The Story of How I Published My Book
Friday, February 18th, 2011Do you wonder how someone puts together an entire book? Do you sometimes think you have something to say that others would benefit from hearing? Here’s the story of how “101 Ways to Love Your Job” came to be:
As a workshop leader, I get a lot of phone calls and emails and personal visits from employees. I started to notice that I would answer the same question, several times, in one week. I would also hear about trends, concerns and upsets in my workshops. Instead of answering these issues one by one, I decided it would be much more efficient to start a regular email tip weekly newsletter. I sent an announcement to all the employees in my organization, and said, “If you want to get these emails, let me know. I won’t be sending these to everyone, because some people may not be interested.”
In about one week, I had over 800 people on my list.
I sent out a little paragraph, a thought for the day, or a link to an article. Sometimes I got feedback, sometimes no one said anything about that week’s entry.
Fast forward five years later—-and I had 88 entries!
No one at my job had asked me to do this. I received no extra money for this activity. I did NOT think that one day these suggestions would be published. I just did it, because I saw a need.
Eventually, I added some more entries until I had 101 and submitted the draft to my publisher. While there were many changes, edits, rejected rewrites and a real struggle to find a title (which I’m still not happy with), it was still thrilling to have my work considered. While your “baby” may not look the way you envisioned in the end, you can still scratch a major entry off your bucket list. Whether you choose to publish traditionally, or go with the more accessible e-book format, you will know you put your unique wisdom out into the world.
Where can you fill a need? What do you know that can help someone who may be struggling? You never know how these actions might attract a publisher, employer or business owner. Don’t hold back just because you aren’t “famous” or because you think you need a Ph.D. Contribute for the sake of contributing. It feels great, by the way. Be sincere in your wish to make people’s lives better. You never know how it might turn out.