Shawn has been {& still is!} a true Dream Client to work with. I had NO Idea he was going to do this, but below he’s talking to the Free Market Medical Association about his attempt at writing his book himself. He realized that his strengths do not lie in bookwriting, so started the process to vet, then hire, & work with me on his {now Live on Amazon!} book.
I have the video starting at 6:40. At around 8:35 feel free to jump to about 9:57 & watch until 11:37 {or as much as you’re interested in!}.
Shawn Speaking to the Free Market Medical Association about hiring / working with Crystal! 🙂
How Do I Finally Get My Book Written? ~ Shawn’s Backstory
Here was Shawn’s situation when we first connected…
- Shawn & his wife Janet are both successful professionals with their own business {cash only compounding pharmacy out of Moses Lake, Washington}
- Shawn has been aware of serious challenges in his industry for the past 20 years, and has had the seed planted for quite some time to write a book with the sole purpose to educate the average American that there’s a better way.
- The time was finally right to take action & make this happen!
- He started compiling notes etc, and sat down to start writing the book himself & became frustrated & overwhelmed
- He gave what he thought was a good start to an editor & was told this isn’t a book, this is notes {basically}
- He tried hiring someone else to help him & it turned out that this person wasn’t 100% on board with his vision
- Shawn reached out to me. He told me straight up… “This isn’t about the money, but about educating others.”
- We chatted. We connected. The rest is history…
How Do I Finally Get My Book Written ~ Crystal’s Backstory
So, when I had a conversation with Shawn’s twin brother, Shane, about the possibility of someday writing his book, he asked me about my background & experience with writing.
I laughed.
I’m pretty sure he was confused. 🙂
Here’s the deal… Shawn reached out to me and asked to have a conversation about the possibility of writing his book. I was flabbergasted, honoured, totally intrigued, but most importantly, completely feeling the tug forward, to continue being open to the possibility, despite the fact that…
I Had Never Written A Book Before.
Yup, seriously!
I was 100% transparent & honest with Shawn about that fact.
Yes, I loved my own process of writing.
Yes, I naturally & effortlessly put myself in the shoes & hearts of others as an empath and Highly Sensitive Person.
Yes, I have a marketing lens.
Yes, some of my Kolbe strengths revolve around organization, planning, & structure.
Yes {after many, many questions}, I was 100% on board with Shawn’s perspectives {afterall, I have personal and family experiences, too, so what he was saying & WHY was resonating}.
Yes, I have experience working with other Speakers, Authors, & Coaches.
At the end of the day, we both said Yes.
Yes, to trust our guts and take a chance… because it felt right to both of us… despite me shaking my head!
Even as I write all of this, I’m still chuckling to myself… Did This Really Happen? Yup, I ghostwrote a book. Yes it was a lot of work {Shawn’s required some tedious research & planning}, but also was a blast of a project to work on {because of how awesome Shawn is & is to work with}, despite it still being a surreal experience!
What’s the Overall Book Writing Process?
Great question! I’m not sure how much research your book would require, but Shawn’s required a decent amount. Keep in mind that every ghostwriting project will be as unique as you are! Given his busy schedule, his personality, and the technical nature of the content, here’s the process I used for Shawn’s book…
- Video Interview ~ I set up a video call, recorded it, and asked Shawn a series of questions to both help me wrap by brain around the project and see how the chapters would flow
- Outline ~ put together the chapter outline based on a marketing story flow
- Most Challenging / Crux Chapter 1st ~ in this case it was chapter 3. My instinct said that from here the rest of the book would flow & it did.
- Big Subpoints ~ from the interview, from other random notes sent, & from further research, {documenting sources & adding to a Master Notes Google doc along the way} the big subpoints to Ch 3 were recommended
- Collaboration ~ whether via video, phone, or email, we made sure we were on the same page. This also included helping Shawn uncover personal stories that coincided with the chapters. Shawn did voice recordings of each. I took & documented, then decided where to best use them. Once the big subpoints were approved, next came…
- Detail Bullets ~ from the interview, provided research, & additional research, I filled in the detail bullets under the major subpoints
- Chapter Draft! ~ once approved, I dove into writing. I asked questions along the way, provided weekly updates, & when the chapter draft was ready for review, the shared Google doc link was sent to Shawn {we have a shared folder on my Drive for easy collaboration}.
- Other Chapters ~ followed the same process of subpoints, detail bullets, writing, & review
What Did Shawn Think of My Work during the Writing Process?
After submitting just the chapter outlines to Shawn, not only did he love them, he sent me this…
After I submitted the entire Chapter 3 to him to review {1st, most challenging, & most critical to get right chapter}, here’s his response…
Here’s another after a couple more chapter reviews were submitted…
Working with Shawn during this process both worked… and was very rewarding! I was, & am, very grateful we both said yes, trusted our guts, & moved forward with this project.
What were some fun extras I helped Shawn with alongside the book writing process?
