Write a Horse Book (I'll Help You)

“Could I pick your brain about writing a book?” People pose that question to me frequently, and I love it. I heard it over and over when I met new readers on my recent Marguerite, Misty and Me book tour launching my Marguerite Henry biography. The question peppered me so often I thought, “You should design a course for aspiring authors, and share what you know!” My background is in the field of education (I’m a real life teacher) and I love helping people learn. Why not build a course?

The past several months I have had my head down, and I’ve been researching and lesson planning so I can come alongside you, or anyone who wants to write and publish a horse book (or a non-horse book for that matter).

I want to help others bring their books into the world, because I’m a reader too! I want future authors to sidestep mistakes I’ve made, save money (PRO TIP: probably don’t need to go to that writing conference on the other side of the country), save time and save heartache.

write a horse book author Susan Friedland — From writing that first draft to publishing and publicizing, I will help you write your horse book!

Background on How I Came to Write a Horse Book

In 2013 I started this equestrian blog because I wanted to publish my equestrian memoir Horses Adored and Men Endured (which at the time I had titled Gaits and Dates–lol). I started writing that manuscript in 2007 would you believe it? I had no idea what I was doing, so I went to a writing conference in Los Angeles circa 2013 and was told, “You need a blog,” in order to be taken seriously by publishers.

Start a blog I did. Most of my early blog posts are set to private now, because they are completely cringey. I had no idea when I hit publish on my first blog post where this writing journey would lead. It is not an overstatement to say writing a book has changed my life and opened up a world of possibility for me as a speaker, podcast host, media member, etc. I’ve also made some amazing real life and online friends along the way. It is possible writing a book will do the same for you too.

CLICK HERE to grab my awkward dating story collection (aka Horses Adored and Men Endured)

In 2016 I wrote a comprehensive book proposal (which reminded me of writing my master’s thesis–it was hard and took forever). That helped me get a literary agent for Horses Adored. My agent did her best over the course of a year to sell my story. It wasn’t meant to be. The feedback we got from publishers was that the book was charming, but too niche. I lost count of all the “no’s.”

However, I didn’t let the no’s and gatekeepers stop me. I spent years figuring out how to get my charming, too-niche book into the world. It wasn’t easy, but it was an unbelievable experience. And I liked it so much I haven’t stopped writing books. I’m in the middle of a manuscript for young readers about Marguerite Henry and Misty of Chincoteague. And my books keep finding new readers every day. I think they like me too.

I realize you might read this blog because of the horse-themed content, but you might not even enjoy writing. That’s cool. Thanks for reading. I’ve got loads of blog post ideas in store for 2024. But if you’re someone who has entertained, even for a split-second, the idea about writing a book, I would encourage you to give it a go.

Why You Should Write a Horse Book Too!

Read 5 Reasons to Write a Horse Book (a sister blog post to this one).

Two Reasons Why Equestrians are Inherently Positioned to Write Books

If you’ve ever though you might like to write a horse book, but weren’t sure if you could do it, I’m going to tell you that you can. Here’s why: horse people are not afraid of hard work and we know good things take time. It’s the same with writing and publishing.

If you’ve ever curried mud clods off a horse, mucked a stall, lifted a hay bale, packed a trailer for a horse show, etc. you are no stranger to hard work. Writing a book is hard work, but it’s doable work.

My trainer likes to say, “The slow way is the fast way.” I appreciate that wise insight and I think about that frequently. Most things with horses take time, from the 11-months for a foal to develop and be born to the years of waiting for a young horse to mature enough to be riding-ready, to training in your particular discipline. I’m 40+ years into riding and I am still learning how to ride with soft elbows and following hands. Writing and publishing a book takes time. You can’t microwave a manuscript to completion, and that’s okay.

Let Me Help You Write a Horse Book

CLICK HERE to claim your seat for my new course that will set you up for new author success. It will be a six-week series of live Zoom trainings starting September 26.

If writing a horse book is not for you, but you have a friend who might be interested, I would be grateful if you helped spread the word. I’m still going to serve up horse-centric, equestrian lifestyle blog content here on Saddle Seeks Horse, but I’m also pumped to help future horse book authors bring their stories into the world.