006 - Because Every Author Faces Some Form of Interruption

Hi Guys!

So today I want to talk about what I’ve been up to. I’ve been a bit MIA here for…well... a few years. (repurposed content from 12/03/19 podcast)

You see, there is this little thing called life that sometimes has another agenda when it comes time to either writing a book or building an online training program from a book…I finally can say that I’ve held steadfast to my goal and produced both my Let’s Get Your Book Published book and it’s companion online book publishing training program.

I want to talk about these challenges and what it took to accomplish my lofty goals I set out for myself….because every author faces some form of interruption.

So before I wrote my book I was living in the Hawaiian islands. I was in business with my partner and we were quite successful at it. I picked up and dusted off some old skills and learned some new ones in our partnership. You see, he was a sales guy and a coach for my design business where I was designing book covers and doing interior book layout, typesetting, and design. He would establish the relationship and bring in the clients and when they were ready they would come to me for design. It was a lovely partnership and it went on seamlessly like this for many years.

But, then things kinda hit a wall and our personal relationship withered. In all the time we grew our business together I would sit back and watch where there was room for improvement. You see, I’m an observer by nature.

On occasion I would make suggestions to enhance things. I always felt that it was important to have a residual income for your business. I proposed a few ideas but nothing was grabbed and no changes were made. I think that it was sort of a “don’t break it if it works” kind of mentality.  But I saw so much room for improvement.

On the long flight back to the mainland with tears in my eyes and my English bulldog at my feet) I hear this little voice…you know that one…the one that gives you great ideas and the one that warns you what not to do. Yeah, my intuition! 

I heard clear as day that I was supposed to not give up and to keep charging ahead in my business. It was just a new dynamic. I was being set up for the changes I saw that needed to be done. 

This voice: I was given a plan: write a book, then build an online training program to teach people how to write their book (the residual income piece of course).

I also knew that there were so many improvements I could make to the system. I wanted to replace my sales guy and keep doing my work as a designer.

But, because I was so busy as a designer it was hard to pop my head out of my work to go fish for new business or clients. And, if you’re an entrepreneur, you know that it’s challenging to both do the work and find a new client. The publishing industry can sometimes be a feast or famine business and it’s always driven by the economy…after all people prefer to eat before they spend a bunch of time and money writing a book! 

But, I have always served best by going through the tough learning then sharing what I filtered out as the most critical information….and most importantly, the truth. There were a few things that always left me a bit unsettled about the publishing industry and the only way to know those was to forge through. I took the time to understand the in’s and outs of every subject in the industry and took the time to bust through it all and to put together the system I created. This sytem not just shatters those mirages of fortune and fame but turns around a practical and useful approach to teach my authors why they should write a book and the steps for doing it. 

I started in the beginning of my program by helping you understand the publishing industry and how to play in the standards and norms and why you have to be very clear on your approach from the beginning. Do you want to be an author or a writer? A writer is in the business of writing and as such needs to keep writing and reaching for acknowledgements and awards. An author writes in hopes of achieving some of this but also, but —when well-informed, writes purposefully. Writing with intent will produce a higher quality result. Its not to say a writer wouldn’t do the same, but I think you can see the difference.

A quick example is a dentist that wanted to retire and work in the business of practice management, but wrote his book much like a memoire, not a book to showcase credentials as the guy a fellow dentist would call to buy, sell, or otherwise enhance his practice. What you write matters. How you position it matters. And if you want to teach, coach, or speak from your book then why not align it in the first place?

So, this is a primer episode to let you know I have not forgotten about you and the content is coming! I promise!

I have so much more to share on all the topics of the book publishing process. I really look forward to sharing with you in the future. But, for now…be sure to check out our growing library of podcasts episodes, our YouTube channel, our blog, and our website. Go over to LetsGetYourBookPubilshed.com to link from there.

For now…Good luck on your book project!