The Book Doula
- Austin, TX 78754 (map)
- (512) 762-0435
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Birth Your Career & Business-Boosting Book
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The Book Doula • Austin, TX
- You'll be asked a few quick questions that will help describe your needs.
- You'll be asked to provide your contact information so that Liz Alexander will be able to get in touch with you.
- You'll have the option to get competing quotes from other qualified service professionals, saving you time and money.
After 25 years as a professional writer, author of nine commercially published books and three Indie titles that have sold a total of 500,000 copies worldwide, and continue to earn me royalties a decade or more later, how can I help you achieve a similar level of success?
Do you need someone to help you develop a more marketable idea for your book? Could you benefit from a strategic thinker who can help you structure your book in a way that compels the reader to "eat up" your content? Someone who knows how to sensitively but firmly keep your feet to the fire and hold you accountable for starting and finishing? A consummate "producer" who wrote two commercially published books a year for three years straight, who knows how to get things done and can show you how to create a manageable writing plan for yourself? And has the marketing savvy that helps you develop a creative plan not just for writing and publishing but actually selling your book?
Please don't mistake me for a "book coach" because what I offer goes far beyond that. I specialize in working with people who recognize what a book could do for their career and/or business -- but just don't know how to pull that off. I do -- and have.
My books have opened up opportunities for me as an international consultant, speaker, workshop facilitator, coach, and author of a dozen books and counting. You want to know how I've done that? And how you could too -- in a way that feels authentic and comfortable? Then let's talk. Today. Because if you're serious about birthing a book that sells, big time, you need the Book Doula. Otherwise, good luck finding a book coach who offers all this and more :-)
Reviews
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April 24, 2011
I've worked with Liz for several months, individually and in a group setting. From my perspective helping writers birth their books isn't something she does on the side, it's her true calling. So much so, I find it difficult to imagine she has any energy left to write her own best-selling books.
Liz supports her writers by helping them define and refine their mission, information and process. Her energy and focus is powerful. Her experience and insights are rich. She does her research and constantly uncovers new opportunities, technologies and trends. She's organized, reliable and always prepared. Oh, and she doesn't hold back.
One quality that separates her from many book coaches and publishing services available today is that she doesn't claim to have a tried and true formula. (You know the spiel "Just follow these ten steps and you too will have a best selling money-making blockbuster!")
Instead she guides each of her clients to find their unique gift to the world. This is not only more fulfilling for the writer but significantly reduces the risk that theirs becomes another "me too" book languishing in the remainder bin.
She'll be as involved as you want her to be. If you're serious about your book, I strongly suggest you hire her.– Sharon
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April 19, 2011
If you're sick of self-help/writing-guru platitudes and want workable strategies for getting your book written, Dr. Liz may be the doula for you. I find Dr. Liz's candor and wisdom both helpful and refreshing. You can expect that she will consider your individual strengths and help you craft strategies designed specifically to work with your constitution. Also, expect to work hard and to be proud of your work product.
– Tom
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April 19, 2011
My experience with Liz over the past year has been transforming for me as a writer. She is the bridge between my intention, skill, and passion for my topic- and the personal behaviors that have kept me from completing my writing projects. A highly successful published writer herself, I have the benefit of learning from her experience- which is a much more direct path than I could have ever found on my own.
Completing my book is only the icing on the cake. What I have learned about my self as a writer through working with Liz- is a priceless education.– Lynn
Question and answer
Q. Why does your work stand out from others who do what you do?
A. I've achieved what my clients are looking to achieve. I've not just been a writer and editor, but an internationally-published commercially successful author whose books have sold in the hundreds of thousands...and continue to sell.
My range of skills is hard to find in a single individual: writing, publishing, strategic planning, coaching, consulting, idea generation, marketing and social media prowess.
I treat every client individually. I help them successfully create a book in their own way, drawing on strengths and skills often they didn't know they had. As one client described it, I worked with her patiently until she caught up to her own potential.
Q. What do you like most about your job?
A. I'm passionate about books, always have been. Every since I was old enough to pick up a pen and start creating my own magazines and books as a child. Creating content is a fascinating process to me and I love interacting with different kinds of people and watching their brilliance unfold as we work together. It's always magical for us both.
Q. What questions do customers most commonly ask you? What's your answer?
A. I find mostly that many clients don't trust themselves, which is why they need to be working with someone who they can trust. I tell them writing a book is a hero's journey. You never know what you are capable of until you test yourself. Just take small incremental steps towards your desired goal, and become comfortable with the uncertainty. I'll be holding your hand throughout the process. I know you can produce a brilliant book...you'll never believe this for yourself until you've experienced what is involved in conceiving and birthing one.
Q. Do you have a favorite story from your work?
A. The first book I wrote was a "how to" based on my success with a rather unusual hobby -- entering and winning consumer competitions in the UK. I typed everything I could think of to share with others, on an old typewriter that "lived" on my dining room table, each evening after my kids had gone to bed. Then I went to the library, found a book that listed London publishers, sent my manuscript to one of them -- and they offered to publish it for a small advance. No agent, no "platform," no hassle...I have always loved that little book (now, sadly, out of print, it's called How You Can Win Competitions) as it didn't just give me pleasure to write but launched my career as an author, TV broadcaster, and -- later -- consultant, speaker, workshop facilitator, and now Book Doula.
Q. What do you wish customers knew about you or your profession?
A. There's more to writing a book than -- well, writing it. Most of my clients are reasonably good writers. Many of them have a marketable idea for a book. What they struggle with is how to organize their material so that the unveiling of their knowledge, as the book unfolds, makes sense to the reader.
I help them scope out and structure their book in a way that presents the content in a logical order, one that makes it easy for the reader to understand and potentially apply the knowledge that's being shared.
Most manuscripts I see from new authors who have not worked with a professional read like streams of consciousness. The writer has dumped everything they know down on paper (or on screen, to be more accurate), and I tell them that there are gems in there somewhere but they're making it very difficult for their readers to find them!
