I’m quitting Journey Grrrl (the full story)

Welcome to The Author Incubator!

As many of you may know I have been evolving and so has my brand and today is the big reveal. My new websites – www.TheAuthorIncubator.com and www.DifferencePress.com are live and ready for your viewing pleasure!

Before you check them out – I have a confession to make and if you have ever admired me, I think it’s going to surprise you, so keep reading and after that you’ll also find some launch-related contest news…

My Confession
When I started my life as a coach/entrepreneur I was 100% sure what I was going to do and when I was going to do it. I wrote a business plan, built an advisory board, found some investors, and starting building. I felt like my chances of success were roughly 97.5%.

Within 3 months, I knew in my gut everything I was building was wrong. I was hitting rumble strips bigger than the Grand Canyon right and left, but hell, why would I let that stop me? I charged forward to the next rumble strip with a smile on my face and brought you all along with me.

You probably thought I was doing great.
Maybe you were even jealous of how well my business was going when you didn’t even have your website launched yet. But I knew the truth. I went so fast and so hard, that I created a mountain of seemingly unsolvable problems for myself and I was jealous of everyone who was waiting until they had it all perfect before they started.

I’m embarrassed about it about it really — embarrassed that right out of the gate I didn’t get everything 100% perfect.

Killing My Darlings
Back in October I realized, I needed to quit. I needed to find a way to “kill my darling.” Emotionally, spiritually, and logistically it is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do.

So I got help – lots of it!

Some of The Author Incubator Tribe
Branding guru, Dara Jones spent months helping me figure out who I was and what my new brand needed to represent. I have to credit her with the new name for my business – The Author Incubator – I hope you love it as much as I do.

Calls with KJ Sassypants, lunches with Ali Cudby, and all night chats with Mike Hrostoski helped clarify my thinking too.

The members of my Advisory Board reviewed the Branding Guidelines way back in November and then we moved into execution mode. Ann Alger was my guardian angel, art director and business sanity-maker as we created the company logo and Style Guide.

Over the past 2 months, with help from the rest of the web and admin team, we’ve built out the website, shot videos, wrote copy and generally tripped over ourselves trying to create a new, cozy, warm, safe home for Authors-in-Transformation.

I hope you like it.

I’m Not Alone Anymore.
I did Journey Grrrl Publishing alone. It was a one-woman show. But The Author Incubator is so different. It was created by a community and it will be sustained and nourished by one. You are a part of that.

In the end, quitting Journey Grrrl was easier than I thought it would be, because I decided not to do it alone.

Contest News
One of the things I am most proud of is the way the new site incorporates comments and feedback from you. This month, every comment you leave will get you one entry into my drawing for a free entry to my Free Your Inner Author Live workshop in Washington D.C. in April or in Santa Barbara in October.