I love the phrase in the Subject line. We have so many things to do and so little time to do it right? Well, maybe. I keep reminding myself that I tend to run out of "do" (i.e. motivation) long before I run out of time. I cite my experience with Golf Wisdom From Under The Hat as an example.
The fact is, I didn't know I could write a book until I wrote one.
I didn't know I could get it published, so I formed a company and published it myself.
I didn't know what all that "front matter" was that you see in the first few pages of a book (ISBN, copyright, Library of Congress Control Number, etc...), so I just kept researching until I figured out how to register and procure all of that stuff.
I didn't know how big the book would be. I was sure it wouldn't be 8.5 x 11 inches, but that's about it. So I took some books off of my shelf and reasoned...yeah, 5.5 x 8.5 inches would be about right
and then set about trying to format the book for that size so that it would look OK in print. You wouldn't believe how many "paper size standards" there are; some in inches, some in centimeters...I thought I was back in 6th grade...let's see 2.5 centimeters per inch...
I didn't know how to get a book up on Amazon Kindle, so fortunately, it rained one weekend and I spent the entire time researching and formatting and formatting again until I met the Kindle upload requirements. There really is a lot to know about Microsoft Word - just sayin.
I didn't know how to get it up on other platforms too (Barnes and Noble, iBooks, Sony, etc...) so I researched and found out about Smashwords. Rather than having to go to each one of those websites and learn their unique formatting requirements (yes...they're all different), I was able to go to www.smashwords.com, and after several attempts, I successfully uploaded to their requirements and now they can (will?) distribute to the other book stores/distributors.
I will save you the "how I got it printed saga," but suffice to say, it's another research project. Things like binding, paper size, weight, color, shipping costs, upload requirements, etc...all come into play. Comparisons...debate...more comparisons...more debate...more information...more debates...and on it goes until....damn it Reed!...make a decision. If it's the right one - great! If it's the wrong one - you still learn something. Win-win, I'd say.
So in closing this opening blog, I say it remains true that "80% of success is just showing up." "Showing up" in the 21st century mostly means getting motivated, getting on a computer, getting on the Internet and doing all the research you need to do to get your goal(s) accomplished. You do have the time! You just need more "do."
I welcome your comments! :-)
