About & Bios

TEDTalk Linda Sivertsen
Linda Sivertsen
Linda book signing

For the media…

If you’re looking for headshots, bios, press releases, book cover or podcast graphics (media assets), these pages are for you. If you don’t see what you need, write to linda@bookmama.com.

Linda’s bio

Linda Sivertsen, “Book Mama,” is in LOVE with books—reading, writing, and selling them. Her titles have won many awards and hit all the lists as an author, co-author, and former magazine editor and ghostwriter. But her driving force has been to publish sustainably. Naïve and optimistic enough to believe in magic, she’s on a mission to save forests via her role as a Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) Ambassador. When she’s not fostering literary love matches on her Beautiful Writers Podcast (a favorite stop for writers on tour), writing, and promoting Beautiful Writers, or midwifing books at her Carmel or virtual writing retreats, Linda can be found on the back of a horse or running with her dogs. She and her husband live on their ranch in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Beautiful Writers book bio

Imagine you’re at a dinner party with some of the most successful authors of our time: Elizabeth Gilbert, Dean Koontz, Terry McMillan, Cheryl Strayed, Steven Pressfield, Jenny Lawson, Deepak Chopra, Martha Beck, Tomi Adeyemi, Sabaa Tahir, Van Jones, Anne Lamott, Mary Karr, Seth Godin, Patricia Cornwell, Lee Child, Ann Patchett, Tom Hanks . . .  “Book Mama” and Beautiful Writers Podcast co-creator Linda Sivertsen is the host. As she’s sharing her story of the many hilarious, outrageous, and practical things she did to launch her bestselling writing career, your favorite writers chime in with their own anecdotes, leaving you enlightened and newly inspired. The wisdom in these pages will nourish anyone who appreciates the art of storytelling and dreams of living a creative life.

Part coming-of-career memoir and writing success how-to, sprinkled with boxes containing gems of celebrity author advice (taken from Linda’s Beautiful Writers Podcast and follow-up interviews), Beautiful Writers is a love letter to reading, writing, and publishing—the book she wished she’d had when starting out. Destined to become the evergreen companion for creatives everywhere, this book answers the burning question: “How do they do it—day after day, year after year, book after book?”

The paths vary wildly, but Linda’s faith in dreams never does. “If you have the ache, you have what it takes,” she says. “Writing is hard for everyone, but the results are often magical. Trust your desire. We did it—birthed our books into the world. You can too!”

2023 International Book Awards Winner (Business: Writing & Publishing) & 2023 Firebird Book Awards “Speak Up Talk Radio” Winner. Hashtags: #BeautifulWritersBook #BookMamaMusings #LindaSivertsen

More . . .

Now, for a little first-person fun: Hi! I’m Book Mama, a magical thinker who believes in your big dreams. Don’t think you have what it takes? I’m a college dropout who put six commas in every sentence and went on to write, co-author, and ghostwrite eleven books (two New York Times bestsellers), forty magazine articles, and host one of the world’s top writing podcasts. 🎙️

My books have won awards, made headlines, hit all the lists, and put me on national TV. I’ve met deadlines at the foot of my parents’ deathbeds, written regularly in the middle of the night as a full-time mom, and delivered chapters to Simon & Schuster AND Hyperion from the fetal position after learning that my then-husband of nineteen years was in love with someone else.

I’ve dropped one of the biggest agents in the biz (without a backup plan) because I wanted to feel more of a heart connection. I walked away from the best book deal of my life b/c the publisher wouldn’t print the book on recycled paper & soy inks (three weeks later, they agreed… phew!). I’ve written for divas and superstars and the humblest spiritual love bugs. And my faith in self-help was severely tested when I was hired to (and did) pen a NYT bestseller with a popular teacher who ended up going to prison.

Good grief, I’ve learned a few things. Most importantly, about rejection. My dogs and I eat rejection for breakfast. When the universe or some VIP publishing exec says, “No,” we get scrappy in our house. And creative.

I’m a book proposal doctor, author whisperer, agent connector, idea-fairy, and huge-hearted cheerleader of creativity for writers of all genres–and every gold-plated publishing dream. In the past twenty-five years, I’ve authored & co-authored eleven books (two New York Times best-sellers), including Beautiful Writers: A Journey of Big Dreams and Messy Manuscripts—with Tricks of the Trade from Bestselling Authors (BenBella Books), the digital bestseller Your Big Beautiful Book Plan with Danielle LaPorte, Generation Green: The Ultimate Teen Guide to Living an Eco-Friendly Life with her son, Tosh (Simon & Schuster), Lives Charmed: Intimate Conversations with Extraordinary People (HCI), and Harmonic Wealth (Hyperion).

