From Spark to Flame
The time has finally come that I get to cross an item on my bucket list. The one item that has probably been on there from the first list, the first dream — and the longest running item.
I am publishing my first book — SPARK — a guide to kickstart or reignite your creativity.
If we’re being technical, you can order it on Amazon right NOW … or you can pre-order direct from this website here and a signed copy of the book will be shipped with extra goodies not available in Amazon. Books will start shipping May 16th after the official launch party.
Speaking of, if you are in Boise, Idaho or the surrounding areas and are available Tuesday, May 15th, come on by the launch party and introduce yourself and pick up a book in person.
As I’ve worked through my first experience in publishing, I’ve come to realize maybe 25% is exactly as I imagined and 75% was completely eye opening and new and fresh and addictive.
My story is probably very different from many others, or many traditional routes. It wasn’t the way I thought it would happen and had I known years ago I could have published a book as swift as I did this one, I might not have let fear get in the way. Hint — read the book to learn a little bit more about this.
Here’s the short version of how an idea became a dream come true.
I work for an amazing and influential woman who put me in touch with her current local publisher, Aloha Publishing, in Eagle, Idaho. I reached out, did some name dropping, mentioned some possible book projects, and just wanted to get the lay of the land and learn more about publishing. Aloha publishes primarily non-fiction of the inspirational and motivational sort. Until this moment, I was purely a fiction writer. I was not going to be publishing with Aloha. I was just learning.
The day before my first meeting with their team I got up the courage to send them a short manifesto I wrote months before. In fact, I wrote it October 16, 2017 after listening to a session of Jeff Goins Tribe Writer’s course on a Monday when I was off from work. I just sat down and wrote out the thoughts in my head. Then I typed them up in a Google Doc, had one person read it, and then over the course of a few months I slowly started building an email list and gathering my courage to ship it out to 100 people in my sphere.
Going back to the meeting — the night before at 9pm — I finally got the courage to send it to them. Not as an idea to publish. It was just a little background on who I was as a writer. Fast forward 9 hours and I’m getting an email from my publisher telling me that they loved it and think it would make a great book.
For two months (give or take), we edited, expanded, added some photos, designed a cover, etc. and a couple months later my first book baby is born!
There are a few things I’ve learned over the past 9 months that I wish I knew years ago:
- Just ship it. Never let fear of failure or rejection win. It’s never worth it.
- The worst case scenario is never how it really turns out.
- Be open to new ideas. What you least expect can magically appear.
- You’re never too old to publish a book (or create your masterpiece).
- Lean on your tribe. The people that love you will back you 100% from start to finish.
If you’re struggling with the next steps on a project, to write a book, to make a change, to create something new — just take one step in the direction you want to go. My first step was randomly writing a manifesto. It led to an email list that led to a published book in the span of 9 months.
I already know my next published book will be a different experience, but I’ve learned a lot and I know what I can do better and what I can gain.
We never know until we try.
A spark will turn into a flame.
NOW … go create.
❤,
Lauren
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Originally published at Elle Tea Creative.