Writing
Learn to Write Like Author Richard Bach
Mar 9th
“The meaning I picked, the one that changed my life: Overcome fear, behold wonder.” ~Richard Bach
Last time I wrote about planning and the importance of setting big goals, long term goals that stretch out at least 10 years. I was going to write today about the process of setting these goals and how to create a great attitude that makes this process even easier and even more fun. Well, scratch that bit of learning for a couple of days, wonderful as it would be and will be again and instead let’s go on a little adventure filled side-trip together. Let’s take a trip into the mind of best-selling author and pilot Richard Bach.
Learn to Write Like Richard Bach
I have been reading Richard’s books since early 1970 and after nearly 40 years, his books are still some of my best friends. Just like my human best friends, I enjoy seeing Richard’s books each time and I enjoy spending time with them. Also just like my human friends, Richard Bach’s books are smart and I learn something from them every time we meet. I had the pleasure of finding a short video interview with Richard Bach a couple of days ago and it really had an impact on me. I am including a link to this video here and I encourage you to watch it. For ears that are ready to hear, there are wonderful, bright and beautiful gems of empowering beliefs just waiting to be picked up in this interview. Next time I will talk about some of these beliefs that Richard is gifting us with and how we can use them to make our own writing better and more fun for us and for our readers. The link will autoload and start to play immediately. Link to Richard Bach video interview.
Till next time faithful reader…Jack
“When you have come to the edge of all the light you have
And step into the darkness of the unknown
Believe that one of the two will happen to you
Either you’ll find something solid to stand on
Or you’ll be taught how to fly!” ~Richard Bach
There’s Nothing Like the Smell of a New Laptop
Feb 12th
“Start by doing what’s necessary; then do what’s possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.” ~St. Francis of Assisi
My new laptop arrived a couple of days ago and I have been immersed in moving my computer life from an older machine to a new machine. This is quite a bit more work than I had imagined, but it will be worth it. I travel quite a bit for speaking and I write for hours each day – pretty much every day, so I got the best laptop that I could find for mixing travel, speaking ( I use my laptop as a prompter while the audience sees the presentation on the screen behind me.) and writing while on the road. I ended up choosing the new Sony Vaio “F” series with the fastest quad processor and lots of ram. I have only been playing with it for 2 days now and I love it. Fast – super fast and Windows 7?- this is a great improvement over Vista. I am sure that Vista had some great features – I just never found them. I had downgraded the 5 computers in my system to XP to avoid the madness of Vista. Anyhow, I love the Sony “F”. I love what I have experienced of Windows 7. And of course, there is nothing like that new laptop smell!
That’s all the time that I have for today. Till next time faithful reader…Jack
“The greatest masterpieces were once only pigments on a palette.” ~Henry S. Hoskins
The Birth of an Executive Coach
Feb 9th
“None of us will ever accomplish anything excellent or commanding except when he listens to this whisper which is heard by him alone.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
The Birth of an Executive Coach
Last time I finished talking about my decision to self-publish my first book even though I had traditional publishing offers on the table. This time I’m going to talk about some of the actual content of my upcoming book – a book about goals and achievement.
I was born as an Executive Coach in May 1989, although I did not know that this was my destiny at the time. Like most newborns, I did not have a clue what was going on and it would take me a number of years to make sense of the world around me.
In May of 89, I left my well-paid job in Retail Mega-Box management, well-paid but otherwise boring and totally unsatisfying, and went into Executive Search (headhunting) and the temporary employment business. I had only trivial experience in either of these businesses. I had been called by headhunters a few times, looking to move me from one Mega-Box to another. These headhunters didn’t seem too bright and they seemed to make a great deal of money. (Interesting combination. I certainly wanted to make a great deal of money and at times I was a veritable idiot. I filed this information away for further analysis.)
In the world of temporary employment, I had worked extensively at numerous temporary agencies in Southern California after I graduated from college. Eventually I found my first career position and stopped working temporary assignments. While working, I had gained some great information though – there was a great deal of money to be made in the temporary business and they, the owners that I had met, didn’t seem all that bright either.
What does this have to do with my first book on goals? I’m getting there, I promise!
Death as a Counselor
In December of 1985 my father died of leukemia. He was relatively young, 61 years old, when he died. Vibrant and healthy for most of his life, in 18 months he was stripped of virtually everything – his physical vitality, his freedom of movement, his privacy and eventually his life – in 18 short months he lost all of these.
I visited him almost every other day for most of this time. My blood was helping to keep him alive and we saw more of each other in this short time than we really had in years. He talked often of the things that he was going to do if he got out of the hospital. He was going to travel again. He was going to go see the pyramids. He had a long list of things that he wanted to do and experience. He died without having done any of these – he died with most of his dreams unlived.
