Do you ever set a goal and don't know how you're going to achieve it?
This is exactly how I felt when I decided to submit my Book Proposal to enter a publishing competition. About 80 authors take part each time... with one winner who receives a contract to be published by Hay House, probably the most famous, non-fiction, spiritual, self-help genre Book Publishing Company in the world.
It was back in September 2024, and the deadline for the submission was March the 5th, 2025.
So, I had my goal with my deadline, but it looked like a huge mountain to climb. A non-fiction book is about 50-70K words. Just the Proposal is 15-20K (that's about 40-60 pages)! I looked at the specifications and had no idea how to do most of them. I did not feel very optimistic, but I wanted to try. What did I have to lose? Nothing. But I had a lot to win!
💡TIP I: Follow the ROADMAPS method of goal-setting. *Go to my blog. I have written an article about it in which I give all the information you need.
I followed what I preach:
🌟 Step 1: Create a plan. What are the first steps I can take? 👉 Assign time to work on the Proposal for an hour per day.
🌟 Step 2: I enrolled in a do-it-yourself, follow-along course to help me, but it wasn't helping enough. I got stuck every step of the way! I had more questions than answers.
🌟 Step 3: Re-evaluate the plan if it is not working. What can I do differently?
🌟 Step 4: For me, it was asking for help. Hiring a coach to help me. Something I never did in the past. So, I hired a company specialising in helping authors with whatever they need in order to publish their book. They assigned me a coach/editor, and together we created a new plan working backwards to meet my deadline.
🌟 Step 5: Follow the new plan and schedule. I now had an actual person who could show me the way. Who knew how to do this. Someone to ask questions when I got stuck. What a relief!
🌟 Step 6: When it didn't flow, I took a step back and waited. But, I kept believing deep down inside that the answer would come. After a few days, I went back and tried again. And it worked.
💡TIP II: The most important thing is to start taking steps. Only if you move, you're gonna get closer to your goal, get feedback and find solutions you cannot see at the beginning.
💡TIP III: You don't have to reinvent the wheel. Ask for help when you need it. There are experts out there who can show you the way.
💡TIP IV: Don't forget to re-evaluate, but also go with the flow. Give yourself time if things aren't going the way you planned. Believe the answers will come, and they will.
With my coach's help, feedback, and encouragement, I managed to tackle every part of the proposal even when I thought I could not. I ended up finishing it much sooner than our deadline and even felt it was a lot easier than I had anticipated!
I submitted my proposal yesterday, the 1st of March 2025. The winner will be announced in a couple of months.
Am I going to win? No idea. However, researching and writing this proposal has helped me on many levels, and it was all worth it. It was time well spent. I am now 100% clear about every aspect of my book. What it's about, who will want to read it, why I am writing it, and what I am going to talk about in every chapter not written yet.
Wish me luck! I will come back and update this post when I have the results.
What are my next steps? Do I have a back up plan?
Of course! My next goal is to finish writing the book by my next birthday, coming up in May, and then if I don't win, I will self-publish as well as send my Proposal to other Publishing companies.
Learn more about my book, Am I Enough? - Go from No to Yes and Beyond here.
