andboo

Write a Book in 30
Days
THE MYSTERY SCHOOL
welcome Every second that passes is an
exchange. You’re filling in the
blank pages of your life that
you will never get back. The
way you spend your moments
shapes the way your story
turns out.

Maybe you don’t control the characters

or the plot twists, but you’re the writer-
a fact that is both empowering and
paralyzing. The great internal battle is to
stay aware, so you don’t wake up at 75
and realize you lost precious chapters of
your story to an apathetic sleep. So, pick
up the pen.

What tale is worth the exchange of time?

Let's get started.

Allie Michelle

THE MYSTERY SCHOOL

01
Introduction

02
PART I: The Muse.

12
PART II: How much “writing” will I
actually be doing each day?

16
PART III: Characters and their
archetypes (shadow vs. light)

21
Part IV: Storytelling (outlines, plot,
chapters etc.)

25
Part V: The Writing

29
Part V: Poetry

29
Part VII: Marketing.
01
INTRODUCTION
Between your first and last breath is the
most honest book you’ll ever write- your life.
We’re all storytellers. It’s in our nature. You
don’t need me to tell you how to do that. If
you’ve survived the age of twelve, you
already have all the material you could ever
need for an interesting plot and relatable
characters.
Whether the book is fiction, self-help, or a
collection of poems...the best thing you can
do is draw from the truth of your
experiences. Combine your experience with
the unknown realm of your imagination, and
you’ve got a book that people might actually
want to read.
Which brings me to my next point- there are
a lot of books out there. With self-
publishing making it so accessible these
days, there are more authors than ever. This
is both incredible and overwhelming. We’re
once again faced with so many choices that
it’s nearly paralyzing.
This is not to discourage you. This is just a
reality check. If anything, it’s motivation to
make your work have more depth and
relatability than ever. We are overwhelmed,
overstimulated, and bombarded with
saturated ads every single day.
PAGE 1
Don’t write a book
for the result.
Any author will tell you the most fulfilling
part of being an author is the writing
process. Getting published usually inflates
the ego or crushes it, depending on the
reviews.

The most centered I ever feel is when I’m

with my muse, writing in a quiet room.
If people resonate with your work, they’ll
share it with their friends. Stay focused on
creating something honest. What unique
experiences can you draw from?

The logistics.
I’m not here to correct your grammar, or
teach you about paragraph structures. Write
the way you talk. Don’t try and say, “he was
being facetious,” instead of, “he was joking,”
unless that is natural to you.
Most of the world will have no idea what the
hell you’re saying, and to be honest if it’s not
organically a part of your daily vocabulary it
won’t affect the reader on a deep level.
Throw the thesaurus out the window. Some
of the most effective books have slang in
them. I’ll say it again: write the way you talk.

PAGE 2
 Time management.
This is a challenge. Which means it will
challenge you. I know- shocking. The truth
is, we’ve confused what is urgent with what
is important. Writing the book you’ve always
wanted to write- important. Responding to
your DMs, text messages, running errands,
cleaning your house, being on the phone
with your friend for two hours...those things
wear the mask of urgency.
Your to do list will never end. So make a
commitment for an hour each day. If you
don’t have time, monitor how much time
you spend on social media and see how much
of your life you get back. I also understand
you all have lives, and kids, and jobs, and
Why are we doing many things that are actually important as

this?
well. But for thirty days, I’m asking you to
wake up an hour earlier than you normally
do and carve out this time to write the story
Why are we doing this? that’s inside of you, aching to be let out.
This challenge isn’t meant to force you to
finish a book in thirty days. You may or may
not do that. This challenge is meant to break
down the barriers of resistance and create a
practice of writing.
After I write, I’m the best version of myself.
The knots inside of me have unraveled. I’m
more relaxed in my body. I feel like I’ve done
the most important work of my life, whether
or not anyone else gets that. I overcame my
own resistance enough to create something.

PAGE 3
The book.
Think about what you love to read and the
authors you admire. Why is that? What
about their storytelling did you connect to?
What made you fall in love with the
characters? Write a story you’re interested in
going on the journey of.

Let’s break down how this actually works.

PAGE 4
 02

PART II: THE

MUSE.

