by geniuscribes | Mar 13, 2020 | Latest
Today, we’re officially launching our new logo! We’re pretty stoked about it, so we thought we’d shout it from the rooftops… or through the internet, or whatever. We initially thought our original, old logo was cool, playful and smart. Remember this guy?
As it turns out, not everyone got our intended message of “smart puppy” from looking at this character. Instead, all they saw was a cute bow-tied canine with a pen in his mouth and glasses on, and they started to wonder if doggie spectacles were “a thing” now. Amazon searches for “doggie glasses” probably shot through the roof. Sorry, newly-bespectacled doggos of the world whose owners couldn’t resist. Our bad.
Yeah, we missed the mark on that first logo. And as you know, in business branding, that’s not something a business can afford to do. We had to do better. Therefore, although we loved Mr. Scribbles (yes, the dog even had a name), he had to go. So long, faithful pup. You were cute but just too darn confusing (like most other relationships we’ve had to say goodbye to in life).
The good news is, times change, and people learn and grow. We’re no exception. We’ve learned our lesson. Today, we’re rolling out a new logo that’s clear, concise, and explicable. It’s also simpler, scalable, more refined and distinctive. Our brand team has worked diligently to create a new visual identity that represents exactly who we are and what we do.
Now, introducing the new geniuscribes logo!
You’ll notice the shape of the logo is a “g” and that there’s a person with a pen writing embedded in it. The “g” represents our name, “geniuscribes” (we didn’t want to take for granted you knew this). The person in the middle with a pen is the nerd-genius who makes all the magic happen. This new logo’s way better than the dog, don’t you think?
But wait… there’s more! During this phase of branding self-reflection, we realized that we had three distinctive segments of clientele: intelligent authors (in general), Christian authors, and doctoral students writing dissertations.
Each of these client segments is highly unique, and it takes a very specific type of intelligence to serve their writing, editing and coaching needs. That said, we felt that we could serve each segment better by giving each its own targeted identity.
Introducing our gospelscribes and gradscribes divisions!
Now, each of these divisions represents what we are proud to call the “geniuscribes family”!
Now, when people see us out in the world (‘cause we’ve set our sights on global domination of the writing services industry) it’s our hope that they’ll be able to recognize us quickly and easily. Yeah, we know. We’re pretty impressed with this new move, too.
We know you’re busy people, so thanks for allowing us to get this out and not deleting our email. That’s one of the things that we love about you guys: you not only write stuff; you read stuff.
We just wanted to take a moment or two to officially let you know about the change so that when you see our new logos on emails, invoices or our social media, you’ll know it’s still us and not a scammer trying to jack our identity.
We appreciate your patience as we continue to evolve in our refinement of who we are, what we do, and how we can serve you better. Thanks for being a client who rocks the way you do!
The geniuscribes Team
P.S. If you run into someone who needs to get a book or dissertation done, tell ‘em you know a guy and then send them to our website!
by geniuscribes | Jul 16, 2019 | "I'm Scared to Write!" Series, Latest
Either you don’t realize it, or somewhere deep down, you know it but simply refuse to admit it: the underlying reason behind all of your excuses for not having begun writing your book yet is that four-letter word called “fear.” Read on to understand how fear has stifled your dreams of becoming an author and what to do to give fear the boot this year!
Fear 6: I’m afraid of becoming a successful author.
I’m sure that you’ve heard of people having a fear of failure. However, have you ever heard of people having a fear of success? Yep. That’s a real thing, and it can be just as paralyzing as a fear of failure. A fear of success is often grounded in the belief that if the book you write strikes gold, you might not be able to handle the success.
What do aspiring authors fear about success?
Success can come along with things like an undesirable level of public attention. You could end up flying so high on the radar that people begin paying attention to – and scrutinizing – your every move. Believe it or not, developing too visible of a public profile can be a real source of fear and anxiety for some people.
Another thing that can accompany success is not knowing whether people want to connect with you because of who you are or because of your success. Additionally, there’s the fear of squandering the money that you make from the book. You could become a laughing stock among your family, friends and associates. They might mock you because of your lack of financial maturity and inability to properly handle your new-found success.
