Jennifer Lancaster

February 22, 2026

Meet Zali Steggall – From Champion Skiier to Climate Campaigner

[Mini Biography: Zali Steggall] Today I want to write about someone I briefly encountered in about 1998, who springs to mind due to the Winter Olympics and current political “can’t get anywhere with Climate bills” catastrophe. Zali Steggall OAM is a member of Australian parliament who has successfully navigated two vastly different high-pressure careers: first as an elite world-champion athlete and later as a trailblazing independent politician. Early Life and the Manly Connection Jen at Manly, 1990 I loved my youthful time in Manly, often boogie boarding on the lovely waves. But as a self-sustaining person, I noticed the divide between us renters and homeowners with asset wealth – which since the ’90s has strayed even further from the strugglers. Our half house rent was $140 per week in 1990 on the hill in Fairlight, near Manly. Born in 1974…

November 28, 2025

Book Writing

Brilliance in Writing and the Actor-Observer Bias

Do you ever think to yourself: my writing is just so-so, it’s not like ….(famous writer you admire)…. they’re brilliant? Welcome to the critical path of being a novice. Novice writers often judge their own writing very differently from how they judge other people’s work. This happens because of a psychological pattern called the Actor–Observer Bias. Internally, you see every part of your own writing process — the messy draft, the awkward sentences, the second-guessing, the struggles to find the right word. Because you see all this, you tend to explain your “not-so-great” paragraphs as something born not made: “I’m not naturally good at this” “I must not be a real writer” Attributing initial writing problems to your own abilities as ‘the actor’ is not where it ends. When you are the ‘observer’, looking at someone else’s writing, you only…

why clever writing costs you book readers

November 11, 2025

Book Writing

Your Clever Writing is Costing You Readers

Why Clever Writing Fails When I’m editing someone’s work and a sentence tries too hard, I spot it immediately. It’s about 10 words too long. Or it contains words like “synergistic” or “dynamic”: words that perform rather than communicate. The sentence loses power. Worse, it confuses readers. Here’s what most writers miss: authenticity creates authority, not fancy language. What this means: Your metaphors, anecdotes and explanations are there for clarity only, otherwise readers struggle to extract meaning and might abandon the content. What is the One Clear Idea Rule? Every sentence should carry one clear idea. When you pack two or three concepts into a single sentence, something breaks. The reader’s brain stumbles. They re-read. They lose momentum. Research backs this up. The American Press Institute studied 410 newspapers and found that with average sentence length of 14 words, readers…

marketing and media planning for how to books

November 1, 2025

Book Marketing

Where to Start with Marketing & Media Planning for How-To or Self-Growth Books

We all start with marketing somewhere, and I was a floundering beginner for many years. My first attempt: digital printing to self-publish a book in 1996. Called The Total Image Manual, I sold it through flyers to business boxes and a very expensive print ad. Zero cachet. Thankfully, things have gotten less risky in the book marketing game and now we can leverage a personal brand and get free press coverage. Actioning a Marketing & Media Plan You may already realise that taking a book to market is one of the hardest parts of being an author. It is hard to both plan the right tactics for you (tailored to your strengths) and confidently carry out those promotion tactics, week after week. It brings out our inner imposter or might make us feel like a used-car salesman. If you’re feeling…

marketing strategies for small publishers

October 2, 2025

Blogging Strategy, Book Marketing

Deep Dive into Micro-Publisher Marketing Strategies: A Focus on Niche Platforms

This post will utilise my knowledge of marketing to guide you to create a sustainable content marketing plan tailored for author-publishers. Are you experiencing the core challenges of running an indie/micro publisher: limited time, limited budget, and the need for high-impact, long-lasting content? Some muck about on Instagram, even when they are not connecting at a heart level on there. If you don’t have a plan, you’re not going to keep up momentum and gain a niche audience. So I’ve mocked up a Content Plan to tweak below. Plus, always remember that comments are key to any social media. Make the most of groups by having your books in a banner and mention of authoring in your bio (INCLUDING ON YOUR FACEBOOK PROFILE!) 30-Day Content Marketing Outline: Niche Platforms for Indies This plan focuses on creating a single, high-value piece…

September 23, 2025

Course Content

How Online Training Leaders are Moving from Marketing Hustle to Automated Growth

1. How Training Leaders have Gone Digital Niche training businesses are no longer headquartered and overhead-heavy. Zoom, Kajabi, Kartra, Thinkific and many other tools have allowed the rise of the online business coach and training-based consultant. These are not novices but established professionals with a proven track record of over three years in the field. This report lays out the problems and solutions for those scaling up using online marketing. Those who got the formula right have annual revenues typically ranging from $AU100,000 to AU500,000.(1) Operating with lean, virtual teams of one to five members, online educators can work wherever there is wifi and a good cafe but usually situate near like minds, in Australia’s cities. While technically proficient at an intermediate level, they are comfortable with foundational digital tools but often find themselves in need of guidance…