Celebrating Your Partner's success
Hi, this is me, Tom. As 2024 draws to a close, I find myself reflecting on what kind of year this has been. For us, the year’s big event was the publication of Janet’s book, “All You’ll See is Sky.” What a wonderful feeling when Amazon initially displayed Janet’s memoir on their website; and when the first excellent reviews came in. Again, when FedEx delivered 200 of Janet’s memoirs to our front door, and we cut the packing tape to reveal her memoir. The book was now real. Then there was the much-anticipated book launch, to which the attendance wildly exceeded our expectations. Janet was overwhelmed, but it was a lot of fun.
In all the excitement, it is easy to forget the incredibly long and arduous journey it took to reach this point. In Janet’s case, it was a 10-year effort. I had a ringside seat and was privileged to participate in a small way.
Writing and publishing a ’readable’ book is a complicated process. Many things have to come together, and there is so much to learn and figure out. Neither of us had any idea what we were getting into. The word ‘book’ means so much more to me now. I have the greatest admiration for those dedicated souls who complete the arduous task of providing all of us with words on a page to enrich, educate, and entertain us.
I don’t know how Janet would describe her writing journey. I will tell it from my vantage point as an observer, supporter, and cheerleader. My overall impression is that creating a book worth reading requires an artist’s creativity, the stamina and dedication of a professional athlete, the discipline of a Buddhist monk, the precision of a jeweler, and the determination of a mountaineer reaching for the summit whilst overcoming doubts and setbacks.
Despite Janet having journaled and written stories from a very young age, she tackled this writing project with a beginner’s mind. She sought and obtained the best editor, who helped her find her voice. He advised her on how to tell a compelling story with vivid descriptions, incorporate tension, use language efficiently, and give the text a pleasing cadence. Her initial draft was over 400 pages.
One of the challenges was merging the overland adventure of our journey across Africa with a personal memoir narrative. Her editor said, “Tom’s in the story, as is Africa, but you are missing; “You need to be in the book with some emotional blood.” The editing was endless, prompting Janet to ask her editor how she would know when she was finished. He responded, “When you open the text and feel like vomiting, you’re done.”
As you can imagine, I was a bit apprehensive about the memoir portion of the book, which included our marriage and its resetting. Janet gave me her first draft to review, and I went to work with my red marker. I deleted/changed/edited everything that I was uncomfortable with. Janet looked at all the red markings and quietly commented, “You need to trust me.” I made no further edits; just suggestions, and she did an excellent job.
I also discovered that Janet and I have entirely different storytelling styles. I come from a technical background, so my style is evidentiary, linear and factually accurate. It has no elements that compelling narratives require to keep a reader interested. On the other hand, Janet is an accomplished storyteller who builds the elements like a jigsaw puzzle. She lays them all out and constructs the narrative piece by piece, moving them around to see how they best fit. Our different styles clashed until we figured out how to make them work together and complement each other.
Once Janet and her editors were satisfied with her final draft the publishing business part commenced. It was another steep learning curve and a whole new adventure. Janet submitted her manuscript to She Writes Press, a hybrid publisher in the USA, and they accepted it for publication. There were many components, such as the cover design, copy editing and proofreading, acknowledgements, reviews, metadata, table of contents formatting etc. A book is only a book once it looks like one. It took months of detailed complicated tasks with numerous deadlines. Janet was thrilled that they chose her photographs for the front and back covers.
At the same time, we also had to generate pre-publication excitement by posting on social media sites. We divided up the tasks and got busy. I developed her author’s website. The publisher advised hiring a publicist to spread the word and promote Janet’s memoir.
So, if you are thinking of writing a book, be prepared for an interesting but arduous journey. Janet’s skill, dedication, and dogged perseverance have created a wonderful testament to our life-changing adventure. The sense of accomplishment at the end of this journey is truly satisfying. I am in awe of her achievement, and I hope her story inspires you as much as it has inspired me.