Today I take you inside the book launch plans of author Leigh Stein. She and I worked together last year in preparation for the launch of her new book, Self Care: A Novel. We take you step-by-step into the process she went through to identify her ideal readers and develop her marketing plan. We also talk about the need to plan way ahead. We worked together nearly a full year ahead of launch. 

How do you make a major creative shift in order to do the work you love? Today, award-winning children's book illustrator Anna Raff shares how she did exactly that. This is how she described what she learned when, mid-career, she began taking classes again: "I realized I was missing out and silenced a part of myself for a long time." I also love her advice on how what you create and share needs to be focused on who you are: "If you are sharing work that is an extension of you, it will be your best work."

Last summer, Teru Clavel released her first book: <em>World Class: One Mother's Journey Halfway Around the Globe in Search of the Best Education for Her Children</em>. It was published by a major publisher, was well reviewed in major media, she appeared on the TODAY Show plus other TV and radio, and was interviewed on dozens of podcasts. In today's episode she gets radically honest about the book launch process - what worked and what she learned along the way. Including this: "This is not easy. There are so many rejections. For one success, there were hundreds of pitches where I got rejected."