The Book Writing Remedy is a unique pathway to publishing for anyone with an amazing personal story. Discover the confidence to share what you've been through and uncover its real value. Plus, write a book proposal ready to pitch and sell. Once you've signed up, you'll be sent an email with all course details. Please check your junk mail if you don't spot it!

The most healing part of storytelling is full ownership of your own backstory. Nobody can put words into your mouth after that. Once you put your thoughts onto a page and share it publicly, your truth is out there. And that, I think, is the most important benefit of storytelling for me, especially in a permanent product like a book. Nobody can tell your story in an inaccurate way if you tell your story from your truth first. If you are the one to 'out' yourself, to stand up and say: this is me and my experiences. Now, you have told your story in the way that you need to tell it — and no one can take that away from you. For this writing prompt, I want you to begin to think about your pivotal life moments. The cross roads of your life. The highest of highs, the lowest of lows, and the moments when you began to shift as a person. For this exercise, you're only going to pick one — and really own it! Set a writing window of 15 minutes and, with compassion, reflection, self-awareness and gutsiness, write about a memory that comes into your mind, using the below as a guide. Write this as the heading/chapter title for your page: The moment I knew my world would never be the same again'. If it helps you, you can use this as your first sentence: I’ll never forget the day that… There are no right or wrong answers because this is your story and, not only are your experiences unique but your views of those experiences are unique too. The trick for this exercise is not to overthink it. This doesn’t has to be included in your book or ever read by another living soul. Even if you're incredibly proud of it, I suggest pausing before sharing it for a few days, weeks or months. We'll talk about the downsides of sharing live in our next module. For now, just give yourself time to practise sharing your personal experience and really own what comes up. Whatever you write is valuable — even if it’s for your eyes only! x Amy

Live blogging. Live tweeting. Writing about something that happened to you today. There are times when this is great and produces attractive social media content. But, is it actually beneficial for storytelling for healing? I don’t always think so. Think about how you feel after a heated argument with your partner or a comment that really triggered you. Are you logical? Are you in the best headspace to process it? Not usually. Now, imagine if you sat down to wrote a blog post and published it. You’d probably feel very empowered in the moment, fuelled by adrenaline and anger, but it’s also the fast track to a 'vulnerability hangover.' That’s why I recommend a conscious pause in your writing process. Write it out but give it a minute, a week, a day, a year or even a decade. Protect yourself when you're in your most vulnerable moments. I’ll give you an example: My friend, Ally came to me at a time when she was exploring having a baby. Ally was born with a condition which means she is infertile. She could have a baby through IVF with a surrogate, but she is unable to carry a child herself. At this time, she was also single. She asked me if I thought it was a good idea if she blogged about her journey, in real time. Week per week, day per day. New posts, new content, taking people on the ride with her. This is an incredibly brave thing to do. However, it would have left her incredibly vulnerable. As her friend, I could see how her emotions fluctuating on a day to day basis, from excited to terrified, from euphoric to downtrodden. I didn’t want her to also have the pressure to: @) produce new content, b) handle other people’s opinions and c) feel like she failed as a storytelling if her story didn’t all end with a baby. Instead I told her this: don’t mute yourself, just pause yourself. Instead of posting content live, she kept a journal of her experiences. Six months later, we worked together to write an incredible article about her choice “not to fix my infertility”. It was picked up by several major news publications and earned global coverage. You can read it here. More importantly, Ally could feel incredibly proud of every word. It was all 100%. It was all 100% necessary to share. When I was putting together this course, I came across an interview with the author and illustrator Mari Andrew. In an interview she gave about writing about grief and pain, Mari said: “A lot of writers mythologise our life. These things happen to us and we think – what does that mean in the greater story of our life? What are the symbols there? What does this mean in the context of my narrative. When you see your life that way, you need a lot of time to process it. For raw, unprocessed grief and pain, especially, it’s not that interesting to read about. What’s interesting is making meaning about those difficult times.” This is exactly what we’ve been talking about. If I put on my counsellor’s hat for a minute, it also makes perfect sense to me. Research shows that we’re more able to process grief, if we can find meaning in it. I can see what this has taught me. I can see how this fits into my story. I can see how my story can help other people. And that’s why you DON’T need to rush your storytelling. You don’t need to rush to write this book, to launch it or to grasp at every publicity opportunity. Cheryl Strayed’s bestselling book, Wild was based on a hike she took decades before it was published. Trust that your story will wait for you. Give yourself the time to find meaning in it, before you launch it into the universe. Your story will wait for you. and so will the people who were born to read it. x Amy

