I Guess Anyone Can Write A Book, Even Me

Well, I’m going to let the cat out of the bag. I’m writing a book. A real book. Now, I have a lot of friends who have written books and, the way we guys are, I’ve been quick to flip them crap … “Anyone can write a book”. Now that I’m becoming living proof of this … I have an entirely new perspective on this subject. Yes, we all have a book in us, and anybody can write one but, don’t for one minute think that it is going to be easy. It’s not. In fact, it’s damn hard work. A good friend, and a bestselling author himself, advised me that most salespeople will have a nervous breakdown during this process. I’m now past the drooling stage but have graduated to adult diapers. I’m not sure if this is how we define progress.

I’ve been encouraged by many people to write a book for some time now. It has been on my bucket list. I started to think more seriously about this a few months ago but really had little idea of where to start. Finding a publisher struck me as a complicated process and, particularly for a first-time writer, I’m guessing that there would be a ton of disappointment that might just end up in … a ton of disappointment. Self-publishing seemed like the only option.

I did speak with a local publisher about co-publishing. I’m not sure what is standard for this particular path but, it would require an investment of several thousand dollars from me in addition to writing the book itself. While this struck me as an odd relationship, it was something that I was considering.

Thirty days later, out of the blue, a publisher in Great Britain sent me an email. They told me that they had an idea for a book that they wanted to publish, had a title for the book, and asked me if I would be interested in writing it. Interesting and interested. I did some checking and was pleased to discover that they were the real deal. We discussed the particulars, they made me the offer (don’t get too excited), and we are now deep in the process of writing. Six years ago I didn’t know what a blog was and now I am some sort of writer? Go figure. We plan and God laughs.

I’m always up for stretching my limits and game for a good challenge. Never having written a book, I had no idea as to what to expect regarding the process. I’m quite comfortable writing and confident in the subject matter so, how difficult could this possibly be? Let’s just say it is not for the faint of heart. Next to nothing I have done has prepared me for this. I have never worked with outlines, templates, or styles and had no idea that you could even track changes and leave comments in Word documents (let alone how they work or how to hide them), and am not used to having my writing reviewed and critiqued by others.

Having to think several chapters ahead has proven to be challenging and has necessitated my changing both outlines and order of chapters several times to the disdain of my editor. Being a perfectionist doesn’t help. To top it all off, my anticipated word counts were off by 70%. In other words, I am writing 70% more content than I had originally projected. Dohhhhh!

Still, I’m having fun! I’m also very excited and honored to have been given this outstanding opportunity! Assuming I survive this, I might even write another book. Then again I might not. Ask me 6 months from now. The book should be out sometime, I am thinking, around late spring next year. I’m not going to share the title or the topic just yet. It’s still not too late for them to kick my scrawny ass to the curb:)

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Craig M. Jamieson

Managing Member at Adaptive Business Services

Craig M. Jamieson is a lifelong B2B salesperson, manager, owner, and a networking enthusiast. Adaptive Business Services provides solutions related to the sales professional. We are a Nimble CRM Solution Partner. Craig also conducts training and workshops primarily in social selling and communication skills. Craig is also the author of "The Small Business' Guide to Social CRM", now available on Amazon!