Parents Who Write

Do you struggle with spreading the word about your writing and growing your audience organically? Do you fear people just scroll past your “buy my book” or “read my writing” posts?
In this episode, you’ll learn how to reach your ideal readers and why spamming other groups doesn’t convert users into readers.
Best of all, you’ll walk away knowing how to create content that users actually want to consume AND share.
So, stay tuned to learn the secrets for gaining a following of raving fans who love your posts and voluntarily spread the word about you and your writing.
Topics discussed in this episode:

• Conquering the purpose of social media
• Finding your ideal readers
• Knowing what to post and NOT post in other groups
• Creating your own consistency
• Using the three main types of content
• Posting content people want to consume and share
• BONUS: An affordable resource for generating your ideas

About Erin:
Erin P.T. Canning has worked for more than 15 years as a magazine and book editor, encouraging each writer’s individual voice and strengthening their writing goals.
She always planned to write a book. Then she had kids. While she focused on them, she stopped writing—for six years. Something deep inside was missing. Depression, anxiety, and anger forced her to search for herself, both for her sake and her family’s.
Despite fearing her skills had atrophied, Erin started writing again. One journal entry led to one blog post that led to her creating her podcast, Parents Who Write. Erin’s current role as a podcaster and writing coach enables her to help others pursue their writing dreams.
Finally, she finished writing her own shitty first draft and will release her first novel in 2023. She earned her MA in Writing from Johns Hopkins University, and she lives with her husband and their two boys in Maryland.
Connect with Erin:

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/erinptcanning
• Twitter: http://twitter.com/erinptcanning
• Facebook group: https://facebook.com/groups/parentswhowrite
• Book a free 30-minute consultation call: https://calendly.com/parentswhowrite/30min-meeting

Resources discussed during the show:

• Parents Who Write writing workshops: https://lifebeyondparenting.com/courses/
• Rachel Miller’s Set-and-Forget Social System: https://moolah.life/social-system46939416

Send us a text

Feeling stuck in your author journey? As an experienced editor, I specialize in helping writers like you, especially parents juggling family and creativity, finish and publish their books.
Take action on your writing dreams! Book a FREE 30-minute discovery call to discuss how I can help you implement these strategies and finally achieve your author goals.
https://calendly.com/parentswhowrite/30min-meeting
Bonus! Book your call and mention this episode for a free publishing check list.

Do you have personal moments of your life that you want to write about, but you're not sure how to approach difficult memories? Or you fear backlash from the people you'd have to write about in order to tell that story?

In today's episode, I'm going to share how I navigate those issues, after I read for you one such story that I wrote.
Topics discussed in this episode:

• Reading of Erin’s personal essay, Erin Go Brách: How My Irish Heritage Found Me
• Why Erin wrote this personal essay about her father and heritage
• Three ways to prepare writing about difficult memories
• Waiting until the right time
• Gaining internal permission to write these stories
• Knowing when you’re ready to face and share your wounds
• Returning to our big why for telling this story
• Writing to help yourself
• Writing to help others and overcoming fear of judgment
• Addressing fear of backlash
• Identifying your intention behind telling this story
• Notice what language you’re using
• Exploring the other person’s point of view
• Play worst case scenario and make a plan
• If you fear physical harm
• Changing details to conceal your identity
• Approaching writing about these moments with caution
• Have a TLC plan in place post-writing

About Erin:
Erin P.T. Canning has worked for more than 15 years as a magazine and book editor, encouraging each writer’s individual voice and strengthening their writing goals.
She always planned to write a book. Then she had kids. While she focused on them, she stopped writing—for six years. Something deep inside was missing. Depression, anxiety, and anger forced her to search for herself, both for her sake and her family’s.
Despite fearing her skills had atrophied, Erin started writing again. One journal entry led to one blog post that led to her creating her podcast, Parents Who Write. Erin’s current role as a podcaster and writing coach enables her to help others pursue their writing dreams.
Finally, she finished writing her own shitty first draft and will release her first novel in 2023. She earned her MA in Writing from Johns Hopkins University, and she lives with her husband and their two boys in Maryland.
Connect with Erin:

