Dr. James Zender (left) and other participants at Harvard Medical School’s Publishing Course. Dr. Zender will return this time as a speaker in 2019
As Harvard Medical School’s CME writing and publishing course, Writing, Publishing, and Social Media for Healthcare Professionals, draws closer (it’s in June this year), I look forward to seeing my colleagues, the other faculty members, many of whom I have known for over a decade—literary agents, acquisitions editors at publishing houses, publicists, editors and others.
Especially exciting, is the time spent reconnecting with writers I have worked with and hearing about their latest accomplishments. Some sign a copy for me of their now-published book. Others share their latest platform building wins—from speaking at international conferences to becoming a podcaster or featured blogger on a large platform. And some, such as Dr. Randy Kamen, Dr. Carrie Barron, Dr. Craig Malkin, Dr. Diane Radford, Dr. Shawn Jones and others, return as published authors, speakers and guest faculty at the conference.
This year, I look forward to seeing Dr. James Zender, who will be on a panel sharing successful publishing advice. His book, Auto Accident Trauma, will be published by Rowman & Littlefield in December.
Then there is the excitement of hearing about new book ideas and helping healthcare professionals think about the wisdom they have to share, how they want to share it (blog, book, social media or all three), and helping them shape their ideas. I heartily recommend this CME course to anyone in the medical profession who wants to write a book, blog, pen articles or increase their influence and impact in healthcare through writing.
Dr. Zender’s Results of Attending the Harvard Medical School’s CME Writing and Publishing Course
This year, as I prepared my invitation email, I got in touch with several authors who recently published or are about to be published by major publishers. When I contacted Dr. James Zender, his news was more than I could fit in a brief email and I realized it would make a great post. So, without further ado, here are the kind of things that can open up as you attend the Harvard Medical School CME writing and publishing course, make a plan and start implementing it!
Before the book even came out, the activities that Dr. Zender’s literary agent, Linda Konner, digital media strategist, Rusty Shelton, and I encouraged when we began working together immediately helped him reach more people. He successfully pitched a column to Psychology Today and his posts often became featured on the P.T. home page. He grew an active Twitter following and applied to speak at conferences. Exciting highlights include:
Dr. Zender was the invited keynote speaker at an international neurology conference in Paris, France in March.
He has twice been a featured speaker at the largest brain injury conference in the world (Michigan Brain Injury Association) and will likely be invited again for this fall.
He will serve on a panel as guest faculty at the Harvard Medical School CEU course on writing and publishing this June.
His blog made Healthline’s list of Best Traumatic Brain Injury Blogs for 2019.
His Psychology Today blog, The New Normal, has over 60,000 reads.
Dr. Zender’s speaking career took off as he worked on his platform and prepared his book proposal
Says Dr. Zender, “I think the best thing that has come out of my work with you and the others from the Harvard Writer’s course, is it has connected me with other authors who are frontline game changers in medicine and mental health. As a result of my PT blog, I have been contacted my several international cutting edge experts and have become collaborators with them in their work which in turn highlights my work.
“It is amazing to have highly in demand authors contact me and want to talk with me about their work and what I am doing. It has led me into new important areas of research that is enriching my clinical practice and what I can offer to patients. For example, a top neuroendocrinologist contacted me, became my friend, invited me to his training and gave me two of his books. I have now become more informed about the impact of traumatic brain injury on the endocrine system than most physicians in the Detroit area, and that will be my topic at this fall’s brain injury conference in Lansing.
“As a result of my increased visibility, my practice has greatly expanded which has made for less time for writing, and doing other things so it is a balancing act that sometimes isn’t so balanced. But I love doing the research for my book and am constantly amazed by what I didn’t know I didn’t know.
5 Benefits of Attending the Writing and Publishing Course
Celebrating Dr. Lynelle Schneeberg’s book deal at last year’s course.
If you are writing (or thinking of writing) a book about health, medicine, psychology or related matters, consider attending this June. Benefits include:
A Crash Course in Publishing: Sessions will cover the areas you need to understand and master to become a successfully published author.
Meet Agents: Top agents in the field of medicine, health and well-being will be at this conference—ready to meet you, hear your ideas and provide feedback and guidance.
Meet Publishers: That’s right, acquisitions editors from publishing houses will be there including Yale University Press, Johns Hopkins University Press and ABC-CLIO.
Social Media Experts: You’ll learn how to get started, in order to reach people with your message through blogging and social media.
Refine Your Book Idea: You’ll even have an opportunity to pitch your book to a panel made up of faculty members and receive feedback on its marketability (and the strengths and weaknesses of your pitch, so you can refine it). During the breaks you can speak to faculty members and brainstorm about your ideas, platform and more, as well as getting your questions answered. (Come see me in the foyer!).
I hope to see you in June!
Some of the Books by Past Course Attendees
How To Write a Book after Signing a Contract with a Publisher
When I emailed, “What do you want to discuss on our call?” all my client wrote was, “How to write a book.”
