Welcome back to Alchemy for Authors!
In this week’s episode I interview USA Today bestselling author of over 69 romance novels, and Money Magic co-founder, Lee Savino. We chat about all things manifestation and mindset, and her brilliant book, Adventures With The Universe.
Other topics we discuss include:
- How a hypnotherapist helped Lee change her beliefs around making a living as an author.
- Why you should never close a door on your dream.
- Tips for dissolving money and success blocks.
- What a tidy house has to do with manifesting money as an author.
- Why you should use the good china and get yourself a new toothbrush.
- How to attract the right people into your life.
- The biggest mistake you can make as an author.
If you’re ready to include some money magic in your life, and banish the blocks holding you back from having the author career you aspire to, then this is the episode for you! Make sure you check out Lee’s book Adventures With The Universe and the Money Magic Membership in the show notes.
Visit Lee’s website here: https://leesavino.com/
Grab your copy of Adventures With The Universe here.
Join the Money Magic Membership here and enjoy the first month for FREE: https://www.moneymagicmembership.com/a/2147619110/FFtoFakC and use the coupon code JO on checkout.
(Please note: I am a member and an affiliate myself, and will receive a small commission if you decide to stay on past the month trial. But if you enjoy the membership, consider signing up to become an affiliate too!)
Join the Millionaire Author Mastermind Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/millionaireauthormastermind
Join the Seven Figure Author Course here: https://millionaire-author-coaching.teachable.com/p/seven-figure-author
Join the Author Abundance Central: Write to Riches Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/183210270143403
Listen to Alchemy for Authors Episode 55: Write to Riches with Renee Rose here: https://jobuer.com/episode-55-write-to-riches-with-renee-rose/
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Find the full transcript of this episode below.
Episode 77: Money Magic & Mindset with Lee Savino
Jo: Hello everyone, this is Episode 77 of Alchemy for Authors: Money Magic & Mindset for Authors. I am so excited to have you here listening to this episode. I have an amazing guest for you, somebody whom I just totally fell in love with once I started chatting with her. And I was already a fan after reading her amazing book Adventures With The Universe.
So I have Lee Savino on the show today and she is high vibe, super positive energy, and all about manifestation and mindset and creating wealth as an author or a writer. And so if any of those things interest you, then I know you are going to love this episode.
In personal news, this has been a really tough week, I don’t know if anyone else is feeling the crazy effects of what I’m putting down to Mercury being in retrograde, but I have been having tech problems galore. Oh my gosh, and I am not a very techy person at all. And in fact, technology problems are going to be the thing that has me crying in a ball in the corner of the room, rocking backwards and forwards. I just hate it. It stresses me out like nothing else. So this has been a rather trying week. I got notification early on last week that my website provider was changing to a new server. They went ahead and did that and alas, everything went sideways. My website went all glitchy and stopped working and deleted the previous week’s post for Alchemy for Authors and the transcript and everything. I’m going to try and put that back up here shortly. It locked me out of the backend of my website. Changed all my DNS settings. So after the drama that was getting all that set up with alignment in Mailerlite and getting DMARC sorted and all of that, I was back at square one. And obviously my setup is a little bit ad hoc because it’s not ever been easy to do. I’ve always had to try and find somebody else to do it for me. It’s not being straightforward like Mailerlite and Google and that make it out to be. So I have had website problems, email problems, my newsletter that’s due to go out to my readers is probably not going to happen this week. Yeah, I have been spending every spare moment, of which they haven’t really been a lot, but every spare moment Googling answers, writing emails to my website provider and my domain provider and Mailerlite and everybody, screaming for help, pleading for help. And, have not yet had success.
So it has been a rather stressful time, but the way that I am choosing to try and look at it is that maybe the Universe is trying to tell me something. Maybe I need to simplify my tech a little bit more, which I did have plans to do so. I have been thinking for a while about selling direct on Shopify. And so that might be my new transition for my books. And then having a separate website for Alchemy for Authors. And it might just be after this that I maybe change my website provider, we will see how that goes. But yeah, so it has been a little bit of a stressful one.
The joy I found though was working on today’s episode for you. Getting it ready to be released. So, like I said, I have Lee Savino on the show. I have had her best friend Renee Rose on the show before, back in Episode 55: Write to Riches with Renee Rose. And you’ll hear Lee talk about their friendship a bit in this episode. And yeah, I have been trying all the things of the gratitude, the trying to release into the universe that need for help, knowing that these things will be solved and there is a purpose and a reason behind them. And so working on this episode, whilst also tearing my hair out over tech issues, was kind of helpful in a way.
So some of the things that Lee is going to talk about on the show today, a little preview for you, is how a hypnotherapist helped her reverse her beliefs around making a living as an author. Why you should never close the door on your dreams. Tips for dissolving money and success blocks. What a tidy house has to do with manifesting money as an author. Why you should use your good China and get yourself a new toothbrush. How to attract the right people into your life. And the biggest mistake that you can make as an author.
So you will find, as we go through this episode, Lee will mention quite a few times a membership that she has with her friend, Renee Rose, a Money Magic Membership. And I am personally signed up to it. I absolutely love it. The live calls on their own, are worth the monthly investment. So I have included a link in the show notes for you to check it out yourself, because at the moment you can get the first month free and you can cancel within those 30 days if you find that it’s not for you. I highly recommend you check out Money Magic. Simply because there are, like I said, fantastic live calls, there’s a whole library of meditations there that are so helpful. It is primarily for authors or entrepreneurs and yeah, and there’s also a really good breakdown of how to use manifestation in your writing business. So I recommend that you check that out.
