In this episode of the footnotes, Helen ONeill shares her key takeaways from SPS Live 2026, the largest independent author conference in Europe. Here are some speakers whose sessions resonated most:

Tom Donnelly on separating your creative and critical brain when you write

Becca Syme on questioning the writing rules you've always been told to follow

Becca Syme on the eight types of fans and what they mean for your coaching practice

Oriana Leckert on how Kickstarter works and whether it could work for your book

Ricardo Fayet and Sara Usera on using data, not guesswork, to drive your Amazon ad decisions

Sacha Black on building an authorship business with talent, honesty, and grit

Rachel McLean on burnout, simplicity, and deciding what enough actually looks like

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Connect with Helen:

Coach Write Reflections newsletter: https://coachwrite.co.uk/reflections

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/oneillhelen/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/coach_write

People and Resources Mentioned

Tom Donnelly https://www.tddonnelly.com/

Becca Syme https://betterfasteracademy.com/

Kickstarter https://www.kickstarter.com/

Ricardo Fayet https://www.ricardofayet.com/

Sara Usara https://www.booksflyer.com/about

Reedsy https://reedsy.com/

Sacha Black writing as Ruby Roe https://www.rubyroe.co.uk/

Rachel McLean https://rachelmclean.com/

Avreil Price is a leadership coach, consultant and founder of AV Consultancy, who helps senior leaders step back, recognise the impact they have already made, and shape what comes next. Her debut book, The Legacy Coach: Your Next Chapter, Your Legacy, Your Way, grew out of her own experience of life-changing transition, including recovering from a brain haemorrhage in 2020, relocating from England to Wales, and leaving a 30-year career in local government to set up her consultancy.

In this episode you'll discover:

• How a single coffee conversation and the words "send me chapter one" became the spark that turned Averil's book idea into a reality, and why accountability and the right writing community made all the difference
• Why Averil gathered real-world feedback on her manuscript by working with six volunteer readers over six months, and how that process shaped the book and kept her writing
• What happened when a professional editorial relationship went badly wrong, and the lesson Averil learned about taking control of who you choose to work with
• How The Legacy Coach sits at the centre of a broader business model, including a leadership programme for senior leaders in local government, showing how a book can anchor an entire coaching practice
• Why Averil believes your legacy is not something you leave behind but something you are already building, and how helping people see that changes the decisions they make

Connect with Averil:

Website: https://www.avieconsultancyltd.co.uk

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/averil-price-14674526/

Book: The Legacy Coach: https://amzn.to/4fOhey5

Connect with Helen:

LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/oneillhelen

Instagram: @coach_write

Newsletter: https://coachwrite.co.uk/reflections

People and Resources Mentioned:

Solace https://solace.org.uk/

Bookish: https://www.book-ish.co.uk/about-us/

Sian-Elin Flint Freel https://www.linkedin.com/in/sian-elin-flint-freel-8959844/

The Coaching Tools Compendium: A Journey of Discovery and Growth by Sandra Whiles https://amzn.to/4eH24ta

One of the questions Helen gets asked most often is this: should I write the book first, or build the programme first? In this episode of The Footnotes, Helen digs into the chicken-and-egg reality of aligning a signature coaching programme with a book, and why doing both can be one of the most powerful things a coach can do for their business and their credibility. She covers four key benefits of having both, four pitfalls to watch out for, and a practical reflection exercise to help you get started, wherever you are right now.

In this episode:

• Why your ideal client and your ideal reader are the same person
• How writing a book clarifies your thinking in ways that working in the coaching room simply cannot
• The credibility gap that a book can close, and why a hundred LinkedIn posts won't do it
• Why having a book makes marketing feel less like selling and more like sharing
• The four pitfalls: doing both without a plan, the book and programme drifting apart, perfectionism, and writing for everyone
• How to begin: mapping the transformation at the heart of both your book and your programme

Connect with Helen

Book Strategy Session: https://coachwrite.co.uk/strategy

LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/oneillhelen

Instagram: https://instagram.com/coach_write

Coach Write Reflections newsletter: https://coachwrite.co.uk/reflections