[37 MIN LISTEN]
One year ago, my first book, POWERHOUSE, was published.
When I think about that day, I remember the excitement, the congratulations, and the surreal feeling of seeing something I'd spent years creating finally make its way into the world.
But what stands out most is how natural it felt.
I'd been living with this book for so long that by the time publication day arrived, it was already a very real part of my life. Other people were just beginning to discover something I'd been working on, thinking about, and pouring myself into for years.
And now, one year later, I'm discovering something unexpected about the experience.
As I record the audiobook, I'm revisiting the woman I was when I first wrote those words.
It's almost like reading a letter from a younger version of myself, and I can't quite believe how much we've both changed.
What My First Book Launch Was Really Like
POWERHOUSE was published through Balboa Press, which helped with the mechanics of preparing and distributing the book. I actually won a writing contest, and the prize was a self-publishing package with BP, affiliated with Hay House. It was a HUGE deal for me.
But, as for any published author, the writing, marketing, and much of the work surrounding the launch were all my responsibility.
There wasn't a huge publishing team or a formal publicity campaign as there would be with a traditional publishing house.
I was a first-time author with a relatively small audience, sharing a deeply personal book I'd worked incredibly hard to create.
And I was fortunate to have people who were excited to celebrate that milestone with me.
The launch party was special, especially because my family and people I love were there.
Watching the book appear on Amazon’s Top 10 New Releases and seeing the excitement around its release was surreal.
But after those first few days, the initial buzz naturally faded.
That's one of the realities of publishing that doesn't always get discussed.
A launch is a moment.
The book itself continues long after that moment passes.
And I've come to appreciate that distinction.
Becoming a Published Author and Still Feeling Like an Imposter
Here's something that makes me laugh.
Even after writing and publishing an actual book, I sometimes hesitate when I call myself a published author.
Part of my brain still wants to ask whether I've really earned that title.
Because I wasn't traditionally published and I didn't sit down with Oprah (yet).
Because my book didn't land on the New York Times bestseller list (yet).
Apparently, my perfectionist tendencies didn't magically disappear when the book came out.
But the more I've reflected on this experience, the more I recognize how easily we can diminish our accomplishments when they don't match the exact picture we once imagined.
I wrote a book while navigating motherhood, postpartum life, the responsibilities of being a military spouse, and the many demands of everyday life.
It was difficult.
There were times when I felt overwhelmed, rushed parts of the process, and wondered how I would ever finish.
But I kept writing.
And eventually, I had a book in my hands.
I don't need to minimize that simply because the journey looked different from someone else's.
The Unexpected Experience of Reading My Own Book Again
One of the most emotional parts of this anniversary has been recording the POWERHOUSE audiobook.
I had hoped to have it finished by the book's first birthday, but learning how to record and produce an audiobook while raising two young children has been a bigger undertaking than I expected.
Still, the process has given me something incredibly meaningful.
I'm hearing my own words in a way I haven't experienced before.
There are passages where I can sense the pain I was working through when I wrote them.
Other passages capture the excitement of discovering new ideas about healing, manifestation, spirituality, and personal growth.
I can hear how much I wanted to understand myself and how hopeful I was about what might be possible.
And sometimes I want to cry.
Because I remember that woman.
I remember what she was carrying.
And I know how far she's come.
Why I Would Write Parts of POWERHOUSE Differently Today
Something fascinating happens when you revisit nonfiction you wrote years earlier.
You realize how much you've changed.
There are absolutely parts of POWERHOUSE I would approach differently now.
I would express certain ideas with more nuance. I would change some of the language. And there are moments when I can tell I was discovering something for the very first time.
But I don't feel the need to criticize the woman who wrote those passages.
I feel love for her.
She was learning.
She was healing.
She was trying something she'd never done before on very little sleep and on very tight deadlines.
And she had the courage to share her experience before she had everything figured out.
That's what makes this book so special to me today.
It's a physical record of a season of my life and the transformation that was happening within it.