Over the years, however, I’ve discovered that one of the biggest fears associated with success among aspiring authors. They fear that their first book will be so successful that they’ll not be able to follow it up with an equally-successful second book. In their mind, this will make people think that they’re a one-shot wonder rather than a genuinely talented author.
If this happens to you, are you strong and mature enough to handle this level of exposure? What if you blow it with everyone in the world watching you? In this one question lay a key source of fear for so many aspiring authors.
Embrace the potential of success instead of being paralyzed by it!
The thought of experiencing such a visible, public failure is paralyzing. The mere idea of being a rising star that falls to the ground with a splat for all to see and laugh at is mortifying. Whether you realize it or not, having thoughts of these scenarios playing in your subconscious could be keeping you from completing your writing project. My advice: focus your energies elsewhere.
Come on! You’re writing a book so that it can achieve some level of success, so actually experiencing this success is far from the worst of things that could happen to you! Also, to help ease your fear of success, surround yourself with a group of people whom you trust. These should be people who know you well and will help keep you encouraged, motivated and grounded in the midst of any success that you might experience. Let them know of your fears and concerns and ask them to be there for you as you pursue a level of success that scares you!
(Interested in reading more? Check out the next post in this blog series!)
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Need help bringing that writing project to completion? Geniuscribes can help! We specialize in 23rd hour timelines, resurrecting dead books and research, and renewing your hopes of getting your dream book or dissertation done. Let’s work together and get you done, already! Visit geniuscribes.com to get started.
Shannon Williams, Ph.D., is the Founder and Chief Executive Nerd of Geniuscribes, Nerds with Pens. For more than a decade, she has helped doctoral students complete their dissertations and aspiring writers complete their books. She is a nerdy, fun-loving, dog-obsessed foodie who loves Jesus, unpretentious people, sunshine, and coffee. She is a die-hard Houstonian and Texas Longhorn living in Atlanta, where Chick-Fil-A sells collard greens and macaroni, and the tea is as sweet as the people, much to her delight. You can reach her through her team at support@geniuscribes.com if you like. Or not. Whatever butters your biscuit! Oh yeah… she loves those, too.
by geniuscribes | Jul 12, 2019 | "I'm Scared to Write!" Series, Latest
Either you don’t realize it, or somewhere deep down, you know it but simply refuse to admit it: the underlying reason behind all of your excuses for not having begun writing your book yet is that four-letter word called “fear.” Read on to understand how fear has stifled your dreams of becoming an author and what to do to give fear the boot this year!
Fear 5: I’ll be so disappointed with the outcome that I’ll never recover.
You’ve managed to get this far in life without having your self-image completely shattered into a million pieces. Now, by putting your book out there, you’re laying it all on the line. It’s such a big risk! I mean, you’ve work hard to believe in yourself and in your potential to be successful. You’ve ignored the odds stacked up against you and you’ve plowed ahead despite that internal voice that tells you that it’s all going to be one big flop.
Instead of believing the voice of doubt and fear, you choose to operate with hope and optimism. You trust the words of encouragement from your family and friends that tell you that anything you put your mind to and pursue with determination, you can do. It’s hard, but you believe them. You believe in you. The thing is, these beliefs are easier to sustain when there are no tangible outcomes or results present to affirm or dispel them. However, you’re about to complete a book and release it to the world. That’s a game changer.
Now, who you think you are and what you are capable of achieving will be put to the test. All at once, the questions come. What if the results of your book launch are dismal? Launching your book is one of your biggest dreams in life. If it goes sideways, will you be able to recover? Will it trigger a deep, dark depression in you that you’ve never experienced? Will the disappointment that you’ll potentially face forever change what you believe about yourself and what you’re capable of accomplishing?
You’ve been able to recover from other disappointments in life, but with a dream this big – and a public one at that – the risk of disappointment is even bigger. Can you handle it? The potential for the answer to be a “No” intimidates the heck out of you. As a result, you find excuse after excuse to not bring your book to completion.