And something else that I just want to remind you about as well is that for a short while here, I’m just trialling SpeakPipe and SpeakPipe is software that is set up so that you can record a short message for me, a bit like voicemail. And it doesn’t cost you anything, but it means that if you have had an aha moment from the show, and you want to share that with me, you can leave that and I can maybe include it on the next episode. Or if you’ve got guest suggestions or a question that you want answered on the show. I can certainly do my best to try and answer it. But this is just another way that you can engage with this show, with Alchemy for Authors, and I can try and meet your needs. So yeah, so that’s a little bit of fun. And again, I have included that link to SpeakPipe in the show notes.
Anyway, let’s get on with the show. So when you’re ready, grab a drink, find a comfy chair, sit back and enjoy the show.
Hello, my lovelies. Welcome back to another episode of Alchemy for Authors.
Today, I’m thrilled to welcome Lee Savino to the show. Lee is a USA Today bestselling author of over 69 romance novels. She’s also a mom and a chocoholic. She runs the Millionaire Author Mastermind Facebook Group, and co teachers the Money Magic Membership with Renee Rose, the Six Figure Strategy Course with Nick Eriks, and the Seven Figure Author Course with herself.
So welcome to the show, Lee. I’m so excited to be chatting with you today.
Lee: Thank you so much for having me. I’m so excited.
Jo: So I would love if we could start off with you sharing a little bit about your author journey and how you got to be where you are today.
Lee: Yes. Well, I’m very excited about this because I was thinking back on my journey, which really began, you know, when I was in school and people were saying, Oh, you’re a good writer. And I was reading all the time. So I was thinking, well, I am a good writer because I’m bringing in books all the time. So they’re going to flow out of me. And I went to college and studied creative writing and wrote a book. It was a werewolf romance. And then I graduated and I said, all right, what do I do now?
And I submitted to an agent and worked a little bit more on the book and got rejected and kind of said, I don’t really want to do this agent thing, but I don’t know what to do. And that’s when I made the decision and I said, I can’t make a living from my writing. And I slammed the door shut. It was like a giant vault door that I just slammed shut.
And at that point it was 2008, which was the year the Kindle came out. And if I had just gone, I don’t know what I’m doing. I don’t know how to make a living. I’m going to just find people who are making a living with their writing and just watch them. I’m going to leave that door open just a crack. If I had done that, I probably would have started my author career a lot sooner.
What happened instead, was I slammed that door shut and went off and was pretty miserable at working jobs for a number of years, but it does have a happy ending. In November, 2014, I went to a hypnotherapist and I was pretty much open to anything. And I said, I’m at a sales job and I work really hard, and I can’t get my income to go any higher than a certain level. No matter how hard I work every year, I make $30,000 a year, which was not enough. And he said, okay, I’ll just do like a general meditation for success. I walked out of that meditation going, I’m going to be an author. I’m going to be an indie author. He kind of removed the block. So I leave and I opened my computer and I have books. I’ve the book I’d written in college, I had books I had written in between and I kind of, man, I don’t think I even edited them very well. I like threw them up on Amazon. I was in it. I was doing it. It was like that giant rock just moved out of the river and the river is just flowing.
And my first month in January, 2015, I made $50 and I was so happy because I was doing it. I had opened that door again and I was going towards my dreams. I was just running. And I had like $500 in my bank account. And then I found someone to make me a website for $500. And then I had $0 in my bank account, but I had another website and I was an author and I was doing it.
I just remember I was saying yes. Instead of slamming the door, I was just like, okay, I have to get a mailing list. It doesn’t matter what it costs. Okay. $20. I can figure out a way to find $20 a month. Okay. I need book funnels. So I deliver this. I need to write another thing. I need to, and I got a publishing deal. And I got the publishing deal in my mind so I could learn how to be a better indie author. And then I was so happy. And my husband was like, I know you’re so happy being an author, but can you please make money? And that’s when I realized, Okay, I’m already grateful, happy, I was in the zone, but where’s the money? Because I had been making the same amount every year, no matter what I did.
And the first year as an author, I made like two grand, the second year, like 17 or something with the publisher. And I had met Renee Rose at this time. So she was the one who taught me more about how to remove your abundance blocks and your success blocks and your money blocks. Because basically you live your life going, Oh, I’m going to be an author, and then you stop yourself. Or, Oh, I want to go to Japan, and then someone says, wow. And then you stop yourself. And so that’s a block. And you can remove whatever is stopping you, which is usually a thought that stops you. A thought like, I can’t do this. No one makes a living as a writer. But if you just like leave the door open a crack, you could go, I feel like I could one day make a living as a writer. Maybe I’ll find some people who are doing it and see what they’re doing. And you just start to inch your way forward towards it. And that’s actually how your brain works. If you make your tribe all these people who are authors and who are making money, your brain goes, Oh, we want you to fit in with the tribe and it will shift. And you will start to make choices, to fit in with the tribe. You will get BookFunnel. You will get an author website. You will meet the people who are doing the marketing that you need to do.