I can appreciate how much I've grown without wishing away the version of myself who helped me get here.
The Reader Messages That Mean the Most
One of my favorite parts of being an author is hearing from people who have read POWERHOUSE.
I love when someone posts a picture of themselves reading the book and tags me or when somebody stops me in town to ask about it.
And I especially love hearing what resonated with them.
Many readers have connected with Part One, particularly the conversation about perfectionism and allowing life to be messy.
That means so much because those were lessons I was learning through my own experiences.
To know that someone else found comfort, relief, or permission in those pages is incredibly special.
I believe books often find us when we're ready for them.
And knowing that POWERHOUSE continues to find its way into people's lives, sometimes long after they first purchased it, is one of the most rewarding parts of this experience.
My Advice for Anyone Who Wants to Write a Book
People often ask me how to write a book.
And my answer is surprisingly simple.
You write.
You make a conscious decision to begin, and then you keep returning to the work.
There may never be a perfect season when your schedule is completely clear and you have unlimited time to create.
I certainly didn't have that.
But I had a story I wanted to share and a genuine desire to see the project through.
I also believe it's important to be honest with yourself about why you want to write.
If your motivation is entirely tied to recognition, accolades, or a particular idea of what success is supposed to look like, the experience may be disappointing.
Publishing can be wonderful, but it also requires patience, persistence, and a willingness to do a tremendous amount of work without knowing how it will be received.
Write because you love the process.
Because you have something meaningful to explore and writing helps you heal, brings you joy, or challenges you to grow.
And please give yourself permission to be messy.
You don't have to begin with the most epic opening sentence.
If you're stuck, start in the middle.
Write the part you're excited about and figure out the rest as you go.
The creative process rarely unfolds exactly as we imagine, and that's part of the experience.
A Love Letter to the Woman Who Wrote POWERHOUSE
When I look at POWERHOUSE today, I feel an enormous amount of gratitude.
I'm proud of the book, but I'm especially proud of the woman who wrote it.
She was ambitious, curious, dreamy, and deeply committed to understanding herself.
She was also navigating a difficult season of life and trying to make sense of experiences that were changing her.
She could have let fear stop her.
She could have decided she wasn't qualified enough, experienced enough, or ready enough to write a book.
Instead, she honored the dream.
And a year later, I get to hold that dream in my hands.
POWERHOUSE isn't perfect, and neither was the woman who wrote it.
But I love them both.
And I'm grateful that I gave myself the opportunity to create something that continues to mean so much to me.
Happy first birthday, POWERHOUSE.
And thank you to everyone who has been part of this journey.
You can get your copy of Powerhouse here - I truly believe books find you when they’re meant to. If you feel called to this one today, trust it. I’m so excited to hear what this book teaches you about yourself!
Episode transcript:
This is an auto-generated, unedited episode transcript. Please excuse any tyops.
Welcome to The Life with Liz Podcast, the place to be if you wanna go from invisible to vibrant in your life and embrace the power you didn't know you had inside of you. I'm your host, Liz Fleming, business owner, mom, military spouse, entrepreneur, founder, CEO, and life coach, who is passionate about helping ambitious women like you step into their power and their purpose on purpose so they can experience as much joy, success, satisfaction, and abundance as humanly possible. Now without further ado, let's dive right into this episode.
INTRO | ONE YEAR LATER
Well, this is a pretty special episode for me because tomorrow, November 12, marks one year since my very first book, POWERHOUSE, was published. One whole year.
