Anna Featherstone video 230626
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Megan Walker: [00:00:00] Hello, and welcome to the Healthcare Thought Leaders Show. I'm Megan Walker, and today I'm joined by very special guest, Anna Featherstone. Hi, Anna. How are you?
Anna Featherstone: Fabulous. Thank you.
Megan Walker: That's so good. I met Anna in person only recently but feel that I've known her for quite a while because I have been reading her books.
And ironically, I've been reading them about horticulture, which is a side passion of mine and having a small farm. And then, of course, I discover that Anna has a book on Look, It's Your Book! And I'm looking for an author who can also teach health and medical people how to write and publish a healthcare book, and the planets aligned, and Anna, here we are.
Anna Featherstone: I know. It's fantastic. I love it.
Megan Walker: Very serendipitous. And so quite soon in September, Anna's gonna be running an event literally called How to Write and Publish a Healthcare Book. So we'll just be, um, we're so lucky to have her in our circle, and then that will turn into a [00:01:00] little three-month program. But to get us all excited about the possibilities of having a healthcare book, Anna, tell us a bit about yourself first and then why beautiful books matter.
Anna Featherstone: Yeah. Sure. So I'm a consultant with the Australian Society of Authors, judge things like the Australian Business Book Awards and Australian Travel Writers Awards, and do workshops for Writing New South Wales, Byron Writers Festival, and my passion is nonfiction. Um, so yes, I still love fiction, but nonfiction is my bag.
Um, and that's what a lot of healthcare professionals are writing, whether it's, um, to do with their actual expertise, or maybe it's memoir, and maybe it's the things they've learned from their practice, um, and yeah, how that's played out. What do you think? Do you think that's- Oh ... like the-
Megan Walker: You're already speaking into my heart.
As soon as you said memoir, I thought, gosh, one thing I know to be true from all the thousands of [00:02:00] healthcare professionals I've worked with is that body of knowledge that they've built up over- Yeah ... so many years, through the anecdotes, through the stories, through knowing what works, and that opportunity to leave a legacy piece for other people who might be on a healthcare journey or even on a similar career journey.
Anna Featherstone: Yeah.
Megan Walker: That would have to be a huge opportunity out there, wouldn't it?
Anna Featherstone: Yeah. And, you know, when you're a specialist in something, that kind of, um, knowledge and love is such a generous gift to give other people. Um, some people are like, "Oh, do I have anything to actually say?" But the thing is, you really do, because if you care or if you get angry or if you laugh, there's something in those feelings that's worth sharing.
Um, you know, like if you get, yeah, frustrated, there's something in there, so it's like dig in. Or if something makes you cry, or if something... Yeah, it's like all these kind of things, I suppose, you work together to work out, well, what's your book going to be about? Is it [00:03:00] a purely scientific piece, or is it, you know, something a bit more?
Is it just to, is it to entertain, or is it to move people forward in a different direction? Is it to change the conversation, um, or just illuminate something? Um-
Megan Walker: Oh ...
Anna Featherstone: yeah, that's the beauty of books.
Megan Walker: So many opportunities. And so I- I am almost guessing your answer, and I don't think we have to convince this audience much about why books matter, because this is a group of readers.
And I know I don't have to scratch too far down under the surface to go most of our people here are going to have a book in them. But tell me from your perspective, why do books matter?
Anna Featherstone: Books matter because even though, like, we're doing a fabulous podcast and we can get a sense of each other and what we're talking about here, books signal depth.
Um, so... And depth also shows thought and mastery [00:04:00] and other elements that just a conversation or an interview can't do, and it's permanent and it's portable. It's a credential. It's, you know, people say, you know, "A book's a very expensive business card." Um, and, you know, in a way, it's a business card that might run to 200 pages or, um, it, it signals, like, authority, and it's so much more...
I think it creates a, a level of respect- Mm-hmm ... um, because it's the process of having written a book that actually is the important thing. So a lot of people think it's all about, oh, the book's done. The thing is how you change in the process of actually writing it. So you have to dig deep. So yes, AI can spit out this and that, but when your brain is tuned in, it, um, it changes [00:05:00] how you see things too, and you grow.
Yeah, as a professional and as, like, personally as well
Megan Walker: Amazing. So, hmm, can AI replace the work of an author then, Anna?
