240: “The Empowered Woman” + Writing A Collaboration Book / Anthology with Marta Spirk

of multiple books , including the Empowered Woman , and also a brand new anthology or collaboration book called the Empowered Woman's Path . So we're going to talk about that later . We're going to talk about anthologies , collaboration books , all that stuff .

Marta's got a pretty incredible story being born in Brazil in an entrepreneurial family , moving to the US , having triplets starting a business like so much fun stuff on her journey . And I don't know if you know this , Marta , but we've got a soft spot for Brazil at selfpublishingcom .

We've got probably about half the marketing team is either from Brazil or lives in Brazil . We love , we love Brazilians and we love her and Brazilians . That's the right place to then . Yeah , yeah . So that was like a real fun fact when I was prepping for this interview and the only time .

I've only been in Brazil personally one time , but it was with my dad and we were building like a church and a school there and it was really cool . So I can't wait to go back sometime . But anyway , Marta , welcome , Great to have you here .

And I remember when I was working with a media mentor at the time , one of the things that she said was don't worry about publishing a book , it's just going to collect dust . You're going to have boxes in your garage , leave it for the big guys , focus your money and your attention and other things . And I was like all right .

And then I started working with somebody else that had published nine books and his recommendation was he was singing a different tune he said you need a book , especially if you're wanting to get into speaking . It will establish you as an authority and it doesn't have to be a Bible , a canon of your life .

Because that was one of my concerns was you know , I'm early on in the business . What do I actually say in this thing ? If I publish , I need to wait until I'm this big person with a bunch of accomplishments and I'm 80 years old .

So it's not going to happen , and he said it just gets to be an entryway into your world , and that made it more accessible to me , and that's why I decided to go ahead and publish what some people call an airplane book . It's around 100 and some pages . It's an easy read an hour and a half and you're done .

Which is what I wanted people to do , anyways , was to understand a little bit more about my background , my story and also how I got started in my business , and it's been an amazing avenue for people to connect with me , especially in the speaking world , because that's what I do a lot as well .

What obviously part of your story is having triplets , it seems like you know , somewhat unexpectedly , and then being thrown into that mix like with your business and all that stuff , like zooming in on , I guess maybe the topic of what you write . How do you learn from that experience ?

How'd that affect your goals as an entrepreneur , as an author , all that stuff .

But I took it a step further from the regular people in my circle and I was known for being this person that was really good at English and was a little American they called me at the time , but then I had triplets , so I fast forwarded quite a bit there . I got married my husband's American I moved to the US and we had triplets in Brazil .

We decided to move back and that's when the bug of starting my business really started , because I was in a path of really finding myself postpartum , which you know parents can understand , especially as a mom and especially with a huge dump from zero to three .

I had a lot of stuff to go through , you know , to sort my feelings and my thoughts In 2016 , online businesses were all deranged , especially direct sales , and that's how I got started .

I was , like you know , make money off your phone a couple hours a day while the babies are napping , but it then evolved into actual coaching , having my own programs , starting my podcast . That was the very first thing of I'm committed to this work .

I'm going to do something that I can't just delete overnight , like social media , you know , and the message has always been a message of empowerment . So later on , I rebranded and I started using the name Empowered , and Empowered Woman was in 2020 , actually of all years , that we needed more empowerment than ever .

And in really helping women specifically because that's who I was speaking to and still am in pursuing their dreams , whatever that may be .

Because if a Brazilian woman with no connections in the US and the mom can follow whatever it is that's in my heart then anyone can do it , and that's been the message of both books now is you can do whatever you , whatever you have in your heart to do and figure it out , and also help people along the way to do the same thing . Pay for it Right .

You have to have that belief that somebody else needs it , because you walk into a library , you walk into a bookstore , you go on Amazon . What do you see ? A bunch of books , but every single one of those authors had the belief that somebody out there needs this . And it's the same thing , the same as opening a business .

There are a bunch of life coaches , there are a bunch of copywriters , but you have to have the belief that you have something different to offer and to bring to the table . So it's scaring on with that . And I think , as moms , it helps to think about our kids in the sense of wouldn't you foster their gifts ?

Wouldn't you encourage them to pursue something that they love ? You get to do that with yourself and that's how you model that to them , because they will follow your lead . So that has been the process for me , in the sense that I only get one shot at this that's what my husband and I say all the time .

Like we don't get the do over of , we will do better . We'll do different with the same with the second child . So we're doing it all together , so I may as well be very intentional with what it is that I'm doing , and that's what the business has brought for me , is more intentional .

So , the one shot , one shot , group parenting oh man , that's funny . Well , I guess that's kind of a funny segue into your anthology Group parenting , group book . So , for the people who don't know , there's kind of like what we people would call like a .

It's like a group book or gosh , I'm blanking on , the collaboration book is one name that people call it or an anthology , which I'd heard of this concept and I'd seen it done , but I'd actually never heard it called an anthology before .

So can you talk about , maybe , first off , what is it for people who don't know what it is , and why'd you decide to do that as your second book ?

