Reflection - 30 (well 45) days of Asking
I have to admit that I thoroughly enjoyed doing another TED inspired activity after all this time. This means there will be more to come, I don't know why I forgot how great they were.
Anyway, on with the reflection on Asking
As I explained in the launch post and my review of Amanda's book, The Art of Asking - I see the main message of this being about valuing yourself and what you do; then making yourself vulnerable to others by asking for help or support of some kind. This is something that I think creative people find particularly difficult, because in many ways our society does not support that mindset.
This is about feeling like I can charge a realistic price for my creative products - in this case, my book. Because when I made the decision to publish My Year of TED as a book, my initial thoughts were to give it away as an ebook to subscribers. When I decided to engage an editor to proofread it, that thought started to change; when I decided to make a paperback version, all bets were off. But making a commitment to publish my blog as a free ebook, and then deciding to sell it, was a huge mindset shift.
What went well, and not so well
Amanda's talk (and book) helped remind me that I'm allowed to ask - that maybe what I have created is of value to other people and I should want to share it broadly with other people. So, I pulled up my big girl panties and did what I committed to doing in the launch.
During the 45 days of Asking I achieved the following:
finalised and published the book, and didn't shy away from pricing it at a comparable price for other books of the same size, genre etc.
asked lots of people to share and promote the book - which included a Thunderclap campaign that had a respectable number of participants.
asked people to review the book - four people took me up on free ebook copies for reviews; the reviews are coming along well.
asked TED speakers to share, which wasn't as successful an outcome, but a few of them have shared for me. Wonderfully, four of the TED speakers who I interviewed last year have also provide me with endorsements/praise for the front of the book and promotion. You can check those comments out on the book page.
I've sent out a number of press releases, and ended up being featured in main Hobart paper a little over a week ago. I still have to follow up other outlets, and do A LOT more in this area, but I did more asking than I felt comfortable with, so I count that as a huge win.
Fullers Bookshop in Hobart is stocking the book, and just ordered more copies as a matter of fact. Until today I had only approached one other bookstore, but this is the next area of focus. I've found it more difficult to do this than the media, because I'm asking them to make a financial decision to buy the book. The experience with Fullers was a great boost - so hopefully later this week I'll have a couple more suppliers in the country.
I've sold copies at a few local markets, and I'm not shying away from saying "hey, buy my book."
The big win
Probably the greatest achievement during this period wasn't about asking other people for anything at all. It was about giving myself permission to call myself an author. I'll be honest with you, there is still a small part of me that cringes when I say it, because I'm self-published and I think there is still a stigma to that. But in all actuality I am an author - and there is a 306 page book that shares the story of My Year of TED to prove that.
I still have a long way to go before I will feel like I have done 'enough' to promote the book and get it out into the world, but I'm persevering. I continue to take the little steps needed to ask others to promote it; to ask others to review it if they want to share their impressions with others; and importantly to ask people to buy it.
Yet, with every copy that is sold, my feeling of dread grows - does that sound weird? There are two components to this:
That people will not like it and think it wasn't worth the money - but I'm certain this is a feeling that every creative person has. It's why we don't charge enough for the art we create, and why some people never get to the point of selling at all.
That people will now know about me - the book is intensely personal at times, and it shares thoughts and feelings that I have kept hidden for a very long time. Many people who have read it so far have said that it is very brave; I think that just freaks me out even more.
But, with every copy that is sold I also feel a huge sense of achievement, and hope that other people might embrace their own vulnerability and courage. It is called Do Share Inspire for a very important reason, and even if the inspirational components make me feel a little ill-at-ease, they are so important.
One last Ask - if you think this all sounds interesting and you know someone who would benefit from the story, please share this post or the book page. Or maybe buy them a copy of the book :-)