Taiia Smart Young

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You’re dying to write your book—but you’re not sure if what you have to say is any good.

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…or you don’t know where to start

…or you don’t know how to organize it 

…or your grammar sucks yak butt

 One—or maybe all—of these have held you back from doing more than scribbling bits and pieces of your story, your future book, in a spiral notebook. 

 But deep down you already know that you’re a writer, that you’re an author. 

 You’re someone with a message, a story that can possibly influence or even change someone’s life. 

 If you didn’t believe that, then you’d wouldn’t be HERE. #facts 

 You’d be watching hair tutorials on YouTube. Or pretending not to scroll past your ex’s Thailand photos on Facebook. Or laughing at the latest Kanye meme on Instagram. 

 But like Jay-Z said, “You could’ve been anywhere in the world, but you’re here with me. I appreciate that.”

 So it doesn’t matter if you found me by accident (cough there are no accidents cough) or were on a mission to find a seasoned editor to support your journey to become a self-published author—I’m happy to hang out with you. 

 And now that we go together like peanut butter and jelly, let me tell you a secret, there are some things that you can’t do alone or by yourself. 

You cannot operate on your own brain. 
You cannot ride the seesaw by yourself. 
You cannot sing a duet alone.  

And, you cannot write a book by yourself. Everybody needs an editor, you know, the person on the opposite side of the seesaw making sure all the fun up and down stuff happens.

 Here’s what happens when you don’t have an editor on your team: FEAR, SELF-DOUBT and WRITER’S BLOCK (which I don’t believe in, but that’s for another time) creep in, get in the way and stop progress. You need a ride-or-die editor to help you move past your insecurities to have a big BREAKTHROUGH. 

I got you.

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As Jay-Z said, “Allow me to re-introduce myself, name is…”

 

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Hey! I’m Taiia Smart Young.

I’ve been a dope ass editor since TLC’s “Waterfalls” snagged the MTV Moonman for Video of the Year. I’ve made some of your favorite writers, authors and bloggers look pretty damn good on these editorial streets. Not bragging. Just saying.

I learned about voice, style and crafting a must-read story while holding down editing gigs at Essence, XXL, Juicy and Latina magazines and websites.

Being at those publications lead to a few opportunities to work on several book projects—and then my own book. *twirls on them haters

But…

The major publishing houses wanted me to have a ginormous social media following, which I didn’t have at the time. (Eh, and I still don’t.)

The major publishing houses wanted me to change parts of my story, which I wasn’t willing to do. (I’m an artist and I’m sensitive about my ish.)
The major publishing houses wanted me to wait 12 to 24 months before my book would hit the shelves, which I was too impatient to do. (I don’t like waiting in line for 10 minutes at Target, so…)

So I decided to write and self-publish a book for teen girls, without a huge social media following and without waiting 24 months. I studied how to market books, negotiate prices with printers and upload manuscripts to Amazon. And I used everything I’d learned from being a senior, executive and managing editor in the magazine world to bring my book, Famous: How to Be the Star of Your Show to life. Then, I flipped it and turned the book into a workshop series and sold it to schools. (Yeah, I can teach you how to do that too, but one thing at a time, mmmkay?)

Oh, and I wrote my book in three months and made $5,000 at my book launch.

Now, I use my skills to coach and edit writers via:

  • one-on-one sessions
  • small group sessions
  • workshops
  • live trainings
  • self-paced courses

But enough about me. This isn’t about me. It’s about YOU. It’s about what you and I can create together.

What do you wanna do?

…write a guidebook that empowers youths to have different options after high school?
…write a memoir about your secret summer relationship with a famous R&B star?
…write a self-improvement book about leaving the squishy, cushy comfort zone?

Whatever you plan to write, I’m here to support your journey from idea to full-fledged book.

I’ll be your EDITOR, your ACCOUNTABILITY PARTNER and your SELF-PUBLISHING SENSEI.

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“If there’s a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.” –Toni Morrison

 

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I believe many self-published authors took Auntie Toni’s advice, which is dope. Because we should all live our best creative lives. And when I started checking out the newbie writers and self-published authors in the industry, I noticed a few things:

They had hella passion.
They had hella good stories.
They had hella focus.

And something else caught my eagle eye.

  • bad grammar
  • typos
  • stories without structure
  • incorrect formatting

They didn’t have an editor guiding every single word of their book, BEFORE hitting publish.

WTF?!

That’s like Serena not hiring a tennis coach to guide her athletic genius to 23 Grand Slam trophies.

When I realized that aspiring authors needed an experienced editor on their self-publishing team, I created coaching and editing services to support all that passion and focus.

The truth is book lovers could care less about passion and focus if your book is a hot mess.

Lemme share a Snapple Apple Fact with you: Some of the majors (i.e. the traditional publishers) look down on the self-publishing industry because (some, not all) authors do not hire editors—and it shows like a botched nose job.

Don’t act like you haven’t seen an indie author’s book that looks c-r-a-z-y. And cover art that looks like someone’s three-year old cousin Kenny drew it in the dark with a broken thumb.

I have.

And I refuse to let that happen to you. There’s no need to disturb Lil’ Kenny from his pre-school business when I edit and oversee your project.

When we work together on your memoir, collection of essays or how-to book, you will be proud of the finished product and be taken seriously in this industry because you invested in yourself.

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My superpower is helping new authors write and publish GOOD stories.

Point blank and the period.

 

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You’ve been dreaming about writing a book. So do it.

Stop dreaming.
Stop procrastinating.
Stop worrying.

Let’s do it together. My strawberry jam is teaching newbies how to write and self-publish a BIG LITTLE BOOK.

Huh?

Look, writing a book can be intimidating, especially for a newbie. And maybe you can handle writing a 300-plus page book, once you have a smaller book under your belt. But 300-plus pages straight out of the gate without any writing experience? I’m not saying that it isn’t doable—but this idea feels like a scary movie written by Jordan Peele.

A BIG LITTLE BOOK is a short, but powerful book that’s 130 pages or less. See, that sounds doable and it definitely sets you up for success.

I’ve helped hundreds of new writers polish their stories and produce work they are proud to share and sell to friends and clients. So no typos, no bad grammar, no unorganized stories, no incorrect formatting and no cover art created in the dark by Lil’ Kenny.

 

 

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The coaching calls kept me accountable. Knowing that Taiia scheduled me into her day, made me more productive. The biggest benefit for me was relying on her knowledge. If you want to learn tennis, you hire an instructor and you show up and you work at it.  Writing is no different. You need to hire an editor, show up, and work at it. Taiia inspired and encouraged me to show up and do the work. I finished my book and I am empowered. If I can write one, I can write another.

Nancy Bischoff

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Hold up, wait a minute, you thought I was finished? Nope!

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If you’re ready to write a quality, respected, professionally edited and produced book—one that looks and reads like it belongs on bookshelves—holler at me.

I’m ready.

I got you.

WORK WITH ME

But…

If you aren’t ready, if you need a little more time to see if we’re a winning combination like peanut butter and jelly—then give my FREE 5-day Kick Fear in the Butt + Write Your Book email course a spin and get back to me.

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