Episode 225: Want to Write a Book? Success Secrets from My Publisher & Editor Tess Newton

 
 
 

Tess Newton is an Editorial Lead at Greenleaf Book Group, where she uses her love of words to transform manuscripts from a wide variety of genres—business, self-help, memoir, fiction, health—into polished, professional books. 

 

In today’s episode, Tess joins Erin to talk about the publishing process for Erin’s book that’s launching on February 20th (!), what an editor’s role is vs. what it is not, and the differences between traditional publishing, self-publishing, and hybrid publishing. 

 

Tess describes what you actually need to send to publishers to write a book (hint: it’s not an entire manuscript) and how to build an audience that will support your book launch. 

 

If you've ever considered writing a book – this is the episode for you. 

 

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Erin Diehl is the founder and Chief “Yes, And” officer of improve it! and host of the improve it! Podcast. She’s a performer, facilitator and professional risk-taker who lives by the mantra, “get comfortable with the uncomfortable.” Through a series of unrelated dares, Erin has created improve it!, a unique professional development company that pushes others to laugh, learn and grow. Her work with clients such as United Airlines, PepsiCo, Groupon, Deloitte, Motorola, Walgreens, and The Obama Foundation earned her the 2014 Chicago RedEye Big Idea Award and has nominated her for the 2015-2019 Chicago Innovations Award. 

This graduate from Clemson University is a former experiential marketing and recruiting professional as well as a veteran improviser from the top improvisational training programs in Chicago, including The Second City, i.O. Theater, and The Annoyance Theatre. 

When she is not playing pretend or facilitating, she enjoys running and beach dates with her husband and son, and their eight-pound toy poodle, BIGG Diehl. 

You can follow the failed it! podcast on Instagram @learntoimproveit and facebook, and you can follow Erin personally on Instagram @keepinitrealdiehl here. You can also check out improve it! and how we can help your organization at www.learntoimproveit.com. We can’t wait to connect with you online! 

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Episode 225 Transcription

Erin Diehl (00:02.61)

Kiss Newton! I'm so happy you're here. Welcome to the Improve It podcast. Is this the first podcast you've ever been on?

Tess Newton (00:05.503)

Hello, this lady

Tess Newton (00:12.522)

Aww. Well, thank you so much for having me.

Tess Newton (00:17.638)

Yes, I have never podcasted before. I've listened to a lot of them, not been on one.

Erin Diehl (00:23.718)

And now look at you now, look at you now. Welcome, well, I'm so happy you're here and I know our Improvet peeps are gonna be happy that you're here. So I always like to start the show with an intention. So what's one word that you wanna give yourself, our audience, what's one word that you'd like to give people today?

Tess Newton (00:25.399)

Get me an email.

Tess Newton (00:40.846)

Oh.

Tess Newton (00:47.726)

Oh, Erin, that's mean, asking a word nerd like me to just pick one word.

Erin Diehl (00:53.534)

That's true. That is very true. And I know you, I love that you're a word nerd. I want to use that. Love that.

Tess Newton (00:55.634)

Um.

That's a good word, yeah. Let's go way back in high school biology and pull out mutualism. That's where the one or two different animals are in a relationship that benefits one another, so like the bird on the rhino that eats the bug, so the bird gets a free meal, but the rhino gets a free spa day.

Erin Diehl (01:08.1)

you.

Tess Newton (01:23.446)

You know, I think that's a great way to sum up what an author-editor relationship is like, is you know, we can't exist without each other and we're just there to make sure the other one is functioning and doing as well as we can. And you know, I think that's just a great mindset to have, you know, in looking at all of our relationships, how is what I'm doing, how can I make that beneficial to everyone else around me? So, yeah.

mutual of them.

Erin Diehl (01:52.806)

Wow, I'm gonna say this and I mean it with my whole heart. You have a way with words, okay? Like, oh my God, I like mutualism and then he went through the whole storyline test. That might be my favorite answer to date, to date. Okay, so I love that. And that just like bleeds into the theme of this month's show, Radical Empathy.

