The Book Was Never Just the Book: Turning Your Story into Legacy with Missy Maxwell Worton

Notes from the Edge

In this episode of Notes from the Edge, Lisa Lacey interviews Missy Maxwell Worton, an award-winning author and publishing strategist, about her journey from a personal

Key takeaways

• Missy Maxwell Worton overcame an eighth-grade teacher's criticism about her grammar by forgiving the past and embracing her voice.
• Writing a book is not about becoming an author but about becoming a voice that transforms lives through authenticity and vulnerability.
• The first step in writing a book is to identify your 'why' and know your audience, as the message must resonate with those who need to hear it.
• Perfectionism is a barrier to completion; imperfection allows for authenticity and connection with readers.
• The process of writing a book is a journey of healing and self-discovery, not just a single moment of completion.
• Missy helps authors navigate the entire process from writing to publishing and launching their books, including platform development and personal branding.
• The power of words and frequency can heal and transform, and authenticity is a higher frequency than love.
• Stories are instruments for impact, and the purpose of publishing is to help people heal, transform, and find their purpose.
• The importance of dismantling false narratives and embracing love, kindness, and authenticity to create a healthier world.
• The need to talk more about how to love well, even those in difficult places, to foster healing and connection.
• The role of forgiveness in freeing oneself from past limitations and embracing one's voice.
• The importance of recognizing that every story has a purpose and is meant to be told.
• The value of involving the audience in the writing and publishing process to build connection and support.
• The significance of not letting fear or perfectionism prevent one from sharing their story.
• The impact of storytelling in creating a legacy and transforming culture.
• The importance of knowing your 'why' and staying connected to it during challenging times.
• The role of social media and platforms in helping authors reach their audience and build visibility.
• The need to focus on love, kindness, and authenticity to maintain health and well-being.
• The importance of recognizing that everyone has a story worth telling and that sharing it can inspire others.