In addition to the book planning, organization, research, & writing, I helped Shawn with a few fun~for~me extras…
- reached out via email, coordinated, and scheduled a few conversations with highly visible individuals in the industry
- sat in on a few conference calls to bridge the relationship initially & position the interview
- coordinated video interviews with 2 highly visible industry leaders. I helped coach Shawn for how to do the interviews, helped him navigate the tech, wrote the intros he could use as a getting started guide, and collaborated with them both to come up with the final agenda. If interested, here’s the full interview with Dr Keith Smith, cofounder of the Free Marketing Medical Association and The Surgery Center of Oklahoma. Here’s the full interview of James Maskell, cofounder of Knew Health.
- create a Facebook page for his book
- create a sign up for in MailChimp to receive a free chapter of Shawn’s book, embedded on the FB page
- create a welcome email after subscribing with the link to the PDF of the free chapter {prepped the doc & converted to PDF}
- start to curate some posts for his book’s FB page & scheduled out
Oh, ya, & let’s not forget that he & his wife Janet decided to start a live radio show & wanted to convert it into a podcast, too! It’s called Health Solutions with Shawn & Janet Needham.
They’re live pretty much every Monday {Tues when the studio is closed} on KBSN am 1470 at 1p PST / 4p EST.
Live stream is via KBSN, Shawn’s personal FB account, & their Pharmacy’s YouTube channel during the live radio show slot.
The live video is then converted to a podcast & can also be found on…
- SoundCloud
- iTunes
- Spotify
- Google Podcasts {search Health Solutions Shawn & Janet Needham}
So, Shawn also has me managing & doing some implementation work for this process.
So Fun {who knew?!}
The Amazon Launch
This was ridiculously fun, despite it being a lot of work, organization, planning, & coordinating. I’ll spare the full details, but here are the highlights…
The Official Amazon Public Book Launch was 27 Dec 2019, despite the book technically being live & available for purchase earlier.
As of 27 Dec at 4:50p CST, Shawn’s book officially hit #1 status in ALL 9 subcategories that I selected!!!
On 28 Dec {last day of free}, Shawn’s book ended up at rank #99 in ALL of the Free Kindle Store books. This was amazing!!!
on 29 Dec, we switched over to the Paid Kindle Store & reached a sales rank of 29,878
Also on 31 Dec, 7:45a CST, we hit #1 New Release book status in 6 out of 10 subcategories & #2 or #3 New Release in 3 more!
Shawn’s book hit #1 Best Seller in 3 categories & #2 in another & on 2 Jan hit sales rank of 9,899.
The Amazon Launch ~ Shawn’s Feedback
The entire process & experience was amazing! Check out Shawn’s feedback to me after I gave him a status update…
And this was at the end of the same email to me…
Wow, what an awesome Dream Client to work with, right?
Other Cool Benefits
When we started this project, Shawn’s singular goal was to educate American Families on how the Free Market works successfully in the Health Care industry… #ThinkOutsideTheSystem… so they can benefit both financially & emotionally {if you’ve had negative experiences with our traditional health care system, you’ll understand!}, because #OptimalHealthMatters.
We’re still in the beginning phases of the after effects of becoming an author for Shawn, but he’s already been invited to…
- tour The Surgery Center of Oklahoma
- speak at the Free Market Medical Association {above video}
- interview Anthony Welti, who’s running for Insurance Commissioner in Washington
- talk to a former Congressman who spent countless years trying to change the system from within
- interview other health care providers who operate very successfully on a no insurance, cash only basis
- schedule both authors & businessmen, Robb Wolf of Wired to Eat &
- Dr Shawn Baker of The Carnivore Diet and Meat RX to his live radio show & podcast
- be interviewed by the Columbia Basin Herald
- more…
… and Shawn’s book hasn’t even been available for a month yet!
In Shawn’s words… “We’re just getting started!”
Shawn’s current focus is on personal introductions to large groups, associations, free market in healthcare think tanks, healthcare entrepreneur groups, philanthropists who are either interested in helping everyday Americans achieve optimal health affordably, or have large audiences who might be interested in his message.
Guys like Dinesh D’Souza, Ben Shapiro, Dave Ramsey...
Organizations like… Hillsdale College,
Outlets like… the Wall Street Journal, Fox News, MSNBC, etc…
Are You Feeling The Pull, too?
If you’ve tried to write your book by yourself, but were left frustrated and overwhelmed….
If you’re content with what you’ve achieved in your career, but still feel in your gut there’s a missing piece…
If you care more about getting the education out on a topic your unique experience, background, and viewpoint provides to impact others vs a focus on the money…
If you feel the pull in your gut that now is the time to take 1 step forward, even if you don’t feel like you have all the answers to HOW yet…
The I’d like to invite you to a 1:1 conversation with me.
I’ve created a Private Conversation Link, not public on my scheduler. that even includes ballpark monthly retainer pricing.
If this is your year, let’s at least have a conversation. At worst, you’ll walk away with not only a wonderful, productive conversation, but a better idea on what you’re looking for & not looking for in a ghostwriting partner.
I believe that you’re reading this for a reason. I See You.