His death affected me deeply. I was 26 years old when he died and I swore that I was going to do my best to retire before I was 40 years old and I was going to live my dreams – for both of us.
Goals were the Starting Place
I did manage to retire before I was 40. This early retirement only lasted about 10 years, no one had told me how much money could be spent if you had full time to devote to the process of spending, but my next early retirement is coming up fast. And this time, well, I have a much higher number in mind for my retirement! Come back next time and learn more about how goals were the starting place for me then and the drivers for me now.
Till next time faithful reader…Jack
“It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves.” ~ Sir Edmund Hillary
Self Publishing – My Final Analysis
Feb 8th
“And Winter slumbering in the open air, wears on his smiling face a dream of Spring”! ~Samuel Taylor Coleridge (and Bill Murray in Groundhog Day).
(As I write this entry, we are experiencing another blizzard here in Iowa. Another blizzard – no! I am more than ready for this winter to be over!)
Last time I wrote about some of the reasons why I was choosing to self-publish my first book.
Here is the rest of my reasoning.
My Reasons for Self-Publishing my First Book:
- Speed: I can get a book out much more quickly. I can get a book out in 6 months or so, including much of the pre-marketing, versus the 14 to 18 months for “traditional” publishing.
- Profit: I will make much more profit from each copy of my book that is sold – especially if I do a print run of 5,000 to 10,000 copies.
- Control: I will be able to control every aspect of my book’s creation and publication. It will truly reflect my vision.
- Learning: I will learn a great deal about the book publishing business and since I intend to publish more than one book, this knowledge will serve me well in the future.
- Better Future Deals: I know a little bit about book publishing and my likely sales results right now. After I get this first book out and have the results of my first marketing cycle, I will know much more and be in a better position to negotiate with agents and publishers for future book deals – should I decide to go the traditional path in the future.
Please notice that I did not mention anything about self-publishing so that I could get published. I think that any author, that has done their homework and has a book worth publishing, will eventually find both an agent and a publisher.
Should you self-publish? Maybe – maybe not. If you have an audience already and don’t want to invest the time in learning the book business – then find an agent, have them find you a publisher and let them handle it for you. You will still be doing much of the promotional work – I don’t think there is a way around that unless you are a really big “name” in your field. Otherwise, self-publishing is worth a ponder.
Next time I am going to talk about the actual content of my upcoming book and why I chose to write this one first.
Till next time faithful reader…Jack
“If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome”. ~Anne Bradstreet
Is Self-Publishing a Wise Choice?
Feb 5th
“Patience is also a form of action”. ~Auguste Rodin
Last time I talked about some of the things that I would not be getting by self-publishing my first book. Now let’s start talking about the rewards of self-publishing.
Rewards of Self-Publishing
- I have much more control of the entire process. My choice of proofreaders, editors, cover design and designers, who gets contacted for peer reviews and many other choices; I get to make these decisions. (There is opportunity and peril here. If I make poor choices here, I am not going to get good results.)
- I learn the book business. I intend to be a successful published author and publish many books. I certainly have the material for many books. I believe that the sooner I learn the process of publishing, the better off I will ultimately be.
- I intend to be a successful published author. (Yes, I said it again…I know.) My research indicates that more than 90% of the first time non-fiction authors, published traditionally or self-published, never make any significant amount of money from their writing efforts. My research also indicates that something in the neighborhood of 90% of the first time non-fiction writers never get a second book published. These seem like very bad odds to me and I wanted a way to stack the deck in my favor.
Next time I will explore in more detail how self-publishing, done properly, can hopefully stack the deck wonderfully in my favor – and yours too.
Till next time faithful reader…Jack
“Patience is the companion of wisdom”. ~St. Augustine
I’m an Idiot for Self-Publishing?
Feb 4th
“One half of knowing what you want is knowing what you must give up before you get it”. ~Sidney Howard
I’m an idiot for self-publishing? Maybe, but maybe not. Last time I talked a bit about what I had recently learned from my study of the genius British novelist Charles Dickens. I also mentioned that some of what I had learned from my study of him had been a deciding factor in my decision to self-publish my first book. I think if Dickens had been beginning his writing career today, he would have almost certainly self-published his first works. Then I think he would have partnered with a great publisher for his next works.
For me, the decision to self-publish was a hard one. I am already busy and writing and then publishing a book – and really doing the proper promotion to ensure a great reception for the fledgling book – this is a lot of work. I had no idea how much work it was until I began the process. For me at least, the writing of the book has turned out to be the easiest part. All of the things that the publisher would do for me, if I had sold the rights of my first book immediately to a publisher, – that has been quite a steep learning curve.