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/erinptcanning
• Twitter: http://twitter.com/erinptcanning
• Facebook group: https://facebook.com/groups/parentswhowrite
• Book a free 30-minute consultation call: https://calendly.com/parentswhowrite/30min-meeting

Resources discussed during the show:

• Read my personal essay here: https://lifebeyondparenting.com/Erin-go-Brach

Send us a text

Feeling stuck in your author journey? As an experienced editor, I specialize in helping writers like you, especially parents juggling family and creativity, finish and publish their books.
Take action on your writing dreams! Book a FREE 30-minute discovery call to discuss how I can help you implement these strategies and finally achieve your author goals.
https://calendly.com/parentswhowrite/30min-meeting
Bonus! Book your call and mention this episode for a free publishing check list.

Have you ever written a sentence that just feels off? And you’re not sure how to rearrange the words or phrases to create a stronger sentence?
Today’s episode plants the first seeds for gaining this knowledge. Just listen, and let these concepts grow roots. And when you come back and listen again, you’ll strengthen these ideas, which in turn will begin to strengthen your writing.
Why? Because no matter how many words a sentence contains, whether that’s 3 words or 100, every sentence boils down to 5 basic patterns. And when you know how the patterns should flow, you’ll be better able to identify and fix those awkward sentences that muddy your ideas and confuse your readers.
So stay tuned and familiarize yourself with the bigger picture.
Also, if you want a visual version of this episode, you can read the article version online: https://lifebeyondparenting.com/sentence-patterns.
Topics discussed in this episode:

• Know your puzzle pieces
• When to implement this in your writing
• Pattern one: subject + verb + subject complement
• Pattern two: subject + verb
• Pattern three: subject + verb + direct object
• Pattern four: subject + verb + indirect object + direct object
• Pattern five: subject + verb + direct object + object complement
• How this helps you

About Erin:
Erin P.T. Canning has worked for more than 15 years as a magazine and book editor, encouraging each writer’s individual voice and strengthening their writing goals.
She always planned to write a book. Then she had kids. While she focused on them, she stopped writing—for six years. Something deep inside was missing. Depression, anxiety, and anger forced her to search for herself, both for her sake and her family’s.
Despite fearing her skills had atrophied, Erin started writing again. One journal entry led to one blog post that led to her creating her podcast, Parents Who Write. Erin’s current role as a podcaster and writing coach enables her to help others pursue their writing dreams.
Finally, she finished writing her own shitty first draft and will release her first novel in 2023. She earned her MA in Writing from Johns Hopkins University, and she lives with her husband and their two boys in Maryland.
Connect with Erin:

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/erinptcanning
• Twitter: http://twitter.com/erinptcanning
• Facebook group: https://facebook.com/groups/parentswhowrite
• Book a free 30-minute consultation call: https://calendly.com/parentswhowrite/30min-meeting

Send us a text

Feeling stuck in your author journey? As an experienced editor, I specialize in helping writers like you, especially parents juggling family and creativity, finish and publish their books.
Take action on your writing dreams! Book a FREE 30-minute discovery call to discuss how I can help you implement these strategies and finally achieve your author goals.
https://calendly.com/parentswhowrite/30min-meeting
Bonus! Book your call and mention this episode for a free publishing check list.

Have you pondered writing children’s book but aren’t sure how to pull the whole project together, from prose, to illustrations, to publication?
In this episode, Sheryl Bass discusses various resources that can help you write and publish your book, how to handle illustrations, and what to consider when pondering traditional or self-publishing.
You’ll also learn more about social emotional learning and how you can incorporate these messages into your books to help foster positive messages for children. Also enjoy hearing an excerpt of Sherly’s rhyming storybook.
Topics discussed in this episode:

• Being a midwife to others’ creativity
• The sneeze that inspired a children’s book
• The importance of rhyme vs what’s fashionable
• The challenge of being an unknown author
• Holding onto an idea for years
• Creating your own author’s brand
• Incorporating SEL into children’s books
• Pros to self-publishing
• Cons to self-publishing
• Finding self-publishing services, such as editors and illustrators
• Four tips for writing children’s books
• Our children provide us with built-in resources
• How your kids can help you choose an illustrator
• Writing isn’t a race
• The benefits of reading your story aloud
• An excerpt from Baby Dragon’s Big Sneeze
• Adding more kindness to the world

