Ten Things I Learned About Writing A Book

Most of the 280,000 people who subscribe my weekly newsletter are silent readers who do not always react or comment on my posts. Likewise, I will not necessarily know how readers will enjoy or internalize my book. However, Seeing the finished product is an amazing feeling. Knowing that you are having an impact on them some way and somewhere around the world is incredibly rewarding. With that, I would like to share with you the ten things I learned about writing a book.

1. You get to meet wonderful people

When I first started the book journey, I had a mental picture of what kinds of leaders I wanted to interview. All of them supported my project by sharing their leadership perspectives and challenges in their careers. At the same time, I have encountered many other wonderful people who did not fit into the box I had in my mind. They are not just leaders but also creative, tenacious, and passionate. They make things happen in all walks of life. In addition, the writing community in Creator Institute has been amazing in supporting each other when needed and hold each other accountable when necessary.

2. You get to meet another new challenge

Only about 3% of people who start writing a book ever finish. With the support of the wonderful writing community from The Creator Institute, and the constant encouragement from my LinkedIn readers, I am so glad that my book was not only accepted for publication in time but also received very positive reviews so far.

3. You get to explore new opportunities

As the book project progresses, I have been invited to share the learnings and insights about the book with many clubs and events. For example, the sharing session I had with Wharton Shanghai/Beijing club had over 560 attendees. I have had several specific proposals for potential future opportunities.

4. You get to gain new knowledge

Although my book is about leadership, the writing process involves research, preparation, interviews, and many demanding tasks. It is through those effort that you gain new knowledge or new appreciation of old knowledge. For example, the book journey provided an opportunity for me to gain an appreciation of how innovation has been disrupting the traditional publishing industry just like many other industries. Emerging new business models for book publication are gaining momentum in the market place and transforming the book writing experience in terms how books are being written and marketed.?

5. You get to push your comfort zone

When I started writing the book, I quickly realized that I needed to have a dedicated website for the project. LinkedIn is a great platform, but there are too many constraints on what I needed to do. With a couple of hours of tutoring from my son (Thanks, David!), I was able to build a website via Squarespace and up running in a couple of weeks. It not only created a space for me to engage potential readers but also allowed me to create a leadership survey which became an integral part of the book. I have since adopted Calendly for scheduling, Quip for writing, Otter for transcribing, Streamyard for streaming, ChatGPT for writing, and many more. In addition, I also worked with the design teams for Cover design. Writing a book is about leaving your comfort zone.

Digital skills once meant having a basic grasp of computers. Now, it means being able to work adaptably and strategically across tools, devices and platforms.

6. You gain a new appreciation about Journey is the reward

My very first blog on LinkedIn was entitled “The journey is the reward” based on my marathon training. I have run 14 marathons including the Houston Marathon two weeks ago. I know full well that I will not break any speed records, but running is very much like career. Focusing on goals can be tiresome and the sense of accomplishment will be very short lived and fleeting. The journey is the reward. The same is for writing a book. Getting the book published, however satisfying it is, is not going to change my life. It is the writing journey that helps me grow as a better person, and hopefully helps others as well.

7. You realize that writing a book is not at all about you

At the beginning of the writing process, I, like many first time writers, worried about how much I know or what I could write. With leadership being such a well-studied topic, I wondered how much new insights I really could offer that would be of value and interest to other aspiring leaders.?

As soon as the process starts, I realized writing a book is not really about me. On the one hand,?it forced me to reflect on the triumphs and struggles throughout my own leadership journey but it is about the inspiration from the conversations with the leaders who have generously agreed to share their leadership perspectives. Ultimately, it is about what readers can learn and internalize and translate the learnings into actions.

8. You get to conquer another fear

Fear serves the valuable purposes of helping us survive by making us alert to dangerous situations and motivate us to take on a challenge. However, fear can also paralyze us and prevent us from embracing challenges. Trying something unfamiliar can be scary. It took a lot of encouragement for me to remove the word “aspiring” before the word “author” on my LinkedIn profile. Once you put the fear in perspective, understand why we are afraid, we would have a better chance to let the fear motivate us rather than stop us from moving forward.

9. You gain an appreciation that nothing is perfect

Once the manuscript was complete, I read and reread the draft many times. As soon as I hit the send the button for the final submission, I found a spelling error. A few days later, I realized that I forgot to mention anywhere in the book that the book cover photo was my own photo taken at the Great Sand Dunes National Park.?

After a ten month journey and hundreds of mistakes later, I’ve realized that there is no perfection. Searching of perfection will only suffocate learning and progress. I learned the Japanese word Wabi Sabi, which is an aesthetic that finds beauty in things imperfect, impermanent and incomplete.

10. You get to know yourself better

Last but not the least, the process of writing the book forced me to reflect. Through the process, I have gained a better perspective about what really matters to me, and it becomes a powerful way to get in touch with my values, and motivations.

In conclusion, writing my book has been a wonderful journey. I only wish I had the courage and dedication to do this 10-15 years ago. If you have an inkling about writing a book, do not wait.?If I can do it, you can do it.

Meanwhile, it would mean the world to me if you can make a purchase while Amazon is having the promotion ($0.99) and leave a review on Amazon so that the message can reach more people around the world! Thank you.

Related Article

Ten Things I Learned During My Career (03/05/2022)

The Journey is the Reward (07/23/2017)

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