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

Subscribe to the Coach Write podcast wherever you're listening. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review. Your words can make a difference; a review can too.

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

Helen speaks with Dr Phil Renshaw, co-author of Coaching on the Go. In this episode you'll discover:

• Why coaching has been accidentally over-professionalised, and why teaching managers to coach using a professional coaching framework is costing organisations time and money
• How Phil and his co-author Jenny Robinson wrote their book Coaching on the Go before approaching a publisher, and what that unconventional choice taught them about the writing process
• What it really takes to land a traditional publishing deal, including how to pitch, what publishers are looking for, and why Phil and Jenny were turned down four times before Pearson said yes
• How the Gizmo profiling tool grew out of the book and became the engine of Phil's coaching business, creating a long-tail model that keeps the book commercially relevant years after publication
• Phil's honest advice for coaches who want to write a book, including why getting clear on your real motivation before you start is the most important step of all

Subscribe to the CoachWrite podcast wherever you're listening. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review. Your words can make a difference; a review can too.

Connect with Helen

Join the Scribe Circle: https://www.coachwrite.co.uk/scribecircle

Sign up for the free weekly email: https://www.coachwrite.co.uk/reflections

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

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

Join the no commitment wait list for the next cohort of Coach Write 90: https://www.coachwrite.co.uk/coachwrite90

Books: https://amzn.to/3MPS2Lq

Connect with Phil

Website: www.coachingonthego.co.uk

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

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/coachingonthego

Book: https://amzn.to/4wXN6X1

Resources mentioned:

https://coachbot.ai/

Content for Everyone by Jeff Adams and Michele Lucchini: https://amzn.to/4uJokIE

Getting reviews for your book is a lot like getting testimonials when you first start your coaching practice. You know they matter. What nobody tells you is how hard they are to get.

In this solo episode, Helen shares why book reviews are so important, how to build a review strategy before you even publish, and some practical ways to make it as easy as possible for your readers to leave their thoughts.

In this episode:

• Why reviews are about far more than the warm and fuzzies
• What an ARC is and how to use advanced readers to kickstart your launch
• Where to direct readers, and why Goodreads is becoming increasingly important
• The paid services that connect you with reviewer communities
• The rules of asking well: be specific, give the link, and say thank you

Connect with Helen

• Newsletter: https://coachwrite.co.uk/reflections
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/oneillhelen/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/coach_write
• Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/17798513.Helen_ONeill
• Website: https://coachwrite.co.uk

Helen speaks to Alice Driscoll and Louise Van Haarst, co-founders of The Powerhouse and co-authors of the bestselling book Smart Conflict: How to Have Hard Conversations at Work.

In This Episode You'll Discover:

• How Alice and Louise moved from a chance meeting at Henley Business School to co-founding The Powerhouse and writing their bestselling book, Smart Conflict.
• Why having a fully developed workshop methodology meant they never faced a blank page, and how writing a detailed book proposal shaped their entire structure before a word was written.
• The practical reality of co-authoring while running a fast-scaling business, including how they divided the writing, managed tight deadlines, and kept a single voice across the manuscript.
• How Smart Conflict has opened unexpected doors since publication, including a place on the Thinkers 50 Radar 30 list, a Business Book Award finalist spot, and organic gifting by readers to their own clients and teams.
• Their honest reflections on using AI in the writing process, the challenges of cover design, and the lessons they would share with any coach considering writing a book.

Connect with Alice and Louise

Website: https://thepowerhouse.company

Smart Conflict: How to Have Hard Conversations at Work: https://amzn.to/4uO5lwk

Connect with Helen

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

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

Sign up for Coach Write Reflections, the free weekly newsletter for coaches who write: https://coachwrite.co.uk/reflections/

Get your free guide to publishing options and episode show notes at coachwrite.co.uk

People and Resources mentioned

The Artists Way by Julia Cameron https://amzn.to/4dBVPq0

Audible royalty model changes: https://www.acx.com/mp/blog/audible-new-royalty-model

Coaching at work magazine https://www.coaching-at-work.com/

Thinkers 50 radar: https://thinkers50.com/radar-2025/

Business book awards: https://www.businessbookawards.co.uk/

Subscribe to the Coach Write podcast wherever you’re listening. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review. Your words can make a difference a review can too.

In this episode, you'll discover:

• Why treating your book as a key business resource rather than a sales tool is the strategy that builds long-term thought leadership
• How Kickstarter crowdfunding works as a publishing tool
• The case for selling your books direct through your own platform, and how owning your customer data creates relationships that convert readers into coaching clients
• How painting the edges of books by hand became a unique collector's edition, and what it teaches us about the value of things that deliberately do not scale
• How life reshaped Holger’s creative process, and the unexpected way AI became a tool for rebuilding the ability to write

People and Resources Mentioned

To join this cohort of Coach Write90 go to https://coachwrite.co.uk/coachwrite90

The murder at Kendrick Manor by Jody Derby https://amzn.to/429cXxa

People who Pivot by Helen ONeill https://amzn.to/429RcNI

Authors Guild statement about model AI clause https://authorsguild.org/news/use-of-ai-in-publishing-and-new-model-contract-clause/

Prowriting Aid https://prowritingaid.com/?afid=15255

Shopify https://www.shopify.com/

Kickstarter https://www.kickstarter.com/

Brandon Sanderson https://www.brandonsanderson.com/

Kevin Kelly a Thousand True Fans https://kk.org/thetechnium/1000-true-fans/

Connect with Holger

Website: www.holgernilspohl.com

Newsletter (with goodies attached!) www.holgernilspohl.com/email

Social media: everywhere under holgernilspohl

Connect with Helen

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

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

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

This week's episode is a solo show on the question we always ask guests on the show. How do you get your book into the hands of readers?

In this episode, you'll discover:

• Why getting your metadata right is the unglamorous but essential foundation of book discoverability, including categories, keywords and your blurb
• How to use social media and your existing community to build momentum, whether your book is freshly launched or already out in the world
• The power of promotion stacking and the book promotion sites that can give your launch sales a real boost
• How paid advertising on Amazon and Facebook works, and why Amazon is the best place to start if you're new to it
• Why podcasts, in-person events and PR are still some of the most effective ways to raise your profile as an author and get your book noticed

Resources and people mentioned

Join the next cohort of Coach Write 90: https://www.coachwrite.co.uk/coachwrite90

Publisher Rocket: https://publisherrocket.com/

Draft to Digital: https://draft2digital.com/

Barnes and Nobel: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/

David Gaughran: https://davidgaughran.com/best-promo-sites-books/

People Who Pivot by Helen ONeill: https://amzn.to/42qrkwT

Connect with Helen

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

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