Tess Newton (01:58.608)

Pfft

Tess Newton (02:09.615)

Wow. All right.

Erin Diehl (02:21.562)

you know about it, you edited a book about it, I wrote a book about it, what does it mean to you? What do those two words mean to you?

Tess Newton (02:24.439)

I'm gonna go.

Tess Newton (02:29.942)

Radical empathy. Like I think you say it best you go into one chapter The intro it's you know, you take the metaphor of walking in someone's shoes a little bit further of you know Walking it get a blister you know really feel what the other person would feel in this scenario and you know leave your mindset your

ideas, your prerogatives out of there and just fully immerse yourself into what is this person going through and how you know how does that impact their situation, our situation and what can I do to make that better. So yeah I think I stole your words there to write that definition.

Erin Diehl (03:11.108)

Um, yes.

Erin Diehl (03:16.942)

You yes anded it, okay, I'll give that to you. It's so funny having you here because as we're recording this, it has not been released yet. So, and even when this airs, it will still be a week till the launch. And it's such a funny relationship because you and I have never met in real life, but I feel like I trust you with like, your-

Tess Newton (03:18.962)

Indeed.

Tess Newton (03:29.879)

Mm-hmm.

Tess Newton (03:39.704)

No.

Erin Diehl (03:44.378)

You're like a nanny to my book. You're like in charge of my baby, you know? And I...

Tess Newton (03:47.266)

Oh, I'm so glad you feel that way because I know it's super, it's super intimidating to, you know, you put your heart and soul into something like that, a book that you wrote, and then just like passing it on to someone and be like, okay, tear it apart, tell me everything I did wrong. And so I'm so glad you feel comfortable in that we handled that well and you feel happy with the feedback we gave you.

Erin Diehl (03:51.922)

Yeah!

Erin Diehl (04:15.786)

Oh my God, I did not know what to expect. And just, I wanna take two steps back because I wanna, I personally wanna know the answer to this, but I'm sure other people wanna know, what brought you to editing here? What brought you to Greenleaf? How did you get here? And then I'll tell everybody how our relationship work, how we came to be, but how did you get to this point?

Tess Newton (04:42.195)

I think it's kind of funny that the two of us got paired because honestly it is empathy. Like I think empathy is the most important characteristic a person can have. All the most positive influence I've had on my life are from people that are just incredibly empathetic. And so I think that is what brought me to books and editing and writing in the first place.

is how empathetic they are. And there's something magical that happens when you open a book and you read. You're taking a moment to step out of yourself and go into the mindset, the idea, the perspective, the lived experiences of a different person, whether that's a character in a novel or something like in ICU where we're learning all about what makes Aaron Deal, Aaron Deal.

And so I think reading is a fabulous way to build empathy in others and really build up that muscle because empathy is a muscle, I think. So I feel so privileged and so happy to be a part of something that's contributing that to the world and creating more books to be out there to start getting people to think, oh, maybe the way I think of things isn't exactly how this person would approach it or.

you know, and how does that affect how we all live in this world and how can we make it better? So yeah, it's funny and I'm so glad I got to work on this project with you, which is all about radical empathy. So it was it was a great partnership, I think.

Erin Diehl (06:21.738)

Yes, was this always your, I mean, this was your why. This has been your why forever. And then we literally got paired together. So ProcessWorks, where you submit a proposal. Greenleaf is a hybrid publishing company. I don't want to get into that a minute, but you have to still submit a proposal, submit that proposal. It has to be reviewed. You have to, it's a mutual partnership. Both people have to agree. And I want to talk about what that looks like in a little bit too.

Tess Newton (06:25.619)

Yes. Mm-hmm.

Tess Newton (06:32.702)

Mm-hmm. Yes.

I'm sorry.

Mm-hmm.

Tess Newton (06:44.438)

Perfect.

Erin Diehl (06:51.698)

Then I was assigned a project manager who assigned you and I together, which I truly like, I'm just gonna request that you're my editor on every project I ever do moving forward, okay? I just am saying that out loud now. Greenleaf, every project, Tess Newton and Aaron Deal, okay? But truly it was such a magical pairing. And I think empathy.

