In 2008 I had an information product idea called, “Self Coaching For Career And Life Change“.
Alas, this went nowhere because of two career-related changes I made, and one that Nature imposed quite suddenly:
- I started a freelance writing business.
- I stopped coaching clients directly and decided to let my words here be my ‘coaching voice’.
- The earthquake and tsunami disaster in North-Eastern Japan on 3/11, last year
Almost four years on from that post and I’ve been thinking about writing a book – a real one, not an eBook. Despite the rise of tablet computers and eBook readers, there is still a very large market for physical books.
The Effortless Authorship System – What?
What convinced me to start writing a book was an email from my good friend James Brown, a successful Internet Marketing consultant, and also based in Japan. He had been working on his own book (due out in 2012) with an experienced business ghostwriter, Michael Levin. Of course, being the consummate marketer that he is, not only did he create a book with Mr. Levin’s assistance, but he also partnered with him to promote Michael’s effortless authorship system for ‘writing’ and self-publishing books.
The Effortless Authorship System is designed to get rookie authors past the roadblocks (both physical and psychological) that often frustrate writers and destroy their publishing dreams. I purchased the course during an ‘early-bird’ marketing launch and also signed up for the monthly mentoring option to see what I can learn about writing and self-publishing books ‘behind the scenes.’
Which Book should I write?
I’ve been thinking about the theme of my first book for a few weeks now and it’s clear that there are two possibilities.
Book choice #1 is centered on the topic of (mid) career change and personal growth; something this blog has focused on for over four years.
Having been through two career changes so far (in my mid-20s and again in mid-life), I have learned a lot and would like to pass on that knowledge to others.
By ‘others’, I mean people who want to make changes in their life or career (the two are often inter-linked, in my experience) but hesitate to put plans into action, or falter on following through.
Of course, I could compile a top 20 list of posts from this blog and use them to publish an e-book. These posts might even be sufficient to publish a 100+ page book. However, I’ve been selective in what I’ve shared here, while the blog itself has changed direction as my plans have changed e.g. from offering coaching products and services, through to describing my transition from coaching to freelance writing and teaching.
While I hope ‘markmccluretoday‘ is still interesting to readers, I don’t think it’s the only ‘communications vehicle’ to get this message into the world. I believe that a book, well-planned and researched, is also able to reach a wide audience.
Book choice #2 is focused on how to get the best from content marketing assets in the Asia-Pacific region; a topic that fits well into my freelance technology writer’s blog.
The ideal reader is a marketing manager for an Information Technology vendor or reseller; someone who is based in the Asia-Pacific region, and charged with providing marketing content (e.g. white papers, case studies, blogs and social media conversations) that prospects and customers can identify with.
And The Winner Is…
From the post’s title you might have guessed that book choice #1 is going to be my first (self-) published book. The core ‘self-coaching’ message strongly appeals because I aim at living it every day. And I’ve had many conversations with friends (online and offline) and coaches who say they’d like to know more about self-coaching as a strategy for dealing with career and life change.
So, ‘Self-coaching for career change and personal growth‘ it shall be. That’s a working title and good enough for now.
What I will probably do is blog here about topics connected with the book’s theme, and post on justfiverules.com about the project of creating and publishing the physical book.
Book #2 Waiting for CSMA/CD Clearance
While my focus is on writing the self-coaching book, not much is going to happen publicly with the “content marketing in Asia-Pacific” book. I’m already planning at least one lead generation report for samuraiwriter.com. And there’s also a monthly newsletter launch to attend to.
Your Questions and feedback on book #1 are very welcome.
Mark ‘self-coaching book’ McClure