02
I’m not the first Once again: the point of this is that you
created. You pulled something out of

writer to talk nothing and used your imagination.

Creation is in our nature.

about the muse. In fact, let’s look at Mother Nature

because She’s the original artist. Every
Artist’s have been making relationships
canyon, ocean, mountain or galaxy was
to their muses since ancient roman times.
birthed from chaos.
Essentially, your muse is like an
imaginary friend that brings you ideas.
Which means that this is not going to be
Other times, the muse brings us garbage
a logical process that you can do step by
ideas. Whether your art is viewed as
step and remain perfectly in control.
brilliant or bullshit doesn’t really matter.
Your characters will surprise you and the
way the story unfolds will most likely
Why does the muse matter?
change from its original conception. The
work will evolve as you do.
Regardless of whether or not you believe
the muse exists, it helps dismantle your
perfectionism as an artist. If you make a
work of art that lasts hundreds of years
and gets massive amounts of praise, you CREATIVE PROCESS
can’t hop on a high horse because you
can’t take all of the credit. The muse
1 This is awesome
keeps us humble. 2. This is tricky
3. This is shit
However, if we create something that 4. I am shit
gets a review that would normally 5. This might be ok
crumble us into a ball watching netflix
6. This is awesome
for the rest of eternity, it’s not entirely
our fault either. The muse was off duty
that day.

PAGE 5
HOW “GOOD” YOUR ART TURNS OUT IS DIRECTLY
CONNECTED TO HOW MUCH YOU SURRENDER TO
YOURSELF AND GET OUT OF THE WAY.

To write a book is to dance between our most insane and sane selves. I’m
not sure what motivates us to continue playing make-believe into
adulthood, but I damn well know there’s nothing else I’d rather be doing
.
Consistency.

The more you show up for your muse, the more the muse will show up
for you.
Remember when you were a kid, and you just tried things because they
seemed fun? That’s the energy I want you to bring to your book. Take
away the #1 NY Times Best-seller goal and sit down in a quiet room and
create a world of your own. Have a hell of a lot of fun doing it. Your
reader will be able to feel that.

Paint the picture.

My muse is a lot like my grandmother. She’s stubborn, excellent at

poker, has a quick wit, and is talented as hell. When she shows up, life is
fabulous. Without her, everything has a little less color.
Visualize your muse. What do they look like? Sound like? Create a
relationship with your muse. Say a prayer, light a candle, do a little
dance...just create a consistent ritual for the muse to know you mean
business.
This is how I see it. It’s not about me. I owe it to the art itself to finish
the project. I’m the midwife, and no one wants a lazy midwife that quits
on you halfway.

WWW.YOURWEBSITE.COM PAGE 6
I don't want to be the painter, but
the paint brush.
I don’t want to be the musician, but the instrument. I want god, the universe, whatever
creative force that exists beyond me, to use me as an instrument for magic to come
through. Maybe this sounds absurd to you, but it’s a lot easier than gripping ideas with
white knuckles trying to control everything.

Books are collaborations. You’re writing from the lens and prism of your own
experiences, and the muse dances in the unknown world of the imagination. We want
real and fantasy. Relatability and inspiration.

The world will always try and classify us as one thing, but it’s far
more interesting to learn a character who has a little bit of everything in them.

We’re walking
contradictions, so reading
a story with multiple
layers and dimensions are
what hook us and draw us
in.

PAGE 7
 03

PART III: HOW

MUCH “WRITING”
WILL I ACTUALLY BE
DOING EACH DAY?

03
Let’s be clear That being said, I believe that you can
write this book in 30 days. Paulo Coelho
wrote the Alchemist in two weeks. All
There are no rules to this thing. Your you have to do is make time for it and
book can be as long or as short as you surrender to yourself. No big deal, right?
want. Some people need to have the
length and chapters planned out from
start to finish. Personally, I let the story
write itself and have no idea how long it’s Word count
going to be. Having a loose outline can 3,500 words each day.
be immensely helpful, which we’ll go over
in later sections. An average book is between 70,000-
100,000 words. If you write 3,500 words
Even if you only end up writing, say, per day that’s 105,000 words in 30 days.
10,000 words this whole time, that’s still Making room for life happening even if
10,000 more words than you would have you didn’t show up for a few days or got
written without this challenge. just under that it would still be the
length of a novel.
You’re about to embark on a courageous
journey. Writing a book is no joke. The
story evolves as we do. Between those
first and last words are chapters of
transformation on internal and external
levels.