About Sheryl:
Sheryl Bass holds a master’s degree in Social Work and has studied child development, and she uses these insights to inform her picture book writing. Her goal in creating Be-Kind Publishing is to produce lighthearted rhyming stories with gentle themes of teamwork and friendship.
Sheryl also holds a master’s degree in Journalism and is currently working in public relations. Sheryl resides just outside of Chicago, IL with her husband and two terriers.
Get her book:

• Baby Dragon’s Big Sneeze: https://www.amazon.com/Baby-Dragons-Big-Sneeze-Children/dp/B0BJTFPQ55

Connect with Sheryl:

• Website: http://www.be-kindpublishing.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100087176800294
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/be.kind.publishing/

Resources discussed during the show:

• April Cox, coach, Self-Publishing Made Simple
• Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators
• Laura Bontje, children’s book editor
• Children’s Book Insider
• Remesh Ram, illustrator, Prayan Animation

Send us a text

Feeling stuck in your author journey? As an experienced editor, I specialize in helping writers like you, especially parents juggling family and creativity, finish and publish their books.
Take action on your writing dreams! Book a FREE 30-minute discovery call to discuss how I can help you implement these strategies and finally achieve your author goals.
https://calendly.com/parentswhowrite/30min-meeting
Bonus! Book your call and mention this episode for a free publishing check list.

What does editing a book and parenting have in common? A ton, actually!
As an editor, your job is to excavate through what you are given and pull out the best from the author. Same goes with good parenting. Your job is to direct your children, but allow them to have their voice heard where they can still shine.
Your writing and editing skills crossover with parenting more than you would think. You can use the concepts and skills you’ve refined over time to not only guide your children, but to advocate for them as well. Whether that be writing to your local school board or having challenging conversations with policy makers to create positive change in your community.
Having children doesn’t mean you need to stop writing or using your skills. If anything, you can elevate your abilities by having children by getting creative with how you use your skills.
Not to mention, kids’ imaginations are endless, so if you’re ever stuck on a story plot, you can always turn to your little ones for some brilliant inspiration.
Joining us on today’s episode is Emily Popek, a journalist, school communications professional, and mom of one pre-teen. Emily joins us to discuss how parenting and writing can intertwine, as well as how parenting has changed over the years, and how to reframe struggles in parenting and writing into opportunities, and much more!
This is an enlightening conversation with so many nuggets of wisdom that you don’t want to miss.
Tune in to learn more!
Topics discussed in this episode:

• How children are great resources of inspiration
• The concept of a “throwaway book”
• Why Emily started writing a newsletter
• The importance of removing the idea of perfection when writing
• The camaraderie in the writing community
• The direction Emily wants to see her newsletter go
• Struggles in parenting in today’s society
• Just because parenting is hard doesn’t mean it is being done the wrong way
• The power in having challenging conversations in your local communities
• How strong communication skills can make an impact
• How and why Emily became a journalist
• Writing the elusive headline and catchy hooks
• Erin’s joy of editing
• Importance of finding an editor that allows you to showcase your voice
• The crossover between editing and parenting

About Emily:

Emily Popek is a journalist and school communications professional. Her newsletter about the intersections of parenting and education is at thinkofthechildren.substack.com. Emily and her husband are both graduates of Bennington College; they live in upstate New York with their 10-year-old daughter.

Get her newsletter:

• Think of the Children, https://thinkofthechildren.substack.com/

Connect with Emily:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/EmilyPopek
• FB page: https://www.facebook.com/EmilyFPopek
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emilypopekwriter/

Books discussed during the show:

• Mother Nature: Maternal Instincts and How They Shape the Human Species by Sar

Send us a text

Feeling stuck in your author journey? As an experienced editor, I specialize in helping writers like you, especially parents juggling family and creativity, finish and publish their books.
Take action on your writing dreams! Book a FREE 30-minute discovery call to discuss how I can help you implement these strategies and finally achieve your author goals.
https://calendly.com/parentswhowrite/30min-meeting
Bonus! Book your call and mention this episode for a free publishing check list.