Hi friends,

It has been a while. A lot has happened in the last few months—the good, the bad, and the ugly—but let's focus on the good—or at least try to since it's Friday.

The best part of the past few months was that my short story, The ​Agency, was included in a beautiful anthology of stories from the Middle East titled Stories from the Center of the World, which was published by San Francisco-based publisher Greenlights. Grab a copy if you want to lose yourself in the stories from the Middle East.

Here is a photo from the book launch at Busy Boys and Poets in Washington, DC.

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Meanwhile, I continued to write and publish. You can read my latest story, "The Lakshmi of Suburbia," on the Markaz Review website here.

Meanwhile, in the past few months, I jumped on the coaching wagon and loved it. My entry into coaching happened when I started getting requests about publishing and writing books. Many of my readers sent me questions about how to get started when writing a book and what kind of publishing options they have, and a number of them asked for private coaching. That's when I started my book publishing program.​

Another area that I have been asked about is starting a podcast. I have been getting requests to do private sessions on how to get started with your podcast, so I launched my coaching program here. ​

Let me know if you are interested in these programs, and we can talk. We can always jump on a Zoom call. Here is a link to my calendar.

Meanwhile, I have some capacity to take on at least one more client, so if you are looking for someone to curate beautiful content for your brand, whether it's a newsletter, blog posts, or even a book, then let's talk.

Speaking of potential clients, my Liknedin post about potential clients ghosting me and other writers got a lot of traction. You can check it out here.

Another big development in the past few months is that I started a serialized novel on Substack. It's called Karma Unleashed. I dropped the epilogue a few days ago. You can join the journey here and read the novel for free. I will publish a chapter a week. Yes, it's an experiment. I'm curious to see what I will learn from it and how readers react to it. If you have the time to read it, please drop me a line. I would love to hear what you think.

All right, that's it or now. I hope you enjoy this month's newsletter.

Stay creative.

All the best,

Natasha

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P.S: There are a few days left to sign up for a live cohort on Maven, where I'll share all my tricks of the trade and show you how I monetize my writing to pay my bills.

The cohort is designed to cater to a diverse range of writers, including freelance writers, content creators, and writers.

No matter your background or experience, you're welcome to join and learn how to monetize your writing.

The cohort will start September 9 and include three live sessions a week for three weeks.

If you want to find ways to monetize your writing, then this cohort is a good fit.

You can sign up here.

I hope to see you there.

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🖼️ Photo of the week

🤩 Things that wowed me

Podcast: I loved listening to this episode of The Diary of a CEO with Steven Bartlett, where Arianna Huffington shares her powerful story about collapsing from exhaustion and how it prompted her to rethink the meaning of success. She talks about the moment she found herself lying in a pool of blood and how this pivotal experience led her to sell The Huffington Post and launch Thrive Global, focusing on well-being and work-life balance. Definitely worth checking out!

📚 Book: I loved the novel The Last Word by Taylor Adams. It's the best thriller I have read in a long time, filled with so many twists and turns that I didn't see coming. Now a huge fan of Taylor Adams

📹 YouTube: I loved watching this YouTube video,titled "If you want to be a $100K freelancer, read these books." where Deya share a list of essential books for freelancers who want to scale their income to six figures. Some recommendations include So good they can't ignore you by Carl Newport and This is Marketing by Seth Godin. Definitely worth a watch if you're looking to level up your freelancing game!

🎶 Music: I have been listening to Billie Elish's latest album, Hit Me Hard and Soft, for most of the summer. So many good tunes, including Birds of Feather, Lunch, and Wildflower.

✍🏻 Quote:

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🎙️ Read and Write with Natasha podcast

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Curious about how alcohol shaped American history and continues to influence our lives today?

Listen to this compelling conversation with marketing expert and author Ella Parlor as we uncover the untold stories behind America’s relationship with alcohol.
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From the Prohibition era to today’s complex regulatory landscape, we explore the fascinating history of the 18th and 21st Amendments and their enduring impact on society.

Ella shares her unique insights on the controversial "mommy wine culture" and the ethical challenges of alcohol marketing in parenting.

We also dive into the creative and challenging journey of writing and publishing her book, High Tolerance, and discuss how social media is reshaping the public image of alcohol.

Whether you're a history buff, a concerned parent, or someone interested in the ethics of marketing, this episode is packed with eye-opening discussions and invaluable insights.

🎥 The YouTube experiment

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In this video, I show you how to create digital products that would supplement your income, especially if you want to make income from your writing (full time or as a side hustle). I hope you enjoy it and find it useful

​Watch this episode on my YouTube channel, and please don't forget to subscribe. (I'm trying hard to get monetized, so if you could help me, I would appreciate it!)

📚 Published work

​In addition to my serialized novel, I also published a number of articles on Substack. Here are some of my latest:

• ​Finding solace in a book during tough times​
• ​How I failed my dreams until I didn't​
• ​Why are we vilifying using AI for fiction?​

Connect with me

Do you need help with your digital media strategy? Are you looking for someone to write your newsletter? Are you trying to get published and looking for a book coach to guide you through the murky publishing world? Do you need a ghostwriter?
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Let's chat!

📧 Email me at natasha@natashastynes.com ​

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