A GOOD BOOK COACH IS SOMEONE WHO HAS BEEN WHERE YOU ARE GOING.
I have filled journals since I was eight years old…
My words. My secrets. Writing with wild abandon and free from criticism and judgement.
While studying creative writing at Emerson College in Boston, I wrote a short story about a young girl on a swing outside a red barn in the moments before she committed suicide. The piece won the top prize that year for short fiction but receiving that recognition was hard. My writing was exposed.
I didn’t know that a compliment for my writing would be so powerful. I was writing to get out of pain. I apparently helped a lot of people. I didn’t know then, but that feeling of responsibility (to others and my work) would call to me for many years to come. It would shape my career.
I wrote my first novel at 19, on a typewriter (yes, I am showing my age), laboriously pounding at the keys (including the sticky “k”) at all hours. It was an ambitious narrative. I decided (400 pages into the book) that it was no good. I threw it out. No photocopy. No backup drive. Gone.
My first screenplay was made into a movie when I was 25. I wrote it in ten days. When actor Steven Gilborn from the hit show Ellen read my words on set, I sat behind the monitor and cried. He wouldn’t let me change a word. He said, “It is the most perfect script I have ever read.” 800 Swedes in Gothenburg gave it a standing ovation.
My first self-help book will be published in 2023. I knew that my journey through the denial of sexual abuse would speak to so many people (that sense of responsibility again) — I also knew this would be one of the most difficult books to write.
For me, it is the love of writing that makes it all worthwhile. In fact, I have loved the act of writing so much, I barely made a living off it for many, many years. I was a journalist for a stint and I interviewed to be Managing Editor of a pool magazine (thank God I didn’t get that one). I have dealt with many volatile creative egos and created characters with stories akin to my own. It is this resilience in life, and a continual seeking of a spiritual connection, that has allowed me to help incredibly successful people be less cautious when taking that big scary step into the world of authorship and publication.
If you wake up every day and wonder - will I suck at writing today - you are my people. I don’t care how many books you have written. If you don’t think you suck often, you are not writing often enough. I have given up being a writer at least ten times in my life. Maybe more.
And have always come back.
INTERVIEWS / PUBLICATIONS RECOGNITION & ACCOLADES
Book Coach to Best Sellers® Kim O’Hara has over forty examples of clients who, when writing about their journey, illuminated and inspired readers through their narrative. Called a book sherpa and guardian angel by her clients, Kim provides clarity to hopeful authors about their purpose in writing a book and a foundational structure to execute their vision to a wider audience. She is a published author, and a contributing writer to the LA Times as well as prestigious literary journals.
Her two-decade career in Hollywood as a movie producer and screenwriter adds that special edge of storytelling and crafting a story that entertains as well as evokes emotion. She sees the greatest potential in anyone who is willing to voice that dream. She is a guest speaker for women’s leadership and empowerment conferences around the country and teaches a yearly Book Writing Class for the International Coaching Federation. She has contributed articles to Biz Journal’s Biz Women, CEOWorld Magazine and the YouTube Channel Film Courage. She produces and hosts the popular podcast You Should Write A Book About That.® featuring authors and amazing people with a story to tell.
Kim’s clients’ books have appeared on the Today Show, Kelly Clarkson, Wall Street Journal and USA Today top ten lists, as well as #1 non-fiction and business books in Barnes & Noble and Amazon.