Tess Newton (06:56.55)

Mm-hmm.

Tess Newton (07:03.85)

Good yes, please

Tess Newton (07:16.705)

Mm.

Erin Diehl (07:18.338)

I can't imagine having anyone else. Obviously this was my experience and my journey, but you really understood the tone of the book and what we were trying to get across and you just helped bring it to life in such a magical way. So thank you for that because, yeah. And that's something I thought about too, because as an editor, I'm sure there are...

Tess Newton (07:35.726)

I'm so glad to hear that.

Erin Diehl (07:47.094)

when you're like, I would have said it this way, or I would have, you know, but how do you, how do you preserve the author's tone as you drive a project forward?

Tess Newton (07:59.27)

Yeah, so that is a big consideration we take into when going into a project. And it all starts with communicating with the author first. And this is why working with you was great because you were very upfront, here is my vision for the book, here is the tone I want, I wanna keep all this. And so having that mindset, knowing what you're going for when we start looking at the manuscript is...

super key to be able to edit it and get it ready for publication in a way that both us as the publisher will be happy as well as you as the author. And so and then with that guides you know how we go about making our edits, what we recommend, what we don't recommend, and then we send that over to you and then that's another great part of the editor-author relationship is making sure you have the room, the comfortability to say

You know, I hear your recommendation, I see what you're going for here, but really I think, you know, this kind of takes away from what I'm going for. And so it's great when our authors are communicative like that and let us know with good feedback, hey, let's back off on the edits here. So you did that wonderfully, and that's why I think the mojo flowed the whole time throughout this project.

Erin Diehl (09:21.422)

It was so fun. Like I actually, I gotta tell you. So the first, and I'll just set it up for everybody too. So you're like the editor at large, right? Like you're like overseeing this project. And then we had Nathan, right? Nate, okay. Nathan True. And then we had the second editor. I forget, I forget, but we had a second editor but she was awesome. It was a woman and she was lovely. And then we had a final edit.

Tess Newton (09:22.967)

I'm sorry.

Tess Newton (09:31.054)

Mm-hmm.

Right. Nathan True.

Tess Newton (09:42.215)

Oh, who was that?

I know there are a lot of them.

Erin Diehl (09:51.366)

which was the essentially like we did two more copyright edits, right? So you're just like making sure grammar is correct. But the first two, I just remember getting and you're overseeing that throughout the entire process. I remember getting Nathan's edits back. My stomach dropped before I opened the document, but I was so, so gracious in how he delivered feedback to me. And I was.

Tess Newton (09:54.654)

Mm-hmm.

Tess Newton (10:08.159)

Mm-hmm.

Tess Newton (10:11.469)

Aww.

Tess Newton (10:19.118)

Good. Mm-hmm.

Erin Diehl (10:21.094)

He understood that humor was a big part and he added his own jokes. Some of Nathan's jokes are in there, I'm not gonna lie. And it was really fun. And it was like a yes and, as we say, an improv. It wasn't taking away, it was adding so much value to the project. And I think that as an editor is a fine line, I'm sure, to continually keep. Oh, y'all just rock.

Tess Newton (10:24.639)

Mm-hmm.

Tess Newton (10:28.075)

Hehehehe

Tess Newton (10:33.948)

Good.

Mm-hmm.

Tess Newton (10:46.962)

Oh absolutely, yes. Mm-hmm. It's always so great to hear feedback like that. Like, you know, what y'all were doing worked and this was great and we've made an even better book than what it was before.

Erin Diehl (11:00.322)

Yeah, I mean, truly, there is, when I hold it, it has energy, it has like this vibe to it. And obviously, energy you, it's set through this through line, you're taking this energy you curriculum, but you just, I just feel it. I just feel it when I hold the physical copy and that was crazy. So, okay, for somebody listening, because I know our improvement peeps, we've got a lot of creative leaders out there who probably have a book in their minds that they need to get onto paper.

Tess Newton (11:11.329)

Mm-hmm.

Tess Newton (11:18.722)

Good.

