The Photo CEO Book Update
Writing a book is very hard but we're so close to a pre-sale and official release date!
Quick Ann
Thank you to everyone who voted in last week’s poll! The new tagline is
The Photo CEO: Earn More, Work Smarter and Create a Photography Business You Love! Yippie!
I’ve also received first book cover design edits and here is a quick reaction video. We’re close ya’ll!
I recently completed the 3rd round of book edits for The Photo CEO! To better explain what that looks like here is the process:
Write the first draft
Go through 2 round of edits checking for inconsistencies and filling in the blanks
Share 3rd draft with beta readers
Review beta readers feedback and edit manuscript
Read aloud manuscript and make edits, correcting for language, subject-verb agreement, spacing, etc.
After 11 months, I’m ready to move on to formatting and book cover design. I’m sure I’ll tinker with the copy for as long as I can but I feel somewhat confident that I can move on to next steps! This much editing means we’re getting closer to a pre-sale date!
Writing a book is a group project! Yes, I have to put the words on paper but I’ve leaned on my network and community so many times during this process. I have so many people to thank for just getting to this stage. Writing this book has been a transformative experience and a lesson in staying the course even I have doubts.
The consensus amongst the beta readers is that they appreciated the conversational tone and the amount of information shared. Through this book (and the substack) I wanted to demystify & simplify the business side of photography. I hope you’ll feel the same way once it’s in your hands!
Here are my honest thoughts so far:
Writing a book & self-publishing is hard. I’m still happy I’m doing both. I went into this process not knowing what to expect. I think I underestimated how long writing a book (that I would be proud of) would take while also battling chronic pain and recovering from surgery. The first draft took 5 months (July 2023) and I’m on month 6 of editing. Granted I’ve taken multiple breaks in between writing 5,000 words/week or editing rounds.
On the flip side, I honestly don’t know if I’d written this book (or even gotten this far) if I wasn’t home tending to my health most of 2023. I guess what I’m trying to say is, that regardless of what’s happening in our lives, life still goes on with or without us. We might as well do what we want and find joy in the meantime. My chronic pain certainly got the best of me during parts of 2023 but I didn’t want that to stop me from living my life, or writing this book.
*The beauty of self-publishing is also that time simply does not exist. What I mean by that is, the book will come out when it should and in it’s right time. I don’t need to rush to hit a specific deadline or an advance payment. I control the pace of this journey and that gives me relief.
It’ll always be a work in progress (even once it’s published). With every milestone I’ve accomplished, I’m adding one more to do on my list for this book. Once I updated worksheets that will compliment the book, I immediately remembered I needed to add an index (for f*ck’s sake). There will always be something to tinker and tweak. I’m not seeking perfection, but I am seeking a good enough point to publish. I’m almost there!
I can’t get ahead of myself Every once in awhile my mind jumps to the marketing strategy (there isn’t a real one) and I have to immediately bring myself back to the present. I’m still editing and polishing this book. To jump to how I’m marketing this book would cause me to give up and not get to the finish line. The hard (est) part is done. The book for all intents and purposes is written. Giving up now because of something that hasn’t happened yet, would be totally unfair to myself and to you.
I go back and forth about actually publishing this book Continuing this train of thought sometimes I just want to say f*ck it all and not release this book at all! While I am extroverted by nature I don’t really care to be in the spotlight *that much*. I fear being judged for my point of view and I immediately want to keep the book to myself or just publish it haphazardly and quietly (which is a form of self-sabotage). Again both options are unfair to me and you.
Promo Plug: a big part of my marketing strategy is guest speaking on photography, women entrepreneurship and marketing related podcasts! If there are any you you love and think I’d be a great fit for, please send an email to tamera@createwithkin.co to share ! Here is also my speaker deck if you run a podcast!
Asking for help has been my life hack In Spring 2023 I made the declaration that I’m asking for help when I need it and not a moment later. It’s easier to say no one wants to help when we don’t ask for help. See how that works? Instead of trying to figure it out myself (and struggling), I either outsourced a task or asked someone proficient in said skill/expertise to help.
Asking for clear and specific help with parameters was the key to getting the help I needed. Asking for beta readers and experts in specific industries was incredibly helpful and gave me immense peace of mind while writing The Photo CEO. My biggest life hack for 2024 is continuing to ask for help.
Hopefully in the next 1-2 months I can come back and announce a pre-sale date, cover selection and share a link to pre-sale!