Featured Author Archive

I’ve always cooked meals and shared recipes, but as my social media accounts grew bigger and bigger, and as I started taking on more clients in the Health and Wellness industry, people just kept asking for my recipes. Anytime I would share a dish on, let’s say Instagram, I would get several comments and messages asking for the recipe. So I figured, why not create a book that I could sell to folks who want “in” on my cooking style, and provide one to my private clients too!?

I chose self publishing because my goal was never to make a bunch of money with this book. I moreso wanted to do it as a JOY in bringing my love for food and macro-based nutrition to others. Self-publishing seems less intimidating, and also more cost-effective, so I figured this was the way to go for my first book. I went from book manuscript to finished versions (e-book and printed spiral-bound book) by simply saving the file and finding a printer to print and spiral-bound my books for those who wanted physical copies.

Honestly… it took me about a year to create and document all 52 recipes, which makes sense given how many weeks there are in a year. I would do the recipes in batches — typically 3-5 recipes at a time (sometimes taking hours), then kept adding to it as the year went on. Editing was the most tedious process, and I ended up outsourcing that just to help with consistencies and catching mistakes.

My background is in digital and social marketing, so I’m already a “whiz” in PowerPoint. Since that’s a format I know well, I decided to create my book in PowerPoint, using my logo, color scheme, and a basic design that I felt presented the information well. All the photos are original — the dishes were created by me, and I took the photos and edited them before placing them into the book.

I don’t have any other books at the moment, but would love to create a 4-6-week bootcamp workout guide to inspire people to work out consistently (with a plan), and in a format that’s approachable and will show results. I may want to create that in a digital app format as well, so that one is on pause at the moment until I figure out my scalable and cost-efficient options.

I will probably do that manually to add them to my site (ask people to write reviews and share them there). I haven’t decided how I want to tackle Amazon yet… As for the good and bad reviews — I’m all about customer service and account management, and have done a lot of that in my days in marketing and advertising. I think it’s important to respect people’s opinions and use it as constructive feedback for next time.

I prefer audio books for quick, short topics while I’m cleaning or cooking, and I prefer printed books for non-fiction, as I like to highlight. If it’s a “beach read” or something light, I don’t mind ebooks.

I love everything self-help. I love books that inspire me to be a better person, and educate me on tactics and ways to do that. I love books that make me think about my habits and who I hang out with and how that affects my life. I love books that make me question if I’m on the right path, and if not, how to redirect the trajectory of my life to make sure I’m living it to my fullest potential.

I think MANY people are finding ways to “do it themselves” these days– especially with the rise in entrepreneurship and innovative ways of doing business. I can only imagine that it will trickle into the publishing field. More content, more workbooks, more podcasts, more webinars, etc.

Just start writing! It took me an entire year to put this thing together, but now that it’s “a thing,” I couldn’t be more proud of myself for finally deciding to just START.

THE WORK that goes into it — the hours writing, working on it, editing… etc. It’s work, but if you want it, you’ll make it happen!