So think of it as an event where I'm calling up people on stage , I'm introducing them and I'm saying here you go , they have the mic and they get to tell their story and do whatever they want with their keynote and their presentation . So that's essentially what I did .

My part in the book is the introduction , overall introduction , the introduction to each author and then the conclusion

, wrapping everything up , and then each of them got to write a piece which is a chapter . So it's kind of like their mini book .

And what was interesting about this process is that I've been a part of other collaboration books that people have invited me to write and in my mind I thought I would rather do my own book than just being a part of somebody else's book .

But then when the idea came about of me hosting a book , I was like that's interesting , I like doing that because I'm the performer want to be in front of people , type personality . Then I realized that there are so many people out there that are feel more comfortable in being a part of something than in the way .

They're like now I know what my book is going to be about , because I wrote a chapter and now I can fill it in with more details and read more chapters out of that , so it's been amazing to facilitate this for other people because it's the work that I do as a coach already . But instead of saying , hey , go , do that .

It's like , here it is , I will do it with you and . I will help you through it , and we will help each other . So something beautiful about this journey , too , is that when you're promoting a book as a solo author , a lot of the work is on your shoulders . We always have a team or somebody that's helping you .

It's you shouting off the rooftops by my book . Read my book . Now we get to meet two of us saying buy this book , read this book , which is so cool because we have this whole team vouching for each other , so hope that explains it .

So let's go MC or the person kind of bringing people together and collaborating on the book , I'm assuming . Ok , first step is what's the theme ? And we talk about the four Ps of a bestselling book Person , pay and Promise , price and so that Person , pay and Promise is defined by the MC , I would assume .

And so you said , hey , here's kind of the theme and the hook for the book . And you decided that first . So can you walk me through ? Was that the process ? And then how did you go from there to choosing who is going to participate and getting people involved , and kind of walk us through that process .

And I was overwhelmed by the response , like it was such great validation of the work that I have been doing for the last almost seven years now that people actually want to be hanging out with me and participating in something , because it's a bigger commitment . It's not just coming to my coaching program . Once it's done we can decide to part ways .

We're forever sharing this bond now . So it's more . It's a responsibility on my end as well , but it's their commitment to me and I was very surprised at the amount of people that raised their hand honestly and then to have had 21 people that actually went the distance to stick together and to continue on .

So that was the first part and then the second part , once we had everyone on board , was deciding the theme , and the easiest thing in my mind was really a companion to my first book . So in my first book you get to hear my side of the entrepreneurial empowerment story .

Now here 21 stories of how they started their business and what their life's journey is , and that facilitated even my introduction when I was writing . It is to say , you don't have to just trust me or hear from me .

You get to hear from 21 other real people that have had such different journeys but in many ways they overlap with obstacles , with hardship and so different , obviously . I mean I have my Brazil triplet story and then they have theirs .

That is equally amazing and things that you couldn't even imagine somebody coming out of and still writing something and encouraging others . And that's the beauty of it is that every single one of them is so different but equally empowering . So that's what we did , is we followed the chapters in my book to create parts and include chapters within the parts .

It's called the Empowered Woman's Path 21 inspiring stories of success in life and business , and so then you've got the people who are interested . Obviously , 21 stories made it in the book . Was that ? Did all 21 who committed come through ? Was there like maybe 23 or how many ever ? And then a couple dropped off . Like what did that process look like ?

And then two people decided it was not the right time for them or it was not the right , the right theme or for where they were going in the direction of their life and business , and they dropped off and it was mutually fine . We parted ways in emicably . But then the 21st state . So yeah , there was a little bit .

But what's been interesting through this process and even in working with self publishing was how there was a concern of we're gonna have to be wrangling people and it's like they're not gonna get their stuff written . It's a lot I you know we're talking about group Parenting . I was the mom right .

I am the mom yeah you writing and for moving along , and we did not have to do that . Everyone turned things in and that again Was huge confirmation of the women that I am attracting in the community that I have built , of people that are committed to their work and their message . So that was fun .

one author , how do we work with 20 ? Something out there's like that's gonna be hard . So how did you structure it in a way Like , alright , you've got your , you know your people that committed couple drop-off . I think that's good for people to hear who are thinking about doing this . Is that's that's likely ?

I would say that's not unlikely , that's that's likely . So account for that or set expectations around that . Then , once you kind of had your folks locked in , did you , how did you kind of structure that ? Did you say , hey , here's the requirements , like it needs to be this word count , this theme , this structure , that sort of thing ?

Like how did you make sure that People turn it in on time , which it sounds like was really successful ? So I'm curious if there's anything you did there . And then , how did you , maybe more importantly , make sure that it's cohesive and in a similar format , so this is not just disjointed throughout the book ? Hey , chandler bowl here .

I hope you're loving this episode so far . It's time to go from Inspiration to implementation . Alright , so if you've learned something , we want to help you implement what you've learned with your book . So what I want you to do right now is go to self publishingcom forward , slash schedule book a publishing consultation with one of the Experts on my team .

