Delivering Books and Dreams for 20 Years

Apparently, 80 percent of all businesses fail within their first five years. I knew I was taking a big risk starting a business, but I had a strong sense of purpose, motivation and determination. Still, I've been amazed to witness how my little start-up has grown and thrived and now achieved 20 years of success.

If you know the backstory of The Book Midwife?, you will remember that I started writing my first book with a lot of passion, but it would take ten years to finally see it finished and published in 2001. I had let my doubts and fears, as well as critiques, criticism and opinions from other supposedly well-meaning folks deter and derail me, and for much of that time I was at risk of never seeing that book in print. That would have been such a shame, since it was a tribute to a friend of mine who had taken his life.

Within a year of publishing A Dance in the Desert , I had pivoted my fledgling coaching company to focus solely on book coaching, supporting aspiring authors to plan, write and publish their books without taking ten years to do so! I discovered that nine out of ten people who want to write a book never even start, or if they do start, they get stuck or quit at some point. Of those who do get to the finish line, most have taken too long and many are unsure about what they have written, if it's the right content or length, or even if it’s ‘any good’.

Starting out with one-to-one coaching programs, The Book Midwife? soon created the 90-day book coaching concept and launched its first group program in 2005. Since we launched, over one thousand aspiring authors have completed our private and group programs and online courses to get their books written fast and to a high standard. I am so proud of my clients who over the years have worked really hard, dug deep and created books that have made a huge difference to their lives and the lives of their readers.

As the company turns 20 years old in the next few days, I am reflecting on how the book industry has changed in that time. When I first started talking about my work, people would ask me ‘Why should I write a book?’ which sounds so funny to me now. Then, as I and other book experts shared the message of how a good book creates credibility for the author, some people began to ask ‘Why would I need help to write it?’. The fact that publishing became easier created a false sense of confidence that the writing part was also easy.

My heart would sink when someone seeking help or guidance would say ‘I’ve already written my book’ because The Book Midwife? is not an editing process for a finished book. Rather, it is hand-holding, coaching, guidance and direction from the very start, or conception. Why wouldn’t an aspiring author want to make sure they were setting off in the right direction? Why wouldn't they want thoughtful input and advice right from the beginning, help with outlining the book and making the big decisions around format, structure, framework, content, use of stories, style, tone, length etc? They would want that, if only they understood it was available.

Every book deserves to be the best it can be and make the impact it deserves to make.

That starts with a strong strategy and robust plan. And there is help available to create that plan.

We realized that our wonderful brand name that we trademarked around the world in 2005 could actually be misleading people. The most common misconception is that we are a publisher or publishing consultancy, and therefore people assume we come in quite late in the day. After all, the midwife is usually not there at the time of conception (unless she is the one having the baby)! But folks love our brand and we are sticking with it. We just need to explain more often than not that the metaphor also includes a fertility clinic (help with conception or concept).

I wanted to list in this article all the people who have helped me build the business over the past two decades, but there are far too many to mention and I’m sure I would have left someone out and hurt their feelings! Let me just say to all my clients mentors, mastermind and networking colleagues, team members and freelancers, friends and family members, suppliers and partners and anyone else who has trusted and interacted with me and The Book Midwife? business and methodology over the years: THANK YOU. We could not have done it without you, and we are so happy to share with you the joy and pride of celebrating 20 years in business.

Now, I wonder what the next 20 years will bring…

#writing #publishing #books #coaching #bookcoaching #entrpreneurship #credibility #thoughtful #leadership #thoughtleadership