Writing changes us. It shows us how to bring

the formless into form.

PAGE 8
Why is it
important to
write everyday?

Because if your muse is kind enough to

send you a story worth writing, then you
don’t want it to get stale. Like I said,
your writing evolves with you. If there’s
too much of a gap between the last time
you wrote, the characters and the story
itself starts to feel stale.

Your book is like a house plant. If you

don’t water it often, it’s going to die on
you. Better yet- your book is like a
relationship.
Ideas want to be brought
If you don’t nurture your idea everyday, from formless into form.
it’s going to go find someone else that
will show up for it. Ideas want to be
brought from formless into form.

PAGE 9
 What about writer’s block?
W R I T E R ’S B L O C K I S A T E R R I B L E F E E L I N G . L I K E I S A I D , I T ’S L ES S A B O UT
F O R C I N G Y O U R S E L F T O C R E A T E S O M E T H I N G B R I L L I A N T A N D M O RE
ABOUT GETTING OUT OF YOUR OWN WAY.

01 02
Practice an art Meditation
you’ve never tried before that is
Watch the magic that occurs when
completely different. Dance. Paint.
you do absolutely nothing. We have to
Sculpt. Draw. Sing. Learn an
empty our artistic well for there to be
instrument. Just become a new
space for new ideas.
student again at something where
there is no pressure and the only
intention is to have fun dancing with
your imagination.

03 04
Flow writing Music
Set a timer for ten minutes and just Music. Create a playlist and lay on
write. It can be about anything. The your floor and just let your
only rule is that you can’t stop moving imagination run wild. See if any
your pen. This takes the “junk” out of chapters come through. Play make
our minds so to speak. believe in your mind.

PAGE 9
 05
The perfectionist
Get rid of who I call “the perfectionist.” The point is, if you consistently keep
creating, a gem will come through
I started buying crappy old notebooks so eventually. It’s math. The problem is,
I wouldn’t feel the pressure to write the most people get scared and stop all
next great american novel. I also started together. So, keep going. What else do
writing five you have to do with your one precious
poems a day, and got used to most of life?
them being garbage. I learned to be okay
with my work not being “good,” all the
time, and more importantly, I learned to
write for pure enjoyment instead of the
result.

PAGE 10
 04

PART IIII:
CHARACTERS AND
THEIR ARCHETYPES
(SHADOW VS.
LIGHT)

04
Characters and
their Archetype
This section is more so if you’re writing
fiction, and to be honest you can feel free
to take it with a grain of salt.

Hollywood filmmakers are the only ones

that really follow this formula because it
tells the story of the hero. It takes you on
the journey of the american dream.

There’s a reason that some of the most

beloved and famous stories over time
cover all of the same archetypes. They
represent parts of the unconscious
personality, as Carl Jung refers to it.

I recommend you read the book the

Hero’s Journey by Joseph Campbell. It’s
not necessary to structure your book in
this way, but these are the main
archetypes we connect to because they’re
a part of our own psyche. They are also
the main archetypes that some of our
most beloved stories use- Harry Potter,
Lord of the Rings, the Lion King, etc.

PAGE 11
 Characters & Archetypes
THE FOLLOWING ARE CONCEPTS AND ARCHETYPES FROM THE
HERO’ S JOURNEY, WHICH I PERSONALLY AM AN ABSOLUTE
SUCKER FOR.

01
Hero
an unassuming, ordinary character
who overcomes extraordinary
circumstances. The part of our psyche
that triumphs.
02
Mentor
the sage or wise person that plays a
key role in shaping the hero’s
character by imparting advice or
guidance.

03 04
Ally Herald
the relatable, trusted friend who the catalyst for the hero embarking on
assists and supports the hero along their journey. The Herald delivers a
their journey dramatic call to action.

