Tom Bird – The Man Behind the Method
While serving as a publicist for major league baseball’s Pittsburgh Pirates, Tom Bird had a life-changing, perspective-altering, spiritual awakening. This spiritual awakening would set the compass for the remainder of his life, produce the sale of his first book and reset, forever, how he would see writing, publishing, and life.
Tom’s awakening and eventual success as a best-selling author and the innovative, spiritually-led approach he took to get there, directly disputed all he had learned, been taught, or read about writing and the authoring of books up to that point.
True to a promise he made to share what had been revealed to him, Tom has spent the last thirty-five years sharing the unique, inside-out approach with authors and writers of all types worldwide.
During that time, besides writing more than thirty books himself, Tom has appeared before hundreds of thousands of aspiring authors through webinars, retreats, seminars, radio talk-show appearances and through over 4,000 lecture appearances at hundreds of different colleges and universities.
His unique method has led to the completion of tens of thousands of books, more than one hundred of which have ended up as Amazon best-sellers.
What Tom’s method has done for so many, it can do for you as well.
Tom lives and works in Sedona, AZ, although his workshops and writing seminars are offered in many locations across the U.S.
Here’s a sampling of proof:
What Our Authors Are Saying
Thank you! I’m growing into my book.
Realizing dreams and a writing studio in a 111 year old farmhouse I just acquired. Been a while since you helped me get that book out. It’s needed more than ever considering the times. Tom, you are riding shotgun with me even if you don’t know it! You have given me permission to be ‘OK’ with my time line for my writing! Love to you and yours!
This retreat has opened the door…
This retreat has opened the door to the rest of my life – the life I am meant to be living as an author, speaker, and coach. It has shown me what I already knew but had to be reminded of: that all the answers and power are inside of me, they just had to be accessed and Tom has shown all of us at this retreat how to do that.
Practical and inspirational ways
The retreat has given me both practical and inspirational ways to let my books that are already written in another dimension, reveal themselves to me: how to write, revise, complete, publish and begin the next… and the next. I have tools to get the left brain out of the way so the right brain can receive inspiration to write and revise my books. Then the left brain can do its job of projecting sales, etc. It has been a life changing, inspiring, and practical experience.
I am so thrilled…
I am so thrilled to be able to be in this retreat and be treated to learning a totally new creative process… This is the exact opposite of what I was previously taught about writing…I finally learned to LOOSEN UP…
It was a great adventure…
It was a great adventure… I really surprised myself… When the student is ready, the teacher appears…
The most memorable…
The most memorable part was finishing…only because it was a process that has been a part of me for a long time…
Thank you…
Thank you for teaching me this valuable method…it really works…
I felt the shift…
It could be the first time I felt the shift and felt the words pouring out of me faster than I could type…thank you for allowing me to accomplish something I always felt I would do…
Life changing…
Life changing…Ground breaking…I will never go back to old methods
Your teaching affects my writing…
My novel, ‘Reflections,’ that I wrote in your retreats has won its 8th win BEST Screenplay. The last three days I’ve had five producers asking for the script for consideration. I plan to attend your November retreat in Sedona. Your teaching affects my writing with every pen to paper stroke.
My sincere gratitude
I just wanted to express my sincere gratitude for all you provide to up-and-coming writers/authors. I listened again to your webinar, Write Your Book in a Weekend, and I realize now, that because of how I was robbed of my career, then black-listed, and then the continuation attempts…I was scared to death that I was going to get attacked again when this book comes out, but I am not afraid anymore. I am standing for what I know is right.
Tom Bird is amazing.
His intuitive writing method exactly matches the way I like to work. When I talked to Tom before the retreat, I told him I didn’t have to be published or make money. I told him I wanted to learn his system because I wanted to do it for me, for the healing aspects of writing in his intuitive style. He said he wished all his authors felt that way. Writing is very healing. In this book I still feel pressing upon me, I’m speaking from experience. I knew I would have to share deeper about my life to establish my authority to write it. I shared with him my fear of writing about things I did not usually talk about. Tom assured me that writing the book does in fact offer a complete release from past pain and that I was in good hands. He didn’t mean just his team, but was subtly referencing the Divine help surrounding the entire experience as well. I had already gotten quite an amazing number of insights while I did the preparation exercises they ask you to complete prior to coming.
I always knew…
I always knew there was a way to [write and channel my books] but couldn’t quite figure it out… I have known for many years I needed to write this book but it was one that I had difficulty writing due to the subject matter. When I remotely attended your retreat in June I was able to write the story for the 3rd time, as young adult fiction this time and love how it ends.
