Just over a year ago, I was offered the opportunity to publish a book on what’s now a hot topic. I spoke with other authors, worked extra daily, and exploited the social disarray caused by the COVID-19 pandemic that screeched life to a halt.
So I used that time to work more than ever. Between Dec. 20, 2020, and Oct. 26, 2021, my Grammarly tracker says it’s edited more than 5 million words. Even though I had no clue how to write a book, I did it anyway with the help of my publisher New Degree Press and Eric Koester.
My takeaway from writing, and more importantly, the revision process in which I deleted over 50,000 words, is that starting a scary process is the most critical part. But sitting down to write, even when you don’t feel like it and all you can see is a jumbled mess— that’s where the real work happens— when you feel like the worst writer in the world and want to quit. You have to overcome imposter syndrome.
I’ve written over 5,000 articles, but this book was different. It’s a story in long-form and contains vulnerable information than I would ever write as a reporter. I discuss my struggle to win a tug-of-war of my online life in the capacity that I want privacy, but on the other end, my responsibility as a reporter to stay plugged into the news cycle. I talk about my close friends’ struggles with kicking online addiction and people who have deleted their online personas searching for a higher quality of living.
This is my first book and will simultaneously be my best and worst until my next. But that’s ok because I can’t wait to write more. Writing this book was an experiment of immersion. I read 50+ books about technology and the internet, listened to tech podcasts from the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times, and heard from larger-than-life giants like Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, Netflix co-founder Marc Randolph, Arianna Huffington, and others. And after working my 8-5 writing job, I would stay seated in the corner of my Lansing apartment, working hours later every day for over a year.
All artists aim to shock and awe their tribes by creating something out of nothing. That includes painters like Bob Ross, rappers like JID and J-Cole, or even breaking news reporters. I can’t wait to unleash my book into the world and get real feedback and reviews, whether praise or criticism.
TLDR; do things that scare you and at which you might fail. I originally planned to publish this book in August 2021, but I took more time to revise the text. One could say I failed to publish on time, and that’s true. But at the end of the day, nobody will remember if my book was published in Aug. 2021 or Dec. 2021. You have to regularly risk failure if you want to live life to the fullest. You can buy my e-book in Dec. 2021 and order it in early January via Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and other brick-and-mortar retail bookstores.