PAGE 12
 Characters & Archetypes
THE FOLLOWING ARE CONCEPTS AND ARCHETYPES FROM THE
HERO’ S JOURNEY, WHICH I PERSONALLY AM AN ABSOLUTE
SUCKER FOR.

05
Trickster
The trickster makes the hero question
their reality. They add humor and
expand the audience’s perspective.
06
Shapeshifter
the sage or wise person that plays a
key role in shaping the hero’s
character by imparting advice or
guidance.

07 08
Guardian
A huge obstacle that the hero has to
Shadow
overcome (this can be a character or The villain .
event)

PAGE 13
ONLY TAKE WHAT YOU RELATE TO. THIS ISN’ T AN
EXACT SCIENCE, AND IT’ S BEST NOT TO REPEAT
AND RECYCLE THE WAY STORYTELLING HAS BEEN
DONE FOR HUNDREDS OF YEARS .

However, there’s a lot to learn from those who came before us. So just
draw inspiration from this and then write what comes organically to
you. Throw your own spin on it.

Relatability is the most important thing. If your hero doesn’t have some
sort of vulnerability, then they aren’t human. This goes the opposite way
as well. If the villain is all evil, it doesn’t trigger our empathy. We can’t
understand them. Let’s take Harry Potter for example...

1. Hero: Harry
2. Mentor: Dumbledore
3. Ally: Ron and Hermoine 4. Herald: Hagrid
5. Trickster: Dobby
6. Shapeshifter: Snape
7. Guardian: Horcruxes
8. Shadow: Voldemort

Harry is an ordinary, unassuming boy who turns out to have magical powers
and embarks on a quest to save the world from the terrible fate of Voldemort.
In the end, it was about his courage and willingness to go into the unknown
then how powerful of a wizard he was. This makes us feel like we could be
Harry in our own lives. On the flip side, we’re shown how Tom Riddle had an
extraordinarily difficult childhood and was an orphan from a young age. We
see the journey that brought him to becoming Voldemort, and that allows us
to connect to him.

PAGE 14
Alright. Archetypes aside, I’ve found the
best character inspiration comes from my
own life. I don’t base my characters exactly
off one person, but I’ll draw certain
characteristics and combine them. I’ll give a
character my best friend’s sense of humor
and my clumsiness and my sister’s obsession
with anime. Like I said, if you’re alive and
reading this right now, then you’ve made it
far enough in life to collect enough
experiences to write about.
We want to empathize with the character as
they transform and overcome themselves.
Usually the protagonist begins as an
ordinary, unassuming character, later to find
themselves thrown into extraordinary
circumstances that force them to become
more. We love a good rags to riches story.
PAGE 15
 05

PART V: THE
WRITING

05
I’ll be honest.
I don’t use
outlines. Ever.
They feel like a suffocating box that I’m
stuffing the story in and there’s no room
for air in there.

However, my dear friend Freya had an

excellent point that not everyone enjoys
living their lives in a chaotic, mess of a
mind like mine.
SO...

There are several ways you can do

outlines. A few questions I would ask
yourself first: What challenges do they go through?

Usually we watch them go from

What themes does the story explore?
normal/relatable to the transformation of
(Love, good vs. evil, power, death,
overcoming themselves in some way.
coming of age)

What are the stakes?

Think of the themes that you’ve
resonated with in your own life. Are they risking life and death?

How does your character embody that What is the character’s greater motivation
theme? for their transformation?

PAGE 16
Why are we doing Another tip is having open-ended loops

this?
throughout the story.

Multiple mysteries that have yet to be

When you’re outlining, I recommend letting
the bare bones of the story play out in your
imagination and flesh out the details later.
Some writers outline by chapter, but I prefer
to outline it into three parts.
solved, but tie together perfectly at the end
of a story. By dropping subtle hints and
details that come back around as keys in a
cliff-hanger, the reader feels like they’re part
of a greater puzzle.

Steven Pressfield talks about this a lot in

screenwriting. He says to separate your story
into the hook, buildup, and payoff.

Hook: Harry gets his letter to Hogwarts

Buildup: Harry and his friends work to solve
the mystery of the sorcerers stone

Payoff: Harry triumphs in his epic battle

with Voldemort.