Transcript preview

Speaker 1 (0:01) Hey, hey, friends, welcome back to an episode of Notes from the Edge. I am your host, Lisa Lacey, and this is where we have the conversations we should have been having all along. You ain't talking about it, but we're going to. And today, I'm so excited to have my special guest, Missy Maxwell Worton. Missy is an award-winning author, speaker, publishing strategist, author coach, founder of Light Warrior publishing as well as Double Edge 7 publishing and Warrior Writers Development Program. She also happens to be my publisher. That's why I'm so excited to have her because she helps purpose-driven leaders, entrepreneurs, ministry leaders, and aspiring authors transform their life experiences, expertise, and God-given messages into impactful books that build legacy, expand influence, and create meaningful change. Through her publishing and coaching work, she has helped hundreds of aspiring authors take an idea all the way into a published book, guys. She helps you from your God-given idea because if it's still gnawing at you, there's a reason. And we're going to talk about that today. But she helps you publish, launch, market, write your book. She's had many Amazon number one bestsellers, including my own book, was a number one new release for two months. because of her work. Her guidance extends beyond just manuscript into platform development, personal branding, audience growth, book launch strategy, and creation of your message and movement. Her own publishing journey started with her deeply personal book. Don't mess with Mama, risking it all to rescue our daughter, which became a number one Amazon bestseller and has won many literary awards. before publishing we're going to talk about that missy so much to say about you welcome to notes from the edge how are you today my friend so good to be here i just love hanging with you i mean we i know we could talk for hours we could talk for hours well missy let's talk about normally we talk about how your journey ended up here so your publishing journey began with your own very intense personal story so kind of walk us through at the beginning getting of your own journey? Well, my own journey actually started with somebody telling me, it was an eighth grade teacher telling me that I should never be an author. And I took that for 30 years and I decided, well, I can't be an author because I have, in her words, atrocious grammar. And I still might have atrocious grammar. Y'all might catch it. But one of the things that I busted through after we rescued my debut book was actually was written after we boarded the last flight, Addis Ababa International, to rescue our six-year-old adopted daughter from going into slavery. So we went through a lot and we had to go into hiding all of that good stuff. But when I came back, movie producers won a first dibs on it. And all I could think is I can't write a book, but they needed me to write the book. And so that's how I ended up writing my first book after I had already been in film and television for about 30 years writing for screenplays. And once I did, it just started blowing up and people started coming to me and saying, hey, I feel like I got a book inside of me. Need a little help here. Don't know what to do next. And so at first I would meet with them over coffee and quickly saw this is not going to work. I need more time. We need more that. Yeah. And so after it's off time. Yeah. And that's it. And it was, we just kept going. I started meeting with people over, you know, over Zoom. I have people from Canada, England, all over America. And we meet on Monday and Thursdays. And we give writing prompts. I give feedback on what they've written. I have other award-winning authors now. I've been doing this for four years. And when I saw that they were getting, I don't know if the word, it is going. But I was helping them write this amazing book and then they go to a publisher and spend $25,000 to get published. And I was like, I know what it costs to do this. So I contacted some editors, some formatters, individuals who are good proof readers, graphic designers. You have a great team. I have an amazing team. I'm so thankful for the women who work with me. But, and we started publishing books 18 months ago. We've published 30. Wow. Congratulations. Thank you. That's huge. That's a number of books. It's amazing. And I mean, alone, this next month, we have five being published in August. Oh, my God. In August, that's exciting. That's exciting. Well, Missy, I don't want to gloss over something. because I think this is where you actually can, you do help people the most. We're going to circle back to that eighth grade teacher who told you you couldn't do this. Yeah. So how did you get over that hump? Because I know you walk people who get stuck, right, over that hump. What, what was it just, I got to do this or was it a forget her or walk us through that? How did you break through it? And let me just tell you right now, the first step was forgiving her. I got to get her. She is living in my brain, rent free. She's out. She's gone. For three decades? Yeah. I mean, we came back from Ethiopia after, you know, hiding out, resting, being up against this corrupt government official. And one of the producers, he said, I want you to write the book. And I immediately said, I don't write books. And he looked at me like, what the heck? You write movies. And he turned his head. And he said, who told you that you couldn't write? And that's when I brought out my blame thrower and headed it right at, pointed it right at my eighth grade creative writing teacher. And he stopped me. He said, that is what we have, that's why we have editors. You know, that was it. And he goes, that's it. It has nothing to do with your ability to write a. great story missy we'll find an editor you just write and love it was that what you do for your authors yeah and it was that moment that i was like oh wait why didn't I about that my grammar has why didn't I about editors they're part of the team and you have amazing editors on your team so but you say often that writing a book is not about becoming an author it's about becoming a voice that transforms lives. So how can someone tell the difference between wanting to publish a book and that gnawing message where they know it has to be heard? Like my memoir, knows from a certified madwoman after being hospitalized and turning 50, I was like, I got to tell this story. Like, I got to. I can't leave with it. So what, for our listeners today that are sitting there, with that story in them, what can you say to them? Well, I mean, your story does matter. And first of all, get all the authority bias out, which is somebody saying you can't do it like me. You know, what happened to me. But the first thing I ask authors is, why do you need to write this book? Why is the passion there? Because we need to get to what your passion is in order to make it where you won't give up on it. because writing a book is no easy feat, as you know, especially if you dig deep and try to find revelation for your readers because readers are looking for authenticity, they're looking for vulnerability, and they're looking for new revelation to give them answers. I'm going to say this. I might be in trouble, but AI cannot write your memoir. It cannot dive deep. Now, it can structure your memoir really well, but you have to have the words that you, emotionally felt and had impact in your life and helped you heal. So the message, first get your why and then know who you're writing this book too, because nobody is writing a book that millions and millions, the whole world is reading and needs. That's a good point. Know your audience. That's why I know your audience, know your niche, know your message. And I always tell everybody right to the audience of one, one, just one person. Your audience. And they're sitting right across from you. They're a best friend. You're having coffee or tea, whatever you want to have. And you're telling them your story. That way it's going to come out authentic and vulnerable. And it's going to be truth because you love your friends. You're going to say everything truth. And you're not going to hold back. But the first thing, too, that I want to say is the first person transformed by your book is you. It is when you go in and you do the hard work, you heal and forgive. Because just like me, I had to forgive first because every time I sat down to write, I heard my eighth grade teacher say, you can't be an author. You have atrocious grammar. People will laugh at you. I would hear that. And so finally, I had to shut that down. So shut down the negative words that are coming at you. But the way to do that is just forgive them and say, you know what? I don't need your opinions. I'm going to do it anyway. Yeah. I'm going to do it anyway. The one thing about, you know, because I speak on authority bias, the one thing about it is when you believe something that an authority figure says to you, you believe it wholeheartedly. And authority figures are teachers, their coaches, their parents. They can be pastors. I mean, we can go down the line. But you believe 100% what they say is truth rather than just another man's opinion. woman's opinion. So when we recognize that some really ugly words have been said about what we can or cannot do, and we see it as, well, that's their opinion. They may just not like me because I have blonde hair. They may not like me because I'm short. You know, remind them of their ex-wife. Who knows? Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. We look. I've had that before. I'm like, I'm sorry. I know. I have been known to remind people of certain people they don't like, you know. It happens. It happens. But I love that. Forgiveness first. That's key. Because, well, and you brought up an excellent point, too. There is a, well, especially for something like a memoir, there is a, it's a personal excavation. It's required. Like, you got to, you got to, yes, know your why. Know that there's no way you're getting out without getting the story out, right? You have to do it. There needs to be a have to. So I absolutely love all of that. But yeah, friends, it does. And you have to be willing to have the story that you're willing to be married to for a while. Because it is a process, right? So talk to us about that, that it is a process, not just a single moment of completion. You're revisiting and you're revisiting and then you're digging deeper and then you're adding more. or taking step away. So talk to us about the process and how you need to really be married to your story for a little while. You really do. And let's just say what happens first. We're talking about the forgiveness because that is so key. That forgiveness isn't for them. That is for you. So you can move them out of the space in your mindset that they've been living rent free. And but the next thing that when you sit down and you decide, okay that you would you would ask one specific question what was that the process did marry to marry to your story so as I said before the whole transformation the first part of the transformation is you so you took back the pen to your life by forgiving that that person now you have the pen to your story you write your own future but then when you when you write your own future you now have that strong, powerful place of sitting in a place of authority to helping other, to transform generations. And when you transform generations, this is when you start transforming the culture around you. So you have to start with that. Then why? And your audience. But then the key ingredient here is what is your message going to be? Now, your message can be already out there, but it's going to be. with your frosting on it. I like that. That's good to let people know. It doesn't have to be like so novel that it never existed because that doesn't exist. Everything