So why did I decide to self-publish? I’ll start from the side of what I won’t be getting or what I am giving up.
- It will cost me more money to self-publish, quite a bit more. Since I am taking on all of the costs of proofreaders and editors, cover designers and printing and the hiring of top-notch PR people, all things that a publisher might have done for me, I am spending more money.
- I am giving up a great deal of my time learning the book business. Had I sold my book immediately, I would have needed to learn very little about the book business – at least at first. I could have let the publishers handle all of the details for me.
- I am giving up the money that I could have made by simply coaching or speaking instead of learning the book business. I am usually fully booked or as booked as I care to be for coaching and I could have simply coached more, earned more, and let the publishers do what they know best.
- I am giving up some credibility for this my first book. A self-published book does not have the credibility in the eyes of some people that a traditionally published book has.
- I am almost certainly giving up some sales that I might have had otherwise. I don’t know all of the distribution channels that an established publisher knows and although I am learning fast – it is certain that I will miss some of them – and not sell those copies of my book.
So, with all of that, why on earth would I self-publish? We will both have to wait until next time for that answer – my time is up for this entry.
Next time I will explain the balance of my thinking about traditional publishing versus self-publishing.
Till next time faithful reader…Jack
“The vision must be followed by the venture. It is not enough to stare up the steps – we must step up the stairs”. ~Vance Havner
Charles Dickens and Groundhog Day
Feb 2nd
“Groundhog Day is a lot like a rock concert but the people are better behaved and there’s a groundhog involved…” ~Tom Chapin, editor of the Punxsutawney Spirit newspaper.
… As an aside, it is Groundhog Day in the United States while I am writing this entry. Although I am not sure that “Punxsutawney Phil” is any better at weather forecasting than me, and I am not very good; I do love the concept! The cute little devil did see his shadow today and has forecast 6 more weeks of winter. Not a shocker – this winter does not seem to want to let go. …
Last time I talked about my first book and its upcoming release in November of 2010. I also mentioned that my decision to self-publish this first book was influenced by my research into the life of Charles Dickens. Here is a bit more about that story:
I recently read “The Making of Charles Dickens” by Christopher Hibbert and I really enjoyed the experience! I not only discovered a new author whose style I liked, but a prolific author as well. This means I have lots of great books waiting for me to find and read. I also got some great insights into what might have helped Charles Dickens be the incredible novelist that he was. (Did you know that he is one of the very few authors that has never gone out of print? And this, as I write this entry, some 140 years after his death? Wow!)
I am always looking for the “secrets of success” or the unique beliefs that help exceptional people be exceptional. Here are some of the secrets that I extracted from my recent study of “Boz”:
1) Being extremely focused on the task at hand – fiercely determined to get it right – is a key to success in writing (and any other aspect of living.)
2) It is okay to be afraid about the reception your writing will receive – as long as you are brave enough to get it out to the public to read.
3) Believe in the value of your writing, even if others at first do not share your enthusiasm.
4) Write about what you know intimately well and share the clarity of your vision.
5) Don’t be afraid to ask what you think your writing is worth.
6) You can do more than you think you can.
7) It is fine to use newest technology to publish your books. (Dickens commonly used magazines and serial releases of chapters – then he sold the books as completed documents. This was pretty cutting edge stuff for the day.) This final point is the one that swayed me to the side of self-publishing.
Next time I’ll be talking about the complete set of reasons why I decided to self-publish this first book and what the implications might be for you and me.
Till next time faithful reader…Jack
“I never could have done what I have done without the habits of punctuality, order, and diligence, without the determination to concentrate myself on one subject at a time”. ~Charles Dickens from his novel “David Copperfield”
My First Book Released November 2010
Feb 1st
“Writers will happen in the best of families”. ~Rita Mae Brown
I am excited to announce: (Drum Roll Please) … My first book will be released for sale sometime in early November of 2010. (The exact release date will be set soon.) I am very excited about this upcoming event and virtually all of my spare energy is going into this project.
I’m not sure why it took me so many years to finally make the decision to write a book. I have known for many years that I wanted to write a book someday, that perhaps I wanted to write more than one book. Anyhow, about 18 months ago I committed to myself that I would write a book and get it published and this year it will finally happen.
I am going to be self-publishing this first book. I have had offers to buy my book from traditional publishing houses and I was originally going to follow that path. I will discuss in an upcoming post my reasons for taking the other path of self-publishing for this first book. (I will say for now that my research into the history of the famous English novelist Charles Dickens had much to do with this decision – you can read about that in an upcoming post as well!)