Anna Featherstone: Well, like it depends what answer you want. My answer is definitely not. So, um, you know, I spend a lot of time at writer's festivals, I spend a lot of time reading manuscripts for awards, and when, you know, I work with authors on their books, and you can tell an AI manuscript because it can be very competent, but it doesn't make me feel.
Megan Walker: Mm.
Anna Featherstone: And- It's lacking
Megan Walker: some soul?
Anna Featherstone: Yeah. So obviously AI is going to... AI can pull it off, and AI's getting better all the time, and yes, it can do it, but the thing is, AI can't have lived your life. AI hasn't been in that room when you sat and talked with that person, or when you discovered something. Um, they're the things that now [00:06:00] matter, because otherwise people can just go and type an, an AI search and get an answer.
What people are looking for is, you know, that connection, that extra story. Like, when I'm reading, I know if I'm reading AI because my eyes just stay flat.
Megan Walker: Mm.
Anna Featherstone: Right? But when I read something that matters and that's so human and so true, my eyes, like, they get wide or they crinkle 'cause they're laughing, or they get, ugh, glarey.
You know? Like, so that's my like, it's my eyeballs tell me. But, but yes. So people can use AI in part, and I know people are using it to lay out books. That's why so many books are getting done so quickly, 'cause they're using it, um, to outline and all these things. But the thing is, you might end up cookie cutter if you do that.
But there's a place for it as well. So we all obviously [00:07:00] use AI currently in our spell checks and grammar and those things. So it's a bit of a mix, but what you really need to bring to the process is original thought and feeling
Megan Walker: Love that. That's so true Yeah And, and I think that's gonna become more in demand, isn't it?
As we get less depers- as we get more depersonalized. Did I just totally double negative then?
Anna Featherstone: That's okay. Not okay.
Megan Walker: Not
okay. Do you need an editor? We're going to seek out the human, the human feeling, the human condition.
Anna Featherstone: Yeah. And, and that's what writing a book lets you do too. So when I talk about the process changing you, in your book, you might have to reach out to other people in your space for endorsements. You might need to reach out to organizations.
And so your actual, the people you're meeting expands as well. So if you're just going back and forward with AI, you don't actually do that outreach, and all those things actually matter [00:08:00] when you produce a book.
Megan Walker: You miss the community. Oh- Yeah ... so lovely. And in terms of opportunities that a book can create for someone, I mean, this is a living example.
I've read your book, I've reached out to you, here we are, and we're gonna be working together. Yay. Amazing. Tell us, for our clinicians who are thinking, "Well, I want the heartfelt joy of having- Mm ... my work on paper," but just, you know, give us a few other potentials of what can happen when you g- do birth your book into the world.
Anna Featherstone: Yeah. So number one, it is a legacy, right? So you leave something behind. Um, and you can always update it if you change your mind a few years later and want to add something in. Um, but it- For me, one of the big things it does for me is it clears my head out. Mm-hmm. So one of the best things about writing a book is all those things you carry and that your brain holds onto as important things, you finally get them on paper, which leaves your brain [00:09:00] free to have whole new experiences.
Um, and go on to maybe write another book about something different, like, or just to experience life differently. So that's one thing a book can do.
Megan Walker: Wow, how cathartic. Um- It's cleaning out- Yeah ... the mental medicine cabinet.
Anna Featherstone: Exactly. Exactly. But if you wanna talk more commercially what it can do or reputation wise, obviously it can lead to media interviews, speaking engagements.
Um, it can lead to other consultants recommending you because they're like, "Oh, this person is the person who wrote the book on that." Um, it can lead to you gaining new employees because people wanna work for the best, or people wanna work for someone who has authority, which can be shown in a book, or because they've read the book and they're like, "I would love to work with that person."
And, you know, like, so it can help with staffing. Um...
Megan Walker: Amazing. Amazing. Yeah. So [00:10:00] many
Anna Featherstone: opportunities.
Megan Walker: So many things. So many things. Yeah,
Anna Featherstone: yeah.
Megan Walker: Yes. We must never say again that it's the best business card ever. Oh, yeah. It's got so much more to it than that. And, and in thinking about for new authors, you must come across some misconceptions that people have in their head of how a book writing, authoring, publishing process goes.