Which is wild to say out loud because in some ways it feels like yesterday, and in other ways it feels like an entirely different lifetime. I've been thinking a lot about this anniversary and what I wanted to share with you, because I could certainly sit here and talk about the process of publishing a book, what I've learned about marketing it, or what it's been like to call myself an author for the past year. And we'll get into some of that because, believe me, it's been an experience. But something really unexpected has been happening as I've been recording the audiobook, and it's changed the way I'm looking at this entire anniversary. I'm reading POWERHOUSE aloud for the first time, chapter by chapter, and there are moments when I have to stop because I can hear so much of the woman I was when I wrote it. I can hear what she was going through, what she was trying to understand, and how desperately she wanted to grow. And I'm sitting here, years after I first started writing those words, thinking, oh my God. I remember her. It's almost like I'm reading a letter that a younger version of myself wrote to me, and I'm finally opening it as the woman I've become. Which is such a strange, beautiful experience. Because I wrote this book to share what I was learning about healing, personal growth, and coming home to yourself. I wanted other women to know they weren't alone in what they were experiencing. What I didn't anticipate was that the book would eventually become this incredibly tangible record of my own transformation. So today, I want to celebrate POWERHOUSE. I want to tell you a little about what the first year of being a published author has actually been like, what surprised me, what I would do differently, and why I have so much love for the woman who wrote this book. And if you've ever had a dream that felt a little too big, a little too ambitious, or a little too far outside what other people expected of you, I hope you'll hear something in my experience that encourages you to keep going. PART ONE | WHEN THE DREAM BECAME REAL It's funny because people sometimes imagine publishing a book as this huge, cinematic moment. You've spent years working on something, and then finally, the day comes when your book goes out into the world. And I suppose from the outside, that's exactly what it looked like. There was so much excitement. People were congratulating me, sharing the book, celebrating with me, and I had this wonderful launch party where my family and people I love could be part of the experience. It was beautiful, and I'm so grateful for it. But internally, it was a little different than I expected. I'd been working on POWERHOUSE for so long that the book already felt real to me. I'd spent years with these ideas, these stories, and these experiences. I'd poured so much of myself into the writing process that by the time November 12 finally arrived, I was almost speechless. Everyone else was celebrating this brand-new thing, and I was standing there thinking, wow. It's actually happening. It was exciting, but it also felt incredibly natural. Like, of course this is happening. This is what I've been working toward. This is where I was supposed to go next. And I don't mean that in an arrogant way. I just mean that the dream had been living inside me for so long that bringing it into the world felt like the next step in a journey I'd already been on for years. Now, my publishing experience was a little different from what people might picture when they hear the words "published author." POWERHOUSE was published through Balboa Press, which helped with the mechanics of producing the book and getting it onto the different platforms. But I was responsible for the writing, the marketing, and so much of the work surrounding the launch. There wasn't some enormous publishing team rolling out the red carpet for me. I was a first-time author with a relatively small audience, doing my best to share something I believed in. And that's exactly what the launch reflected. It was meaningful and exciting, but it was also very much my own little corner of the world celebrating this huge personal milestone. I remember watching the Amazon lists during those first few days and seeing the excitement around the release. That was fun! It's a pretty surreal thing to see a book with your name on it out there for people to buy and read. But as anyone who's ever launched something probably knows, the initial excitement doesn't last forever. After those first few days, things naturally settled down. People went back to their lives. The big launch moment passed. And I was left with this book that I'd spent years creating, now sitting out in the world, available for people to discover whenever they happened to find it. Which, when you really think about it, is kind of amazing. PART TWO | THE VULNERABILITY OF BEING SEEN One of the more complicated parts of this experience was learning how to receive all that excitement and celebration. Because as happy as I was, I was also terrified of what people might think. POWERHOUSE is deeply personal. I didn't sit down to write a book about concepts I'd studied from a distance. I was writing about things I had lived through, things I was still trying to understand, and the beliefs and patterns I was working to change in my own life. There is so much of my heart in those pages. And once the book was published, I couldn't control how anyone would receive