Kim’s Thoughts

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Rant: When People Want Your Book For Free

062315-GrrrrLast month, I released an anthology that I edited. 44 authors (myself included) came together to create the book. While I don’t know how much time each author put it, I know that my time alone was somewhere pushing 100 hours.

Not to mention the time, money, and effort involved to fly from Arizona to Maryland to release the book at a live event with 3,000 people in attendance.

And when I got home, I had to mail out a copy of the book to each and every contributor. While SOME of these costs were covered, most weren’t.

But it’s been all worth it to see picture after picture appear in the last week on Facebook as authors received their contributor copies. For nearly 40 of them, this was their first-ever publication AND their first book.

Pretty huge stuff, right?

The authors have been tagging me when they are showing off the book so I get to revel in their successes and share their joy.

And then this…

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What happens when you write something really vulnerable?

Vulnerable. It’s a buzz word in the expert industry. Something that you do – on purpose – to show you’re human. To help people relate to you. Experts talk about when they shared their vulnerabilities with their prospects or clients, amazing things happened.

And I pretty much dismissed it as a marketing ploy.

033115-DelicateGrassSure, I love to hear about the trials and triumphs in someone’s life and business. It taps into that part of my brain that also loves gossip and looking at tabloid photos while I’m waiting in the grocery store checkout line.

But true vulnerability? That piece of a soul that is too delicate to be touched, but that still could be shared. There was a part of me that scoffed. Who really wants to put all that out on the Internet for everybody to read? Who wants to read it? What’s the REAL purpose?

But can I tell you something? When you get really vulnerable – the type that makes you squirm a bit – BIG stuff happens.

However – and this is a big caveat – it can’t be for an ulterior motive! If you’re getting “vulnerable” for the “Look at me! Look at me!” part of your personality that isn’t real vulnerability. That’s narcissism.

And because I have strong feelings about the line between private and public, I’ve never gotten really vulnerable in a public forum. (If you’re subscribed to my newsletter, you get more back story but it’s never been really raw.)

Until last week.

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Can one story change a life?

Can I tell you a secret?

You story matters. You are the only person on the whole planet who is the unique sum of your experiences, feelings, knowledge, and opinions. All that comes together into your own world-view.

Sure you might catalog and classify your opinions through the lenses of your life like:

  • Political party
  • Religion (or lack thereof)
  • Where you live
  • Ethnicity
  • Culture
  • Gender

Or what you think about marriage, guns, equality, feminism, or the importance of bananas in smoothies.

The point I’m trying to make is that you’re so much than just your labels! There are things you care about – passionately, deeply – that you know you are meant to share with the world.

THIS is your story.

It is the information that only you can share. And it matters.

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How to feed your soul and your writing: Have an adventure

Pssst… Can I tell you a secret?

Adventures feed your creativity.
022415-Adventure
More than reading, more than exercise, more than practicing writing, ADVENTURES feed your creativity and makes your writing sparkle.

There’s a REASON I’m always off having adventures – hiking, backpacking, rock climbing, camping, geocaching. It’s not just because it’s fun (although it is) but it’s because it feeds my creativity.

Adventures give ideas.
Adventures expand your soul.
Adventures make it easier to sit at the keyboard, day after day, and write.

Just so we’re crystal clear, I’m not only talking about the type of adventures I have where you get dirty, sweaty, and rattled at by snakes. (Don’t get me wrong, this is what works for me!)

But any type of adventure will do.

Maybe that’s exploring a new city.
Or trying a new food.
Or taking a quantum leap.

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How a Personal Rant Can Engage Your Readers

I have a confession to make: I love to rant.

I love to really get on a tear and get it all out. I love to give voice to everything that is making me crazy – raise my blood pressure, turn the air purple, be irrational (right, but irrational) and get really loud.

The only people who get to hear these012015-Rant rants, however, are my three awesome dogs, fantastic man, and best friend. (And if I’m being really honest, my long-suffering parents get to ‘appreciate’ them as well.)

There’s just something so liberating about letting it all out. Getting it OFF my chest, into the air, where it can blow away. And yes, I do sometimes worry that the negativity of ranting just breeds more things to rant about. I’m more positive than I am rantful. (I know that isn’t a word – it should be!)

I think it’s those rants that allow me to blow up and then let it go.

I’d love to be that type of person who can just smile and let it roll off her back. Truth is, I’m not. I take it personally, I get offended, I think about it – and I rant. Let’s just say that stuff DOES roll off my back but that I just have to jump up and down, stomp my feet, and maybe yell a bit to help it along.

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What’s the plan for 2015?

I spent the last two weeks mulling this over and I want YOUR input. I know that a lot of times it’s my interests and expertise that drive what I provide to you on the blog and in the newsletter.

So this is your opportunity to tell me what YOU’RE interested in! I’ve got a 5 question survey for you (question 6 is just your name & email). I’ll enter anybody who participates before 1/12/15 in a drawing for an Amazon gift card!

 

Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey , the world’s leading questionnaire tool.

Expanding Inspiration

Happy LAST Tuesday of 2014!

Guess what?! This is the 52nd week I’ve posted a new article to the blog and sent out my newsletter. Pretty awesome, right? These were two of my goals for 2014 and I’m so excited to have met them. Now, it’s just habit.

Many articles this week and next will be about setting goals for 2015. I encourage you to read them.
But here’s what I want you to think about for these last few days of 2014 and the first few days of 2015:

Reach out to somebody who inspires you.

This can be in business or your writing. It can be somebody you know personally or a business mentor or author you’ve never met. But what I want you to do is to make an effort to tell them how and why he or she is your inspiration.

Reach out to somebody who inspires you! Click To Tweet

BTW: If it is an author you don’t know, there’s always contact information in the book somewhere. A letter or email addressed to a publisher usually does reach the author.

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