Sat, Dec 22, 2012

Happy Holidays!

It has been a crazy time since Thanksgiving and I honestly wasn't sure everything would get done, but hard work has once again prevailed. My book is in to Jessica Kingsley Publishers, the accompanying art is in, I have permission from all contributors to use their stories, and my apartment no longer looks like a kind of insane obstacle course.

Setting a deadline is hard. Meeting it is harder. How do you know when something is finished? The answer is that it will never be finished, never be perfect. The question should be: When is it good enough to let go of?

When are the ideas articulated and researched well enough to start the conversation? My book is about one approach to self employment. I can not possibly give all the answers to every question or cover every angle. I can give readers a framework from which to proceed, ask questions, and draw their own conclusions. So, aside from being a terrifying end to something, I used the deadline as a point of letting go. Not the final letting go that will happen when it goes to print, but the beginning of the end.

The first point of letting go was when the contract was signed. I commited to there being an end and could no longer pretend I had infinite time to add information. Next came the deadline when I had to turn everything in and could no longer make changes without telling the publisher. Now a lull before the last round of edits and indexing. Then it is done and goes to print.

If I want to change anything after that it will have to be for a reprint, new edition, or a completely new book.

Scary, but in a good, personal growth kind of way. There has been a lot of letting go in my life this year and I can't wait to see the amazing outcome of this particular adventure.

Now to take my own advice from my last post and take a break over the holidays. Enjoy your celebrations, cherish the small things, and take some moments to just breathe and relax.

Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year!

Happy Holidays!