressed that this was Lestie’s first time using Kickstarter. The campaign was a lot of fun, and the book itself is even more impressive. You can really tell she put her heart and soul into it!

In this interview, we discuss:


Her book production process
Various assets she created for the book launch
Why she used Kickstarter, and the process for using it
Details about the number of backers, her expenses, and other numbers
The biggest challenges and benefits of using Kickstarter
Her recommendations for authors considering using Kickstarter

If you’ve never considered this unique way to fund a book, this conversation will give you insights you’ve probably not heard before. You can connect with Lestie through her website, https://www.lestiemayzachary.com.

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Today’s episode is sponsored by Karen Hunsanger, an incredible editor known as “The Word Wizard.” I’ve worked with Karen many times, and she is your secret weapon for crafting the highest-quality book possible. Visit the link above for a free sample edit.

As a writer, you long to make a difference in the world. You want to use your creative gifts. You might even want to build a part-time or full-time business with your writing.

We know that a writing habit is the bridge to everything we want as writers. Of course, marketing, relationships, handling your money wisely … all those things are vital, but none of it matters if you’re not producing the work.

As creatives, we naturally resist routines and habits. But writing is a blue-collar job, like carpentry, plumbing, or anything else requiring regular, sustained labor.

Without a writing habit, you will never get that blog built, you will never finish that book you’ve been thinking about all these years, and you will certainly never build a successful writing business.

A great writing habit is the pathway to everything you have dreamed about as a writer. On this episode, we dive into the four "wheels" that keep it moving.

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Thanks to today's sponsor! Vellum is the go-to book formatting software for indie authors who care about creating beautiful ebooks and print books. Use the link to download Vellum for FREE.