Sure. What are maybe, like, three of the biggest ones that you could clear up for us, um, that this is not fact? Give us some myth, myth busting.
Anna Featherstone: Well, I think some people come in with the idea that they're not a writer. You know, so that thing in their head that says, "I'm not a wr- writer." You know, their teacher maybe, maybe said something in sixth grade, or they've never actually written.
But the thing is, if you can have a conversation, you can actually write a book. Mm-hmm. Because there are other ways to do it. You, you could, um, you know, use a, a voice recorder and your notes. You can just speak. You can have someone interview you to get the words down. You can also work with a ghost writer if [00:11:00] you are too busy to do certain things, but that's like a series of interviews which, you know, then get transposed and worked on.
So I suppose, "I'm not a writer," is a con- misconception.
Megan Walker: Mm-hmm.
Anna Featherstone: Another big one is- my book is for everyone. Everyone will want to read this. Mm. And we all kind of hope that. Like, anyone who's ever had this particular condition or everyone who's ever had, um, you know, like, an a- you know, something like, or every woman will want this.
Look, this is not true. Mm-hmm. So, like, focusing down on the audience is really important because that helps discoverability. So, um, and I'll just give you an example. Like, this is a crazy example, nothing to do with Medikos. But, um, so you can have books on crafting, okay? So books on crochet, books on, you know, blah.
Then you can have books on making rugs within that genre, or a [00:12:00] scarf. But if you keep digging down, like, there's a book, um, yeah, how to, you know, crochet, craft with cat hair. Ew. Okay?
Megan Walker: Visceral
Anna Featherstone: reaction. Now, y- yeah. But you can see how tight that becomes for marketing, so people, you know ... So suddenly you've got, oh, cat owners who like to craft becomes an audience.
Yeah? As opposed to everyone-
Megan Walker: Yes ...
Anna Featherstone: wants to craft. So that helps you with the marketing and finding your audience by being able to narrow things down. Um, yeah. Anyway, that's kind of fun.
Megan Walker: That's such, such a fantastic sensory ... I'm so allergic to cats, so I just had
Anna Featherstone: the biggest- Oh, yeah. Exactly ...
Megan Walker: sensory response to that.
Yeah.
Anna Featherstone: That will be a book you're not buying.
Megan Walker: I'm not for that one. But I love that. That's so funny, and it's, it's so true with marketing. I used to say to people, you know, your audience is ... And I'm actually hearing you talk about a book like I would [00:13:00] think about, um, a new product development. Mm. There's a lot of process the same, like really understanding the audience.
Anna Featherstone: Yes.
Megan Walker: Writing for the audience and niching into the audience's wants and needs. There's some parallels along there, which is really interesting. Yeah.
Anna Featherstone: And, and working out what's your key difference. Like, what makes your book different to every other book on the subject?
Megan Walker: Yes. You know? So true.
Anna Featherstone: Yeah.
Megan Walker: Amazing.
And so then what are the flip side ... So we've looked at some things of what not to do. What are a couple of key ingredients that make for a successful author?
Anna Featherstone: Ooh. I think putting aside your perfectionism
Megan Walker: Ooh.
Anna Featherstone: Yeah. Trouble. Um, because you need to put that aside just to get that draft down.
Megan Walker: Mm.
Anna Featherstone: It's okay to just get that draft down.
Don't worry about what anyone's gonna say, what any of your colleagues are gonna say or anything. It's really just getting out the first draft. So, um, yeah, just, yeah, so dropping the [00:14:00] perfectionism. Also, patience is what makes a successful author, because you actually have to be patient to do the thinking.
You need to be patient during the publishing process, and then you have to be patient and hopeful because not everything matters on launch day. It's ... Books have a very long tail. If you write a good book, it might take a few years for someone to discover it, but it will happen, because the, it's the writing of the good book, not rushing it out.
So being patient. Yeah.
Megan Walker: Interesting. So good. So good. And then kind of as we start to wrap up a little bit, I'm thinking from your perspective, what advantages do healthcare professionals have when it comes to them taking int- uh, you know, taking this next step of writing and publishing a healthcare book?
What have they already got going for them? Apart from being wonderful. Well,
Anna Featherstone: expe- hopefully expertise. You know? [00:15:00] Like- You're not starting from scratch. You've studied this. You've lived it. You've experimented. You've had thoughts on it. You've seen different things happening. So you've got that already. You also understand your audience deeply because you understand their fears, the questions they have, their language.