it. People could love it. They could disagree with it. They could misunderstand something I'd written or have an entirely different experience with the ideas I was sharing. That was a lot for me to sit with, especially because perfectionism and the fear of being judged were such significant parts of my own healing journey. There's something pretty ironic about writing a book that encourages women to release perfectionism while simultaneously worrying about whether people are going to think your book is good enough. But there I was! And that was part of the experience, too. I had to practice what I was writing about. I had to let the book be what it was and trust that the people who needed it would find something meaningful in it. And once it was finally out there, beneath all the excitement and nervousness, I felt this incredible sense of relief. I had done it. I'd taken something that had lived inside me for years, something I could have talked myself out of a thousand times, and I'd followed it through. That feeling was so freeing. Not because I'd suddenly stopped caring what people thought. I still care. I'm human. But I'd made the decision to share it anyway. And that changed something in me. PART THREE | AM I REALLY A PUBLISHED AUTHOR? Now, here's something that still makes me laugh about this whole experience. I've been a published author for almost a year, and sometimes when I say, "I'm a published author," there's still this little voice in the back of my mind going, are you though? Which is ridiculous! I wrote a book. It was published. People can buy it, hold it, read it, and apparently tell me what they thought of it. That's generally how being an author works. But because I wasn't traditionally published, and because I didn't end up sitting across from Oprah or landing on the New York Times bestseller list, part of my brain still wants to question whether I've earned the title. Hello, Virgo energy. And I know I'm not alone in that. We can accomplish something we've dreamed about for years and still find a way to diminish it because it didn't happen in the exact way we imagined. Or because somebody else did it differently. Or because we think we need another achievement before we're allowed to fully claim the one we've already earned. I've had to remind myself that I don't need a particular publishing deal, sales number, or level of recognition to acknowledge what I actually did. I wrote a book. And that was hard. It was SO hard. I was navigating motherhood, postpartum life, the responsibilities and uncertainties that come with being a military spouse, and all the ordinary things that still needed my attention while I was trying to bring this enormous creative project to life. There were times when I rushed. There were times when I was overwhelmed. And there were absolutely moments when I wondered how I was ever going to finish. But I kept coming back to it. I kept writing. And eventually, all those little pieces became a book. I can look at it now and acknowledge the places where I might have done something differently without allowing that to diminish what it took to create it in the first place. That's been a big part of my growth this year. PART FOUR | MEETING THE WOMAN WHO WROTE IT This is probably the most emotional part of the whole experience for me. As I'm recording the audiobook, I'm revisiting words I wrote when I was in a very different place in my life. And there are moments when I can hear the pain beneath what I was saying. I can hear how badly I wanted to understand myself, how excited I was to discover new ideas, and how much hope I had that the things I was learning might help me create a different experience of life. It's fascinating to read nonfiction that you wrote years ago because you can literally hear your own evolution. When I first began working on POWERHOUSE, I was discovering concepts like manifestation and exploring the relationship between our thoughts, beliefs, and experiences in a way that was completely new to me. I was waking up to this whole world of possibility, and I was so excited about it. Now, years later, so much of what felt new and extraordinary to me then has become part of my everyday life. My spirituality, my curiosity about energy and consciousness, my sense of wonder about the universe. Those things are woven into how I experience the world now. I don't feel like I'm standing at the beginning of that exploration anymore. And hearing myself describe those discoveries for the first time is incredibly moving. There are moments when I want to cry because I remember how much I was carrying when I wrote those words. I remember what I was trying to heal. And I can see how far I've come. What's especially interesting is that there are absolutely things I would change about the book today. There are passages I would write differently. Ideas I would express with more nuance. Places where I can tell I was still very much a beginner, discovering something and trying to put language around it for the first time. But instead of feeling embarrassed about that, I feel this enormous amount of love for the woman who wrote it. She was doing her best. She was going THROUGH IT. And she was still brave enough to try something new. She didn't wait until she'd healed every part of herself or understood every subject she wanted to explore. She wrote from where she was, with what she knew, and with a genuine desire to help other