Dr. Rebekah Louisa Smith (aka Rebekah Film Dr) is an award-winning consultant and media personality with more than ten years of film festival strategy consulting experience. Smith and the hard-working team behind her company, The Film Festival Doctor, are creators of success who are committed to nurturing filmmakers to help them secure film festival screenings, win notable awards and earn positive recognition within the industry.
Currently, her company has won more than 1,000 awards for their clients and her team has supported nearly 850 creatives across the world. She is also the author of Born to Do It: Becoming the Leader of a Business Niche Using Powerful Spiritual Techniques.
What do you hope your readers take away from this book?
My goal is for everyone who reads it to feel as if they’ve learnt something new with regards to how to tune into their higher self and get clarity on what type of career they’re meant to be working in, but also feeling confident that they have the tools – and courage – to launch their first business.
What are the top three tools you are currently using to write, publish, and promote your books?
- A publicist – Smith PR has helped my book get more noticed around the world and have really helped to level up my personal brand.
- Wikipedia – I found a company who creates Wikipedia pages, and they dedicated a whole section to my book. They stressed how important it was to individuals looking to figure out what they were born (and put on this Earth) to do.
- Get a proofreader – The proofreader who reviewed my book was incredible, as she tightened it up to the point where it was extremely clear, punchier, on point, and didn’t repeat itself. I highly recommend that everyone employs a proofreader.
When will you consider your book a success?
It’s not really about selling millions of copies, it’s rather about the impact it has. The more impact it has on others the better, and the more vocal about the book people will be in recommending it to others (which is an amazing form of flattery). Word of mouth has always been my favorite type of referral.
How have the pandemic and Lockdown affected you or your new business?
During the start of the lockdown, a huge amount of creativity washed over me, and I expanded and grew my business whilst pivoting it to work around the pandemic restrictions and new ways of working. I quickly saw the online film festival model becoming the ‘new normal’ within the film industry and embraced it to help my filmmaker clients adapt.
This was also the time when my book was born. If I’d have never done the interview with an Indian Magazine called Unique, then I would never have created and written BORN TO DO IT, which was keen to get out of me!
What have been your biggest challenges and how did you overcome them?
My life turned upside down during December 2020. I was due to make my move to the USA, however, that did not go according to plan because of inaccurate – yet well-intentioned – legal advice. Instead, I ended up living in Mexico for 7 months trying to get the problems with my Visa resolved. Thankfully, I did, which I’m eternally grateful for. And now, I’m pleased to be finally living in the USA. Interestingly, I always thought I had to be in LA, but discovered I can do lots of things being based here in Texas and can easily commute to both LA and NYC.
What is the one thing you wish you knew before publishing your book?
That the book market is tough as it’s oversaturated and that you have to do your own PR. I had an idea that this would happen, but I did feel alone during this part of the process. It wasn’t until I connected with Smith PR that I felt I had a strong passionate and dedicated team surrounding me.
Please share one thing new self-publish authors can do to gain more reviews on Amazon.
Keep reminding people who have bought the book to write a review – check in with them once a week. Give them an incentive such as a ‘refer a friend’ and they get some cashback/discounts. That tends to work quite well.
Can you share some of the marketing techniques that have worked for you when promoting your book?
- Most definitely word of mouth and not being shy to promote the positive reviews and press that you’ve been getting. It’s never perceived as arrogant when celebrating your wins on social media and your website – in the book review world, it’s a positive thing.
- When creating your social media posts, use Instagram layout and include a picture of yourself at the top, and at the bottom, use an image/logo of the publication that you’ve been featured in. Then, add the link to view the article or book review into your post. This looks very striking on Instagram – you can see mine as an example on my feed @rebekahfilmdr.
- With regards to word of mouth, this is very effective, especially with book clubs. When a group of individuals talk about your book, this entices them to buy it and recommend it to others. And by doing this, the word then spreads around local communities, groups, family members and individuals.
If you had the chance to start your career over again what would you do differently?
Listen to my gut and ask myself what I want to do, not what other people want me to do. I would have also gotten my business support team and mentors on board much earlier— that way I wouldn’t have made hundreds of mistakes and burnt myself out. Now, I know how to avoid that, which I’m grateful for, and I love delegating work to my team.
What’s a productivity tip you swear by?
It’s irrelevant how many hours you work in the day to be considered productive. If you are most productive and get lots of work done for 4 hours in the morning, that’s fine and so be it. If you feel more productive in an office for 8-9 hours, that’s fine too. The golden rule is to be productive on your own terms and your own time frames.
What helps you stay driven and motivated to finish writing your book?
I had so much to tell and I did not want to give up. I made a commitment to myself and all of the people who would read the book from the day that I began planning it, that this book would be published, and I would be giving them the tools they needed to make their dreams come true.
Can you recommend one book, one podcast, and one online course for entrepreneurs and authors?
Yes – Cosmic Ordering Made Easier written by my publisher Ellen Watts.
I love this book because it helped me trust in myself and the universe, much more than I expected.
If you only had $1000 dollars to promote a new book, knowing everything you know now, how would you spend it?
Hiring a PR company. I wouldn’t spend any of it on advertising, just a nice PR package that could get lots of reviews. Putting up reviews on social media and your website are incredibly powerful to drive and generate sales.
What’s your best piece of advice for aspiring and new authors?
Plan every detail of your book – this being the overall story and the structure – before putting pen to paper and actually writing it. For example, do loads of ‘idea bubbles’ for stories that you want to tell. After reviewing them, you’ll then know if they fit into the book or not.
By doing this, it will flow easily, and you’ll find that you’ll write the book much quicker than you think as everything has already been carefully planned out.
What is your favorite quote?
Never give up on your dreams – one of my business mentors Ed JC Smith told me this and I’ve never forgotten it. It’s also the backbone theme of the film LA LA LAND, which I also adore as it’s so true that you should never give up on your dreams, especially in the film and arts industry.
How do you personally overcome fear?
Trust my gut and trust that the universe will never put me in danger. I always remind myself that I will never be able to grow if I don’t take that huge risk or do something that I feel is scary. I need to always remember to show my vulnerability in order to get through those fearful challenges.
How can readers get in touch with you?
The best way to reach out to me is via Instagram- my account is @rebekahfilmdr. You can also learn more about me, my book, and my business on my website at rebekahlouisasmith.com.
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