I recently updated my website to add Unorthodox Success, Secret Shame. I now have 2 books listed.
Seeing multiple titles like that listed has made it really sink in that I’m an author. There’s no denying it. Doing one of anything can be a one-off or fluke, but when you’ve done it multiple times, it’s definitely “a thing”.
I’ve gotten so much pleasure simply from seeing those 2 titles there, even before I’ve sold a copy of the second book.
Both of these books have been huge accomplishments, in their own ways. They both represent a deep re-integration into my life of the subject matter.
And all of a sudden, I can easily imagine more books. Something in me landed on “ten”. Ten books by me for the world.
I don’t know how long that will take, most likely the rest of my life, but I am excited about the prospect of it.
The sales are the byproducts. Every book completed represents a mountain conquered. Of learning more about myself, and reaching a point of that understanding that I can then share with the rest of the world.
The books I write are not about data or research. They’re about experiences and feelings. I see now that is my gift in sharing. It doesn’t matter how many books exist on these topics because I will always bring my own unique take on it. From my lived experience. And I communicate it in my own unique way. There are plenty of books on my bookshelf I will never read, because they are written in a way I don’t enjoy reading. I write in ways I enjoy consuming. The people who enjoy my work enjoy it for the same reasons. And that’s all I need to reach – those that enjoy what I write.
And the rewards of having completed each book far outweigh the sales of them. I was able to brainstorm an entire page of benefits that completing this book have given me that make the sales irrelevant. Everything from the story I created of this 60-day challenge, the fact that I’m now an “author” with multiple credits (and the credibility that comes with it), to the healing closure of the subject matter and being able to share it with others. That’s an entire page full of “up leveling”. I can’t even put a price on that.
What was the biggest piece of value you pulled from reading the above and how can you apply it to your life today?