women. I look at POWERHOUSE now and I smile because it's a physical manifestation of that season of my life. Of the work I was doing. Of the ways I was changing. And of a dream that I chose to honor even when the process was difficult. I don't love this book because it's perfect. I love it because I know what it took to write it. And I love the woman who wrote it. PART FIVE | THE PEOPLE WHO FOUND THE BOOK Another thing that's made this first year so special is hearing from readers. And I have to tell you, this is something I don't think I'll ever get tired of. When somebody posts a picture of themselves reading POWERHOUSE and tags me, I get so excited. Even now, a year later, people are still finding the book. Sometimes they've just discovered it. Sometimes they bought it months ago and are finally getting the chance to sit down with it. And I love that. I've always believed that books have a way of finding us when we're ready for them. I know I've had that experience as a reader, where I pick up a book at a particular point in my life and think, wow, I really needed this right now. So when someone reaches out to tell me they're reading POWERHOUSE, or stops me in town to ask about it, I cherish those moments. Because they didn't have to do that. They didn't have to spend their precious time reading something I wrote, much less take another moment to tell me about their experience. But they did. And knowing what it took to get those words onto the page makes that incredibly meaningful to me. One of the things I've heard most often is how much people connect with Part One, especially the conversation about perfectionism and allowing life to be messy. I love that because it was such an important part of my own journey. And hearing that other women have found relief or joy in those pages feels like the book is doing exactly what I hoped it would do. It's giving someone permission to loosen their grip a little. To stop expecting themselves to have everything figured out. To recognize that they can be a work in progress and still have a beautiful, meaningful life. And every time somebody shares that with me, I feel such gratitude. Because even if the book reaches one person at exactly the right moment, that matters. PART SIX | THE AUDIOBOOK AND AN UNEXPECTED SECOND JOURNEY Which brings me back to the audiobook. I had really hoped to have it finished in time for the book's first anniversary. And as I'm recording this, I'm not quite there yet. I'm a couple of chapters into the process, and it has been a much bigger undertaking than I anticipated. Because I'm not just recording a book. I'm learning how to record an audiobook in the first place. I'm figuring out the technical side, how to deliver the words naturally, how to make the listening experience feel like something I would genuinely enjoy sharing. And I'm doing all of that as a first-timer with very limited quiet time to myself. If you've ever tried to record anything in a house with young children, you can probably appreciate the challenge. You need actual silence. Which is a precious and sometimes elusive resource around here. And yes, part of me feels frustrated that it's taking longer than I wanted. But I'm also really excited about it. Accessibility matters to me, and I want people who prefer listening to have the opportunity to experience POWERHOUSE that way. There's also something very personal about reading the book in my own voice. It's one thing to write about your experiences and know that someone else might eventually read those words. It's another thing to sit down, speak them aloud, and hear the emotion behind them. WHOAAAA. That's really the only way I can describe it. I've finally started getting comfortable enough with the recording process to put more of my personality into it, to give the words some flavor, and to let the experience be a little more fun. And I hope it all comes together the way I want it to. I really do. I don't know exactly when it'll be finished yet, and I don't want to rush it just to meet a date I set for myself. The anniversary will still be special. The book is still here. And this unexpected second journey with it is giving me something I didn't even know I needed. An opportunity to revisit the woman I was when I wrote it and appreciate her from where I am today. PART SEVEN | IF YOU WANT TO WRITE A BOOK I also want to share something for anyone listening who has ever dreamed about writing a book. People ask me how to do it, and I always come back to the same answer. You write. I know. Very profound advice from a published author, right? But seriously. You write. You can't wait until the conditions are perfect, because chances are they never will be. There will always be something happening in your life. Some responsibility that needs your attention, some reason why you could put it off until next month or next year. And I understand that not everyone has the same amount of time, support, or freedom to work on a creative project. But you can begin with the time and resources you have. Maybe it's twenty minutes here and there. Maybe it's a page, a paragraph, or a few sentences that you write down before you forget them. You keep coming back to it. And please, if you're thinking about writing a book, spend some time getting clear about why you want to do it. Because if you're doing it solely for the accolades, the recognition, or some imagined version of what being an author