265: Everybody Suffers, Not Everybody Can #Write About it with Stacy Kim

Stacy Kim is a freelance writer who’s beginning to see some real success in her career, with bylines in Real Simple, The Washington Post, Wired and more. We talked to her about getting started as a writer, finding her topic and her expertise, and learning that it’s not enough to have a story—you have to give the editor a reason to want you to share it, and the reader a reason to want to read it. 

Links from the Pod: Sue Shapiro’s classes (highly recommended)

Stacy’s essays and other work:

Lighthouse Method in Real Simple

hoarding in WashPo

I found Korean culture sexist and stifling. Then my kid fell in love with K-pop:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2021/05/07/korean-culture-teenager-fan/

A visit to Seoul during Covid changed my opinion of a country I once despised
https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/seoul-korea-covid-pandemic-america-b1816535.html

wired Got Done List

#AmReading

Stacy: If I had Your Face by Frances Cha

Miracle Creek by Angie Kim

Ethan Cross, Jeffrey Selingo

KJ: Where the Grass Is Green and the Girls Are Pretty by Lauren Weisberger

Sarina: Reality Is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World by Jane McGonigal

And check out Stacy’s website www.lifejunctions.com

In this episode, we talk—indirectly—about owning your expertise. It’s a challenge for many of us to admit we know things, that we’re good at things, that we have experience to offer. If your experience is as a reader and editor, maybe it’s time for you to turn what you have to offer into a real business by becoming a book coach. Just imagine enrolling in the classes, meeting a cohort, learning all the ways coaches are editorial and emotional support for writers and then starting to line up your first clients. Students working with Author Accelerator say they begin to book authors before they’re even done with the course, and often end up being booked months in advance. Sound like fun? AGREED. Go to bookcoaches.com to learn more.