Your outline can be a few short sentences.

The details come in the actual writing
process.

This is really just a skeleton to demystify

your story so it doesn’t feel like this great
unknown elephant sitting on your chest.

PAGE 17
 06

PART V: THE
WRITING

06
01
THE WRITING
We fall in love with the stories that make
us feel something. One of the best tips I
ever got as a writer is to avoid stating the
obvious, but instead employ all of the
senses through describing what we want
the reader to experience.
Example:
A:
The forest was breathtakingly beautiful.
B:
Snow crunched beneath her boots as she
slowly made her way through the forest.
Water droplets crystallized on the trees
and the scent of evergreen hung in the
air. The sharp cold bit into her skin, but
she welcomed the feeling as she stared up
at the night sky. A shooting star slowly
crawled across the galaxy, looking for its
way home, just as she was.
PAGE 18
You feel me?

The same goes for characters. Instead of saying, “he was angry,” say, “a
muscle feathered in his jaw as he averted her eyes, his white knuckles
shaking furiously by his side.” Microexpressions, baby.

I saw a hilarious meme once that said, “expecting your first draft to be
good is like looking at a pile of milk and eggs and being upset they aren’t
pancakes yet.” Don’t take your writing, or yourself for that matter, so
seriously. It’s a process. Sometimes a fun one, and sometimes it can be
excruciating on the ego.

Which brings me to my next point. The fear of death can bleed into our
art a lot.
We try to make ourselves immortal by creating something that will last-
leaving a legacy and all that jazz. In which case, we’ve completely missed
the point. We’re going to die. So we can plug our ears and squeeze our
eyes shut and say, “Lalala! Death can’t catch me!” OR, we can throw on
the big girl panties and face reality. We’re going to die some day. Life is
really only for a few magic seconds.

PAGE 19
So, I invite you. I was expecting her to heal me from my
childhood or provide some sort of
miracle for my poor choices in men and
I invite you to swing to the opposite side self sabotaging tendencies. I tell her my
of the fence. My dear friend Dakota tells story over a jar of jamu, and ask her how
me this all the time. Instead of trying to to transcend my experiences.
leave a legacy, imagine you are a time
traveler who has already died, and you’ve How do I reach that place of
gotten one last chance to go back and enlightenment?
experience everything you always wanted
to. She laughed until a river of tears ran
down her face at my question and said,
What would you say? “My dear, there are two basic truths in
Where would you go? this life. No one escapes being human,
Who would you be? and everyone fucks up their children in
What would you create? some way.” You heard the lady. No one
escapes being human. Go give your
Imagine the story that will come out of characters some spice.
that perspective.
Leaving a legacy makes for characters
with egos as inflated as our own. There’s
no depth. No meat. We try and exile the
parts of ourselves we deem unloveable
and it makes for flat characters. It is
their imperfections that make them so
wonderfully unique. It is their suffering
that we learn from and allow our own
souls to be sculpted by.

I saw a medicine woman in Bali once. I

drove four hours on stomach churning
roads on the back of a scooter that
seemed like it was about to explode at
any moment to get to her.

PAGE 20
NEXT QUESTION...

WHO ARE YOU WRITING FOR? IS IT FOR YOU?

YOUR PARTNER? YOUR CAT? THE WORLD? KNOW
YOUR AUDIENCE.

Motherhood is way more badass and complex than this so pardon the
comparison, but coming out with a book does feel like a birth of sorts.

The only difference is, once you release it, it’s no longer
yours. It belongs to the reader. So write the book for you, and be
prepared to let go of your attachment to how it’s received.

Lastly...
One of my favorite books is, “Writing to the Bones,” by Natalie
Goldberg. If all you take from it is the title, that will be enough.

Take out any unnecessary words. The world has enough fluff. I used to
be so obnoxious and write about liquid rose gold sunsets dancing across
infinity and iridescent moonbeams peaking out amongst the swirling
stars. I want to go back in time, smack myself and ask, “do you even
know what the fuck you’re saying?”

Moving on swiftly.

A sculptor carves his masterpiece by removing any unnecessary marble.

Such is your job with writing. Don’t be a muggle.