Yes, they seem like good excuses at the moment. If you try hard enough, you can justify every single one of them and convince yourself that they are valid. However, at the end of the day, empty, meaningless, progress-paralyzing excuses are all they are. They’re a subconscious way of shielding yourself from experiencing the hurt and disappointment you could potentially face after your book launch. Yet, if you’re ever going to get your book completed and introduce it to the world, you’ve got to set them aside.
When addressing my clients’ myriad of progress-paralyzing fears, I like to play a game called “What’s the Worst that Could Happen?” It’s a game in which we imagine all of the potential outcomes of a project, starting with the best and going all the way down to the worst. One thing always happens at the end: the client realizes that the worst that could possibly happen isn’t really that bad at all.
For most, the worst case scenario usually ends with them experiencing feelings of embarrassment and disappointment, only to recover after a couple of weeks, because life goes on and so do they. From there, everything gets better. They take a close look at what happened, get some critical feedback about what they could have done differently in order to increase the success of their future outcomes, and the next time, they do things in a smarter way!
Therefore, don’t let this fear stop you from writing your book. You’re so much stronger and more resilient than you think! If you’re as good of a writer and marketer as you think you are, you’ll probably be surprised at how well your book does when you launch it (and if not, get some professional help!). In fact, my clients are often REALLY surprised by how well their books perform in the marketplace! If not, the worst that could happen is that you become the recipient of a brand new learning opportunity, which you can leverage in order to achieve stellar results on your next project!
(Interested in reading more? Check out the next post in this blog series!)
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Need help bringing that writing project to completion? Geniuscribes can help! We specialize in 23rd hour timelines, resurrecting dead books and research, and renewing your hopes of getting your dream book or dissertation done. Let’s work together and get you done, already! Visit geniuscribes.com to get started.
Shannon Williams, Ph.D., is the Founder and Chief Executive Nerd of Geniuscribes, Nerds with Pens. For more than a decade, she has helped doctoral students complete their dissertations and aspiring writers complete their books. She is a nerdy, fun-loving, dog-obsessed foodie who loves Jesus, unpretentious people, sunshine, and coffee. She is a die-hard Houstonian and Texas Longhorn living in Atlanta, where Chick-Fil-A sells collard greens and macaroni, and the tea is as sweet as the people, much to her delight. You can reach her through her team at support@geniuscribes.com if you like. Or not. Whatever butters your biscuit! Oh yeah… she loves those, too.
by geniuscribes | Jul 9, 2019 | "I'm Scared to Write!" Series, Latest
Either you don’t realize it, or somewhere deep down, you know it but simply refuse to admit it: the underlying reason behind all of your excuses for not having begun writing your book yet is that four-letter word called “fear.” Read on to understand how fear has stifled your dreams of becoming an author and what to do to give fear the boot this year!
Fear 4: I’m afraid of what the book-writing process might cost me.
It’s no secret that going through the book writing process will cost you something, but you’re afraid of the cost.
For example, will you have to give up so much time to complete the project that you end up feeling lonely and isolated? Will you have to miss out on the parties, bowling nights, brunches, Netflix binge-watching and nap times that make you feel so happy?
Will you be so stressed out during the process that you grow ornery, snapping at the people you love because you resent having to sit down and work on this project until you get it done? Will having to discipline yourself to focus on something like this long-term drive you insane?
Also, what will you have to pay in terms of getting the book published and live online? Can you afford it? Overall, what cost will you really have to pay in terms of focus, discipline, time, energy, and financial resources – and are you convinced you have enough to pay it? Without knowing the answers to these questions, you’re too afraid to even get started.
We get it; you know yourself. You know your track record with big projects that you’ve set out to complete in the past, and you know how you tend to become in the midst of them. You know how much the pressure changes you and how “not-so-fun” of a person you become.
We also know that traditionally, you’ve invested time, money and energy into doing “big things,” and after all of that investment, the project came to naught. As a result, a part of you regretted the cost. You even told yourself that if you had to do it all over again, you wouldn’t.
The experiences of your past that have required a great deal of cost and sacrifice but resulted in little reward are a part of what is feeding the fear you are facing today! However, it’s time to get over the past and look towards a brighter future. After all, there are lots of things in your past that didn’t work out like you wanted them to, but you didn’t allow them to stop you from trying again, right?