Erin Diehl (11:31.214)

What would you say editors, publishing companies look for when it comes to a proposal? Because you have to have as an author a concept. You have to have an idea and you formulate that into a proposal. What would you say some of the major components of a compelling proposal would be?

Tess Newton (11:46.377)

Mm-hmm.

Tess Newton (11:54.158)

So first and foremost, we want to know that you have... The idea of any book that we want that has a strong message is there is a problem your audience has, you have a solution for that problem, and you are the right person to provide that solution. So if you can provide those three keys, then that's great.

Another point is if you have an audience already defined and if you have a key access to that audience, then that's great. If not, then we can work on building that audience and making sure you know how to get them, how to reach them. But if you already have that built in, that is a great point for your publishers to look at, to know, and that'll make you a really attractive candidate.

So just having a good idea of your audience, what your message is, making sure those themes run through the book, or if you don't even have the draft written that you have a good idea of what that message is and how to get it out, then those are the key elements of what we're looking for. And then especially with a hybrid publisher like Greenleaf, we wanna know that you're going to be collaborative, just like you were Erin and...

you know, working through with us at every stage, being, giving us feedback on our edits, you know, this isn't a light commitment. There's a lot that goes into publishing a book that you wanna really think about. So, you know, in addition to like actually working on the edits, you know, if you have images in there, we have to get those on time. We have to work on a title and a cover design. And so there are a bunch of moving pieces. So knowing that you'll be committed to it and...

making sure you hit those deadlines because we can't do what we need to do without you doing it. So just being ready and having some awareness of what will go into the publishing of a book. But I'd say those are the big elements of what makes certain candidates more attractive than others.

Erin Diehl (14:02.51)

Yeah, and this is something, and I love that because I know, let me just answer what you just said because I'm jumping five steps ahead because I'm so excited. But thinking about just the proposal piece, a lot of people get really caught up, I think, in thinking they have to have a full manuscript created. And you really don't, you just need a proof of concept in that proposal phase.

Tess Newton (14:11.79)

I'm sorry.

Tess Newton (14:27.15)

Mm-mm. Mm-hmm.

Erin Diehl (14:31.47)

And I remember when I came to Greenleaf, I had been out trying to find a lit agent. I had been marketing this proposal around for probably a month, and I was probably six chapters into the book. And one thing I thought was really cool when I met with Justin, he was like, "'Just finish it. "'You're almost halfway. "'You're like at a great place.'" He was like, "'Just finish it. "'We'll see what you got.'"

Tess Newton (14:41.826)

Mm-hmm.

Tess Newton (14:52.558)

Mm-hmm

Erin Diehl (14:56.27)

and we'll see what edits need to happen from there. And I think that actually worked really well for me personally, because I had that creative freedom to just throw it out on the page, that really crappy shitty first draft and then have y'all come and help me, you know, clean it up. So I think from that standpoint, and one thing I wanna make sure the improvement peeps know is about hybrid publishing, because hybrid publishing is

Tess Newton (15:00.704)

Mm-hmm. Good. Mm-hmm.

Tess Newton (15:06.612)

Right.

Tess Newton (15:11.275)

Mm-hmm.

Erin Diehl (15:25.77)

a hybrid of traditional publishing as well as self-publishing. We're losing Tess, Tess is down, but she's back, she's back. So what can you define? You know what, we're gonna keep it in because that's how we roll around here, Tess. It's the real deal, okay? Life happens, tech problems happen. So what would you say differentiates hybrid publishing and specifically Greenleaf? Because I...

Tess Newton (15:36.654)

Sorry, I had some technical difficulties.

Tess Newton (15:43.515)

Ha ha.

Tess Newton (15:52.131)

Mm-hmm.

Erin Diehl (15:55.334)

Love working with everyone on this team. It is such an incredible team from, you know, Justin who brought me in the door to Brian, our project manager, to you and the editing team, to the marketing team, to the distribution team. Like it's a full squad and I'm here for it. So tell everyone what hybrid publishing is if you're not familiar.

Tess Newton (16:11.543)

Yes, yeah.