But Renee took it to another level where she really energetically cleared me, and that’s when the money rushed in. I made like two grand in January, 2017. And I said, no, where is the money? Give me the money. I want the money now. And in February I made six grand and mentally I said, six grand and it’s a short month. In a long month, I bet I could make eight grand and eight grand a month is six figures. And so in my head, I went, I’m a six figure author. I don’t know why. It was totally nuts, but it worked because that year I made over $150,000.
So it really is this mindset thing. And when I look at what I did, I go, okay, was it that I wrote romance? Was it that I wrote werewolves? Was it that? And yeah, I’m a good writer. And those first covers I put up weren’t great, but now I have good covers and I do the marketing, but it really came down to mindset for me. Because I wouldn’t even be an author if it wasn’t for removing that block and shifting my mindset to be like, no, I’m going to do this. I will figure it out. I will find someone who has done it, and I will just watch them until I feel like I can take another step forward. And that’s what I did. That’s what I’ve been doing. And now I’m doing it to go, okay, how do I have more success? How do I make 10 million a year? How do I go another level? And it’s the same process and it’s the same blocks. It’s the same like, Oh, I don’t know if I can do it. Oh, I don’t know if it’s possible. And then it’s the same steps to find someone who’s doing it. Watch what they’re doing. See if it makes sense for you to take a step like that. And really just leave the door open a crack. If you have a dream, I’m just asking you not to slam the door on it. Just leave it open a crack, and go someone out there is probably doing what I love and want to do. Someone is living the dream and I’m just, maybe I can’t believe that I can do it, but I’ll believe that they can do it. And then I’ll watch them enough until I believe I can do at least a tiny little step towards it. And you’re on your way. And that’s all it takes.
Jo: That is just insanely inspiring. Like, oh my gosh. I love that you did such a 360 from slamming that door closed on “Authors don’t earn money. I’m not doing that”. And then, ‘cause I understand I’ve been backwards and forwards with that so much in my life,and then that kind of, you know, you get the day job and you’re doing the stuff and you’re not that happy because you’re not writing. And then to have that shift that was kind of catalysed by the hypnotist or the through hypnosis, was just amazing.
So, because there’s money blocks and there’s success blocks and that, are something that continues, like there’s always new ones that pop up and that every time we reach like a new kind of financial ceiling or something like that, other than looking for people who have moved through that, is there something else that’s your go to for dissolving those blocks as they arise?
Lee: So, obviously hypnotherapy worked gangbusters well on me, and energy workers like Renee, I’m also really responsive to. Renee is special. Like, I probably couldn’t just go to anyone and vibe with them. I could vibe with Renee from day one. That was another really cool thing that happened, I will say decluttering. Meaning taking things out of your life that are annoying you, and it could be literally things in your garage or house that are broken. Just start to remove those. And emotionally setting boundaries. I found those things work really well because they actually change your thinking. Cause you don’t walk into your house and go, Oh, what a mess. You walk in your house and be like, Oh, it’s so pretty. You know? So just get your house to the state that you would before you move, before you sell it. Right? You’re like, okay, what paint colours, whatever it is. And, just start to work towards that, because you want to feel really good every time you look around.
It’s a little echoey in here, but this is actually my writing space. It is the top of my garage and there’s like nothing in here but a chair for me. And then this standing desk where I’m standing now. And I come up here and it’s my space and it mentally is so freeing, right? I’m not sitting here going, Oh, there’s a pile of laundry. I’m like, Oh, this is great. And of course, I didn’t start that way. I couldn’t afford like a nice, beautiful space. So I did start in my bedroom with a pile of laundry, but I was mentally going, Oh, I’m free to be an author. So that was free enough. But as you want to grow more, declutter your space.
So if you have a mug that’s chipped that you hate, just go ahead and recycle it, donate it, reuse it as a mosaic or something, and get yourself a beautiful mug, and that can be a $10 purchase that makes you feel really good every time you see it. And then you start to replace things in your house. And usually if you replace one thing, like if someone replaces an old ratty couch, the furniture stores know this, they’ll end up replacing everything in that room to match. And it literally raises my self-esteem.
In fact, I set a boundary with someone the other day and they wanted to use this writing space and I was like, no, this is my office. This is my space. And it was my mom. So I set this boundary with my mother. I felt my self-esteem rise, like, no, I’m a millionaire author. I’m a 10 million a year author, or whatever. I have my own office and this is my space. And I also felt a little nauseated. Like I was going to throw up because it’s hard to set boundaries sometimes, but I could feel the self-esteem. Like I stood taller and was like, this is what I need. This is what I deserve. There’s an underlying, I deserve this. And especially when it comes to stuff, if you’re holding on to old stuff, that’s broken and you’re like, well, I might need that one day and underlying that is, and I won’t have the money to fix it. So just by recycling it or donating it or throwing it away, you mentally affirm that you have more than enough and you will have money in the future. And it can be pretty powerful, but take it, do baby steps. Like you probably already have a new toothbrush in your drawer. Go ahead and throw away your old one and just take out the new one. You know what I mean? We all have some, like, we have nice china, but we all, we use the old dishes. Just use the china more. you are special enough. It is a special enough occasion on a Monday night for you to use your nicest stuff. And that can be really helpful. And it sounds really ridiculous. But again, this is the way our brain works.
