big news: go light and the beauty of different
So, anytime someone signs up for my newsletter, they automatically receive a series of 5 emails over the course of about two months, each containing a downloadable pdf with an essay that I’ve written — similar to the content that you receive here on the blog, but which, taken together, outlines the philosophy behind my work and what it means to “make light.”
At the beginning of the year, I got an email from someone who’d signed up for my newsletters. “I just read your free pdf about meaning, joy, and gratitude,” she wrote, “and I really like what you’re doing in that piece.” She continued by introducing herself as the acquisitions editor of a publishing house, and she invited me to contact her about the possibility of publishing a book with them.
Now, in different times, I might have ignored the email. But my mantra for this year is “experiment boldly,” right? So after I googled the publishing house, I decided to respond to her email. She was absolutely lovely, and once we talked, I submitted a formal book proposal, and then we talked some more, and oh my goodness …
… yesterday I signed my contract with Broadleaf Books, to create a book for publication in the Fall of 2021. The working title of the book is Go Light: The Definitive Guide to Working for Change While Holding On To Your Joy (but that might be tweaked), and will be about the intersection of joy and activism. Unlike The Beauty of Different, it won’t include photography, but like my first book, in addition to my own thoughts, it will contain interviews with and the wisdom of some pretty incredible folks.
Needless to say, I’m beyond excited.
The turnaround for a manuscript is really tight, so between writing the book, meeting my one-on-one coaching clients and working with the lovely folks who will be making up The Star Collective*, I hope you’ll forgive any publishing gaps that might appear here on Chookooloonks — I promise that it’s because I’m creating something new that will hopefully rock your socks. Wish me luck. And of course, as this project evolves, I’ll definitely keep you updated.
So. Excited.
In other news…
As coincidence would have it, about 24 hours after I received the offer from Broadleaf, I received an email from my former publisher, Bright Sky Publishing. Sadly, they announced that they were going out of business, and offered to give me the remaining, unsold copies of my first book, The Beauty of Different: Observations of a Confident Misfit.
The Beauty of Different was in its third printing by the time Bright Sky closed up shop, which is something I’m really proud of. It’s chock-full of images, essays and interviews, and I’ve always said it’s a great “bathroom book” — the kind of book you can just pick up and open the page anywhere to read someone’s joyful and inspiring story. Of course, because Bright Sky no longer exists, it means that it won’t be printed again, and that I have close to the last copies available.
So I’d like to make them available to you. Simply click here if you’d like to purchase a signed copy of the book — I’m happy to inscribe it to anyone you choose. If I do say so myself, it makes a pretty gift — to moms, to students, whoever. I probably will ship them once a week or so (I’m trying to avoid going to the post office more often than that, what with this whole Covid-19 thing going around). Also, unfortunately, I can only ship to U.S. addresses right now — the taxes thing for international shipping gets pretty tricky.
So that’s it! That’s all the good news I’ve got. As always: thank you so much for supporting my work. It’s because of all of you that I get to make a living doing what I love to do.
* Incidentally, the content of my upcoming book is deeply based on the curriculum of The Star Collective, my new group coaching/masterminding offering. Registration is now closed, but click here to sign up to learn when it reopens again, for the January 2021 session.
Soundtrack: Higher Love, as performed by Kygo and Whitney Houston
A little about the new book.