is supposed to look like, you might find yourself disappointed. The attention surrounding a launch can be incredibly short-lived. Writing the book, on the other hand, asks something much deeper of you. It asks for your time, your patience, your attention, and sometimes a tremendous amount of vulnerability. So write because you love it. Write because there's something you want to explore, a story you want to tell, or an experience you want to share. Write because the process brings you joy, helps you heal, challenges you, or gives you an opportunity to discover something about yourself. Do it for the love of it. For the right reasons. No pun intended. And please don't let perfectionism steal the experience from you. Let the writing be messy. Let yourself experiment. Have fun with it. If you sit down and don't know where to begin, start in the middle. Seriously! There's no rule that says you have to write the first sentence of the first chapter before you're allowed to write anything else. Start with the part you can't stop thinking about. The story that keeps coming back to you. The idea you're excited to explore. You can figure out how it all fits together later. That's something I wish more people understood about creativity. You don't need to have the entire journey mapped out before you're allowed to take the first step. And if your first attempt isn't perfect, welcome to the club. You're learning. CLOSING | TO THE WOMAN WHO WROTE POWERHOUSE When I look back on this first year, what stands out to me isn't a particular sales number or achievement. It's the fact that I did something I once only dreamed about doing. And I did it while navigating one of the most demanding seasons of my life. For years, I've been described as ambitious, an overachiever, a dreamer, someone who's always in her head, maybe a little too woo-woo for some people's tastes. And you know what? They're not entirely wrong. I AM ambitious. I AM a dreamer. I love exploring things that fascinate me, even when other people don't understand why. And I've spent enough of my life questioning those parts of myself. Writing POWERHOUSE helped me see that the very qualities I once worried might be too much were also part of what allowed me to bring this dream to life. I could have spent years thinking about writing a book without ever doing it. I could have let the fear of being judged or misunderstood keep me from sharing what I'd learned. But I chose to try. And I'm so glad I did. Because this experience taught me that I'm stronger and more capable than I sometimes give myself credit for. It also taught me that I don't have to wait until I've become some imaginary future version of myself before I'm allowed to do something meaningful. The woman who wrote POWERHOUSE didn't have everything figured out. Neither do I, for that matter. But she followed her heart. She took the opportunity she was given and honored it as wholeheartedly as she could. And now, a year after publication, I get to hold this beautiful reminder of what happens when we allow ourselves to pursue something that matters to us. I've changed so much since I began writing this book, and I hope I continue changing. I hope I keep learning, questioning, growing, and discovering new things about myself and the world. Because I don't see healing or personal growth as something we're supposed to finish. I see it as part of being alive. And the more I experience life, the more I come back to love. Loving ourselves through the messy parts. Loving the people we share our lives with. Finding ways to offer something meaningful to others while we're here. That's the spirit in which I wrote POWERHOUSE. Or maybe I should say, my soul's purpose. You knew I had to get that in there somewhere. So, happy first birthday, POWERHOUSE. And to the woman who wrote it, thank you. Thank you for being brave enough to begin, for continuing when it was hard, and for allowing yourself to be seen before you felt completely ready. I'm really proud of you. And to everyone who's read this book, shared it, recommended it, sent me a message, or supported me along the way, thank you from the bottom of my heart. You have made this experience more meaningful than I could have imagined. If you haven't read POWERHOUSE yet and you'd like to, I'll leave a link in the show notes. And if you have read it, I would absolutely love to hear what resonated with you. Thank you for being here and for celebrating this milestone with me. Until next time, keep following your heart, even when you don't know exactly where it's going to lead you. I'll see you in the next episode.
Did that go by too fast? No worries. You can always find me over at elisabethfleming.com for more information about my programs, events, and how you can take your learning further with me. If you loved this episode, leave a review. It helps more than you know.
Thank you so much for tuning in. I'll catch you next time.
WANT TO GO A LITTLE DEEPER?
If something in this post brought something up for you, I’ve opened a small number of private coaching spots for the remainder of the year. I offer focused 60-minute Power Sessions and a three-session Intensive for women who want personalized support with whatever they’re navigating, working toward, or ready to understand more deeply.
You can learn more about private coaching and see what feels like the right fit for you here.
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