Consider the failed relationships of your past. Did you let them keep you from smiling back at that cute guy or girl who was eyeing you down across the restaurant or accepting that invitation for coffee from a co-worker? Why not? It’s because despite how things worked out in the past, you always hold out hope that things will work out differently in the future, so you try again.
This book project is no different. Thus, get over your fear of how much completing your book will cost you, and hold on to the hope there’s a bright future as an author ahead of you if you make the sacrifice!
(Interested in reading more? Check out the next post in this blog series!)
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Need help bringing that writing project to completion? Geniuscribes can help! We specialize in 23rd hour timelines, resurrecting dead books and research, and renewing your hopes of getting your dream book or dissertation done. Let’s work together and get you done, already! Visit geniuscribes.com to get started.
Shannon Williams, Ph.D., is the Founder and Chief Executive Nerd of Geniuscribes, Nerds with Pens. For more than a decade, she has helped doctoral students complete their dissertations and aspiring writers complete their books. She is a nerdy, fun-loving, dog-obsessed foodie who loves Jesus, unpretentious people, sunshine, and coffee. She is a die-hard Houstonian and Texas Longhorn living in Atlanta, where Chick-Fil-A sells collard greens and macaroni, and the tea is as sweet as the people, much to her delight. You can reach her through her team at support@geniuscribes.com if you like. Or not. Whatever butters your biscuit! Oh yeah… she loves those, too.
by geniuscribes | Jul 5, 2019 | "I'm Scared to Write!" Series, Latest
Either you don’t realize it, or somewhere deep down, you know it but simply refuse to admit it: the underlying reason behind all of your excuses for not having begun writing your book yet is that four-letter word called “fear.” Read on to understand how fear has stifled your dreams of becoming an author and what to do to give fear the boot this year!
Fear 3: I’m afraid of how people will react to what I write in my book.
Lots of people want to tell their own stories through memoirs. You might be one of them. However, you did not live your life in a vacuum. There were other people who were a part of your story. Sometimes, they were honorable individuals, heroes that left a significant, positive mark on your life. Other times, they were the villain and you were the victim of their bad behavior.
Should you include these characters in your story? What if you tell your story and the characters in it that behaved badly towards you get mad that you included them? What if your family members stop talking to you because of the details you share about them? What if your friends cut off the relationship because they didn’t appreciate how you depicted them in your book, even though you didn’t use their real names?
Also, what if writing the book re-opens old wounds – yours or others’? What if people you haven’t talked to in years call you on the phone and lash out at you for including them in your book? What if your book stirs up a messy controversy, shakes things up among the people you love, and disrupts the overall harmony of your life?
Do you stand to lose relationships with people you love simply because you dared to tell the whole truth when sharing your story? Not knowing the answers to such questions can leave you shaking in your boots and keep you paralyzed with fear so that you never even begin writing your book!
There’s a quote that I absolutely LOVE by Anne Lamont: “You own everything that happened to you. Tell your stories. If people wanted you to write warmly about them, they should have behaved better.” I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to share this quote with clients over the past decade.
These clients were really worried that the truths that they shared in their memoirs would shed a negative light on other people in their lives. They were perplexed about whether to tell the whole truth, a half truth, or to not tell the truth at all in order to spare the feelings of those who had been a part of their lives.
The truth is that these clients couldn’t honestly tell their own stories without at least mentioning the things that the other characters featured in the screenplay of their lives had done to them. Their stories would have been incomplete without referring to the impact that these individuals had had on their lives. If they would have left out all of the unfavorable characters and unsavory details of their past, their memoirs would have only been 12 pages! What a difficult position to find oneself in as an author trying to share a personal story!
It’s quite likely that if you desire to write a memoir, you are facing some of the same fears and concerns. I would say the same thing to you that I have said to so many of my other clients in the past: it’s your story to tell. You own it, so you can do with it what you want.
