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Authors, Turn Your ‘How’ Into the Story

Use your writing process as a media angle or speaking topic

Sharon Woodhouse
3 min readFeb 21, 2023
Photo by S O C I A L . C U T on Unsplash.

A few years ago, my work brought me into contact with three family histories, all of which involved a staggering amount of work, dedication, and personal flair on the part of the authors. And all three were quite different from each other.

One was the book of a project management client who spent over 12 years researching and writing about his family tree, going back 13 generations on one branch. His final tome was over 900 pages, the largest book I ever helped someone publish.

The other two took a similar approach to writing their family history — they fictionalized it — but with distinct approaches. Marc Savard, a history buff and orchard owner from Door County, Wisconsin, novelized his family genealogy over several generations with sparse descriptions but rich historical context that displayed his own wealth of historical understanding.

Miguel “Mike” Villegas is an IT security exec from the Los Angeles area who wrote the cinematic, Family Honor, lush with detail, about an arranged marriage that took place in his family in Mexico City not all that long ago.

In reviewing bookselling event options with Savard and Villegas, one obvious concept for author events was making their

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Sharon Woodhouse
Sharon Woodhouse

Written by Sharon Woodhouse

Sharon Woodhouse is an author coach, publishing consultant, and project manager. She was an indie book publisher for 25 years. www.conspirecreative.com

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