PAGE 21
 07

PART V: POETRY

07
Poetry is a whole A poem is anything written honestly.

different ball Poetry is the language of the soul. it is,

the more it relates to everyone.

game. Speakeasy was successful

one my friend Dakota Adan set for
There are far less rules and regulations. A
The more personal and vulnerable
poem can be long or short. It can rhyme
because despite the diversity of the poets,
or not rhyme.
what they had in common was that they
were true to their own authentic voice.
I recently published a collaborative work
of poetry called, “Speakeasy Volume I.”
It takes time to find your voice.
featuring poems from some of the
strongest voices in poetry like Atticus,
Write about what haunts you.
Mike Posner, Najwa Zebian, Yesika Star,
Write about what you love.
and more.
Write about what you’re learning.
Write anything that feels true.
Everyone’s style was different. For
example, Humble the Poet wanted all of
his spelling errors left in so that it felt
more raw. Mike wanted his poems to feel
like a journal entry. Yesika’s poems were
flawless in their cadence and grammar.
Atticus’s poems were normally one liners,
and then IN-Q’s would be several pages
long and always rhymed.

So then what makes a poem “good?”

Perhaps the one rule I go by is the one

my friend Dakota Adan set for me from
the beginning.

PAGE 23
 Practical Tips:
THERE ARE SEVERAL WAYS I NOTICE MYSELF GROWING AS A
WRITER. THESE ARE THE TOOLS THAT WORK FOR ME.
YOU’ LL HAVE TO MAKE YOUR OWN TOOLBOX AND DECORATE IT
HOW YOU PLEASE.

Write as much as possible. Especially when you’re first starting out.

I forced myself to write 5 poems a day for 6 months. Some were
short, some were long, most of them were trash. It didn’t matter. I
was exercising the muscle and letting my heart spill across the
pages. Your partner pissed you off? Write a poem about it. You lost
your job? Write a poem about it. You won the lottery and got a free
ticket to Mars on Elon’s spaceship? Write a damn poem about it.
Just write about life as it unfolds organically.

Try out different styles. Make some of them rhyme. Make some of
them pros. Make them short. Make them long. Eventually, you’ll
begin to realize that a poem is like a separate entity. It wants to be
written and spoken in a certain way. The practice is all about
learning to put your finger on the pulse of the

Who inspires you? Are you into sufi mysticism, slam poetry, pros?
We learn through experience, so read as much as possible and
notice how it feels in your body. What touches you?

Teeth. Referencing Dakota again because he is my partner in poetry

crime, he always tells me that a good poem has teeth. It feels like a
drop kick to the heart that shifts your perspective. It hits you
because it’s so damn honest.

Read your poems out loud. I recommend recording yourself when

you do. You’ll start to hear if there are any bits that need to be
adjusted or taken out. A poem has its own melody to it. Read it
angry. Read it happy. Read it loud. Read it quiet. You have to risk
in your writing. Never performing or writing the same way twice,
but moving towards what feels vulnerable and expansive.

PAGE 24
Putting the book I had about 15 different drawings made
up for my book of 100 poems.

together. If you’re naturally talented, you can make

your own. Rupi Kaur created both her
Your collection can have a specific theme
poems and drawings. It’s up to you.
or it can simply be a compilation of your
best works. Explorations of a Cosmic
Less is more. It’s better to have 30 of your
Soul was a collection of the poems that I
strongest, most honest poems in a book
felt were my strongest pieces over the
then 250 mediocre ones.
course of a year. The Rose That Blooms
in the Night had a specific theme. It was
split between dusk and dawn, and was
my journey from healing through
heartbreak, learning to bloom within my
own darkness.

I’ll be blunt. The actual process is not

that graceful. I gather all of my poems
from my notes app and journal and dump
them all into a word document. From
there, I comb through each one and
notice if there are pieces that repeat the
same concepts or themes. From there, I
select the strongest pieces.

Art is also a personal choice. I think it’s

essential because it makes the book
experiential. Finding an artist that is able
to bring your work to life adds a whole
new layer of depth. Not every poem
needs a piece.