How does fear stop you from being seen or heard? As a storyteller, that is a question that we all should delve into. The fact that you're doing this course probably means that you have some kind of fear-based blockage holding you back from telling your story so far. It's perfectly natural, but it doesn't have to be permanent. We all have an element of fear or nerves when we begin to think about sharing a story for the first time. There is a voice in all of us saying we’re not good enough, not unique enough or confident enough to stand up and share our story. How special do you think you are? That is why I want you to find somewhere quiet to sit. Somewhere where you feel safe and comfortable and spend ten minutes on this writing prompt: How does fear stop me from being seen? And how does fear stop me from telling my story? I did this exercise when I was writing The World is a Nice Place — the first very personal book that I'd written since my first Wife Interrupted. I’d been a professional writer all my life. I had no shame, right? Or so I thought. But when I sat down to do this exercise, I was amazed by the thoughts which (quickly) rose up. For me, it wasn’t the thought of writing about it which held me back, it was the thought of publicising that book. Sharing it with my friends. Standing up at speaking gigs and sharing it. Talking about it on television, instead of my usual content of health, wellness and celebrities. When I wrote the question — ‘How does fear stop me from showing up?' — the response that came to mind consisted of three words: I FUCKED UP. They didn't like my words. They were ashamed to read my words. They hated me for my words — for being too real, for saying too much. Even though I stand by my first book, and I’m extremely proud of it to this day, there was still a part of me that felt shame and guilt for the backlash it caused, and the reaction of my husband’s friends. My heart still hurt from it. On some level I was scared because I never wanted to be in that situation again. I also realised it was stopping me from appreciating or celebrating all the good things in my life, whether it was my career goals or my relationships. The last time I ever really celebrated a work achievement was my first book deal. When I signed it, my mum and dad and I went out for cocktails to celebrate. I felt so proud and amazed it was happening to me. After the backlash, I stopped celebrating. I stopped trusting the good things which happened to me. I got a lot more than I bargained for with that writing prompt! It was good because, once I realised it, I could change it — slowly, slowly over the last few years. I’m currently writing on a secret project that will be a huge leap in my career and I’m promised myself that I will celebrate it with gusto. When I'm walking, I visualise the launch party in the mind — you can visualise your dream book launch too. So, try this writing exercise for yourself: What is stopping you from being seen? How is fear stopping you from telling your story? Take time to dig into this now and you can save yourself fear and suffering later. I want you to share your story, loudly and proudly And I want you to celebrate yourself. There’s exciting thing ahead for you. This is your moment. This is your time. Listen to this meditation before you write anything! I recorded it because so many people ask how I get into 'the zone' and meditation is the answer. This is my 5-minute go-to meditation for creative confidence and removing attachment to outcome. You can also download it to your phone or laptop, so you can have it on hand anytime. x Amy

As explained in week two, for an impactful story with emotion, context and flow think about writing as the main character AND the narrator. Someone totally involved and absorbed in the story, and a narrator who can talk about context from a distance. Example 1: As the main character you might write: Every cell in my body felt like it was dying as I watched my husband’s breath becoming strained. As the narrator you’d add: It was the 4th July. Three weeks after our wedding. We were back in the oncology ward of the hospital, where we’d been told he was terminal six weeks earlier. Example 2: As the main character you’d write: I felt so proud of myself for standing up to him, for holding my power. For the first time in our relationship I felt like I was being seen. As the narrator you’d write: We’d been dating for 10 years, since we met at a school disco when I was 18. We’d had three children together, aged 1, 5 and 6, and I can only count three times when I’d stood up for myself before. Bear this in mind when you do start to write — how you can write as the main character and the narrator? It will help you to fill your story with emotion whilst making sure you don’t skip over the facts, which will help your readers to follow the ‘who, what, why’ of your journey. x Amy

I update this list regularly with my current favourite publishers. It's also great to do your own research. Think about the books you have loved recently and find out who they publish with (you can find this information on their Amazon listing). I recommend making a list of your top five publishing houses, including a mixture of traditional and independent publishers, and reaching out with your proposal. Most publishing houses have information on their website for how to submit manuscripts. Or, search for the name of their commissioning editor on LinkedIn or social media. Self-help and lifestyle Hay House Affirm Press Murdoch Books Penguin Random House Hatchette Australia Novels Allen & Unwin Hybrid Publishing Kind Press KMD Press Ventura Press If you have a book that doesn't fall into these categories or you would like further guidance, you can book a one-on-one mentoring session with me below. I'm happy to come up with a plan together.