Just like they say you’re an average of the five people around you. Well, if you go on Facebook and you’re following the top authors or you’re in their writing groups, you’re in their author advice groups, you’re on their newsletter, you see how they talk to their readers, you’ll start to naturally adopt their behaviours. In the same way, if I want to become a runner, I would just join a running group. I wanted to do more yoga. I went and joined a yoga studio and I hired a private tutor, it’s a private teacher who would make me show up once a week. So then I was at least had to go once a week. And then once we were done with that, I was like, okay, I’m in the habit now, and I just had the membership at the, at the yoga place. And now I do more yoga because I went and joined that tribe.
Jo: I love it. That was the first chapter of your book Adventures With The Universe, which I want to talk about, because you break everything down into such practical, easy, fun steps. And your first chapter is kind of dedicated to that clearing and decluttering. And I had so much fun with that. Beginning of January is when I kind of, you know, I went through my wardrobe. I got rid of so many clothes, and all those clothes that it’s like, well, one day I might fit that again. No, maybe not. So, you know, I got rid of all that. I went through all the stuff that I’d been storing from a job I’d had previously that I hated and it had been cluttering up my closets and everything. And I’d held onto it for years and I’m like, oh no, it just all needs to go. And I posted it and I was like, you know, like there was so much stuff and I’m like a hundred bucks, but you must take it all. And it went within seconds and my gosh, it felt amazing. Like, so good.
Lee: Right? Cause when you open your closet and you see clothes that you want to wear, you don’t think, oh, I’m not good enough now. I have to lose weight before I can be happy. You just think, oh no, I’m good enough as I am. And the truth is you are, like, we are, we are good enough as we are. And we just, we’re just affirming that when we get rid of the stuff that, I don’t know, makes us feel rotten. You know it. Everyone knows. They’re like, oh yeah, when I open my closet or when I open that closet that’s filled with junk this is how I feel versus I would feel. And again, you can take it in very, very small steps. That’s why I’m like, just take out the new toothbrush. Just start there. Because it’ll kind of avalanche for you. And it’ll avalanche in a way that feels right. Cause you might be the person who’s like, no, I do like my chipped mug. That’s fine. That, I mean, if you love it and it makes you feel good. That’s the goal. It can be broken or chipped. It’s more that if you hate it, and every time you look at it, you’re like, Oh, can’t give this away cause someone gave it to me, or I might not be able to afford to buy another one. Well, then you’re affirming that every time, versus I have a great life and everything I have, I love, and I deserve to have things I love. I deserve to be surrounded by things I love. And that’s a deep affirmation that’s running in the background and it’s so deep you’re not hearing it. When you do hear something is usually when you are like, I’m going to be a six-figure author. And then you immediately hear like, no, you’re not. No, that’s not safe. No, who are you to deserve that? Rich people are evil, or whatever.
And there’s a whole chapter in Adventures With The Universe where I talk about all those little codes, all those little beliefs that are running in the background and you don’t hear them until maybe you make a big move. You’re like, I’m going to quit my job and travel the world. And that’s when it all comes up. And that’s good. Cause you’d rather to come up and get out, than to stay hidden. But it does kind of suck when you’re like, oh, if I get richer than my mother, she’s going to feel this way or it’s going to hurt her feelings. And that’s very, very primal. Like that’s deep stuff. But you can work it out. I’ve been thinking to myself, if I earn 10 million a year, I won’t be safe. Like people will, I’ll be too famous and people will hunt me down and they’ll stalk me. And then I’ve slowly been flipping that to when I make 10 million a year, I’ll be more safe because, first of all, I’m probably like equally safe. You know, like I already do have like my books up on Amazon. And if someone really wanted to, they could put me down, but just getting rid of the belief that, you know, that’s not going to happen is helping me go, okay, well, I’m going to hire a new person to do graphics for my course to make it more shiny or pretty or whatever. And, I’m going to try this different income stream and, you know, I’m going to write that sort of book. And it’s okay if I promote myself more.
For example, this is another way we stop ourselves. I just wanted to mention this from earlier. I get an invite from Apple to apply for a promotion. So they’re like, Hey, they blast email. They’re like, you’re invited to apply for a promotion for your book, and we’ll blast it out. Like a BookBub only for Apple Books. And I’m like, I found myself just not applying. And I was like, why am I not applying? And then my brain was like, well, that’s not for you. And I’m thinking, wait, they literally emailed me and invited me. So what is that? It’s not for you. Well, if I have this underlying belief that I’m not like good enough or not, I’m not a big author. And so I need to change my self-image to be, Oh no, I am a big author. Oh, I have my own writing space. And I set boundaries so I can write. And it is safe for me to make more money. It is safe for me to be out there. And then slowly all of that dissolves. But, that’s an instance of a way. You’re like, I want to do this and this would help me. And you stop yourself. And we’re just talking about removing, releasing that emergency break that you’re actually, literally you’re pulling on it and you’re also pressing down the gas. Just, it’s actually way easier to release the emergency brake and press down the gas. It’s harder for us to have these blocks then it would be for us to be successful.
Jo: I just love it. Gosh, I just love your energy. Like I can see why you’re successful because your energy is just like, just so high vibe and amazing. And I just, I could just listen to you for ages, talk about all this. It’s just amazing.
