At the end of 2013, I had this amazing idea…to write a book about Falling In Love With Life. It was something that had been hovering in the back of my mind for a while – I had scribbled down a few ideas for it a few years ago, but never really got going with the project.
At the start of 2014, that changed – I decided to give myself the time to actually make progress with the book. After 8 months, 110 hours and 60,000 words, it was complete! Yay!! Time to launch…
…Only it wasn’t time to launch. Because it wasn’t finished! There was still the editing process to go through, the formatting to do for every different format I planned to publish, and lots of messing about to do.
But, in my usual naively optimistic way, I forged ahead with a launch that included a month’s worth of guest blogs, both with lovely people guesting for me, and lovely people who allowed me to come visit their blogs. What fun!
Only the book wasn’t quite finished. And the blog party added an extra layer of work which took me away from finishing the book. Sigh. Fortunately I could do the launch in stages, and the blog party accompanied the giveaway stage. Then the launch stages continued…and continued…and continued…it was a shambles, an embarrassment, a disaaaaaaaaster! But as always, from the ashes of disaster grow the roses of success, and I’ve learned so much from this botched launch.
1. Naive optimism isn’t a good basis for planning!
From the day I “finished” the book to the day the physical version was released took 3 months! I now know that published books take 6-12 months, so my estimate of a couple of weeks doing it all by myself was…well, deranged, frankly! Still, I know better now. Next time I’ll be less optimistic and more realistic, because now I know how long it flipping well takes!
2. Don’t leave everything to the last minute
Because I hadn’t the faintest idea when each version would be complete and ‘up’, I couldn’t really schedule any promo material…but I could have created the promo material ready for when it was needed. I didn’t. I did it as needed, which is fine if you’re feeling creatively joyous and free and inspired on that day. Trouble is, the day something is actually done, you usually feel exhausted, depleted and brain-dead. Not a great time to come up with something brilliant!
3. Take the time off you need as you need it
When I ‘finished’ (the first time), I was shattered. I desperately needed a break. But I didn’t want to delay the launch (this now sends me into paroxysms of hysterical laughter), so it took me a month to take some time off. Then a couple of months later, I had planned some time off…but the proof copy arrived, so I didn’t take it, I worked instead so I could ‘get it finished’. Sigh. Yep, I haven’t learned the lesson at all have I? With hindsight, I know that if I’d taken the time when I needed it, and not delayed, all the work would have been easier, and I would have felt less work-whipped at the end!
4. Leave your pride at the door!
When I first “finished” and began the launch, I was horrified that my plans were going so awry – the whole idea was that there would be a week between each phase, not a month! It was embarrassing, it was descending into utter shambles, and I was ashamed. But really, no one but me knew that it was supposed to be anything other than a 3 month long launch! (and you guys, cos I’m telling you) No one else cared. No one came after me to berate me for the delays, and frankly, my pride was getting in the way and making a shambolic experience worse!
5. Even the very wise cannot know all ends
Ok, so I’m labelling this launch a shambles. From my perspective, it was a hot mess! I finished a month later than I’d hoped, the formatting took longer than I’d hoped, everything’s been last-minute, haphazard, figure it out as you go. But perhaps there is a reason for the extended (and extended and extended) launch? Perhaps October 30th was the PERFECT day for the release of the book book version? Perhaps there is a divine plan? I have no idea – I just have to trust that everything happens in the perfect time…even if I have a different calendar in mind.
6. Everything is doable
I have lost count of the number of times during the 3 months of editing and formatting I stared at the screen, brow furrowed, thinking “what the fuck?!” I figured it all out. What I didn’t know, I learned; what I didn’t understand, I educated myself; what I couldn’t do myself, I outsourced. Nothing is impossible, everything is learnable and doable. With a little patience and the help of Auntie Google, it’s all doable.
7. Expectation creates space for a let-down
Had I had no expectation of when this would be complete, I could have just worked on it until it was done, without the extra layer of stress and hair-pulling. Every day, I check in with body, mind, heart and soul and ask what they have to share with me that day – one I came up with at the end of the editing time was: “Take away expectation and just live moment to moment. In each moment, choose joy. Without expectation, you can have joy in each moment. With it, each moment has the potential to be a let-down. Expect only that each moment will be as good as it can be.” I really felt the truth of this over those 3 months of editing, when moment after moment failed to live up to my expectations…and was a let-down!
8. Lighten Up!
I’ve been talking about lightening up for years…there’s even a chapter in my book about it. And yet, looking back, I can see how seriously I took this whole project. Like it was the end of the world as we know it if it didn’t go exactly to my plan. Well, the world didn’t end. It’s done now. No one was hurt during the making of this book. Unnecessary Frown lines were created. Once again, note to self: chill out!
9. The first time is a learning time
I have written and self-published a book before, but that was in 2008 and I don’t remember a lot of the ins and outs and ups and downs. So, this was a learning curve for me. Also, create space didn’t exist last time, so I had no idea what I was getting into with that (create space are the printing company I use who list to Amazon for me). I’ll do better next time because I know better. You cannot expect to do everything perfectly the first time around. It’s absurd to think you will – learning comes with falling on your arse!
10. Get help
Ahem. I have a confession to make. I am writing this lesson for me to read the next time I’m doing something. Although I did get help from Auntie Google, from my mastermind group, from friends and family and from a professional book cover designer, I didn’t get as much help as I could have. I am of the school of do it all myself. I’m a control freak. And it did slow me down. Next time, I intend to get as much help as I can. And one day, I shall just write the books then hand them off to someone else to pretty up, edit, format, publish, market and promote…aaaah, what a delicious Big Dream that is!
So there you have it, 10 lessons from the Shambolic Launch of 2014! I love these “10 lessons” posts, because they turn a stressful, ghastly experience into a launching pad for better experiences – if you don’t already, I urge you to do them for your ‘bad’ experiences. And feel free to send them to me – I love a learning experience, even if it’s vicarious! And if you’d like to re-read my last 10 lessons post on the forevaaaaaaah process of getting ze book done, click here!
Love
