Written by: Neptali J. Martinez, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
I can remember a few times in my life when people came up to me to tell me “you should write a book.” I quickly dismissed them because I could not conjure the image of me as an author. I took those comments as complements. I took those suggestions as grateful offerings for some help I may had provided these individuals who were having work-related issues.
But me writing a book? What would I write about? And who would want to read a book written by me? But mainly, what did I know about writing a book?
Nevertheless, during the recent pandemic, when everything was closed, when I, together with the rest of the world was cooped up at home with not much to do, the idea about writing a book came to mind.
Despite my self-defeating thoughts about writing a book, I found that writing was my outlet during that difficult period, and after thinking a bit, the “reason” for writing a book came to me.
As a career coach, I’ve helped numerous professionals get on with their career goals and objectives. While that fills me with satisfaction, there was an aspect in my coaching experience that had been bothering me. I remember a handful of prospective coaching clients, who for whatever reason, after having an initial discussion about getting coaching from me, they decided not to do it.
Perhaps they were not ready. Perhaps they could not afford the fees. Perhaps I was not clear enough about the benefits of coaching. Perhaps they did not see any value in coaching. Perhaps they were not sure what career coaching was all about.
These thoughts had been rattling in my head for a long while, and every time I would tell myself that I should have been clearer, I should have presented more information, I should have provided samples of coaching engagements.
So, the idea of providing “samples of coaching engagements” became my reason for writing a book. I thought that if I knew a handful of professionals who appeared in need of coaching (but were not sure about it), then there must be more people in similar situations, who may benefit from learning more about what is career coaching, and how it can benefit their careers.
With a “reason” at hand, writing the manuscript became a non-event. In about three months I had written all I thought I wanted to put in a book. That’s when the challenge really started.
What do I do now?
This question stopped me on my tracks. After some brainstorming, I realized that I had to ask for help.
I needed a sanity check, so contacted six friends and relatives to ask them to read my manuscript, and to be as direct as possible with their feedback, recommendations, criticisms, suggestions, ideas, etc. These six individuals became my Beta-readers.
I also reached out to my connections on LinkedIn, who I knew were already authors, or were in the process of publishing a book. They shared with me their lessons learned, pitfalls to avoid, suggested reading materials, connected me to people who could help me, but most of all, they gave me hope, they gave me moral support, they gave me practical advice, they became my buddies.
One LinkedIn connection suggested I read: The Book You Were Born To Write, by Kelly Notaras. In a wise and witty way, Kelly unravels the tangled book publishing process, shines a bright light into the dark and mysterious publisher’s world, and she cheers you on in your quest to be a first-time book author. This book became my bible.
Another LinkedIn connection provided me with the right contact to get help shepherding my book to completion.
Yet another LinkedIn buddy spoke to me about book formats, book designs, titles, sub-titles, and hooks, but most valuable, he spoke to me about costs.
From the beginning it was clear that I was not going to get a big publisher house to offer me a book contract. That left the self-publishing option that seems to have been growing in popularity in the past few years.
Many of you probably know that Amazon offers a self-publishing service, so I’m not going to bore you with those details. Suffice to say that it is the most amazing way to help just about anyone to self-publish a book.
One key ingredient in my case was my conversation with Mike Mannix whom I have known for many years as we both taught at NYU. Mike is the Co-Founder of Unparalleled Performance, a personal and professional leadership development company. Mike and his business partner Sal LaGreca, recently self-published a 1 new release bestselling book, “The 5Ls – The gift of a Balanced Life”.
Mike and I had a long conversation about his experience with big publishing houses, their decision to self-publish and the wonderful experience he and Sal had working with Dominick Domasky, who owns a publishing firm called Motivation Champs. This publisher works with authors that are looking to self-publish and want to retain full control of the final product.
Dominick became my guide, my guru, and as the name of his company indicates, he became my best motivator. With his practical help, I was able to take my book from manuscript to editing, formatting, cover design, and finally to publishing my first book:
CoachAbility: Are you in the state or condition to be coached?
In this book, I offer 11 scenarios that demonstrate 11 different coaching situations, including goals, challenges, discoveries, setbacks, aha moments, the use of leadership tools, and the eventual accomplishment of the client’s objectives.
The capital A in the title highlights the “Abilities” that I help my clients unearth during the coaching process. These “Abilities,” without fail, emerge during the coaching sessions, during the conversations, during the writing assignments, during the clients’ summations of the session’s themes, and while they complete reading assignments.
These “Abilities” help my clients: overcome their career issues, create capacity to handle larger responsibilities, find the grit necessary to overcome imposter syndrome, believe in themselves again, and become satisfied, engaged, and happy in their careers.
You can find samples of these “Abilities,” and the related benefits and successes, in any of the 11 scenarios I present in CoachAbility.
As for me, from being an insecure and tentative beginner author, to believing in publishing the “book I was born to write*,” and to finally becoming the author of CoachAbility, is an experience that I believe is open to just about anyone.
If I was able to publish a book, then anyone can do it!
*Adapted from the title of a book written by Kelly Notaras
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Neptali J. Martinez, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Neptali Martinez is founder and principal at NJM Career/Leadership Coaching, which provides career and executive coaching for professionals in middle and upper management levels, business owners, and entrepreneurs in diverse areas such as Information Technology, Human Resources, Supply Chain Management, and other business organizations. As an author, Neptali has published more than a dozen articles in a trade magazine, and has published his first book, CoachAbility: Are You in a State or Condition to be Coached?
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