Lee: Thank you. I love it. And that’s the other reason I do it. And by the way, if you want to be an author, but, you know, you also want to make money in different ways. Like, it’s not a failing. I talked to a lot of authors and I talk a lot about, you know, I have a Millionaire Author Mastermind, so it’s all about like make money from your books. But we’re meant to grow and expand. And if you decide, wait a second, um, it’d be really interesting for me to take this job in France or whatever. That’s not a failure, because we’re meant to shift and change. And I actually see, I wrote Adventures With The Universe and that is not like my most successful book by far. But I do see it in the future, more of my brand being like courses and this mindset stuff. And that’s when it will probably be more of a success, right? Because I see myself doing more teaching and coaching in the future. That’s kind of what I’m interested in, obviously, because I’m talking nonstop to you.
Jo: I love it. So I’m kind of interested, you were talking about, you had sales jobs and things like that, did you continue with those sales jobs when you first started writing your books again, and after the hypnosis and everything? Did you continue with like the day job as well, or did you just go all in with writing?
Lee: I probably would have if it had been something I could do simultaneously, but it was a commission-based sales job and I wasn’t doing very well at that point. Like I had done well in it in the past, and then I went to my husband, I said, we want to have kids. So we’re sort of switching and I’ll probably be the one taking care of them. So can I like coincide an author career with that? And he was like, Oh, I need you to make money. And I was like, I kind of moped around for a few days and then he goes, fine, just please make money at some point. And it wasn’t easy for him, but again, I was so like, I pretty much sold him on him. I was like, I’m going to be an author. He did believe in me. It did take me a while to make money and it was really hard for him and he floated me. And then in 2020, I was like, you hate your job. Why are you doing that? Just come be a stay-at-home dad or whatever. So he works for me now. Amazing. Yeah. So he just went on a ski trip with his buddy, like in the middle of the week because, you know, you can. And so he’s very grateful. We’re in a good place. And for sure there were some rough patches and we love marital counselling. We do like maintenance therapy and we think it’s like the best money we’ve ever spent because, you know, we’d rather be married than dating. So good. So, yeah, we have a blast with that.
So it was difficult, but again, once I was like, I’m going to do this, I was so focused. I could have convinced anybody to let me live in their backyard in a tent while I wrote in a coffee shop on the weekdays and figured it out. Right? And if I had had the same motivation energy in 2008, my career would look very different. So I am grateful. I have the career I have, but I would be like blasting forward the same way I did in 2015. Like nothing was going to stop me.
Jo: Yeah. I’m so interested, ‘cause I know there is a lot of people listening to this, who have day jobs and that, because they’re maybe just starting out on their author careers or, you know, or whatever reason. Now for those who are maybe in an environment where it’s not such a happy high vibe place to be but they’re doing it because they feel they need to, or to bring in the income as they start their author career and that, what advice would you have for them? Because it’s hard to have that kind of like happy, happy, joy, joy mindset that you want to manifest the wonderful author career on the side when you’re feeling a little bit kind of dragged down during the day. Would you have any advice for them?
Lee: Yeah, absolutely, ‘cause I’ve been there. And I would say if you’re in a funk, ‘cause you can have those days when you’re a full-time author, like you’re like, why am I doing this? Like you’re stuck in the book and you’re like, ah, or the launch didn’t go well or whatever. But, first of all, it’s really a gift to have some income, like income is great. So I would start with gratitude. And in the first part of Adventures With The Universe, I do something called the Magic Spell. And I do my Magic Spell all the time because it really shifts my mood. So if I’m grouchy, I’m like, Oh, I gotta do a Magic Spell. Cause it starts with gratitude and then you’re listing out things you love. And then you, you kind of ask for some things. Anyway, I don’t need to go through the whole spell, but the starting with gratitude really, really shifts your mood. It takes me like a couple minutes of feeling grateful for something for like the fog to lift. And that’s actually where Renee Rose helped me, because energetically she can clear some of that like fog and I can’t.
It is very woo-woo guys. A lot of the stuff I do is very like, this is proven by brain science and I have like lists of scientific studies in my Adventures With The Universe book. But then Renee comes along and I’m like this is totally out there, but it really, really works for me and it like lifts everything off. But anyway, I would start with gratitude. If it helps you to do some sort of clearing like that, you can go for the energy clearing too. But do those tiny upgrades. Be grateful for the things that are working for your job. And also mentally know that, shift your self-image so that you’re a writer. Because you are. If you’ve written something, you’re a writer. If you have published something, you’re a published writer or you’re, if you’ve published a book, you’re a published author. And if you’ve written a book, you’re an author. Done. Full stop. Imposter syndrome, gone. Like I’m your fairy godmother, and I’m telling you right now, you are a writer, you are an author. No one else needs to come and put their stamp of approval on you. Love it. You just, you are it.
So mentally, yes, you work, I worked a sales job, but I could have been thinking the whole time I’m a writer. And then I think I would have been happier because I would have shown up to the sales job, and be like, yeah, this is my job. This is income. But my passion and my identity is not wrapped up in this. So then I’m less depressed because I’m like, oh, this is all my life is about. And even if you were just gonna, you know, go ice skating for fun. And you’re like, I want to be a skater. I don’t want to do it professionally, but I just, I am a skater. Like you’re going to go and do it. And it makes you happy because we’re meant to, we’re on this earth to just go and do stuff.
