Just Start: Lessons from book publishing coach and consultant, Richelle Fredson
“Things aren’t supposed to be perfect right out of the gate, but we are told that they should be.”
Richelle Fredson, a book publishing coach and consultant for aspiring and published authors, is on Strategy Snacks today and there’s so much value packed into this ten minute episode. Whether you’re a budding author or a new business owner, odds are that you’ll face perfectionism, imposter syndrome, and a hundred other mindset blocks. Throughout our conversation, Richelle is sharing how she coaches her clients through these obstacles, plus she’s sharing the number one mistake that you can avoid when you’re writing or creating something new. I loved this conversation and I think you will, too!
Topics:
The challenges and wins that Richelle faced when she launched her first group course program
Understanding that things aren’t supposed to be perfect in business all of the time, even if we are told that they should be
Admitting that you cannot possibly do everything in business and knowing when to outsource work and/or find support
The clarity that can come with actually letting things be messy and releasing perfectionism and imposter syndrome
The number one writing mistake that Richelle sees people make
Episode Resources:
- Join the waitlist for Business Genius Bootcamp
About Richelle:
Richelle Fredson is a book publishing coach and consultant working with aspiring and published authors to create impactful book concepts & competitive book proposals. Many of Richelle’s clients go on to receive impressive offers from their dream publishers. Her recent clients include Farnoosh Torabi, Chrissy King, Jennifer Racioppi, Terri Cole, Vanessa Marin and many more! Formerly, Richelle was the Director of Publicity & Book Marketing for Hay House, also serving in Acquisitions. She’s the host of the Bound + Determined podcast where she interviews industry experts and authors, and she’s the founder of The Book Proposal Blueprint Program.
For more from Richelle, be sure to:
- Visit her website
- Follow her on Instagram: @richellefredson
- Download Your Publishing Roadmap
- Listen to her podcast, Bound + Determined
For more, make sure to:
- Follow me on Instagram @frenchie.ferenczi
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Frenchie: [00:00:00] Hello. Hello. And welcome back to strategy snacks today. We are joined by Rochelle Fredson, who is an amazing book coach, proposal coach, all the things she helps amazing people get their voices onto the page and out into the world. Um, that's my intro of you, but now Rochelle, I'm going to ask you to jump in and tell people what you actually do in a better way than I did.
I mean, that is
Richelle: an excellent place to be in. I really help people develop the right book idea for them for whatever their goal is, right? So if it's to increase their business, we're going to do that. If it's to share their story, we can play with that. Um, I've been in the industry for 20 years. I spent 15 of those years in house at Hay House.
on both the front end of the process and the back end. So I was in acquisitions. So meeting with agents and prospective authors and reading proposals and deciding what would be a great investment for us. And then also having my team [00:01:00] on the back end, do these marketing launches, right? So I got to be, um, in both sides, which was very exciting.
Um, and then in 2018, I started my own business, um, and really just wanted to help build. Nurture people through a process that can feel a little overwhelming if you don't have friends in the industry or connection. So I'm sort of the conduit, if you will. Yeah.
Frenchie: Yeah. And it does feel like the industry is like, Very shrouded in
Richelle: mystery.
Yeah. Yeah. And you know, like with
Frenchie: everything, I'm sure when, you know, you're like, Oh, there's a process, there's a system, but in reality, um, or, but when you don't know that you're kind of just like, um, wait,
Richelle: this seems hard.
Frenchie: That's exactly right. Okay. So first I want to kind of dive into a question about your business.
So talk to me, what has been kind of one of your biggest business wins or moments or celebrations that you like to kind of go back to?
Richelle: Um, there are two that come to mind. The first is sort of a repeat when [00:02:00] that feels really good and in alignment with what my intention was for this business. And that was to create a safe space to do this work.
And so I work with a lot of, um, traditionally marginalized folks. Voices, a lot of people sharing, um, story and trauma and experiences that have to be handled very gently. Um, and so when I hear from clients or people that go through my blueprint program, that I have created safety for them to do this work, it is really, really meaningful to me.
Um, because writing a book is just so vulnerable. We can't avoid that part of it, right? It doesn't even matter if you're writing like a very technical business book. I had someone once writing a book that was about, um, you know, sales strategy. It doesn't matter. There's, there's this vulnerability of putting ourself and our ideas and our stories out there.
So to create safety is a big one. And then sort of the, a big sort of monumental one was when I turned the [00:03:00] framework that I developed into a group program. And the first time I ran it, it was like, Is this going to work? You know, is it going to work to adapt what I do privately into a different forum? Um, and in the first group, the first sort of trial run of it, we had two people out of seven get book deals and it was like, okay, this is something like, it was like testing the waters and going, Oh my gosh, it's working to translate it in this way.
So that was a really big win as well.
Frenchie: That's amazing. That's really amazing. And also, cause like, there's a lot of conversation about course creation in the coaching world and all that. And I tend to be always a little bit hesitant around like the value of leaping into courses, because a lot of times you don't see those results for all sorts of reasons.
