It’s been a while since we checked in here on the blog – but for good reason. We have been writing a book – and we just finished up the writing process! While we usually feature science-based workplace wellness tips here on the blog, a lot of you have been asking us questions about what it’s like to write a book. So, we thought we’d write a bit about our learnings here! You can also hear more about our writing process in our new podcast episode.
It Takes a Team
First, it’s important to note that writing a book really does take a team of people to accomplish. We knew very little about the process of getting a book contract, so we had to rely on others’ kindness to show us the ropes. There really is a learning curve for publishing in the popular press – being a newbie can be overwhelming.
Luckily, several people were willing to share their book writing experiences with us. They connected us to other authors who we could learn from, to editors who could help us to craft a strong proposal, and to agents who might be interested in the book. Our proposal was eventually accepted by Jill Marsal, our agent, who pitched it to publishers. We are thrilled that Wiley is going to publish our book. Without a good agent, a book proposal is unlikely to be accepted, so we are so grateful to Jill for helping us get to this point. But, once the proposal is accepted, the writing begins!
Writing a Book is a Journey
We were excited to get started on writing our book – a roadmap for leaders who want to drive results sustainably, by boosting employees’ wellbeing. Because there are two of us, we needed to make sure that our “voice” was consistent throughout the book. In other words, we wanted to make sure the book sounded coherent all the way through, and not like two different people wrote it. So, we came up with a process to make that outcome more likely.
First, one of us would create a detailed outline for a chapter. Then the other would fill in the outline and actually write the chapter. Then the first person, who created the outline, would edit and streamline it. This way, we were able to make sure that each chapter had a little bit of each of our writing style in it. Combined, that seemed to help with making the tone more consistent. At this point, we can’t tell which chapters we outlined, wrote, or edited, so we think that the process was a success.
We would be remiss if we didn’t mention that we wrote the book mostly in the evenings and on weekends. So, it is a big time commitment. But, it happens in a short period of time. While it was intense, it was only six months of writing total. Plus, we had fun writing it. And we hope you have fun reading it too!
The book comes out on March 25th, and pre-orders will be available soon. Follow our progress on LinkedIn (Katina and Patricia) to keep posted on how to get your copy!