After 56 years…
After 56 years, I have started writing the book I always wanted to write as a direct result of buying your book: Call of the Writer’s Craft. You are the one who opened the blockages that were making me attend classes and read book after book on Creative Writing. I think you are a genius. Thanks so much for sharing your secret with aspiring but frustrated writers like me.
We can do anything…
Tom Bird reminds us that we can do anything through our connection with the Divine, and that writing is a divine way to do it.
Bird has a system.
A professional writer, no matter how talented, is nothing if he can’t get his work published…Bird has a system.
Thanks…
Thanks for showing me how to get published….half of a million copies sold to date.
Finest writing instructor…
Tom Bird is simply the finest writing instructor in the world.
Tom Bird is a frigging genius.
There are no words to describe the breakthrough I had tonight from doing Tom’s homework assignment this week… I LOVE this work. Tom Bird is a frigging genius.
His unique approach…
Without Tom Bird my book simply would not be. His unique approach helped me dig deep and push myself beyond what I could have even imagined. Through his writing retreats and publishing programs I was guided in a very logical way from writer to author, complete with a platform and an understanding of how to navigate today’s complex social [networks]… [It] is clear from his vast experience that he provides the method; we provide the magic.
I have written…
In the one month since I attended Tom Bird’s Retreat, remotely, I wrote and revised a book, [wrote] 3/4 of my second book, produced and hosted Episode 1 of a Documentary series that I dreamed of doing 5 years ago, reprinted an out of print documentary that I’ve been meaning to do for two years, won an audience award for my live solo show in a fringe festival, started waking up an hour earlier, [and] lost a few unwelcome pounds. I have written almost every single day and maintained my daily yoga and exercise routine… And this week, my editor for one of the books contacted me to reaffirm her interest from over a year ago.
Take a chance on myself…
There were times in the days before [the retreat] that I almost cancelled because I could feel my fear wanting to keep me in a place that was familiar. With Tom’s expert guidance and amazing support team, I was able to show up and stay the course. I finished my book, a first step toward a new way of living. Fully participating in this retreat has given me confidence to know that I can, despite my fears and limiting self beliefs, take a chance on myself and leap into a new life experience.
This retreat moved me…
This retreat moved me through much that blocked the writing flow. It pushed me to a greater degree of connection with my inner author and showed me I can connect with the Theta state while writing, which really brings flow and fun to my writing. Plus book one is almost ready to move into review by Tom and the final editors. Book 2 is cleaning up to soon be another ready for the final steps towards publishing. And book 3 is asking for release and expression so I’ll start it in one week. I’m also ready to blog weekly.Thanks from the bottom of my heart. You’re a life-changing agent!
I knew coming in…
I knew coming in, that I would exit this retreat as a different kind of writer and a very different editor. I even knew that I would be different emotionally. I did not realize that I would have or develop such a different relationship with chaos (that it’s necessary to just give into the whole tornado as it’s coming at you) with destruction (tearing it all to the ground and building it back up again), or leaving behind what I have always considered my greatest strengths. I have become something very unfamiliar to myself at this retreat. I look forward to meeting this woman and author in the days to come. Thank you.
Delivered seamlessly
Together, through the processes developed by Tom Bird and delivered seamlessly through his Write Your Bestseller In A Weekend workshop I awoke to my inner genius. This weekend my genius came out to sing, dance and play; and to write! And what a writer! He wrote and wrote and wrote—longer and faster than I had dreamed possible. Writing is not the chore I had thought it to be. It doesn’t need hours of preparation, or pages of notes, outlines and a ‘special pen’. It’s none of those things and what a relief!
Tom’s method has opened up my career, my options, and a lifestyle that I have yearned for, but could never quite access before.
Life changing.
Tom’s Write Your Best Seller in a Weekend workshop is more than about becoming an author. It is about finding your place in the world. It is about having a spiritual awakening and moving forward on your life’s purpose. I feel blessed that I was guided to attend this very important event.
Thank you.

I couldn’t have written my book without the 3 day weekend I spent with Tom Bird.