This will be my first book, but it will not be my last. I am completely committed to publishing a significant number of books; indeed it feels like I am being called to do so. I have enough unique material after nearly 30 years of coaching, speaking and consulting to write at least 20 books and I think, once I have the process figured out, the next books will happen much more quickly and easily.
Will I self-publish all of these? I don’t know that yet, but it seems unlikely. It is enough for now to get this first book written as well as possible and get it out into the world.
That’s it for this entry. Till next time faithful reader…Jack
“Get it down. Take chances. It may be bad, but it’s the only way you can do anything really good”. ~William Faulkner
Making Money Online and Writing Part 9
Aug 27th
“If you want to make your dreams come true, the first thing you have to do is wake up.” ~J.M. Power
A couple of entries ago, I was talking about the things that I have been consistently procrastinating. Here is a recap of that list of shame (well, really mild embarrassment):
- I am not consistently writing at least 1000 words per day on my book.
- I am not consistently doing the needed research weekly to have the 1000 words to write.
- I am not consistently getting up every morning at 5am to write.
- I am not consistently lifting weights 4 times per week.
- I am not consistently marketing myself to new speaking venues weekly.
- I am not consistently reading the blogs of writers that I respect.
- I am not consistently commenting on the blogs of writers that I respect.
This week I have done much better. Really, as soon as I wrote up the list and looked it over, I knew I could do better. Why did I do better? Here is the process that I went over to put myself into a different place – to come from a different perspective:
- I looked at my dreams for my life – business and personal – for the next few years and re-associated to how great it would feel when I had achieved these things. It will feel incredible!
- I looked at the things I was procrastinating and verified that there were critical – they were – they are.
- I honestly asked myself, expecting an answer and willing to listen, “Why am I procrastinating on these critical items?”
- I wrote down the answers for each of these “procrastination issues”.
- I committed to taking action daily both on the critical steps and the answers. (By the way, the most common reason for me not taking action was comparing my early work in progress to the great completed works of others – I felt badly and then did not take action.)
Now, everything isn’t just as I want it yet. I will need to fine tune some attitudes and beliefs and habits to make it so. Still, I am now taking action on all of these and that feels great. A similar process can work for almost anyone that is putting off what needs to be done.
Till next time faithful reader…Jack
“Great ideas need landing gear as well as wings.” ~C.D. Jackson
What I Learned from Dan Brown of “The Da Vinci Code” Fame
Aug 26th
“You can be anything you want to be, if only you believe with sufficient conviction and act in accordance with your faith; for whatever the mind can conceive and believe, the mind can achieve.” ~ Napoleon Hill
I just finished reading ‘The Man Behind The Da Vinci Code” – “An Unauthorized Biography of Dan Brown” by Lisa Rogak. This was by no means an earth-shakingly good book, but it did give me some good insights into how Dan Brown became the mega-successful author that he is today. I love to read autobiographies whenever I can, but Dan Brown has not written one yet. So, this book was as good as I could do.
I read autobiographies and biographies of people that I respect or people that have already achieved some part of what I intend to achieve. I believe that doing this saves me time and missteps – if someone has already done what I intend to do, and I do the same things that they did, I should achieve very similar results. (This is a basic tenet of NLP.) For me, I intend to be a best selling author and Dan has already done that. There should be a great deal that I can learn from him, even if I write non-fiction and he writes fiction.
So, What Did I Learn From My Study of Dan Brown?
- Write early in the day when you have no other commitments or excuses. Dan did most of the work on his first books starting between 4am and 430am.
- Study your first results and early feedback. Dan used each of his books as an exercise in learning what attracted attention and sales and what did not.
- Find a job that supports you while giving you time to write. Dan worked in LA and back on the East Coast as a teacher while working and publishing his early works. Self-discipline must be one of his keys to success!
- Find a supportive mate or best friend. Dan very wisely hooked up with his wife-to-be while he was a musician in LA and from what I gather, she is still a great source of help and guidance and belief.
- Study the competition. What is selling or not selling and how did they do that – I believe that Dan spent lots of time here.
- Carefully plot and plan your work. Dan had great outlines long before he wrote any significant amounts of his actual prose.
- Write much more than you need and edit harshly. I think this is great advice for anyone that writes!
Thanks for the great advice Dan. Even though I am getting this information from someone who did not actually interview you, I think you would agree with what I have extracted. And Dan, should you by some miracle read this – I and millions of others are really ready for your next book – call it good and send it out to us – perfection is unobtainable anyhow.
Till next time faithful reader…Jack
“He who has done his best for his own time has lived for all times.” ~ Johann Von Schiller