Karen helped me to stay motivated to start and finish my book [Testimonial]

After a period of low-self esteem, anxiety and unhappiness, I had been thinking about writing and publishing a book to share the tools I’d discovered that had turned my life around. These tools formed the foundations of my workshops and a business book seemed the natural next step.

But it took time before I did anything about it. After a few years of thinking, I attended a workshop in London which was supposed to ‘teach me how to write’. I left there feeling even more confused than before I arrived, as they went into so much detail about publishing the book, rather than writing, structure or planning. I entered a competition to win a publishing contract, thinking this will get me into my writing flow. I wrote four chapters and got completely stuck and did not know how to move forward.

After about two years, I met with Karen Williams of Librotas, a lovely approachable lady. She told me about her whole package from mentoring to get my book written, support during editing and getting it published. I was very excited by this as I knew that after writing, the possibility of getting stuck again finding the right editor and publisher was high, and I would never be able to share my message.

From the very first meeting we established my why, what I wanted to write and we planned out the structure of the book.  This really motivated me and I could not wait to get started.

What was really helpful on that day was Karen saying to me that the book does not have to be perfect when I first start. I just needed to expand on the structure we had outlined, go back to each chapter, and pad it out with how, what, why, examples, stories and facts.  This gave me a very clear path to follow.  The monthly calls were very useful to keep me on track. Karen did not put any pressure on me if I did not meet my targets. I was a very slow writer, and Karen was very supportive and patient throughout, and my book developed.

The writing retreat gave me complete focus on the book

I also attended the retreat she held in Spain. I found that having complete focus on the book, away from everyday tasks, and having emotional and practical support face to face was really incredibly useful, especially as Karen and her colleague Sheryl offered different skills that I could draw on.

After the retreat, I worked at a faster pace as they helped me to discover how I write at my best.

Thank you Karen, Sheryl and the team for your help. I finally published my book with a launch party in November 2018.

Azmina Jiwa, author of Freedom To be Me.