On Redefining “Work”

This is part of the Bittersweet Book Launch case study, where Dan Blank and Miranda Beverly-Whittemore share the yearlong process of launching her novel. You can view all posts here.


by Miranda Beverly-Whittemore

Since turning in (what I hope will be) the penultimate draft of Bittersweet to my editor on June 21st, I’ve been up at my family’s cabin in Vermont. Not only is it a beautiful, lakefront retreat, it’s the only house that has remained constant since I was a child; for those, and many other reasons, I’m blessed to call it one of my favorite places on earth. And it also just happens to be the setting I borrowed for Bittersweet; all the people are products of my imagination, but the landscape rings true.
Before I knew I’d be spending most of June working on my novel revision, I had imagined that at least the first week of my time up here (before my son and husband and nieces and sister arrived) would be all about work: on the next book I’m sketching out, as well as this blog and the Friendstories project. I also planned to spend some time thinking about the big picture; what do I want my next year to look like for my career? what do I want to write next? What are some of the broad decisions I need to make vis a vis promoting Bittersweet? Etc.
By last Wednesday, when I had done far less strategizing and writing than I’d originally hoped, I felt profoundly frustrated at myself. Family was coming soon! I was spending far too much time staring out at the lake! But my frustrations were only making it harder to think creatively. Here, in no particular order, are a few realizations I came to when I decided to let myself off the hook a bit:

1) The month before this retreat was all about product—getting the revision on Bittersweet tighter and better and stronger. I questioned every thought, sentence and word in that book, knowing I’d probably just end up doing the same thing all over again once I’ve gotten my next set of notes. In contrast to the precision of this kind of production, process is much harder to quantify. But that doesn’t mean it’s not as important. It’s just much, much harder to see fifteen hours of thinking (daydreaming, scheming) than fifteen hours of sentence polishing.

2) Exhaustion does not allow for great creative work. But this truth is hard to identify when you’re experiencing it. Another way of saying this: sometimes downtime is just necessary, especially when your brain is involved.

3) Beating yourself up about not being productive is a sure way to guarantee you won’t be productive.

And you know what? With a little more perspective, I realize I actually have been productive, because I started this blog, and I did do some of the thinking I had planned, and I got some real recharging in, and, most important of all, I read all of Bittersweet aloud, which is (I found) a fantastic way to hear all the nitty gritty of what I want to change on the level of the sentence. Not to mention that I got to read all of Bittersweet aloud to my mother, who is a wonderful writer in her own right (not to mention a phenomenal support), in the place which inspired Bittersweet.

All in all, not so bad a retreat after all.

“I Don’t Want To Lose Myself In This Process…”

This is part of the Bittersweet Book Launch case study, where Dan Blank and Miranda Beverly-Whittemore share the yearlong process of launching her novel. You can view all posts here.


“I don’t want to lose myself in this process…” that is basically what Miranda said to me on her last call as we were auditing her existing author platform.

We have been reviewing her existing online presence, including a website that hasn’t been updated in ages, and a Twitter account that doesn’t even mention her first name. These are the small details that get overlooked for YEARS, but reflect cracks that are easily fixed.

As we look at the scope of her entire life as a writer, all of the extensions of it online and off, all of those “best practices” authors are told about marketing, and even how we describe our work… this naturally leads to a fear that you don’t want to lose:

  • Who you are, as a person.
  • The pure magical center of why you write and what your writing is.

These are often the reasons writers eschew digging into developing their platforms, or exploring the marketing and business sides of their writing life.

As I approach all of this with Miranda, to develop a platform that is both strategic and meaningful, we will be balancing two things:

  1. Crafting a human presence for herself, and the connection to readers.
  2. Understanding how to most effectively communicate what her work is, and why she writes.

Sure, that’s a delicate balance. Just as any craft is, which has been the driving mantra for my work: Platform Is Craft.
🙂

-Dan

Brainstorming Friendstories

This is part of the Bittersweet Book Launch case study, where Dan Blank and Miranda Beverly-Whittemore share the yearlong process of launching her novel. You can view all posts here.


by Miranda Beverly-Whittemore

I’ve never built an online project from the ground up. I’ve written novels, and yes, from the outset those always seem as though they will be infinitely difficult to accomplish (which is an accurate assessment of the novel-writing process), but at least I know what the end product should look like. This Friend Stories project is invigorating to imagine but also intimidating, mainly because I’m not even sure where it will want to go, who it will involve and engage, and how those who it engages will make the space their own.