Two of my favorite jams are midwifing 6- & 7-figure book deals at my virtual & in-person writing retreats in Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA (profiled in CARMEL magazine), and hosting my top-ranked Beautiful Writers Podcast (on iTunes since 2015). I LOVE asking my writing idols how they show up day after day, year after year, book after book.

My work has been featured on CNN, E!, Extra, The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the NY Post, the International Business Times, NY Post, Family Circle, Teen Vogue, The Huffington Post, and on the TEDWomen stage ... and I’ve received wide coverage on my app, and been featured on Inc.; Forbes.com; Glamour.com; MarieClaire.com; and in The Motley Fool’s “10 Best Podcasts for Women.” Go from Idea to Done to Sold with me live, via one of my online programs, or reading my blog at BookMama.com (w/ a “Best of The Web” nod from the Daily Muse). Because friends don’t let friends write alone. Write on!

Bottom line: I love writers, books, collaboration, dog & wild horse rescue, and beating the odds. Let’s connect. I can’t wait. Facebook | Twitter | Instagram.

Writing Retreats in Carmel-by-the-Sea

Join me in one of the most enchanting artist communities in the world–for sisterhood, synchronicity, and focused, intentional, blissful writing. King beds, ocean views, and gourmet food make scripting your dreams second nature at the iconic La Playa Hotel. It’s HEAVEN! Whether you write in the hotel’s gorgeous gardens, in your cozy room, at the shoreline, or tucked into a local patisserie, the sea air, and ancient cypress trees will flood your senses and get the ink flowing. See why this Think Tank of the most loving order is every writer’s secret (and not so secret) dream and why many people come again and again. Honor your voice, find your people, and sell your book(s). At last.

Contact: For Media Inquiries

For Public Relations inquiries contact Jennifer Canzoneri, jennifer@benbellabooks.com and please CC Kristen Maglonzo at kristen@beautifulwriters.com.

Because of several book deadlines/lifelines, and those of my retreat participants, my schedule is tight and I’m not able to answer all inquiries. If you’d like my support with a book project, see the “Work with me” tab. I wish there were 50 hours in a day! But, I’m fairly active on social media and hope to see you there, and/or in the Beautiful Writers Group.

 

Thank You!

xo

Linda Sivertsen Bookmama with Merry

Want to Write for Success? Insider Tips for Getting Published

Download my free audio right now for:

  • THE #1 secret I’ve ever found for taking writing from good to unignorable—fast!
  • The top 3 little-known mistakes I see most new writers make, preventing them from landing that coveted book contract.
  • How to script your Book Proposal’s success so that you land your dream agent and dreamier book deal. 

You’ll also be added to my monthly newsletter for all the latest intel.

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Jul 25

Open
The new Beautiful Writers Group. Have you seen our latest upgrades (including a 3rd weekly Zoom Write-In starting tomorrow)? 🎉 On today’s blog, I talk about a secret place I go to connect with writers. My safe place, where I can be vulnerable & talk about everything related to writing and publishing, especially the hard stuff. It’s where I feel the most support, and other than my writing retreats, where I give the most, too. Okay, it’s not technically a secret, but The Beautiful Writers Group, my membership community, could be seen that way for all I talk about it. Meaning, I’ve practically kept it a secret for the past decade, rarely posting about the BWG until recently. For starters, our community of just over 100 love bugs has always felt sacred to me—some of our members have been with us since 2014 when @daniellelaporte and I first launched the group, and the expert interviews became the impetus for the Beautiful Writers Podcast a year later. Those writers feel like family. 💜 But also, I lived with painful pangs of guilt for not playing full out in my own group. So much so that I seriously considered closing down the BWG several times. Read the behind-the-scenes details, including why I’m so happy I’ve instead expanded our offerings and re-energized our group (even past members are returning). I’m having the BEST time! Check us out for accountability, camaraderie, and community. Fun! LOVE + Write on! Linda xo Here’s the post: https://bit.ly/4dfCOXz (link in bio). #BeautifulWritersGroup #BWG #BookMamaMusings #BeautifulWritersBook #BeautifulWritersPodcast #FriendsDontLetFriendsWriteAlone

The new Beautiful Writers Group. Have you seen our latest upgrades (including a 3rd weekly Zoom Write-In starting tomorrow)? 🎉 On today’s blog, I talk about a secret place I go to connect with writers. My safe place, where I can be vulnerable & talk about everything related to writing and publishing, especially the hard stuff. It’s where I feel the most support, and other than my writing retreats, where I give the most, too.

