Someone once told me that writing a book is just like delivering a baby. Well, I’ve just published my first business book (see below), and the two events are not always as similar as the metaphor might make you think.
The gestation period was similar since it took me around ten months to write the book, and I did experience heart burn and a desire to eat large amounts of food in both situations. However, the book did not include stirrups or metal objects meant to widen things that should be left alone.
Coming up with the name of both babies was equally hard. With the book I tried to think of a name that would capture my message and catch people’s attention. With my kids, however, I had to consider a few additional factors such as:
- Which family members will be angry because we didn’t use their names?
- If I call my son this, is there any possible way that he will eventually be called “Dick”?
- Is this a name that will make my child cower in humiliation every time the teacher calls roll? Remember that situation, Wendy Wether (a girl in my sixth grade class)?
Preparing for delivery was equally nerve-wracking. While I packed up my tennis balls (to squeeze) and music to listen to in the delivery room for my baby, I have used stress balls and listened to classical music on Pandora while preparing to deliver my book.
I did have three editorial midwives that surrounded me and helped deliver my book baby. For the delivery of my children I had a male doctor making jokes with my husband while the ball from Indiana Jones rolled through my pelvic region.
Now that my book is out in the world, I feel the same anxieties as I did while looking at my infant’s face. Will people like my book? Will they be kind to it? Will my book exceed my parental expectations? Will my book take care of me financially now that the economy has eaten my mutual funds?
The good news is that my book is on its own now. It’s like giving birth to a baby that goes to college the next day. No diapers, no sleepless nights, and no teen years where my book decides it knows more than me.
So, maybe writing a book is a little bit like delivering a baby. And, while this isn’t a book about women, it is a business book by a woman. It’s all about my work as a change agent. If you’re curious, please feel free to buy it.
And if you buy it, please tell me it’s pretty and smart. This is my baby, after all ☺.