I wrote my best-selling book…

I wrote my best-selling book in 3 days, at a Weekend Retreat with Tom
Thank you…
Thank you for allowing me to be part of this new amazing journey in my life…the writing for me was easier than the sitting…
Thank you isn’t enough…
Thank you isn’t enough… Tom Bird’s method healed my heart and soul…
Someone once asked…
Someone once asked me why I have to pay someone to teach me how to count words…I said I pay him to get me to show up, shut up, and write…something I find hard to do on my own…
I loved writing…
I loved writing as a kid and wrote stories all the time…I was glad to be able to get back to that feeling…
I needed help…
I needed help focusing and getting a full first draft completed from front to back… After that the process becomes easier for me…
A profound experience…
This has been a profound experience, it’s changed me in ways I can’t fully articulate in words…There’s a catharsis that I’ve experienced here…
A gift…
Thank you for this amazing opportunity… It truly has been a gift to my life…”
A unique and fabulous experience…
This has been a unique and fabulous experience… I didn’t believe the book would tell me when it was done, but it DID…
I’ve never had the motivation…
I’ve always loved writing, taken classes even, but before this weekend I’ve never had the motivation or drive to write the way I am now…
Even Stephen King…
Even Stephen King could learn something about writing from Tom.
I was a washed up attorney…
I was a washed up attorney until I met Tom Bird, but now I am delighted to tell you that Fractal Murders has been honored on the Fall Book Scene Mystery Top Ten List.
Holder of the vision…
Tom is definitely one of the holders of the vision.
This was such a gift…
Tom’s Method made me think of the way I blog, but went beyond in that I had to apply to apply that to the structure of a book. This was such a gift as I had lost the joy of writing and had gone on a writer’s strike because of it. Traditionally published multiple times, I felt like my work was no longer my own, and I certainly didn’t ever feel the freedom to listen to the bigger story that wanted (that needed) to be told. Tom’s Method created a container for that, for me to listen with the ears behind the ears and co-create with Spirit a book that will transform those that read it. What a unique experience, and one I am profoundly grateful for, Tom. A million thanks.
Media Appearances
Past Interviews Featuring Tom Bird
Blog Talk Radio
Tom Bird joins host Less Jensen from NewHumanLiving.com
Blog Talk Radio
Book Whisperer Tom Bird joins host Kathleen O’Keefe-Kanavos, TV/Radio Host/Producer Wicked Housewives On Cape Cod™
Click here to listen to the Interview…
Blog Talk Radio – Write-Right From God
Welcome to the Healthy Baby Boomers Network Blog Talk Radio Show. I am your host, Dr. Erica Goodstone, Licensed Mental Health Counselor, Spiritual Relationship Healer, and Somatic Body Psychotherapist, Helping Men and Women Heal Their Bodies and Their Relationships Through Love, author of the book: Love Me, Touch Me, Heal Me and the romantic novel, Love in the Blizzard of Life. I am also the creator of the life-changing 30 Day Love Challenge.
Click here to listen to the Interview…
Richard Dugan – Tell Me Your Story
Richard Dugan is the host of Tell Me Your Story: New Paradigms for a New World.
Click here to listen to the Interview…
A Matter of Mind – with Mark Perry
Mark is joined for an inspiring conversation with Tom Bird, New York Times best selling author and “Book Whisperer,” literary shaman, and powerful writing instructor, as they explore Tom’s new book, Write/Right from God and Tom’s unique process for accessing the creative “downloading” that speeds your intuitive words and messages onto paper as a full book pours out from you in just one weekend!
Click here to listen to the Interview…
Let’s Get NakedTM
Let’s Get NakedTM Revealing Our Authentic Selves with Rev. Heidi Alfrey
Write a Book in a Weekend... Are You Kidding? Monday, October 19,2015
Click here to listen to the Interview…
Empower On-Demand | Dr Julie Show
Aligning with Divine Inspiration: Write/Right from God with Tom Bird
Click here to listen to the Interview…
Call of Spirit Radio with Rev. Evelyn
Join Rev. Evelyn as she speaks with Tom Bird, best-selling author and book whisperer, who helps authors midwife books of the Spirit and of the heart. Showing us how to allow Source to guide us through the birthing of our books, Tom talks about the process of writing from a heartfelt space with step-by-step instructions of what we need to do to get clear, to shut off the left brain and write through, and as Spirit.