Okay, it’s not technically a secret, but The Beautiful Writers Group, my membership community, could be seen that way for all I talk about it. Meaning, I’ve practically kept it a secret for the past decade, rarely posting about the BWG until recently. For starters, our community of just over 100 love bugs has always felt sacred to me—some of our members have been with us since 2014 when @daniellelaporte and I first launched the group, and the expert interviews became the impetus for the Beautiful Writers Podcast a year later. Those writers feel like family. 💜 But also, I lived with painful pangs of guilt for not playing full out in my own group. So much so that I seriously considered closing down the BWG several times.

Read the behind-the-scenes details, including why I’m so happy I’ve instead expanded our offerings and re-energized our group (even past members are returning). I’m having the BEST time! Check us out for accountability, camaraderie, and community. Fun!

LOVE + Write on!
Linda xo

Here’s the post: https://bit.ly/4dfCOXz (link in bio).

#BeautifulWritersGroup #BWG #BookMamaMusings #BeautifulWritersBook #BeautifulWritersPodcast #FriendsDontLetFriendsWriteAlone ...

linda_sivertsen

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Jul 24

Open
Wow! So grateful. 🙏 #repost @maeyoshikawa. Have you read @linda_sivertsen ‘s #BeautifulWritersBook yet? And did you know that the audio book is available now on Audible? This book is SO packed with writing tips... and industry-navigating tips… but the thing is, they pretty much translate into Life tips😘 It’s also, to my knowledge, one of the few “places” in the world where we can “meet” Thomas One Wolf through Linda’s experience with him🩷 Of all of the wisdom droppers in this beautiful book, he’s still my faaaaavorite, and this is still my favorite quote. So, I am just gonna go ahead and take this opportunity to declare to you who it is that I need to be. These days, I truly only want to be me. That is, Mae “effin’” Yoshikawa. Lol. What makes Mae Mae? That’s still in the making. But I’ll tell you what I know so far: Mae is, in a sense, neither here nor there. Neither Japanese nor American and a bit of both at the same time. That could drive a person nuts, or one may call it the best of both worlds. It depends. Mae can be perceived as kind and also harsh, but that’s mainly because she is committed to Truth. Mae’s soul is bold. So when sh$t hits the fan you will see her show up. But her character may at times be soft in nature. Likewise, some know her as intelligent in some ways, and others, in other ways an unimpressive ethereal type (aka airy?!). Mae is also small and big at the same time, and she’s sure she’s not trying to play you with all these riddles. She secretly hopes you might simply embrace her like a Zen koan paradox instead. Mae’s learning to embracing her blended paradoxes in the same way, and she’s getting there (she thinks). And so, Mae is delighted to serve to be the living embodiment of such... eeerrr… weirdness? Spilling out of the box? Namelessness? WTF? If I can just get over trying to make sense of it all, I think that’s who I need to be! 🤍🤍🤍 #recommendedreading #recommendedbooks

Wow! So grateful. 🙏 #repost @maeyoshikawa. Have you read @linda_sivertsen ‘s #BeautifulWritersBook yet?

And did you know that the audio book is available now on Audible?

This book is SO packed with writing tips... and industry-navigating tips… but the thing is, they pretty much translate into Life tips😘

It’s also, to my knowledge, one of the few “places” in the world where we can “meet” Thomas One Wolf through Linda’s experience with him🩷 Of all of the wisdom droppers in this beautiful book, he’s still my faaaaavorite, and this is still my favorite quote.

So, I am just gonna go ahead and take this opportunity to declare to you who it is that I need to be.

These days, I truly only want to be me.

That is, Mae “effin’” Yoshikawa. Lol.

What makes Mae Mae?
That’s still in the making.

But I’ll tell you what I know so far:

Mae is, in a sense, neither here nor there.
Neither Japanese nor American and a bit of both at the same time. That could drive a person nuts, or one may call it the best of both worlds. It depends.

Mae can be perceived as kind and also harsh, but that’s mainly because she is committed to Truth.
Mae’s soul is bold. So when sh$t hits the fan you will see her show up. But her character may at times be soft in nature.
Likewise, some know her as intelligent in some ways, and others, in other ways an unimpressive ethereal type (aka airy?!).

Mae is also small and big at the same time, and she’s sure she’s not trying to play you with all these riddles. She secretly hopes you might simply embrace her like a Zen koan paradox instead.

Mae’s learning to embracing her blended paradoxes in the same way, and she’s getting there (she thinks).