Tess Newton (16:16.566)

Right, so there is a lot of publishing options out there in the world. In the past couple decades we've seen a lot of change in the publishing industry. So I'll give some brief or some broad definitions of the different types of publishing and how hybrid really plays a role in there. So you first have the option of traditional publishing and that's what you think of when you think of a publishing house. That's where you have your manuscript written, you go through a literary agent.

and the agent starts advocating to different publishers, hey, I have this great manuscript, will you take it? Then a publisher will say, yeah, I'll take it, and then they offer that author in advance for the rights of the book. And then the author and publisher go off and work on getting it out there. So this does have the pros of giving you the expertise and the credibility of a professional team working on your book.

But there are some downsides that, sorry. There are the downsides that you're, because the publisher is the one that's taking on that investment risk on the book, you're giving away the intellectual rights to the book and you have a bit less creative control over the decisions that are made that go into it. And then also once that book is out there being sold, you don't get...

royalties on the actual sales until that initial advance is paid off. And then at that point your percentage of royalties are pretty small. So then on the other, completely other end of the spectrum of publishing, you have self-publishing and that's where the author has complete control over every step. You get to say how much editorial design work, printing goes into it. So you have full

all the rights, you get all the royalties of your sales, but you do have, you know, you don't have the high quality and credibility that comes with partnering with a publisher. And then you're also limited in your distribution. You don't have the connections to resellers and wholesalers like traditional publishers do. So, hybrid sits as it sounds like. It sits a little bit in the middle. So you get...

Tess Newton (18:41.562)

the some of the benefits of traditional and self publishing. And how it works is the author will sign on for high quality recommended publishing services. And they pay for that upfront. And then in return, the author gets the expertise of a publishing group to really help with the production of the book and then the selling of the book.

as well as the distribution, so we have the same contacts, the same reach as a traditional publisher would to be able to get you into bookstores, things like that. But you also get to keep the creative control over the decisions made going into it. You also get to keep the intellectual rights over the content itself. So that's a big plus. Greenleaf is a little...

different than most hybrid publishers because we have that distribution muscle within our company itself. A lot of hybrid publishers don't do that and kind of outsource the distribution, but we have that in-house. And then we also offer a lot more editorial services. So like we've been saying, you can come to us with just a proposal.

not even written a word of the actual manuscript itself, and we can help you get the right editorial expertise at that stage to get started writing your book.

Erin Diehl (20:12.73)

Yeah, it is. I was introduced to Greenleaf for another guest on this show, Judy Holler, who people love. She is the guest favorite, dear friend. And for me, I was going the traditional publishing route. At first, I was looking for a literary agent. With that in particular, they really look for in a traditional publishing world, a giant platform.

Tess Newton (20:17.988)

Mm.

Tess Newton (20:21.039)

Yes.

Erin Diehl (20:39.97)

a giant platform. Like that's even sometimes more important than the actual book itself. And we have a great community here, but I don't have 500,000 Instagram followers. And so I wasn't getting a lot of attention. And when I talked to Judy about the difference in the hybrid and traditional, she was like, there as a keynote speaker.

Tess Newton (20:40.125)

Mm-hmm.

Tess Newton (20:51.078)

Mm-hmm.

Erin Diehl (21:03.646)

There's no way I would never do anything other than hybrid. And maybe she will down the road, I don't know. But at that point she was like, for me it was the best choice. And for me personally, it has been the best decision. I've created so much material around this content because I own the rights, but I have the best team to help support that and guide me. And...

like the decision alone for the cover test, okay? I tried to pull you into that, because it was so hard. You're like putting a face on your baby, you know? It's like picking up a child. And I know in a traditional publishing sense, you only get a few options and you just have to go with it. And I was able to be super specific and we landed on a brilliant cover that I love so much. And I was able to work with a team of people who really-

Tess Newton (21:30.573)

Nn-h

Tess Newton (21:36.578)

Hahaha.

Tess Newton (21:44.614)

Mm-hmm.

Tess Newton (21:50.502)

Mm-hmm.