Click here to listen to the Interview…
Tom and/or his work has been featured on or in the following:
- The David Letterman Show
- Houston Chronicle
- The Tonight Show
- Portland Oregonian
- The Today Show
- Toronto Star
- CBS Morning News
- Philadelphia Inquirer
- Pittsburgh Today
- Pittsburgh Gazette
- Cleveland Today
- USA Today’s Baseball
- The Charlie Rose Show
- Cleveland Plain Dealer
- CBC
- Memphis Commercial Appeal
- WGN-Chicago
- WGN-Chicago
- Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
- KDKA-Pittsburgh
- Sarasota Herald Tribune
- WPIX -New York
- USA Today
- Buffalo News
- WHDH-Boston
- New York Post
- KMOX-St. Louis
- San Diego Union Tribune
- KRON-San Francisco
- San Francisco Chronicle
- WJMK-Chicago
- San Francisco Examiner
- KGO-San Francisco
- Hartford Advocate
- KNBR-San Francisco
- Washington Post
- WHYY-Philadelphia
- New York Daily News
- WAXY-Miami
- Chicago Sun Times
- KEX-Portland, OR
- Boston Globe
- WAVY-Norfolk
- Boston Herald
- WEWS-Cleveland
- Publishers Weekly
- KTVV-Oakland
- Kirkus Reviews
- WTAE-Pittsburgh
- Library Journal
- WOR-New York
- Detroit Free Press
- KOST-Los Angeles
- The Sporting News
- WBCN-Boston
- Omaha World Herald
- New York Times
- Newark Star Ledger
- Cincinnati Enquirer/Post
- Dallas Morning News
- Columbus Dispatch
- Toronto Sun
- Charlotte Observer
- Atlanta Journal
- Sun Sentinel
- Philadelphia Daily News
- St. Petersburg Times
- Pittsburgh Tribune
- Oakland Tribune
Schools
Working with Students
Over nearly the last three decades, Tom, in an effort to share his innovative and successful approach to writing and publishing with as many aspiring authors as possible, has made over 4,000 lecture appearances at over 100 different colleges and universities including the following:
- Duke University
- The College of William and Mary
- Penn State University
- Temple University
- The Ohio State University
- Nebraska University
- The University of Texas
- Emory University
- The University of North Carolina
- The University of Arizona
- Old Dominion University
- The University of Pittsburgh
- The University of Tennessee
- The University of New Mexico
- The University of Nevada at Las Vegas
- San Diego State University
- Edinboro State University
- Buffalo State University
- Niagara University
- The University of Central Florida
- The University of North Florida
- Florida International University
- Florida Atlantic University
- The University of Cincinnati
Publications
Publications Featuring Tom's Work
A prolific writer, as well as a teacher of writing, Tom's own work has appeared in dozens of notable journals including:
- USA Today
- Popular Mechanics
- New Writers' Magazine
- Vegetarian Times
- Cleveland Magazine
- Nautilus Magazine
- Austin Magazine
- Baseball American
- Sail Steeler Weekly
- New York Times
- The American Banker
- Racquetball Illustrated
- Racquetball Everyone
- Racquetball Strength and Health Magazine
- The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
- Pittsburgh Magazine
- Erie Magazine
- Erie Times News
Books
Books Authored by Tom Bird
- The Magic of Writing (2019)
- Write to Heal for Authors (2019)
- You Can ... Write Your Book in a Weekend (2013)
- Write to Heal (2011)
- Birthing Your Book, Birthing Yourself (2011)
- Write to Publish (2011)
- Manifesting the Write Life (2011)
- The Call of the Writer’s Craft: Writing and Selling the Book Within (Adams Media, 2008)
- You Were Born to Be Published: Eleven Laws for Getting Your Writing Into Print Now (Sojourn, 2006)
- You Were Born to Write: Complete Your Book in 30 Days or Less by Mastering the Inner Game of Writing (Sojourn, 2006)
- Your Artist Within (Sojourn, 2004)
- The Spirit of Publishing (Sojourn, 2003)
- Get Published Now (Sojourn, 2001)
- Hawk: The Children’s Version (Zondervan, 1995)
- Hawk, co-authored with Andre Dawson (Zondervan, 1994)
- The Author’s Den: An Interactive Computer Program (Sojourn, 1993)
- Fifty-Two Weeks or Less to the Completion of Your First Book (Sojourn, 1990)
- POWs Of WWII: Forgotten Men Tell Their Stories (Praeger, 1990)
- Beyond Words (Sojourn, 1987)
- Literary Law (Sojourn, 1986)
- Knuckleballs, co-authored with Phil Niekro (Freundlich Books, 1986)
- How to Get Published (Sojourn, 1986)
- Tom Bird’s Selective Guide to Literary Agents (Sojourn, 1985)
- Willie Stargell: An Autobiography, co-authored with Willie Stargell (Harper &
Row, 1984)