So many things stop us from taking that first step to share our story. For many writers, their biggest fear is “not being good enough” or that “my story is not interesting enough” or worse, that people will “judge” them and the position they hold in society.
There is a certain expectation that comes with the status of being the founder of a publishing company, such as being a published author!
I talk all the time about the importance of being published to give more credibility to your speaking profile, as well as your “brand.” When you allow your audience to see the “raw” you, they feel more connected to you and they relate more to your story.
Yet I have held back on promoting my own book because of the fear of being judged. For many years I just used the excuse that I didn’t want to promote my own book because I would be “in competition” with my own authors. Secretly though, I know I was afraid of being judged!
Why do we self-sabotage ourselves when we already know that our close friends do not judge us for our story, but respect and honour us for the journey we took?
Likely because at some point in our life, perhaps as a young child, we were told to “stop talking about yourself” or “not to be weak and show your vulnerability.”
I certainly know as a Brit I was taught about the “stiff upper lip” from an early age. My young adult mentor, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, was known as the “Iron Lady” because she did such a good job of hiding her emotions and not showing her weaknesses.
I remember clearly going to business college in a full back cast following a major back operation, and holding my head high, not showing any weakness to my class mates or the teacher (but dying of embarrassment inside because the cast was so bulky and ugly).
This continued into the workplace and I would never show my emotions in a mostly male-dominated sales industry. No surprise then, that I too feared sharing my story!
So why do it?
How many people have you helped already by sharing your story?
If you have overcome adversity in your life whether is it as a cancer survivor, child abuse, learning challenge, disability or simply a seemingly “normal” life, we all know at least one person that has felt inspired and motivated by our story.
So why not share that knowledge with the world rather than just a few?
We are all very unique in our life journey and we all learn differently at different levels. One person may feel their story is not “special” enough because thousands of people have had the same experience, but ask yourself, was it the same?
Of course not – we all experience our stories in different ways, so there is always someone you can help with “your” version of “your” story. Sharing your story with the world in a published book will change your life forever – just think how many people you could help!
I’m proud today to talk about my book and to tell my authors and perspective clients that I am the world’s first dyslexic publisher. I discovered that sharing these vulnerable stories only helped people to have the courage to share their own stories.
When I have an author who tells me they are not “good enough” or that they have dyslexia so they can not “write”, I remind them that I am dyslexic and a published author and have helped over 150 authors to publish their stories. If I can do it, why can’t you?
To your writing success,
Julie
About the Author, Julie Salisbury
Julie Salisbury is the author of Around the World in Seven Years: One Woman's Life-Changing Journey and Founder of Influence Publishing and InspireABook coaching. She specializes in helping authors to write and publish their books as a strategy to live out their purpose to the full.
Julie is more than a publisher with over 13 year's experience in the industry. She draws on her product marketing career in the UK of over 20 years to focus on strategic business and marketing goals to reach a global market via traditional and online media and publicity, and through strong global distribution and sales. She has published over 200 authors in the last 10 years and her unique "partner" publishing model means the author keeps all rights and royalties.
Visit www.influencepublishing.com or email founder@influencepublishing.com for information.