My best professional advice: approach the telling of your story as objectively as you possibly can and with genuine respect for everyone involved. Check your motives and share all accounts without any malice or evil intent. Tell the truth to the best of your recollection. Protect those whom you desire to protect by changing names and identifying details. Include a disclaimer at the opening of the book that all accounts in the memoir are presented to the best of your recollection.
Then, if you’re still really concerned about the impact of your book on others’ lives, offer to allow select characters to read what you have written about them before you publish the book. They might make suggestions about details that you might consider rewriting, modifying or even excluding, if you choose to do so. Who knows? You might even get an apology. By all means, whatever their response, don’t let the fear of how others will react to your telling the world how they impacted your life stop you. Tell your story!
(Interested in reading more? Check out the next post in this blog series!)
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Need help bringing that writing project to completion? Geniuscribes can help! We specialize in 23rd hour timelines, resurrecting dead books and research, and renewing your hopes of getting your dream book or dissertation done. Let’s work together and get you done, already! Visit geniuscribes.com to get started.
Shannon Williams, Ph.D., is the Founder and Chief Executive Nerd of Geniuscribes, Nerds with Pens. For more than a decade, she has helped doctoral students complete their dissertations and aspiring writers complete their books. She is a nerdy, fun-loving, dog-obsessed foodie who loves Jesus, unpretentious people, sunshine, and coffee. She is a die-hard Houstonian and Texas Longhorn living in Atlanta, where Chick-Fil-A sells collard greens and macaroni, and the tea is as sweet as the people, much to her delight. You can reach her through her team at support@geniuscribes.com if you like. Or not. Whatever butters your biscuit! Oh yeah… she loves those, too.
by geniuscribes | Jul 2, 2019 | "I'm Scared to Write!" Series, Latest
Either you don’t realize it, or somewhere deep down, you know it but simply refuse to admit it: the underlying reason behind all of your excuses for not having begun writing your book yet is that four-letter word called “fear.” Read on to understand how fear has stifled your dreams of becoming an author and what to do to give fear the boot this year!
Fear 2: No one will want to buy or read my book.
It’s one thing to write a book, but it’s another thing for people to actually want to buy it and read it. Will the only people who want to buy your book be your mom and dad, your always-supportive aunts, and a couple of cousins who don’t even read but want you to feel their support?
When your book cover pops up under “Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought,” will people look at your book on Amazon and say, “I don’t know who this author is, and this book looks like a loser. Thank you. Next!”
Also, what if you get to a holiday gathering and your friends and family ask you how many copies you’ve sold, and you freeze in place because you don’t want to admit that you’ve only sold 13 copies.
Then, there’s the money issue. What if you invest in publishing the book and never recoup your costs because of low sales? What if, instead of being able to at least cover the cost of production, you go into the red? What then? You really don’t know, and this makes you afraid.
Here’s the reality. These things could actually happen. Then again, there’s also the potential that they won’t happen. What you must face, if you plan to actually complete your writing project, is the uncertainty of it all. By this, I mean that whether these things happen or not, you’ll live to learn valuable lessons from your writing and publishing experiences that you can carry forward into your next project and increase your future odds of success. Truth is, you’ll never know for sure what will happen until you put pen to paper and get the book done. Therefore, confront your fear and move forward!
(Interested in reading more? Check out the next post in this blog series!)
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Need help bringing that writing project to completion? Geniuscribes can help! We specialize in 23rd hour timelines, resurrecting dead books and research, and renewing your hopes of getting your dream book or dissertation done. Let’s work together and get you done, already! Visit geniuscribes.com to get started.
Shannon Williams, Ph.D., is the Founder and Chief Executive Nerd of Geniuscribes, Nerds with Pens. For more than a decade, she has helped doctoral students complete their dissertations and aspiring writers complete their books. She is a nerdy, fun-loving, dog-obsessed foodie who loves Jesus, unpretentious people, sunshine, and coffee. She is a die-hard Houstonian and Texas Longhorn living in Atlanta, where Chick-Fil-A sells collard greens and macaroni, and the tea is as sweet as the people, much to her delight. You can reach her through her team at support@geniuscribes.com if you like. Or not. Whatever butters your biscuit! Oh yeah… she loves those, too.