Dr. James Zender had just signed a book contract with a publisher and, not surprisingly, self doubt reared its ugly head. Can I really write a book?
Step 1: Address self-doubt.
Perhaps you’ve experienced similar doubts:
“Can I write a good enough book?”
“Will I be able to write a book within the schedule that I just agreed to?”
“Will anyone want to read it?”
“How can I do it right?”
Before we could move on to other steps, we needed to address the negative thoughts and feelings that naturally arise and get in the way. And we did.
I didn’t need to say much. Dr. Zender started by sharing his experiences at a conference he’d just attended, where the testimony of several of his peers underscored how under-served his target audience was. We were both a bit stunned by the silence around the subject of his book, and he felt even more determined that people needed his message. All this serves to motivate him to write the book.
I reminded Dr. Zender that he’d already written one chapter and an excellent proposal, as well as spent several years developing his platform. Much of the hardest work was done!
Not only that but he’d proven to himself and others that he could write a compelling chapter, and an equally compelling proposal. Obviously, he has the ability to write a book–and a good one.
In addition, his book proposal now serves as the blueprint for the book. By signing the publishing contract, he’s already agreed to write the chapters in the outline he presented. The path to take is clearly marked–by him!
Step 2: Break it down. Make a plan.
I asked him the number of words he’s committed to and to remind me the number of chapters he needs to write:
55,000 words
14 chapters left to write (out of 15).
We did the math. Approximately 3,667 words/chapter.
I suggested that with an early fall deadline, he aim for something like July 1 to have a first or second draft of the whole book. This gives him plenty of wiggle room for edits, changes or unforeseen circumstances.
It will be important to schedule specific times in his calendar and keep them sacred. Otherwise it’s too easy for priorities to shift and find yourself in a pickle near the end of the month.
Now, how to actually write the book? He has the blueprint already. If it works best for him, he can just put more and more detail in the outline, until he knows pretty much everything he wants to put in the book.
On the other hand, he has some fantastic stories. He may just want to choose the stories to tell in each chapter and start by writing that story in all its powerful detail. The writing of the story will naturally inform him of what points he wants to make in the chapter. In addition, the story writing will inspire, get the words flowing and make it much easier to write a book. So, it’s also fine to start writing, with a more modest chapter outline and let the writing flow from there.
There’s no right or wrong way to write a book. Experiment and see what works best for you. You can always change course.
Step 3: Consult your acquisitions editor.
I suggested that he come up with a list of all the questions he has for his editor. Rather than ask her for her vision, he should start with his vision, so that she’s more likely to be on the same page. Some of my suggestions included:
I’m planning on a conversational tone, not particularly academic; is that what you envision as well?
Much of my chapters are based on stories. How much quantitative information was she looking for, vs. qualitative information and anecdotes/stories?
Is she on board with the chapter outline as is or does she have any changes? Is there anything missing?
May I send you the first chapter or two for feedback as I write, to make sure we’re on the same page before I write the whole book?
This last question is important because I have seen what happens when an acquisitions editor suddenly has a completely different vision for a book after the author has spent months writing it! Don’t let that happen to you. Get some feedback from the get go so you know you’re on the same page as your editor.
Step 4: Get Support
A writing coach can support you to write your book, offering guidance, feedback and accountability.
This author is not the kind of person who needs a regularly scheduled coaching call. He’s quite self motivated and committed. So, he emails me when he needs editing or coaching. However, if you know you need more accountability than that, a book writing course, private coaching or a combination of the two might be the best way for you to get the hand-holding you need to write a book and complete it.
If you are interested in a book writing course or a VIP Day (where we can develop a plan for your book, platform building, book proposal or all three), I have my biggest sale of the year coming up right after Thanksgiving. You can save from 30-70% on my programs, including self-study programs, like Quick Start to Kick Start Your Book, my Award-winning Bring Your Book to Life(R) Program, which includes lots of one-on-one with me and more. You can find out more on this Thanksgiving Sale Preview Page. The sales begins November 23, but you may want to check it out and reach out to me to see which program is best for you.
Note, my steps for this author are based upon already having the book proposal done, so he’d already done much of the work of developing a vision and goals, clarifying his audience and getting clear on the book concept and structure. If those are thing you need help with, my self-study program, Quick Start to Kick Start Your book can guide you in more detail through powerful exercises that provide clarity and direction. You can wait until it goes on sale (for $67.90 vs. $97), or, if you want it right away, you can buy it now and I’ll send you a special journal for your writing as a gift.
In addition, feel free to ask your questions on how to write a book (or a book proposal) below as a comment. I always answer!
When I emailed, “What do you want to discuss on our call?” all my client wrote was, “How to write a book.”
I asked him the number of words he’s committed to and to remind me the number of chapters he needs to write:
I suggested that he come up with a list of all the questions he has for his editor. Rather than ask her for her vision, he should start with his vision, so that she’s more likely to be on the same page. Some of my suggestions included:
