We were lucky to catch up with Richelle Fredson recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Richelle thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s start with a story that highlights an important way in which your brand diverges from the industry standard.

When aspiring authors first feel the pull to write a book, they’re often overwhelmed by the process, especially if they want to publish a book traditionally. I specialize in non-fiction, so I’m often having conversations with folks who feel they aren’t “expert enough” or “credentialled enough” or their story isn’t “worthy enough.” These are some of my favorite conversations because I know it isn’t true, and I’ve honed the skills of helping them realize that there’s a place for them on bookshelves. So yes, while my work is centered around book ideation and helping people craft a marketable book proposal–there’s an emotional component to this work that I take very seriously. Creating a book is an intimate process that brings up many fears and vulnerabilities in writers–I like to make sure I’m a comfort to my clients as much as I’m a strategist.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I’ve been in the publishing industry for 21 years and have worn many hats in that time. From Director of Publicity and Book Marketing to Acquisitions to events within a traditional publisher to the work I do now as a nonfiction book coach and strategist, each phase of my career has added depth to my coaching. Many of the wonderful book coaches I know are rooted in an editorial background, but my career was steeped in marketing and promotional positions, which gives me a unique lens to develop content that cuts through market noise.

When I started my business in 2018, just a few months after having my son, and time became all the more precious, my sole mission was to create more transparency in the publishing industry so authors could navigate it more easily. I began creating supportive social media content, blogging, coaching aspiring authors on processes and expectations and started my podcast, Bound + Determined. I knew people were hungry for this information, and I wanted to find a way to serve them.

I also honed in on the part of my work I loved the most–developing book ideas and book proposals (the document that gets pitched to agents and publishers for book deals).

Sometimes, people will come to me with a vision of what they want to create, and sometimes, people are a blank slate-but either way, engaging in thought partnership early on in the book process always yields better results. To date, my clients have amassed over $5 million in book advances with major publishers and have gone on to create new arms of their businesses, new offerings, new stages talks, etc using the content we’ve generated in their book proposals.

Within the work I do, I also have the pleasure of helping build people’s confidence, getting them to use their voice and personality as a sales tool for their book. After many years in acquisitions, I learned that feeling an author and their energy on the page was a big win–it helped us understand the vessel behind the words. So much of my work is rooted in building comfort with the author on the page. The greatest compliment I receive from agents and publishers is “I knew it was a Richelle proposal because…” It just shows that book ideas and proposals created through a personality-driven marketing edge stand out.

The work I do is incredibly meaningful to me. It’s a core mission of mine to work with diverse entrepreneurs, storytellers and thought leaders. I love working on books that illuminate underrepresented subjects and writers. We need them.

I think one of the biggest messages I’d like aspiring authors to know is that if they’ve been dreaming about a book for some time, there’s rarely a lightning bolt of readiness that shoots down from the sky. Readiness isn’t a feeling that will strike you; it’s a decision you make to begin. And it’s never too early to begin playing with book ideas and messages. I call it a playground with my clients because that’s what it is. I invite people to sit with me in a sandbox of ideas and sift through them until the gem appears. Then, we build a strategy around it. Creative work is messy–nobody feels like they have it all figured out at the beginning.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I started my business at a time when online businesses and coaching businesses were booming. While I’m not an online business, there was a ton of pressure to do things a certain way. It’s really easy to look around, especially on social media, and see businesses thriving under a particular formula. I had to learn early on that it was OK to do things my way. To do them a little differently. To take risk.

While my business is primarily private coaching, I hit a point where I couldn’t serve all the people I wanted to, and not everyone had the resources to engage in private coaching. A digital offering made perfect sense, but I only wanted to do it if it felt good for me and had high value to my customers. It was important to me to have group coaching sessions within that program so I could really be hands-on in developing people’s book ideas and proposals in real-time. So that’s what I did–I created The Book Proposal Blueprint ™, a hybrid program with both a digital and live coaching component. I just love watching the success come out of those groups–it’s been an incredible journey. Being in the collective energy of creatives is so cool.

I think as a small business owner, it’s so easy to feel like you should do things the popular way or you should fit your business into an existing framework that’s already been done–but checking in with myself about how I want my business to FEEL has been an ongoing lesson, and has brought the most success to my business.

How did you build your audience on social media?

I’m a testament to the “small but mighty” theory. Before I started my business, I had primarily been posting food photos (I love to cook), baby photos, and funny moments from my day on Instagram. When I left corporate and started my business, I quickly realized how important social media would be for nurturing and signing clients.

So, I did the thing that so many do: I started a separate “business” Instagram page. I would deliver all my teaching moments, tips, and industry knowledge–but I noticed something a few months in–the engagement sucked. When I really looked under the hood, I realized that I was acting completely differently on that busienss page. Like I had something to prove. I was buttoned up–the professional.

But simultaneously, over on my personal page, I was signing clients because they’d gotten to know me THROUGH the food and kid photos. I’d already built trust; I didn’t have to shove it down their throat. So, I shut down the business page and just started integrating teaching in my own quirky style over on my personal page. It worked. Now I have one page for ALL the parts of me, and my audience feels like friends hanging out in my living room. They cheer on my son, they ask me questions, they seek advice, they share their wins–it’s everything I wanted for my community. Just another situation where being yourself really is the win.

Is the audience gigantic? No. But it fuels my business, fills my programs, and we have a great time being together.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://RichelleFredson.com
• Instagram: @richellefredson
• Facebook: @RichelleFredson
• Linkedin: @RichelleZizianFredson
• Other: Threads: @RichelleFredson
  Bound + Determined Podcast, RichelleFredson.com/podcast

Image Credits

Jenny Sherman