PAGE 25
 08

PART VI:
PUBLISHING

08
Self-Publishing. Personally, I found it very empowering to
self-publish my first book. After I did
that, I was able to get a wonderful book
The easiest way to self-publish your book agent and sell it to a top.Publishing
is through Kindle Direct Publishing. The house. They are now republishing my
benefits of this are that you maintain full first book as well, so you can always sell
creative rights, and it goes directly to it to a publishing house after the fact.
Amazon and Kindle. It’s very simple. You
upload a PDF to the platform and can
purchase a font or use one of their basic
ones. They do drop shipping, so there is
no overhead for you and you don’t have
to deal with manufacturing or order
placements.

You have a choice between two different

material covers, and they’ll send you a
proof copy within a few weeks. Once you
confirm, the book goes live. Easy. The
downsides of this route are that they take
40%, and you don’t have a lot of options
in the material and style of the book. All
of the marketing is also 100% on you, and
it is only sold through Amazon/Kindle
rather than bookstores.
Traditional
Publishing.
Traditional publishing has its perks. I
had a very positive experience publishing
The Rose that Blooms in the Night.
Andrews Mcmeel gave me full creative
control, and I was closely involved in
every part of the process from the cover,
to the art, to the font, to the way it was
released.
First, you need a book agent to submit
your work to a publishing house. Most
publishers won’t give you the time of day
unless you have one. The best way to do
this is to look in the acknowledgements
section of authors whose books you love
and you’ll find the name of their agents.
Send emails out to a bunch of different
ones. Or, if you have a personal
connection to one already through a
friend that makes a big difference.
From there, you have to create a
proposal. A proposal has a sample of
poems from your book, a marketing plan,
authors bio, previous works, etc. This
helps them gage how many books you’ll
potentially sell.
Once they accept your proposal, your
agent then negotiates a book advance for
you. The advance varies by author. You
receive your royalty payments from the
book once the advance is recouped.
I highly recommend having a digital
artist assist you in making a beautiful
proposal. We’re visual creatures.
Aesthetics do matter.
The publisher will then give you a release
date, which is usually about a year out
from when you sign the contract. Several
months before launch the readers will be
able to pre-order the book. The publisher
will get the book into major bookstores
and online stores. My publisher also
helped me plan my book launch event in
Los Angeles. Speakeasy Publishing House.
 09

PART VII:
MARKETING.

09
01
MARKETING
Whether you’re self-publishing or
traditional publishing, the majority of
the marketing is on you. If I’m being
honest this is my least favorite part of
the process because I am an introverted
hermit with a snarky sense of humor, not
a saleswoman.

However, I sincerely feel that I owe it to

the art itself to get it out in the world.
And when every part of your heart is
behind something, people can feel that.
So make sure you’re really proud of it.

PAGE 29
 Marketing Tips:

Podcasts. They’re the new book tours. Do your research and create a
long list of influential podcasts you feel would resonate with your
work. Email a bunch of them and schedule in the episodes for when
the book is available. Do as many interviews as possible.

Social Media. Obviously, this is the most powerful tool for sales.
Make spoken word tik tok’s, youtube videos, and IGTV’s. Be
consistent with it. Create visual art that is inspiring.

Collaboration. Do IGTV live’s and perform spoken word from your

book with other poets. Submit your work to online book clubs. For
example Emma Watson has her, “our shared shelf,” Florence Welch
has, “radical reads.” look into the book clubs that align with your
work and submit your work like crazy.

Giveaways. Do online giveaways offering signed copies of your

books in exchange for reviews.

Online Articles. Reach out to goodreads, thought catalog, any online

blogs of influence you feel align with your work and write an
article for them.

Reviews. The more reviews you have on Amazon, the faster your
book gets bumped to the top of its category and becomes a best-
seller.

PAGE 30
THE SECRET
TO GETTING
AHEAD
IS GETTING
STARTED
Michelle Lim
 ACCOUNTABILITY
We’ve made a community group chat with your fellow writers you
can join from your dashboard. Every week, there’s the option to
submit your manuscripts and share tips/tricks with each other.

Accountability to the art is really important, so having a

supportive group of artists can be massive. All of the live calls will
be recorded and uploaded onto the site incase you can't make it
live. See you on the inside!

Allie Michelle
THE MYSTERY SCHOOL