The other thing that I would do, and this is a little bit more woo-woo, but this is actually how I met Renee. I felt like I didn’t have many friends, which was true. And I felt like I was also chasing people. Like in my hometown I’ll be like, you know, like, Hey, can we… I was the one always reaching out versus having someone meet me halfway and be a friend. So I made a list of people who if I invited them to coffee, or if I reached out, they would, you know, text me back, and they would work equally hard to make the friendship happen as I would. So this is an example of like setting a boundary and raising my self-esteem. I made this list that were like, maybe five people on it. Maybe it was only three. And I was like, okay, that’s fine. And energetically I went, I release everyone else. Like I don’t need anything else. This list is enough. I’m not chasing anyone anymore.
The next month, I met Renee. And as soon as I met Renee, we were like, lightning struck. Like, you, you are my person. And since immediately, I was like, come here. And we were like in the corner, like talking at the conference. Like we were thick as thieves, immediately. And then we started doing stuff, you know, obviously we were friends and we did stuff together and then we ended up co-writing books together and now we run businesses together. We actually have a shared Amazon account under a separate business because we write so many books together and they’re so successful, and it’s been amazing. So if you want a friend like that, I recommend do the decluttering exercise with your list of friends. Just sit down and be like who is going to make the cut, who’s going to be on the list?
Now, if someone reaches out or comes into your life, they’ll be added to the list. It’s fine. You’re not really cutting anyone off. You’re not chasing anyone. I kind of created a vacuum, really. I was like, I don’t need anything else. You know, I have everything I need. And I’m available for more, but I’m not chasing anymore. And it kind of then rushed in. And so, think of it like that. Think of a vacuum. You can do something called a cord cutting exercise, which is really popular. You can find them online. I have a couple of meditations on them. And this is again, very energetic, but also very practical because you’re going, you know, no to what’s not working and you’re available for what is going to work.
And then just see what happens because that’s where the magic comes in. That’s where the adventure comes in. And Renee and I run another business together where we do like these meditations. She does her energy clearance. You can join for free. I’ll give you guys the link where you can join for a month for free to check it out. You get access to all these meditations. And we do a live call, but in that we do the clearings and the stuff. And the course is called Money Magic because we’re really focused on, like, we want you to make more money. We want you all to be millionaires. Full stop. Let’s get anything out of the way that’s keeping you or where you’re keeping yourself from doing it.
But we call it Money Magic because there is a magic part to it where you’re like, how did this happen? Like, I would never have guessed that I was going to meet Renee. And the way I met her, I think I wrote in the book about how like I got connected to someone on Facebook who ended up being on my road. Like we lived in the same city on the same street and it was really magical and it just happened again because I’ve always wanted to go into New Orleans. Every once in a while, I go down the rabbit hole, like looking at hotels, or I’ll read these vampire books and look up the restaurants where the vampires are. And I’m like, that restaurant is real. It still exists. Anne Rice was writing about it. So I’m like, I’m going to do a New Orleans trip. I’m going to go and I’ll stay near the Streetcar Named Desire. And, you know, there’s a Tennessee Williams room that I’m going to stay in. So I keep putting that out there, but I never made plans because I always kind of have a pretty full travel schedule.
And at the same time, Renee and I are writing on a book. We’ve written on it for over a year, which is really long for us. It’s going to be this huge launch. And a month ago, we get an email inviting us to do a talk for Money Magic and it’s in New Orleans. Of course. And I was like, well, I want to go to New Orleans. So I’m saying yes. And it’s on the day that our giant launch is, which is February 29th, which is a leap year. And so there’s a little bit of like, yes, there are factual explanations for this, but this is pretty magical. Like this is really fun. And so yeah, February 29th, I’ll be launching my book in New Orleans.
Jo: Yay. I do love how these things happen and the universe really does conspire some interesting kind of scenarios. I don’t believe in coincidences myself. I do kind of believe in like that higher kind of energy putting things together. But it really can surprise us with how it kind of, yeah, what it kind of gives us and that. I love it.
Lee: Oh, I love it too. So there’s a lot where I’m going, this makes sense. This is how our primal brain works. This is how our reticular activating system, you know, hones in on things. And red truck syndrome and all that. And then there’s another side of me that’s like, this is magic. And it’s really fun. Even if it isn’t magic, it’s fun to think of it as magic. Because we’re authors and we know poetry is powerful. And like, imagery is powerful. And if it helps you to go, there’s a higher power working for good. And it does, by the way, they’ve proven that just thinking that makes your life better. And so I’m going to do it, you know, I’m all for it.
And so I’m sure everyone listening is kind of into the woo-woo and into the magic, but if you’re kind of on the edge, like I get it, because sometimes I’m like, well, how would we explain this with science? But then there there’s the other side of it. That’s just fun. You know, like, it’s just fun. It’s fun to get an email and then go, wait,Oh, it’s the date of our launch. Oh, wait, I’ve always wanted to go to New Orleans. I knew that, but it’s also the day of, that’s really fun, you know?
Jo: Yeah. Yeah. So, so good. So can you talk a little bit about why you wrote Adventures With The Universe, and for those people who haven’t read it yet and who will hopefully go do so after this, what can they expect to find within?
Lee: All right. So I wrote it because I knew I needed it. And when I’m writing, I actually learn by teaching, which is why I have courses. And I run the Six Figure Strategy with Nick Eriks and I’m like, I wouldn’t put together my author strategy every year, unless I ran the course of like, I’d better show up and do it cause I’m in charge. But I wrote Adventures With The Universe because we had just been through the pandemic and there was a lot, I mean, I just get grouchy, like everyone gets grumpy and, you know, life wears you down. And I wanted to get back into that headspace of feeling like life is an adventure with the universe, and everything is magic, and I can ask for anything, and it’ll happen.