Um, but. But I think the fact that you were able to test this framework time and again in the one on one setting, and then like bring it to more people, it really gave [00:04:00] you the punch and like kind of the power behind it. So that's
Richelle: awesome. Well, and things aren't supposed to be perfect right out of the gate, but we're told that they should be.
Right. Yeah. And I think especially as women in business, it's like, You know, we're so critical of ourselves or we look around what everyone else is doing and think we're supposed to, we're able to get there and just one giant leap. And that's just not the truth. And it's always just a little bit of playing and risk taking and seeing what works and what doesn't.
Yeah. Yeah.
Frenchie: Yeah, totally. Um, okay. So on the flip side of that, what's been one of the hardest lessons for you to learn on your journey?
Richelle: Um, I'm a little bit of a control freak. So part of it has been, uh, not just recognizing that I need support, but also just knowing how much better I will be. And the business will be by calling in experts who are just really good at what they do.
Um, so it's sort of that. Admitting to myself, you don't know all the things and there are people out there that [00:05:00] do. Um, so beyond just like a workload standpoint, it's like, there are people out in the world that are really, really good and well trained at certain aspects of what I need. Um, getting coaches and strategists of my own.
Um, when I'm in a big visionary moment and I'm like, let's just create this thing. And then not knowing that the 50, 000 steps. To get there. So just calling in all types of support for myself, which I've been so much better about the last few years. Um, and just seeing great results and just letting people do what they do best.
Frenchie: Yeah. Well, I also feel like sometimes that's like a little bit of like a war wound from coming from corporate environments where you're like, there's just so much pressure to like be excellent in all aspects of your job. And I feel like as an entrepreneur, there's so much more space and acknowledgement for the fact that we are all learning and we're all in progress.
That's right. That we like, I always think about the two categories. There's things we suck at and that we want to get better at. And then there's things we suck at that we actually don't care to [00:06:00] get better at. Both are okay. Um, but I do feel like the more corporate environments are like, you have to just like, you know, I have to get every penny out of
Richelle: what I'm paying you.
Yeah. I mean, I remember for a time period, I was running a PR team and they're like, now you are also the digital marketing team. I'm like, I don't speak that language. Right. And like, and, and you're learning it as you're doing it. And then you get good. You know, trial by fire. Yeah. And I think sometimes it's the same way in your own business.
It's just sometimes just throwing things at the wall and seeing what works. But I think the, to your point, the biggest observation is like, there are things I don't care to learn Yeah. That other people are really good at. Yeah. Um, and so let's, you know, resource those people. I love it. I love it. All right.
Last but not least,
Frenchie: what is one strategy snack that you want to share with our listeners?
Richelle: I like brow with theme. I like it. I, I would say, um. To let it be messy, right? I think this goes for [00:07:00] writing and business development, all the things, um, to not wait for everything to feel perfect, not wait for inspiration to strike because inspiration comes from doing, um, you know, to not sit in imposter syndrome, to activate through it.
Um, and to understand that, um, Your first, second, third version of anything isn't supposed to be perfect. You're working through the process. I remember when I was developing blueprint and my friend said to me, these modules don't need to hang in MoMA, right? This is your, right? Like, and I just, it made me laugh and I was like, she's 100%, right?
Like you can actually create something and be like a little scrappy about it. And improve it over time. And I think that what I'd love people to know is to just begin and embrace the discomfort of the messy, because that's how you get really good. Yeah.
Frenchie: Yeah. I love that. And that's really funny.
Richelle: I think the MoMA reference is [00:08:00] hilarious.
Frenchie: It's such a good point because we take it so seriously. Okay. Wait, I'm going to add on one question just because I feel like listeners will want to know this. What is like the number, and maybe you can't answer this, the number one, like book related mistake, book writing related mistake people make.
Richelle: Thinking there's not space for their voice. So at the very beginning, one of the first exercises I give people is to actually go look at the market, like go on Amazon, put the search terms that you would use to find your future book and see what comes back at you. And sometimes you forgot. Oh, there's so many people already writing about this.
There's no space for me or how is my voice really different. Um, but when you dig deeper into what people were left wanting, or you think about how your story and your lived experiences make a difference, there's room for everybody. Truly. I believe that. And I've seen it proven back to me. So I think it's just knowing their space, understanding that both lived experience and learned [00:09:00] experience, like credentials, things like that.
Both have a place in creating really strong books, um, and just focusing more about what, you know, people want from you instead of looking around at what everyone else is doing. Love it. I love it. I love
Frenchie: it. Amazing. Rochelle, thank you so much for being here. How can our listeners connect with you, get to know more about you, et cetera.
Richelle: Thank you for having me. I'm Rochelle Fredson everywhere. So. com on Instagram, LinkedIn, all the places and my podcast that I do weekly is called Bound and Determined. Amazing.
Frenchie: Amazing. We will link all the, all the Rochelle Fredson adjacent places
Richelle: in the show notes.
Frenchie: Um, thank you so much for being here to all of our listeners.
Make sure you go connect with Rochelle. Keep your eye out for her next launch of her group program and all the good things. If a book has been on your mind, she is the lady to
Richelle: know. Thanks Frenchie. Of course.