Episode 5: Sharing Your Story in a Book: Lee Chaix McDonough
Today on the show Jodi interviews Lee Chaix McDonough, author of ACT on Your Business (2019). Here are some highlights of the conversation:
Jodi and Lee talked about how Lee came to write this book. Lee recalled how she’s always wanted to write a book (and did so even at age 4!) and had tried many times over the years. She felt the time was right because she had something to say at the same time that she was looking to grow her platform and visibility. She realized a book could marry meeting that business goal while also fulfilling a personal goal at the same time.
Lee shared that one of her favorite parts of the process was her initial brainstorm and figuring out what she wanted the book to look like. She felt like there was a cohesiveness quickly about the two-part structure of the book.
Lee talked about the resistance she encountered after writing about 15,000 words. She identified her “messy middle” as a crisis of confidence rather than typical writer’s block. She said it helped to have a strong outline to return to and also that she wrote about it and ended up including the story in the book, so it did serve a purpose.
Lee mentioned that ACT on Your Business is serving her through visibility and credibility rather than through book royalties. She talked about the book as a springboard to other opportunities she’s taking advantage of, such as speaking at industry conferences and presenting webinars. She also offered this golden nugget of wisdom: Author-entrepreneurs should think of a book as in investment in your message that leads to other opportunities.
Lee shared that she’s reading Marie Forleos’s new book, Everything Is Figureoutable. She also noted that this book is a perfect example of nothing being a totally new concept. What’s “new” is your particular “take” on the material.
Listen here or on your favorite podcast player, and let me know what you think!