And even while I was writing the book, and the book is laid out so that week by week, or you can do it, you know, day by day, or any speed you want, there’s a new adventure for you to go on, and part of it is something very practical for you to do. So you sit with your journal, and you write your gratitude list, or whatever. And then there’s another step, that you’re kind of inviting the magic in. And you’re just putting it out there, and you’re going to see what happens. And that’s really fun, because it’s fun to go, okay, I’m going to declutter my house. And then you get frustrated and you go universe, I need you to help me declutter my house. And then your friends come over for a party and they’re like, wait, do you use the one pot? I’m like, no, never. And they’re like, can I just have it? I’m like, great. Yeah. Get it out of my pantry. And then my sister was like, do you use that soda stream? I’m like, no, she’s like, oh, can I have it? And I’m like, great. Get it, you know. And then I wrote in the book, like a couple more things happened. And I was like, okay. I didn’t even have to clean my own house. Like my friends ended up and then they ended up like vacuuming for me. And I’m like, okay, I’m going to write this down. And just noticing it and feeling grateful for it, obviously, changes my mood.
So when you get the book, there is a workbook that goes along with it, but you could just open a notebook and follow along in the notebook. I tried to write stories to inspire you along with, you know, adventure one day one, this is what you do. And I also designed it so that if you hit an adventure and you’re like, I don’t think I can do it. I’m like, just go back and do adventure one because that’s pretty basic, but it always works. And that’s the magic spell and that’s what I do all the time.
Jo: Yeah. Oh, I love it. I love it. Like I said, I think I’ve got it in pretty much almost all the formats and the workbook. And, yeah, I just love it that much. So yay. So what do you think is the biggest mistake then that people make when they’re starting the journey towards trying to manifest their amazing author career or, or writing life, or yeah? What do you think is a mistake that sometimes people make?
Lee: I mean, the biggest mistake, the most fatal one is going, I can’t do it and you slam the door. And that’s actually really painful. Like that is the worst pain I’ve ever felt emotionally. And physically it doesn’t even matter. Like it hurts so bad to do that. And so just leave the door open. And then, yeah, the biggest mistake would probably be, I know, I say to go and like watch other people who are successful. And there can be huge benefits to doing that and I think that is good, still good advice. And it will help you also find your tribe, who’s maybe like authors that are starting out or on your level, right? But you can start to compare yourself and you can do that at any stage in the game, obviously. Because people might look at me, and they don’t see that I was a writer and had like a book ready for 10 years before I did anything, you know? And then they don’t see that I made like $50 my first month and was pretty broke. But they might see me now and compare now. You just don’t know what people’s journey is. And usually the overnight success has been like failing for 10 years. Like that’s what’s happened is like all the success came in at once. And that can be really inspiring to hear. But if all you do is compare your starting product to JK Rowlings, like end product, that’s gonna be very disheartening.
So I tell especially authors, if you want to be inspired, read a good book. If you want to be motivated, read a bad book. So my biggest advice for a newbie is like, go read a bad book and you will be so angry. You’ll be so incensed. You’ll be like, this was all wrong. This was, this is off. And you’ll say to yourself, I can do better. And then take all that rage and go and do your own. Go and do it. Yeah.
Jo: Yeah. I think, I think that’s amazing advice. It reminds me a little bit, I’ve heard the advice too, you know, if you get like a one star review or something, or somebody gives you criticism and that, go find a book that you love, an author that you love, like a bestseller or whatnot, and go read some of their one stars and two stars, just to remind yourself, that’s a sign that you’re on your way to greatness right there.
Lee: And I do recommend, and I recommend this in the book, to keep a Kudos file and just put the good reviews you get. And if you don’t have any good reviews, any feedback you’ve gotten that was positive or encouraging. And if you don’t have any of that, make some up and put it in your Kudos file. And like, just start building that out because when you’re bummed, you can open it and you can read it. And I will tell you if you’re burnt out as an author and you’re like, why am I showing up to write today, and getting an email from a reader that’s like, I’m going through chemotherapy and your books are getting me and my friend through it. Or something, I mean that just reading that and then saving it to reread it can be very helpful. Because you do want feedback. You do want to go read your reviews. Go read those reviews.
Jo: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I agree. I love that. And I have one of those files set up too. I do that. ‘Cause there’s always going to be bad days, like you said, and it’s nice to just be reminded of the positive too. So yeah, yeah. So what is next for you then? You’ve got this new book launch in February 29th, so that would have come and gone by the time that this actually releases and that, but what else is on the agenda for you this year?
Lee: Yeah, so that book is fiction, and it’s book one in the trilogy, so there will be a whole trilogy this year. And I am planning on doing like one trilogy a year, and plus all the other little projects that I want to do, but that’s in fiction. And then for non-fiction, I run the courses. And Money Magic is the one that I’m most excited about because it is all this mindset stuff. And again, I run it because I need to do it. And I do. I immerse myself in this stuff all the time. I’m taking more classes on hypnotherapy. And I actually signed up because I just wanted the hypnotherapist to work on me and then I figured I’d sign up for his teaching so I could get all, I could watch him work on everybody and then pretend it was me. And that’s actually been really great. It’s been really helpful. And he’s not really strict hypnotherapy, it’s kind of a combination of things, but it’s really, really powerful and really, really cool.
