Posts Tagged ‘Publishing a Book’

Anyone who’s written and published a book (or has even thought about it), knows the terror of wondering, “Will anyone like it? Will anyone buy it? Will anyone use it?”

Perhaps I’ve been hanging out in Northern California too much (the land of the woo woo), but I think I actually had some psychic influence over the fact that it took six rounds and 45 days to get an error-free proof of my book from the printer (a process that should have taken two weeks, max).

I was really afraid for the book to come out. I wanted the people who bought it to use it, and to receive tangible benefit from it. Specifically, I wanted them to earn more money by working through the exercises in the book.

As any reader of the Aesop Fables (or your mother) can tell you—you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink. In other words, I can’t guarantee anything. Even if 100,000 people bought the book (which would be very cool), I couldn’t guarantee that one of them would read it, or do the work, or earn more money in their businesses as a result.

I can only provide the water. You have to do the drinking.

I experienced a raft of pain while working in some of my previous businesses, mostly centered around not earning enough money. It was awful. I want to save the rest of the world from experiencing that level of agony. That’s why I was so worried about my book coming out.  What if my book doesn’t save all the other people in the world feeling the same pain about their work?

Coincidentally, my raft of pain happened to be the perfect amount, at the perfect time, to get me to change; to sell my IT business and to go into coaching and writing. If there had been less pain, I might still be talking to people about computer network support.

Pain was (and is) my friend.

And although I hope my book does alleviate a lot of pain for all of you out there who are passionate about your work and your businesses, but aren’t earning enough money, the truth is, you might need to be in the pain you’re in to motivate you to change.

And if you are ready to change, you have to do the drinking. It’s up to you. Not me.

I did my part to provide part of the water for all you thirsty small business owners. The rest is your responsibility.

Here’s my question to you: are you standing at the water, but not drinking? Go to your favorite coffee shop and set aside 15 minutes to look around at your life. Are you in pain about something that has a solution? Has someone or something lead you to the water? Are you standing in it up to your knees, or armpits?

What can you do to go ahead and drink?

Tags: Customers, Fear, Pain, Publishing a Book

Tags: Business Plans, Publishing a Book, writing

One of my middle-aged lady buddies who is smart as a whip is going back to graduate school to get a PhD. in MATH. She’s somewhat older than the rest of the 20-somethings in her class, it’s been a long while since she’s gone to school full time, and I could list a lot of other reasons that would make anyone afraid.

The real reason she’s afraid, (in my opinion, anyway), is that this is the perfect thing for her to be doing right now. And she knows it.

I see this in coaching all the time. The closer people get to the thing they want to do the most, the more fear comes up. In fact, it’s a great barometer. If you’re really afraid, it’s the equivalent of the universe shouting “You’re Getting Warmer…Warmer…Hotter!” (Unless someone has a gun to your head, which is a different kind of fear that we aren’t discussing here).

I’m feeling it too. My book suddenly went from looking like a cute Word document, to looking like a real book. Holy !$@##@%!! (I’m getting warmer…warmer…).

How about this for an antidote: Fear is excitement, without breath.

Tags: Fear, New Ventures, Publishing a Book, writing