Erin Diehl (21:56.086)

love the project and want to guide it and keep my voice in there. So I'm, it's been such a wonderful journey and I wanted to share that specifically with our private peeps because there is still some element of working with a hybrid publisher. You do have to submit a proposal, not all proposals get chosen and you mention what that looks like when you're looking for proposals, what you're looking for. So we know that.

Tess Newton (22:12.198)

Mm-hmm. Right.

Erin Diehl (22:22.866)

What can people expect when it comes to challenges working through the editorial process? Is there, like, if there's somebody listening to the show and they have this budding idea, but they're so nervous about the feedback, because I am a recovering people placer. I was nervous about the feedback, but then...

Tess Newton (22:42.69)

Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Tess Newton (22:46.682)

Yes, yeah.

Erin Diehl (22:46.958)

It was fun. It was collaborative. What are some of the things that they can expect when it comes to challenges they might face?

Tess Newton (22:54.394)

That's a big one is being open to our feedback. And that's just something to keep in mind. We're not here to criticize your writing or make fun of you or we're not laughing behind her backs. Like, you know, her grammar was so awful. Oh my gosh. No, not at all. We all know grammar is like a very tricky beast that, you know, the most people don't love. So that's totally understandable. And we're not here to poke fun at you. We're...

Erin Diehl (23:17.777)

Yeah.

Tess Newton (23:23.33)

supposed to be here, we're acting as advocates for the reader. And so we're giving fresh eyes on the book saying, OK, here is where I think you're going to lose your reader. They're going to get bored or they're going to be confused. And so that's just where we're coming from. So just having that mindset when you look at those edits, that's a great, you know, a way to look at things. And we're not here to, you know, just pick apart your book.

So that is a big one, is being welcoming and receptive to those edits. But you know, our editors are all lovely people and we want you to do well because we can't do well without you. So that's the big one. Understanding a lot of the nuances of the whole, really the whole publishing process, because it is a big, it's a big deal. There's a lot of information we throw at you right at the beginning. But the editorial process is normally a lot longer.

much more involved than a lot of authors initially think. Like Erin mentioned earlier, we went through what four editorial stages for your book so that consisted of a substantive edit where we were doing some rearranging, some rewording, a copy edit that was looking at making sure style is right, wording is right, all that is good to go.

Erin Diehl (24:30.183)

Yeah.

Tess Newton (24:44.358)

proofread, which is making sure everything's technically good, our punctuation, our grammar, our spelling, and then after that another proofread to make sure nothing else slipped through the other processes and that nothing came up during the design process. So that's another one I think that a lot of authors are surprised and maybe...

kind of feel overwhelmed about is just how much goes into it. And it's a lot of back and forth between editor and author. So it can be a little overwhelming. But those I think are the biggest issues. And just if you know or you're aware and you know, we're here to be your friend and we're here to advocate for you throughout the whole process. That's what editor is here to do. So, yeah.

Erin Diehl (25:35.558)

Yes, I can attest to Tess being an advocate. You were such a cheerleader and such a champion. And I will give so many kudos to the Greenleaf team because there is so much information at first and there's so many different, you've got the editing phase, but then you've also got people pulling you in on design and you've got people pulling you in on distribution and people pulling you in on marketing.

Tess Newton (25:39.415)

No.

Thank you.

Tess Newton (25:49.892)

Mm-hmm.

Tess Newton (25:55.206)

Mm-hmm.

Tess Newton (25:58.69)

Yes, yeah.

Tess Newton (26:02.916)

Alright.

Erin Diehl (26:03.618)

So just if you go into it knowing that you're gonna have to stay on top of deadlines and timelines, which y'all are so good about, you can really, you can create something and when you physically hold that thing in your hand, all the timelines go out the window, you're like, this was awesome. It is such a journey and I will say the process.

Tess Newton (26:09.242)

Mm-hmm.

Tess Newton (26:16.684)

Mm-hmm.

Tess Newton (26:20.884)

Mm-hmm

That's it.

Erin Diehl (26:28.958)

One thing for traditional publishing is they usually take like two years to publish, right? Books usually take two years. This was about a year-long progress or process, I will say. So I think I signed an agreement with Greenleaf in early May of 2023. And we have a book in February of 2024. So that was also a huge perk. And everyone is working against these timelines. They're excited.

