by Ann Evanston | Mar 14, 2012 | Influence Factor
This has been my screensaver!
I finished my book today! Well, the manuscript! It’s off to the publisher for the next phase of analyzing, fine-tuning, and perfecting those words on paper.
Some of you have been with me on this journey of writing. Last fall I started a personal 30 day writing challenge. I wrote every morning for 30 minutes whether I wanted to or not! That writing led to the self-discovery of why I have not published my own book yet.
Yes, I know there will be critics of my book. Of all kinds. Some would say the first level of critic will start in this next phase with the publisher. My guess? Critics will be everywhere, heck they always are huh?
I am publishing with a company called Our Little Books. I am confident some will say I didn’t not write a REAL book! So what if it’s only 8000 words! It’s thoughtful, provocative, and something that I have talked and believed in from many, many years of my work.
This book for me will lead to a series of books. It has allowed me to take my formula, clearly define what I do by writing this first book, and apply it to other situations in the world. As a matter of fact, I am already using it while I speak again (Did “The Influence Factor in Social Media” last week- rav reviews! That will be one of the future books for sure!). This is helping me help my clients like I used to in the old days! I truly owe that to this process.
I cannot say enough about the 30 day writing challenge. Now this idea came from Dan Kennedy who writes every day for an hour. I continuously meet and work with clients in my one on ones, who struggle with getting content out. If they would just write for 30 minutes a day, I think they’d be blown away. Honestly, without that, I am not sure I’d be saying I wrote a book.
I believe they would find the power of their voice. They would discover that they have quality content to post in social media regularly. They would realize how influential they are when they just get down and write from their heart. They would develop the Influence Factor, and increase success in so many ways.
Every person I interviewed for my book writes regularly! Now doesn’t that say something about how to create influence in your life? It definitely worked for me! Now it’s time to go celebrate that manuscript.
Ann M. Evanston is a “Chief Breakthrough Officer” teaching other Business Warriors how to slow down, and find the most unique part of their business that makes them stand out among the crowd. She has been named one of the top marketing consultants by About.com, is a guest blogger for Showcasing Women and takes pride in moving you from “blah, blah, blah” to “BOOM, BOOM. BOOM!”
by Ann Evanston | Jan 25, 2012 | Influence Factor
For years as an international speaker I have had colleagues, participants in my classes and presentations, family, friends and even publishers tell me I have a book or two I should be writing. I have continuously said: “I’m a speaker, not a writer.”
Seth Godin called me out on that limiting belief! He said that no one says they have talkers’ block; they just say they have writers’ block. Anyone can talk out what they want to become their published book. Heck, that is how I wrote this blog post!
Recently, a great friend and publisher of Our Little Books approached me again (yes again, I backed out once before) with a great opportunity. My chance to become a published author is in my lap again! And I got scared.
Honestly I didn’t fully understand where this was coming from. What am I so afraid of? Why is it that when this huge opportunity presents itself I panic? I have a 40 page undergraduate thesis that is published! So what the heck is my problem?
This weekend I had an epiphany as to why. In graduate school I took an adult development course. This class was run by two professors widely known in the Puget Sound Region as women you wanted to learn from. I was so excited about being in their class. One of our assignments was to create a ritual or write a fairytale that described how we became the adults we are today.
Excited, I wrote a fairytale about how I became who I am and what allowed me to heal to become who I am. One of these professors actually ripped apart the paper. She said that I didn’t know myself and I failed the assignment. The other teacher disagreed, but guess what I held onto?
The rejection.
Now I have to get over that fear of rejection so I can write my book. It’s not so easy when people say just write it. Some of you may relate to this form of rejection and if you’re not willing to deal with it, how will you ever get to a place where you create what you’re meant to create?
So I am working to overcome this fear. The fairytale I wrote in 1994 was on a typewriter. In 2010, I had it typed so it could be shared, but still held it away. Part of me realized that sharing is how I heal. Putting this on my blog will help me heal. Sharing my fairy tale will help even more, even in its raw unedited form. It’s not about having people tell me it’s good. It’s about being ok with putting myself out there further even again.
I have to let it go, and know it doesn’t matter what others think, as the story will touch who it is meant to touch.
You can download and read Ann’s fairytale here.
Ann M. Evanston is a “Chief Breakthrough Officer” teaching other Business Warriors how to slow down, and find the most unique part of their business that makes them stand out among the crowd. She has been named one of the top marketing consultants by About.com, is a guest blogger for Showcasing Women and takes pride in moving you from “blah, blah, blah” to “BOOM, BOOM. BOOM!”
