Whew…Finally

Glad to have finally completed the publishing process of my latest work, The 5-Element Guide to Healing with Whole Foods. Being self-published is far more work than the traditional publishing route and the never-ending details, which I abhor and love to delegate, are enough to give one agita. I can’t remember anything in recent history that gave me so many stomach knots. It’s a learning process (albeit a painful and often exasperating one) but I feel I’ve made it over a huge learning hump.

This is my third self-published book and my first non-fiction. It took a total of three months to iron out what I considered minor graphic design issues with the book cover and multiple back-and-forths (18, to be exact) with the interior layout person over almost that same period of time. I was consumed by it. Luckily I was unemployed, leaving me with gobs of free time to plug away at getting my book out there to the world instead of looking for another J-O-B.

Busy and Broke But Happy

Which brings me to my next thought. I find I like having my schedule open for taking care of what needs tending, whenever it needs tending. I like not getting up to an alarm clock every morning, weary already of the day ahead. I have a few friends, who have been 1099-ing their way to happier lives. Granted, there are pros and cons to the situation (the major one being no job security – no work, no money). But I find the freedom of each day as it blooms new exhilarating.

And I happen to be reading a wonderful book by the late and insightful Barbara Winter, titled Making a Living Without a Job. Which is one of the reasons I write. That, and I write to get the swarms of thoughts and ideas running around in my head down on paper so they can make some sense. Her book is very similar to Timothy Ferris’ 4-Hour Work Week book, though I like Barbara’s approach better – for me, anyway.

And My Point Is…

Which brings me to next thought. Now that my agita is winding down (or so I thought until I decided to create this new blog), I’m thinking it’s a good idea to get moving on the sequel to my first novel that has been sitting in my computer for several years. I’ve touched it here and there but nary a word written since I jumped on the nonfiction bandwagon. So I’ve gone back to work on my second novel adventure and I find that since I have more freedom with it (fiction books are great, you can just make up shit to create a good story), I have less agida. At least until I begin, once again, the self-publishing process. At that point, I’m sure, I’ll have another good post about the stomach knots I’m sure to get.

In the meantime, I think I’ll enjoy my new-found lighter schedule.

#writer #author #freedom #nutrition #writingbooks