Tess Newton (26:34.367)

Right.

Tess Newton (26:38.489)

Mm-hmm.

Tess Newton (26:48.706)

Yeah? Mm-hmm. Pretty great. Yes, yeah.

Erin Diehl (26:59.538)

I love the support and also just the reliability of everyone. So just kudos to Greenleaf all the way around. Oh my God, you should now. Okay, you should feel good. Would you say if there's somebody listening to today's show and we've gotten this far and there's one piece of advice that you just can't

Tess Newton (27:02.338)

Okay, all good.

Thank you.

Ha!

Tess Newton (27:18.565)

Mm-hmm.

Erin Diehl (27:27.438)

leave here today without giving. What would that advice be to an aspiring author listening to today's show?

Tess Newton (27:38.006)

Um, don't feel discouraged. If you think, you know, I'm not a good writer, I don't know grammar, I don't know spelling, I'm dyslexic or whatever it might be, don't let that stop you. If you have a good idea for a book, if you have, if your audience has a problem and you have the solution, then you're the right person to write the book. And you can get any kind of editorial help.

at any kind of level, everything you can imagine is out there in the world. People there are there to help you get that out and in the best form possible. So whatever, even if you don't like writing, you can hire a ghostwriter. You know, that option is there for you. So don't let your dislike of writing or editing or nervousness about, you know, sharing your writing with someone else.

Erin Diehl (28:24.923)

Yeah.

Tess Newton (28:36.19)

stop you from not putting that book out there.

Erin Diehl (28:40.21)

I love that. And I will say this and I didn't realize it, you know, well, I got married in 2013. And you don't know until you need to know something about all the things you need to know. And so when I got married, I was like, wow, the wedding industry is huge. Who knew that there was this much in the wedding industry? And then when I started researching how to write a book, I was like, holy crap, the publishing industry is crazy. Who knew? And so it's just, it's finding out the facts and understanding all the nuances. And I...

Tess Newton (28:43.43)

I'm sorry.

Tess Newton (28:51.608)

Of course.

Tess Newton (28:56.92)

Mm-hmm

Tess Newton (29:03.097)

Mm-hmm. It is.

Tess Newton (29:08.899)

Mm-hmm.

Erin Diehl (29:09.262)

I also want to just dig in a little bit about one thing you said, which I think is so important. The vulnerability piece. Getting over the fear of yourself. Which is, we're for real. And I mean, I'm not going to lie to you. I feel like I'm standing on stage and I've said this singing a Celine Dion ballad naked to the world. Literally, I'm like, ah, here it is. And I don't know if I can say and.

Tess Newton (29:16.783)

Mm-hmm.

Tess Newton (29:21.481)

No!

Tess Newton (29:30.116)

Mm-hmm

Tess Newton (29:34.537)

Uh-huh.

Erin Diehl (29:37.41)

It is a vulnerable feeling. And you're an editor, I'm sure you're a writer. You write, right? You are a writer as well. How do you get over that fear? What are some tips that you've personally used?

Tess Newton (29:39.499)

Absolutely, yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Tess Newton (29:52.262)

Just don't let anyone stop you. Just believe in yourself. And then know that especially if something with a book, you're getting that editorial expertise. There are other people on your side to help you feel confident that this is, needs to be out there and that it is in the best form that we can get it ready to be in. So.

You're not alone whenever you publish a book. There's a whole team behind you that is confident in your writing and feels, you know, it helps you feel supported that it's ready to go.

Erin Diehl (30:31.038)

Totally. And like you said, there's ghost writers, there's people who are writing coaches, there's writing coaching classes, there's all kinds of resources like Google any of those three things and you will find so many people, so many resources. So I want to see more books out in this world. And I'm, I just have to tell you, it was such a wonderful experience. I know a lot of authors have like

Tess Newton (30:34.405)

Mm-hmm.

Right.

Tess Newton (30:43.818)

Mm-hmm. Yeah, so many resources out there.

