I’ve been writing for money since I was 19 but had not planned on writing a book. Writing is my favorite activity and I have been incredibly privileged to make it my career. But I never aspired to write the Great American Novel, nor felt a book inside me yearning to be released through my keyboard.
I’ve written just about everything else: newspaper and magazine articles, executive speeches, business white papers, booklets and brochures, opinion survey analysis, legislative testimony and, more recently, web content. I have been the editor of more than a dozen corporate magazines and newsletters and enjoy editing nearly as much as writing, especially when I can help writers bring out the best in their work.
So when my neighbor asked me for help with a book he was writing I agreed to take a look at it. He had known a World War II veteran who had survived a Japanese POW camp and made a deathbed promise to write the guy’s story. My neighbor had been working for years to sift through interviews and family memories, had researched military records and was working on a rough draft of the narrative.
I know a good story when I see one and accepted my neighbor’s invitation to sign on as co-author nearly a year ago. I edited my neighbor’s draft, added more research and writing and helped shepherd it to publication. The project was mind candy for me, and in the process of collaboration we gained a deeper insight into the heart of the story: why this guy survived when so many prisoners of war did not.
The result is Don Jose, An American Soldier’s Courage and Faith in Japanese Captivity. You can read about the book, and the story behind the book, on our website. Our copies of the book finally arrived a few days ago, and we have launched an aggressive marketing campaign that will dominate our lives for a year or two.
It feels a little odd to have my name on something that’s registered with the Library of Congress. I started my career as a newspaper reporter with the understanding that my work would line birdcages in a day or two. Permanence was never part of the deal. All the trees I’ve killed over the decades have long since been recycled, and much of my more recent work (such as this blog) exists only on the Internet as bits rather than atoms. Now I’ve helped create an artifact that may outlast me. People are even asking me to sign it.
Promoting something I’ve written is another new experience. I’ve learned a lot about book promotion from my daughter, the semi-famous author. I’m generating publicity, and my co-author and I are organizing book signings and working our networks. I’m getting accustomed to promoting the book shamelessly to everyone I know. And I’m trying not to obsess about the book rankings on Amazon.