Maybe the short way of saying this is novelist = control freak, and communal blog = control freak’s worst nightmare.

And maybe I’m being just a tad dramatic.

I realize that one way to keep my nervousness at bay is to think small, just as I do when I’m writing a novel. It’s the small blocks that (eventually) build something mighty. So I’ve started to think along these lines:

How long do I want each friend story to be? How should the friend stories be organized? What should the guidelines be to help each storyteller focus her story to what it wants to be? What kind of prompts should I provide to help each storyteller come to tell a story of her best friendship from girlhood?

There are a myriad of other unknowns, from design to submission process to editorial style, and I’m dipping my toe into those too. But for now, I think the best way to start to answer the questions I’ve listed above is to start to write my own friend stories. So back to the grindstone…

What I Do All Day, And Why.

Three years ago, my company WeGrowMedia took its first client. Today, I want to talk about my journey in running a company so far.

Before doing this, I had worked for a decade at a single company, they were disbanding and the last day of my job was right around July 4, 2010. I had setup WeGrowMedia the December before, the official “anniversary,” but I waited until I had stopped working one job to take a client for WeGrowMedia.

When I first announced this on my blog, one commenter scolded me for endangering the financial well-being of my family. You see, in quick succession, I launched my company, had my first child, and soon after, my wife quit her job as a teacher to be home with our son full time. These are three pretty big risks, which is why the commenter feared for my well-being.

I’m happy to report, the rewards have far outweighed any potential downsides.

It always struck me as a nice coincidence that I ventured out on my own during the week of Independence Day. I’ve been reflecting on that, the meaning of “independence,” and where it does – and DOESN’T – apply to my work.

Oftentimes, there is this vision of “being your own boss” when you start a company, and while I do enjoy the freedom to choose to do work I am proud of, I rarely sentimentalize “being my own boss.” I have many bosses, many obligations, not the least of which is to my clients, my family, and myself.

Let’s give this some context though. I typically work with 30-50 writers per month (these are writers who I have not worked within the past), as well as other clients. Here are all of the projects I am working on right now, quite a few of them I have not mentioned publicly before:

ONLINE COURSES
I love how online education has connected us and helps us each develop. Unlike many “online courses” I see, which just shove PDF files at you each week, what I enjoy most and find most useful is truly interacting with those who take my classes, brainstorming with them, working past obstacles, and getting to know them as a person. Here are the courses I am currently teaching:

PRIVATE WRITING CLIENTS
I work one-on-one with authors as well, really getting into the trenches with them to grow their platforms, find readers, and develop specific marketing plans for their work. Right now I have four private clients, and since my work is not publicity oriented, I rarely say who these clients are publicly.

But, there is one exception to that rule, a writer I am working with and doing something very special for. We are embarking on a year-long book launch process, and will be live-blogging the entire thing! The writer is Miranda Beverly-Whittemore, whose next novel Bittersweet is to be published by Crown in May 2014. I am helping her on the overall strategy as well as many specific tactics to best reach readers. We thought it would be fun to share the process, and you can follow along here: https://wegrowmedia.com/bittersweet.

WRITING A BOOK
This is another thing I haven’t really announced publicly yet, but yes, I am writing a book. BUT! I’m not doing it a lone. My friend Christina Rosalie, an artist & writer, and I kept having these long Skype chats about what it means to really live a creative life. We talked about the amazing things we see online, and also considered what does and doesn’t add up to a body of work over time.

We finally realized that our ideas complemented each other really well, and that the best format to explore this would be a book. So, we are doing just that. We are also beginning to blog about these ideas over at MakingACreativeLife.com. That site is a sketchbook for us.

CORPORATE CONSULTING
I usually have a couple of corporate consulting gigs as well, working with publishers or media companies to help them better connect with readers and develop compelling content and marketing strategies. I also do a lot of training programs for their employees, partners or audiences to help them grow their skills.

Right now, I am consulting with JWT, a digital agency, helping one of their clients with their content strategy & better understanding their audience and how to reach them. It’s fun to work inside a company like this and consider the strategies & tactics that large organizations use, and how it applies back down to the goals of authors who are hoping to connect with readers.

