Episode 34: Sharing Your Story in a Book with Lindsay Bryan-Povin
Today on the show Jodi interviews Lindsay Bryan-Povin, author of The Financial Anxiety Solution (Ulysses Press, 2020). Here are some highlights from their conversation:
Jodi and Lindsay discussed the origin of her book. Lindsay was a creative kid but did not necessarily see herself book writing as an adult. As an expert voice in the world of finances for couples, Lindsay looked at authorship as a way to stand out in a flooded field when she was approached by a publisher to write this book.
Because Lindsay’s book was published traditionally, she didn’t have total control over the schedule. Once she had a deadline for manuscript submission, she treated writing like academic work and shifted her schedule to make room for book writing. Once she changed to schedule to allow for a full day of writing, Lindsay was able to get into a groove and it made a huge difference in productivity.
One of the parts of the process that required a learning curve for Lindsay was writing long-form nonfiction, for readers who need repetition. The tendency to see something as repetitive when it was actually necessary within the manuscript took Lindsay some time to get used to.
Lindsay has been strategic about marketing, and she began to pitch podcasts and publications two to three months before the book’s publication in late February 2020. When in-person events were canceled beginning in March 2020, Lindsay doubled down on podcast interviews, which has created a lot of opportunities she hadn’t originally anticipated. The topic of her book — financial anxiety — is certainly timely, but it’s important to Lindsay to not appear opportunistic and keep the focus on serving readers.
Lindsay shared two pieces of advice for aspiring author-entrepreneurs: First, on down days, allow yourself to feel the “woe is me” but then remember all the earlier effort you’ve put in, and don’t let that effort go to waste. And second, put your limiting beliefs aside and stay out of your own way. Lindsay noted that she doesn’t love social media, yet Instagram has brought lots of opportunities to her.
Lindsay and Jodi discussed how there seem to be two types of people in the world right now, mid-coronavirus pandemic: those who are doing “all the things” and those who can’t seem to focus, let alone read, write, learn a new hobby, etc. Both Jodi and Lindsay are in the latter camp, but Lindsay shared that she has Untamed by Glennon Doyle in her to-read stack when some normalcy returns.
Listen here or on your favorite podcast player, and let me know what you think!
Disclaimer: This interview was recorded in March 2020.