We'll talk about your goals for your book , your dreams , your challenges , your next steps and we'll start putting together a plan . All right , so go to self publishingcom forward , slash schedule book a call with the team . Let's see how we can help with your book . It's time to implement .

That's how I created a group on Facebook so that way I could tag everyone , and I also created a group chat where we're always sending notifications to each other . Whenever it was necessary , I would check in individually with people . So that is something . Else is I already knew these people . I was already connected with them . I have them on social media .

They weren't strangers and that's why they decided to do this with me , obviously because it is a big commitment . So the communication was always there . There are some people that are not as active as others , but they were very responsive because it was their responsibility , right to to get this in . So we didn't have issues on that sense .

So I'm going to go ahead and share my thoughts with you . So we didn't have issues on that sense . We did have the word count limit I think it was 2,500 words and lots of coaching in monthly coaching , really in the process , where we would meet as a group . People could catch the recording .

If they didn't make it live , they could ask questions if they had issues or , you know , concerns and things like that . And then , once all of the chapters had been turned in , before we got into the editing process I actually printed all of them out , and this is a funny story .

I printed all of them out and I was flying to visit my sister she's in South Carolina and I'm in Colorado and I was reading it on the plane with my kids by the way , that was my first solo trip on the plane which went successfully , because they're bigger now so I wouldn't have attempted when they were younger , but I was reading it .

And then somebody tapped you on the shoulder on the flight home and it was like I couldn't help but notice that you're grading papers . Are you a teacher ? And I said no , I'm actually writing a collaboration book and I'm reading all of these chapters .

So I read each and every one of them and then I decided where they would fall in , based on the topics that they covered . Oh cool , it actually worked out beautifully with the five steps in my book . That's how I allotted the chapters . You know I divided them .

Did you give any other prompts or structure or topics based on the individual writers or like how did you kind of direct their writing in that process ?

And I also guided them into sort of framing their writing as a signature talk because that's what I'm used to teaching my clients and thinking about what is the introduction and think about like a narrative of start it from the middle , kind of like a movie . Would you know ?

You don't know the characters , you don't know what's going on , but you caught my attention , I want to keep reading . So that's what I guided them to do . But then also have a main point after you're done with the intro is to say what can you expect from my chapter ?

This is what I'm here to share with you , this is the main thesis or the main point with this . And then go into your key points and some of them took that to heart and they have like subtitles step one , do this , step two . And some of them did it more free writing where you kind of follow along .

One of the authors , which was really cool to see , she writes poem , so she had a couple of poems that she wove through her chapter . So they're very , very different . They took it and they ran with the instructions and it looks different , but it has a beginning , a middle and an end , and then , obviously , with the editing , everything was spruced up .

So you mentioned kind of at the beginning of this hey , instead of just one author marketing the book , now you've got 20-something authors marketing this book . So what did you guys do , both individually and as a group , to market the book successfully , and were there any expectations around that that were kind of set as part of participating in the project ?

You will see that this book exists in some capacity or any of my programs or any of the things that I do , and some other people have a different approach , so obviously they have the liberty to do it what feels more natural to them .

But the beauty of doing it as a group is that you have more brains thinking together and people come up with different ideas . So even before putting the book out , one of the ladies had an idea of having people vote on their headshot for the book . So she put a couple pictures and she said I'm debating whether I should choose one or two ARB .

Which one do you think ? So you're talking about the book , but it's sort of unrelated . And she had like 400 comments in that freaking thing and I was like everyone needs to do that right now . Everyone needs to go pick two pictures , even if you had already selected one , just go , because that's buzz for the book . And everyone had similar results .

Is , people love voting and participating in things and giving their opinion , because we did that with the cover too and that was something that self-publishing helped us with is put out two different options , a little slightly different than half people vote on , but we did that with the headshots and that was successful .

And then continuing to post graphics , send out emails Some of them recorded a video or went live , posted a video as well . What else ? Now that we have the hard copy , we're taking selfies with it . So that's exciting to finally have something tangible . But , yeah , just getting the word out .

I could keep going on this . I know You'll have a lot more questions . So we're doing a fun new segment that we're taking questions from listeners . So we've got a question from a listener named Claude . It says how did you settle on the central theme of your anthology that tied all the stories together ? Can I already talk about that a little bit ? Yeah ?

I want people to read my first book and I'm not writing a chapter in this book . I'm just introducing people . So who out this book . I'm saying , as I talked about in my first book , this is the framework that I outlined . You will see more details in my first book . So if you really want to understand it , you have to go read the first one .

So that is what I did and I you know it's a win-win there .

On wherever you listen to podcasts , we're selecting questions asking them to guess In the future . We'll have a little bit of fun with it . Marta , this has been so awesome . Where can people go to purchase the new book or to find out more about you , your coaching , all that good stuff .

So go check it out , the Empowered Woman's Path , and I hope you enjoy it .

Let's talk about it , let's see how we can help with it , Like we did with Marta's project . Go to selfpublishingcom . Ford slash apply . Book a call with the team . This is a lot of fun . We had a lot of fun with this with Marta . We'd love to do it again in the future . So let us know if we can help and we'll see you next time .