And so Renee and I run Money Magic and we do those meditations and everything that we go out and immerse ourselves in, we bring into that course. And it definitely has a bent for authors, for creators, for business owners, especially like online. And we are expanding that by inviting people to sign up for a free month and then also opened an affiliate program. So people who join and give out their own link to give people a free month. If three people sign up through your affiliate link, we give you a free one on one coaching session. Amazing. Oh, that is so cool. It’s two on one, cause it’s Renee and me together. We’ll work on whatever for an hour or 45 minutes or whatever it is, one on one or two on one with someone. And that’s been really rewarding and fulfilling. And we’ll figure out how to do more of that in the future because we do like to just show up and just fix it, you know? Whatever it is, clear that fog away, energetically with hypnotherapy, if they’re comfortable with that. With meditation, with mindset work, whatever it is. And we love doing it in the group, which is Money Magic or one on one, which is if you are one of our affiliates. So that’s been really fun.
Jo: Love it. Oh, I love that. So how can people connect with you and where can they find your books, your fiction and Adventures With The Universe and everything else?
Lee: Yay. Well, you can find my fiction at https://leesavino.com/and you can find my nonfiction side, if you look up Money Magic, if you join the Millionaire Author Mastermind, or if you join the Author Abundance Central, which Renee runs, and we talk about Money Magic in there. But do sign up for a free month with Money Magic and just see if it’s for you because you can cancel within that 30-day period, if you don’t like it. And what happens is I think a lot of people come and they do a meditation. And then a couple of days later, they’re like, that actually really helped. That really, really helped. Like my car broke down and it’s not the end of the world. And I know it’s because my mindset is more resilient because of this meditation. So yes, please come and check it out.
Jo: Love it. I’ll make sure that all those links are in the show notes as well. And yeah, that is wonderful. Thank you so much for coming on the show today and sharing all your experience with Money Mindset and just your awesome energy. I so appreciate it. Thank you.
Lee: Thank you so much for having me.
Jo: Here are some takeaways from today’s show:
1. Never slam the door. Breakthroughs happen when you keep the door ajar.
2. Surround yourself with authors living the success you aspire to and you’ll find your money mindset shifting to fit in with them.
3. The key catalyst for making money as an author really does come down to mindset.
4. Decluttering is a really powerful way of helping to dissolve money blocks and in turn boost your confidence.
5. Manifestation starts with gratitude. Check out Lee’s book Adventures With The Universe to learn her full Magic Spell for manifestation.
6. If you write, you’re a writer.
7. If you aspire to be a full-time author, don’t wrap your identity up in your day job. Be grateful for the income and other positives, but remember, you’re an author.
8. Don’t compare yourself to others. Everyone’s journey is different and there’s a lot we don’t see going on behind other people’s success.
9. Keep a kudos file of positive feedback and reviews to help you through the tough times and self-doubt as an author.
So I hope you enjoyed that episode as much as I enjoyed interviewing Lee. I just found her so much fun and she’s so bubbly and has such fantastic life experience of really making manifestation work for her in creating author success. So I hope that you’re really inspired by this episode.
I highly, highly recommend that you go check it out Money Magic with Renee Rose and Lee Savino. It is fantastic. Again, you can get a 30-day free membership to it and you can cancel anytime during that time. But I highly recommend that you do check it out. Listen to some of the live calls or attend one if you can. Go through the modules on manifestation and enjoy the meditations and that there too. I listen to a lot of them right before I go to sleep at night. So I highly recommend you do that. I do have a link in the show notes. It is my affiliate link because I am a member myself, but as Lee said, if you really enjoy it, consider joining up to be an affiliate yourself. And this might be another episode that I end up doing in the future, which is on affiliate income. When there are products or courses and that that you really believe in and really are passionate about, why not help to get the word out and put some money back in your pocket as well. Just saying, just another way of being a wealthy writer.
So, other things that I recommend to you right now are, if you haven’t already, go sign up to my newsletter and you can get a free PDF of Manifestation for Authors with some tricks and tips to supercharge your author life. Go to https://subscribepage.io/manifestationforauthors and you can join my newsletter and get yourself that free PDF as well. That fortunately is the newsletter that is still working. Hooray. And hopefully within the next little while my reader newsletter will be working and all my other tech problems will be solved as well. Fingers crossed.
If you have a suggestion for an episode, a topic for an episode, a guest that you’d like to see on the show, or if you had an aha moment that you just want to share with the Alchemy for Authors audience, then go to https://www.speakpipe.com/alchemyforauthors and you can leave me a short voice message. And I would love to hear your voice and I would love to include you on the show, so go ahead and do that. Don’t be shy. Yeah, I think that’ll be lots of fun.
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Otherwise, I hope that you are having a much less challenging Mercury retrograde right now and technology is being kind to you. If you have any suggestions or know of somebody who is a whiz at fixing DNS records and crazy weird DMARC things, then please do reach out to me and let me know. I’d be very interested if I can’t get this sussed in the next few days. Otherwise, I am wishing you a wonderful, magical week ahead, my friends, and happy writing. Bye.
author mindset, indie author, manifestation, Mindset, Money Blocks, Money Magic, Money Mindset, Success Blocks