Cave woman in the information age

This morning someone encouraged me to blog about why I self-published my book. I'll tell you why.

After making a few attempts at writing a marketing piece, a proposal, and an author's bio, I had to step back and reflect.

Do I know what I'm doing? Am I any good at this? No. It makes me feel like an impostor, and that has nothing to do with self-esteem. I esteem myself just fine, I just don't think I do this marketing thing very well.

I think the reason for that is because I associate marketing with spin, and with lies, or at least half-truths. So what can I do? I can talk about my book, and why I wrote it, and what I was trying to accomplish from having written it. I know, you may be saying, but Marcella, that IS marketing.

OK. Granted. But the truth is I fear there will be rules to follow that I don't know about, and if I try this thing called marketing then it is clear to me that I will break ALL OF THEM.

Then I will be found out as the newbie, and that silly person who has that special blend of confidence and naivete that we call gumption--the kind where they pat you on the head and say, Aaww, how cute, you published a book all by yourself, aren't you a clever girl.

Good grief. See where this is going? It is already laughable, and I want to be a serious author, dag nab it!

So I'm going to step back again and see this from a distance. I live in a time in history that allows me access to certain miracles of mass communication. That's how I think of self-publishing. It is all very new to me. I am a completely self-taught participant. It has been a lot of work, but also a lot of fun. I have absolutely no background in traditional publishing and no contacts in that world. I wouldn't know where to begin the process of presenting myself to a publisher. I have no particular authority or expertise; I have no readership, no author platform. Approaching any publishing house, I would come armed only with a manuscript of unknown quality just like thousands and thousands before and after me.

It's not difficult to see how easily intimidation like that works within a single mind, let alone so many others who want to publish their work. The only difference is that I gave myself permission to do so. Yep. That's it. I just did it because I really, really wanted to. I have the same needs for self-expression as most people do. For me, self-publishing the book is just like that cave woman dipping her hand in red pigment and pressing her palm against the wall. Living in the information age just means not having to wait to be discovered by some wandering shepherd.

I'm willing to wait for all the souls wandering the internet.

Another word on courage

Dear readers,

The last three months have left you with an unpardonable absence of input. I plan to make up for it. And now: Back to making recommendations. I'm barely half way through this book, but that doesn't stop me from wanting to expose it back into cyberspace for all to read. I usually hate books about business, but a welcome exception is Dave Pollard's Finding the sweet spot: The natural entrepreneur's guide to responsible, sustainable, joyful work.

You know that mental zing you get when you read something that really resonates with your current thinking, your current worldview? Well, I've been getting plenty of zings not only from his book but many of his blog posts. For example, pg 57:

"If courage is merely not having any alternative but to do something remarkable, what can you do to make trying to become expert at something you think you'd really love so compelling, you have no alternative but to go for it?"

If you read my previous post, does that theme sound familiar? It is a question at the core of anyone's quest for work that they really want to do, efforts they want to be a part of, and potentially kindred spirits they want to meet if only they knew where to find them.

I'm still looking for ways to bring 21st century thinking into the material world and make a livelihood from it. One area I keep coming back to again and again is how to solve problems in recycling plastics and other common products. I'm not a scientist and I don't have a background in logistics, but I'd like to confront this challenge. If I'm confronted with a situation I want to deal with responsibly, I assume there are potentially millions just like me facing the same thing. Case in point: Take my lowly cuisinart beaters.

No, really, take them, please. They're broken. The gears grind horribly, and fail to spin the beaters. I'd love to be a proud DIYer, but I can't even discover how I would open up this gadget to look at the innards, let alone fix it. So how do I dispose of this item responsibly??

Initially, I thought about boxing it up and sending it back to the address listed on the product information brochure. After all, shouldn't the original manufacturer take responsibility for their products throughout the entire lifecycle? I'm stymied.

This conundrum is a perfect example of a so-called problem, that should never be one in the first place. That's compelling. That's relevant. That is worth becoming an expert. And on what part of it would I be an expert? Just think of how many kindred spirits I would have to meet in order to solve this, and similar problems for everyone across this lovely continent? Wouldn't that keep me busy for the rest of my life?    Stay tuned.....