Tess Newton (30:57.35)

Good.

Erin Diehl (30:59.462)

this horrible relationship with their, I've heard horror stories, but they, you know, they're like, oh, you know, it's just so stressful meeting these deadlines and I'm getting this feedback and I got the feedback. Like I need the feedback. We needed that to make the book, right? But like, it was such a magical experience, I felt like. I felt, yeah. And I wanna say that out loud. So somebody listening today,

Tess Newton (31:01.094)

Mm-hmm.

Tess Newton (31:04.346)

No.

Tess Newton (31:09.379)

Mm-hmm.

Tess Newton (31:13.667)

Yeah.

Tess Newton (31:20.486)

Good. I'm so happy to hear that.

Erin Diehl (31:29.346)

if they have this fear, they can get over it just like I had to because I can already feel so many doors opening from this book that never existed before and a new energy to me and to my team and like this whole new phase of our business just from having a physical product, we're a service-based business.

Tess Newton (31:33.089)

Mm-hmm.

Tess Newton (31:41.445)

Mm-hmm.

Tess Newton (31:50.595)

Mm-hmm.

Erin Diehl (31:52.274)

but having this physical, tangible thing that we will hold in our hands forever, which also is another thing that we didn't get into. You will have this thing forever. It can be edited again before it goes to print, but it's pretty much set down. And it's there. So that was the thing I had to get over. But y'all, you guided us through that. And it was such a wonderful journey. So I'm just thrilled to have the opportunity. And...

Tess Newton (31:58.63)

I'm sorry.

Tess Newton (32:04.038)

Two.

Tess Newton (32:08.97)

Yes, there. Ha ha ha!

Tess Newton (32:14.982)

Good.

Tess Newton (32:19.078)

Cut. It's so bad.

Erin Diehl (32:21.058)

Is there, I have to ask you this because we always ask guests on our show, we say the it at Improve It. Is that thing that you're meant here to do, it's your purpose. What is Tess Newton's it?

Tess Newton (32:35.75)

it. I guess like we talked about earlier is that helping to build that empathy muscle in others by you know putting more books out there putting more stories helping other people tell their own stories and getting them out to the world so people can learn and you know think outside of themselves sometimes.

Erin Diehl (33:00.038)

Such a beautiful it. And I'm so glad you exist, because the world needs you, and we're so grateful for the work you do. Okay, Tess, if anybody wanted to reach out to you, how could they do that?

Tess Newton (33:09.362)

Yes, absolutely. So if you have an idea for a book, if you're already ready to go, if you have a manuscript, then Greenleaf is always accepting submissions. You can go to our website gree slash submissions and we're ready for you. If you want to learn a little bit more about the publishing industry, Greenleaf has a podcast. It's called Published by Greenleaf Book Group.

And it covers every aspect from writing a first draft to marketing and distribution and all that information. And it's not just focused on hybrid publishing, it's everything. Similar, we also, our CEO, Tanya Hall, has the book Ideas, Influence, and Income that goes through the ins and outs of all the publishing, everything you need to know there. If you wanna get social, I know we're on TikTok.

Instagram and LinkedIn at Greenleaf Book Group. I personally am a bit of a social media grandma, so you might have a hard time finding me, but I am on LinkedIn. And so you can find me there and I'd be happy to connect.

Erin Diehl (34:15.93)

I love it and I can attest I've read Tanya's book. It's so good. So we'll put all of those links in the show notes for everybody. Tess, you had your first podcast interview. Like you crushed it. Thank you for being here. No, you're so-

Tess Newton (34:19.91)

Good? Great.

Tess Newton (34:26.49)

I did! Oh, thanks! Well, thank you for having me and thank you for letting me work on your amazing book. I'm so happy I had this experience.

Erin Diehl (34:39.174)

Thank you. It was truly a journey and I could not imagine have gone in the road without you. So thank you. All right, Tess, improving it forever. Bye.

Tess Newton (34:45.814)

No.

Tess Newton (34:50.004)

Alright.

Erin Diehl (34:56.094)

Okay, hold on.

 

 

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