RUNNING AN ONLINE CONFERENCE
I haven’t mentioned this yet, but I am about to announce an online conference for writers that I am running. I can’t even tell you how excited I am about this, and how amazing it is going to be. Right now, I have recruited my advisory board, am crafting the agenda, conference details, and lining up speakers. More info very soon…

A MEETUP FOR CREATIVE PROFESSIONALS
My friend Scott McDowell and I are holding our first local meetup in Morristown, New Jersey on July 11th. The goal is to meet other creative professionals working in this area, folks who are writers, designers, artists, and entrepreneurs who are crafting meaningful work. He and I will each make a short presentation, but the real goal is conversation and forging helpful connections. Hopefully, we can make this a monthly endeavor.

SPEAKING & WORKSHOPS
I regularly speak at publishing and writing conferences, and run in-person workshops. Next week I will be speaking at Thrillerfest in New York City, and I recently spoke at Backspace Conference, Writer’s Digest Conference, Tools of Change for Publishing, and several others.

WRITING
Beyond that, every week I blog, send out a newsletter, update social media, and am a contributor to WriterUnboxed.com and Huffington Post Books. This is an area where I feel I could do so much more, but simply feel that I don’t have the time. I am a slow writer.

End of list.

Sure, there are other ideas and projects I am exploring, such as an event at the new Word Bookstore opening in Jersey City soon. But the list above is all of the things I am working on RIGHT NOW.

I LOVE the work that I do, the people I get to work with, the range of different projects keeps me fueled creatively, plus: I am ALWAYS learning. This is by far the most creative period in my life, and the most fulfilling as well.

Because of all of this responsibility, that is why I shy away from the term “independence,” or boasting about “being your own boss.” That isn’t a goal for me. I LIKE serving these people, and having these responsibilities.

Beyond the opportunity to create meaningful work and have meaningful relationships/experiences, there is another benefit, one that I don’t often write about…

I work from home, from cafes, from libraries. What this means is that I get to choose when and where I work. The biggest benefit of this is that I get to be very present in the lives of my wife and 3 year old son. Every single day. I am often there when they wake and up; I eat lunch with them every day; I take my son out right at 5pm each day, spending a couple of hour together at the park, library or elsewhere; and I pop in for short conversations or play sessions throughout the day.

The qualitative difference this makes in the life of my family is even beyond my own comprehension. But I know that:

  • My wife and I are likely less stressed trying to coordinate schedules, or in me being away all day because of a commute. Before I started WeGrowMedia, I was gone from 7am – 7pm at my job, and that included at least 2 hours of commuting time.
  • My son gets to grow up with me there throughout the day, every day. And while I clearly work a lot, he gets to actually see me working, and ENJOYING that work.

There are lots of ways to measure success. And yes, I do focus on revenue and supporting my family as the sole financial provider. I would never EVER diminish the importance of that.

But I also measure success in how I live every day. The experiences I have in the small moments of the day. And of course, in who I experience those moments with.

So that is WeGrowMedia a bit more than 3 years in. That is what I do everyday, and why I do it. I hope none of this came off as gloating or self-serving, that is not my intention.

In the past, I have written about my choices in terms of building a legacy, and in the value of taking risks to find opportunity.

Thanks.
-Dan

There Is No One-Size-Fits-All Book Launch

This is part of the Bittersweet Book Launch case study, where Dan Blank and Miranda Beverly-Whittemore share the yearlong process of launching her novel. You can view all posts here.


As Miranda mentioned earlier, we pretty much became BookExpo buddies at the huge event at Javits Center at the end of May. Besides our work together previously, our meetups for coffee and our phone conversations, Miranda and I spent hours and hours wandering around the BookExpo show floor trading ideas.

We didn’t have an agenda for our conversations, but we talked a lot about books, writing, the process of creation, publishing, and of course, her book Bittersweet. Here is Miranda and I at the Random House booth, as I tried to fill her mind with long lines of readers hoping to meet her there next year:

While I have a specific methodology I use when working with writers, it would be simplistic to think that every book launch or author platform can follow the exact same steps. Each book is different, each author is different, and how they choose (or choose not to) leverage the many tools and strategies at their disposal will be unique. In fact, most authors I meet are completely overwhelmed with all of the options, and all the articles out there saying “you HAVE to do such and such.”

So much of what Miranda and I chat about is not just “what can we do,” but rather “what SHOULD we do.” Inherent in this is the notion that for everything we choose to do, we are choosing not to do a dozen other things.

Focusing our attention, our resources, and ensuring that everything we do is perfectly catered to this book, this author, and her ideal readers.

Thanks.
-Dan