Alignment is kind of a buzzword right now. (But that’s not a bad thing. Keep reading to find out why.)

You’ve probably seen a ton of “experts” use it. You’ve maybe even heard them say you need it. And honestly, you do need it, especially as an author.

But what does it mean to be “aligned” — especially on social media, where you probably spend a lot of your time as an author? And why does it even matter when all you want to do is write and sell books?

Let’s break it down.

Live Authentically

Being aligned simply means you’re living your life authentically, as your truest self. Easier said than done, I know! So I’ll go over some tips on how to do it below.

Announcement: The LIVE round of the Instagram for Authors Course officially starts April 6th!

You've worked hard on writing, editing, and publishing your book, and you know it's amazing. But no one seems to be reading it. And that's discouraging.

Because honestly, you know the amazing story you were given to tell was meant to be READ.

That's where Instagram can help. You can use the platform to:
✔️GROW your following
✔️CONNECT with your ideal reader
✔️SELL more books

All so your book can get into the hands of the readers who will FALL IN LOVE with your story.

Introducing the first LIVE round of the Instagram for Authors Course!

Ever struggle with staying consistent on Instagram?

Maybe you don’t know what to post.

Maybe you have some ideas, but you’re not sure how to put it into a plan.

Or maybe you’re stuck in the planning phase and you struggle with actually creating the content and getting it posted.

I was the same way. Until January of this year (yes, just two months ago), I didn’t plan ANYTHING. Everything you saw on my IG was basically last-minute. Which meant that it was sporadic at best.

I knew if I wanted to level up and really start taking my social media author presence seriously, I needed to start planning.

And, at first, it was PAINFUL.

But I’ve learned so much, tried so much more, and I’m starting to find out what works for me.

And what works is having a simple plan to GET THINGS DONE.

Enter the Instagram Planning Calendar.

Happy New Year and New Decade!

When I started the last decade, I didn’t really mark the occasion. I barely noted it at the time! But it led into the most challenging but also most rewarding decade of my life.

So I’m excited to see what the next decade holds! I’d hope for more rewarding things, more exciting things, and less of the challenging things, but I was recently reminded that those who go through challenges are often the most kind, understanding, caring, selfless people. And that’s not a coincidence.

But this post isn’t about the decade. It’s about 2020! (My OCD just loves that number.) I have a lot of goals for the new year (some I’ve already made progress on!), so I thought that putting them here would help make me accountable to stick to them! There are a ton — and I know there will be adjustments made along the way — but I’m excited about this year and ready to get these things DONE!

Last year, way back before my first book launch (was that just last year??), I wrote a guest post on Shayla Raquel’s blog all about Instagram. I talked about how authors can use Instagram to market themselves before they even have a book out.

I’d heard a lot about “building your platform,” but no one seemed to have good, practical advice. And the advice I could find led me to believe that I had to take pictures of me holding my book and fill my Instagram feed with it. What else would a writer talk about, right?

WRONG. Writers have so much more to say!

But Instagram kept coming up on my radar. So, naturally, I wanted to dive in and learn all I could.

So I did.