And so, Mae is delighted to serve to be the living embodiment of such... eeerrr… weirdness? Spilling out of the box? Namelessness? WTF?

If I can just get over trying to make sense of it all, I think that’s who I need to be!

🤍🤍🤍

#recommendedreading #recommendedbooks ...

linda_sivertsen

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Jul 20

Open
Write-Ins! 🎉I LOVE our weekly meet-ups in the Beautiful Writers Group. Join us! It’s super affordable to become a member ($50 a month) and you’ll find your writerly community to help inspire and motivate you—and make accountability FUN! We celebrate our wins and go through our messy middles together. 👯‍♀️ Writing’s better with your people. I’m so grateful. 🎉 BeautifulWritersGroup.com (in bio). #BeautifulWritersGroup #WriteIns #Mondays #Wednesdays #friendsdontletfriendswritealone

Write-Ins! 🎉I LOVE our weekly meet-ups in the Beautiful Writers Group. Join us! It’s super affordable to become a member ($50 a month)
and you’ll find your writerly community to help inspire and motivate you—and make accountability FUN! We celebrate our wins and go through our messy middles together. 👯‍♀️
Writing’s better with your people. I’m so grateful. 🎉 BeautifulWritersGroup.com (in bio).
#BeautifulWritersGroup #WriteIns #Mondays #Wednesdays #friendsdontletfriendswritealone ...

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Linda Sivertsen

Linda Sivertsen

Author 🌿 Beautiful Writers Podcast & Book! 🎧FSC Ambassador🌲
Carmel & Virtual Writing Retreats📚

The new Beautiful Writers Group. Have you seen our latest upgrades (including a 3rd weekly Zoom Write-In starting tomorrow)? 🎉 On today’s blog, I talk about a secret place I go to connect with writers. My safe place, where I can be vulnerable & talk about everything related to writing and publishing, especially the hard stuff. It’s where I feel the most support, and other than my writing retreats, where I give the most, too. Okay, it’s not technically a secret, but The Beautiful Writers Group, my membership community, could be seen that way for all I talk about it. Meaning, I’ve practically kept it a secret for the past decade, rarely posting about the BWG until recently. For starters, our community of just over 100 love bugs has always felt sacred to me—some of our members have been with us since 2014 when Danielle LaPorte and I first launched the group, and the expert interviews became the impetus for the Beautiful Writers Podcast a year later. Those writers feel like family. 💜 But also, I lived with painful pangs of guilt for not playing full out in my own group. So much so that I seriously considered closing down the BWG several times. Read the behind-the-scenes details, including why I’m so happy I’ve instead expanded our offerings and re-energized our group (even past members are returning). I’m having the BEST time! Check us out for accountability, camaraderie, and community. Fun! LOVE + Write on! Linda xo Here’s the post: https://bit.ly/4dfCOXz #BeautifulWritersGroup #BWG #BookMamaMusings #BeautifulWritersBook #BeautifulWritersPodcast #FriendsDontLetFriendsWriteAlone

The new Beautiful Writers Group. Have you seen our latest upgrades (including a 3rd weekly Zoom Write-In starting tomorrow)? 🎉 On today’s blog, I talk about a secret place I go to connect with writers. My safe place, where I can be vulnerable & talk about everything related to writing and publishing, especially the hard stuff. It’s where I feel the most support, and other than my writing retreats, where I give the most, too.

Okay, it’s not technically a secret, but The Beautiful Writers Group, my membership community, could be seen that way for all I talk about it. Meaning, I’ve practically kept it a secret for the past decade, rarely posting about the BWG until recently. For starters, our community of just over 100 love bugs has always felt sacred to me—some of our members have been with us since 2014 when Danielle LaPorte and I first launched the group, and the expert interviews became the impetus for the Beautiful Writers Podcast a year later. Those writers feel like family. 💜 But also, I lived with painful pangs of guilt for not playing full out in my own group. So much so that I seriously considered closing down the BWG several times.

Read the behind-the-scenes details, including why I’m so happy I’ve instead expanded our offerings and re-energized our group (even past members are returning). I’m having the BEST time! Check us out for accountability, camaraderie, and community. Fun!

LOVE + Write on!
Linda xo

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#BeautifulWritersGroup #BWG #BookMamaMusings #BeautifulWritersBook #BeautifulWritersPodcast #FriendsDontLetFriendsWriteAlone ... See MoreSee Less

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I've been listening to your book on Libro.fm all day! I own a bookstore so I have a lot of author friends and they all love you. I had no idea. When the student is ready, the teacher will come I guess.

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