People ask me why I don’t market it more and try to maximize sales. At this point, I’m not trying to make profits or “become known.” I’m honing my craft and still learning a lot about art and writing.
My goal right now is to make meaningful work in my own voice and to do better with each project.
I’ve adopted Seth Godin’s philosophy (and James Altucher’s ideology) of “choosing myself” and that’s why I’ve chosen self-publishing.
If you’re “climbing a ladder” in your work and you feel tired and discouraged, I recommend giving Seth Godin’s podcast a listen. If you have children who are considering a career in music (as I do), have them listen to it as well (click the link below):
With echoes of James Altucher’s “Choose Yourself,” philosophy, it’s a must hear. Always a little ahead of his time, Godin offers sound advice regarding “going for it” and not working to “pay one’s dues.” Don’t buy into outdated and ineffective advice.
I am a HUGE fan of James Altucher. He’s creative, honest and authentic. I absolutely believe in his assertion that we must choose ourselves. He’s the reason I’m finally self-publishing my children’s book (which I’ve mentioned before).
Update: all the illustrations are done. Now, I’m working on the manuscript errors. I had 3. My laptop is super old, so it’s very slow in processing.
Tonight is all about editing. I’m enjoying the process and I’m learning a lot. My daughters, ages 13 and 15, were the illustrators. I will cherish this book for the rest of my life.
I’m a newbie to self-publishing. I wrote about my children’s book a couple nights ago and I’m going to share my learning process with you in this blog. My hopes are two-fold:
This will hold me accountable and make me DO IT; and
You will follow along with me and get your book published too!
Coincidentally, (and doesn’t the universe provide when you with what you need when you express your desires out loud?), I was reading Choose Yourselfby James Altucher and he has a chapter on self-publishing! He recommends using CreateSpace.com. I know there are a kajillion other sites and ways to do this. I’m going to try this first. They have a step-by-step process built in for you and you can then sell through Amazon.com.
Tonight, I signed up. Each night, I will do something to get closer to publishing and share it here. But for now, I have to make lesson plans for the week. I spent most of today cleaning and taking my daughters to the mall. One had Girls Day Out (she had a fantastic time with three friends) and the other needed to pick out a Homecoming dress. Done!
My Beautiful Fresh(wo)man
I also made progress in re-typing a short story I wrote over 13 years ago (I lost the Word doc, but had a hard copy).
As long as I make consistent progress in these areas, I’m happy. As a wise woman once said: