Hey there, and welcome to Nothing but the Words. I’m Your Book Coach, Candice L Davis.

This is my last week to invite you to The Virtual Writing Retreat, hosted by yours truly in my Zoom Room, next Sunday, September 11th.

This is going to be a phenomenal opportunity to give your book your undivided attention and get some real writing done.

And I’ll be there to coach you and answer your questions if you get stuck. 

Check it out at CandiceLDavis.com/retreat.

And don’t talk yourself out of it because you think it’ll be too expensive.

It’s just $97.

And members of my group-coaching experience, Authors Ignited, can attend at no charge, as a benefit of membership.

So let’s talk about the real benefit of your book.

Years ago, I started a mastermind group for women, mostly entrepreneurs, with my good friend and brilliant author coach Anita Henderson, and another super smart friend of ours.

And before you get to wondering, I asked Anita if I could use her name, and she gave me the go-ahead.

So we launched a peer-hosted mastermind, no one person in charge.

And since my neighborhood was centrally located, we met at my house.

At each meeting, 3 women got their moment on the hot seat, during which we all helped them with their big business and career ideas, projects, and goals.

Periodically, we also invited guest coaches.

Well, one of those coaches challenged us to think about our “Why.”

Now, to be honest with you, this was years ago, and I was already tired of people asking me about my why.

Of course purpose is important, but I was looking for strategy, sir. I didn’t invite you here for fluff.

Hey. We want what we want.

During this conversation, Mr. Business Coach, who actually did share some good info, asked what we wanted to ultimately do with our lives.

Anita, with her usual transparency, responded that she was looking forward to traveling even more with her husband, who actually might have still been her fiancé at that point.

Mr. Coach asked, “But why do you want to travel? Do you want to dig wells for people? Do you want to help the poor? How’s your travel going to bless people?”

And Anita looked him dead in the eye and said, “I bless people with my presence.”

If you could have seen the look on Mr. Coach’s face.

He looked like somebody had slapped him.

But Anita was serious.

Now if you know Anita, you know that she takes incredibly good care of her clients, she’s thoughtful and considerate with her family and friends, and she has done plenty of volunteering and giving back.

Anita and I offer very similar services, but rather than treating each other like competition, we look for ways to grow and win together.

Anita is anything but a selfish person.

But she said what she said.

She blesses people with her presence, sir.

That whole exchange tickled us so much that we still talk about it years later.

We both agree that she was spot on, and we’re dead serious when we say so.

Put aside how her travel contributes to local economies and helps people keep the jobs that put food on their table.

She blesses people with her presence in the cross-cultural exchange that happens when she travels to distant lands.

She blesses people with her presence when she shows up with her abundant mindset and acts accordingly.

She blesses people with her presence when she treats them with kindness and respect and when she gets into conversations that allow her to share her knowledge and her wisdom and her ideas.

Anita blesses people with her presence in ways I don’t even know about, and so do I, and so, my friend, do you.

You bless people with your presence.

Hear that and let it sink in.

Now the point here, for authors and future authors, is that your book is an extension of you, and as such, it, too, blesses people with your presence.

It’s a way for you to expand and amplify your reach so you touch that many more people.

It doesn’t matter what kind of book you’re writing—memoir, novel, how-to, whatever.

When you pour your relevant knowledge and insights into that book, you create an opportunity to bless people with your presence from afar.

When you tell your story from a place of generosity, you give people the gift of you.

If this doesn’t quite ring true to you yet, if you kind of just don’t get it, let me ask you a question, or a few.

Has a book ever changed your life?

Has a book ever made you feel like you weren’t alone or given you just the information you needed to accomplish a goal?

Has a book ever allowed you to escape the world around you when you needed it, or made you see life in a new way, or helped you solve a problem?

If so, those books blessed you with the author’s presence.

Listen. When Anita first said, “I bless people with my presence,” I could believe it for her, but in that moment, I didn’t believe it about myself.

It took me some time to recognize the many ways my own unique genius manifests itself.

But once I got it, I got it.

And I can see it in every client I coach as they write their books.

They don’t always see it for themselves, but it’s my job as a coach to help them recognize it and to hold that belief for them until they do.

When you think about your book and when you sit down to write, remember your book is a way for you to bless people with your presence.

It’s a way for people who will never get to talk with you one on one to benefit from your presence in this world.

Give them that opportunity. Go ahead and write your book.

That’s all for this week’s episode, friends.

If you’re ready to take a step and start writing your book, or if you’re somewhere in the middle and just need some momentum, I hope to see you on Sunday, September 11th, at The Virtual Writing Retreat.

You don’t have to do it all on your own. You don’t have to sit there, staring at the blank page and wondering what to write next.

Join a small group of authors and me, and let’s do it together.

Find out more at CandiceLDavis.com/retreat.

Thanks for listening to Nothing but the Words, I’m Your Book Coach, Candice L Davis, and I’ll see you next time.