Um, you've got real-world case studies that compel your thinking. Y- yeah, you've got credibility. Um, well, hopefully.
Megan Walker: Yes.
Anna Featherstone: But also the book will help you with that credibility. It kind of like, it's like a rocket booster to that. Um, also I think the thing is to realize that you, you have a lot already going for you, but the actual...
Like I said before, the process of writing it actually makes you more credible. It sharpens your thinking, and it might even give you whole new ideas because you have to think deeply.
Megan Walker: So good. So good. It's a life-changing- Yeah ... process. I can [00:16:00] really hear that- Yeah ... it's such a, a chrysalis process of going inward- Oh
and go deep to then emerge.
Anna Featherstone: True. Okay. We'll do the butterfly, not the cat analogy. I like that. We can do that. I had
Megan Walker: to switch up my creatures. And, um, and one thing I will say that a lot of clinicians will tell me over and over is, "My information is the same as everyone else's. I'm a psychologist, and so other psychologists already know what I know."
And I will say to them, "Absolutely not. I have not met two of you the same who had the same experience." Yeah. Mm-hmm. Would you have that same thought for authors, no two authors alike?
Anna Featherstone: Oh, absolutely. Every life is different and, and the way we see things is different. Um, and it depends who your audience is and how your audience likes to be spoken to.
Like, you depend... You know, are you writing for other clinicians? So what do you bring to the table there that might be different? Or are you writing for... You know, who [00:17:00] are you writing for helps sort all that out. And then you've got your own unique voice that you bring. You- you've worked with- You know, everyone sees the world in such a different lens.
Um, yeah.
Megan Walker: Oh, amazing.
Anna Featherstone: Yeah. So that shouldn't be a problem.
Megan Walker: No, not a problem at all. No two authors are like no two clinicians are like. I love it. Well said. So-
Anna Featherstone: And that's why there's thousands and thousands of books in s- in, like, certain categories, you know, because they're all written differently.
Megan Walker: Absolutely. Yeah, absolutely. Every person is a book. I love it. And so Anna, we have an exciting opportunity coming up. On the 11th of September, Anna is presenting, um, an event called How to Write and Publish a Healthcare Book, which is, sits under our healthcare thought leadership work. And then she'll be spending, um, another two sessions- Mm
October and November inside with our Healthcare Thought Leaders Lab group, um, going into sort of more of the detail and mechanics of what's involved. And so Anna, what can people expect at [00:18:00] the event on 11th of September? What will we be talking about? What are they going to walk away with from that session?
Anna Featherstone: Um, so pretty much a deep dive into, like, why it matters and why you can. Um, I think, yeah, and a bit of the how as well. Um, and, you know, some of the sticking points and how to unstick those things and yeah. Yeah. And the best- Be a great introduction.
Megan Walker: And the best way to publish?
Anna Featherstone: Oh, absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. Well, there i- like, and the, and of course that depends-
of, you know, what we're trying to achieve, and there's so many ways now. Mm. Um, whether it's traditional or indie or a mix of both, oh, that's the, yeah, that's the fun side. And I suppose that's something important to say is so many people use the excuse, "Oh, no one will ever publish it." Well, the thing is now there's so many ways to be published that you should just start writing, because it can find its [00:19:00] audience.
Megan Walker: Oh, I love that. That's so good. Yeah. I can't wait for this session. I, I'm, I have a closet book hiding within me as well- ... as I know so many people who are listening to this do as well. So we're inviting you to open the doors on the closet and bring your book to life. Come and join Anna and I, uh, for event, um, our event on the 11th of September.
And if you'd like to join the lab then for the, the following sessions as well. Anna, thank you so much for chatting with me today. I'm so glad that I found you, multi-talented lady. And, uh- Such a
Anna Featherstone: pleasure.
Megan Walker: Yeah. Can't wait to, um, to be talking all things books with you and my audience coming up very soon. So thank you.
Anna Featherstone: Fabulous. I can't wait to hear what everyone wants to write about.
Megan Walker: So exciting. Yeah. Thanks again, Anna. Talk to you soon.
Anna Featherstone: Fabulous. Thank you.
