HOW TO WRITE A BOOK
The thought of writing a book hadn’t been something that had been a life’s passion for me or anything I had spent much time thinking about. I enjoy books and am definitely always in the non fiction space in Powells in Portland but hadn’t imagined me taking this step. It was only after talking to the folks mentioned in the previous blog post that I really had the idea that making a book could become a thing. Following that I scheduled time with Christian Sellers from Pushfins who said something which really resonated with me “the ability to close the gap between ideas and execution is real value.” I thought about it for a while and realized it probably relates to the subject matter of “the messy middle” and how the part between idea and launch is the toughest.
Thats when I realized that to do this thing I would need more than me, way more than what I’m capable of, so I hit up a few trusted folks to help give me some direction. To be honest the first few months of this felt very solitary and a very singular project and sometimes I suppose thats how i work best when i can just get my head down and crank out work. However i very much know my limitations and areas of weakness so it wasn’t until I asked for help that this became a potential reality. It kind of made me realise that for all the effort that one person can give its not until you have a community of people that most things can become a reality.
The first person I asked was Nick Baines a writer who focuses across the food and beverage space and has written for the Guardian and the Times. He’s always a good sounding board and provided me with a solid dose of enthusiasm but also real reality of what I’m undertaking in this project.
Through a flurry of google docs I started getting my chapters and interviews down and before long I was receiving some amazing editing, direction and general feedback which helped shape the direction of the whole book. None of this would have been possible without him holding my feet to the fire to realize what is actually interesting work and what’s just my own take on the world.
Nick actually became the editor of the book and the first person I shared this whole idea with.
Next up was finding a designer for this whole thing. I always know areas I can excel at and those where I need help. Content and context, no problem. Design. You have lost me. Its one thing I might take a course for because I really would love to get better at this part of my skillset. That said the man I know with hands down the best style on a snowboard and in life in general is Sani Alibabic. I’ve been lucky enough to work with him during our time at nike together and since then have always remained tight. We were lucky enough to build out our own work from home situation together this summer, perfect for the book.
He was there when my son Lenny was born, and he helped set up our house in Portugal so getting him to do this was a no brainer. Sani is always down for the good times and even though i think this is one where he maybe bit off more than he imagined, i couldnt ask for a better designer on this project.
He brought on Mathias “TypeGorilla” who works on the Pirates books and Slash by Gigi various projects. He helped really bring the project to life. If Nick and I were building the foundation, Sani and Mathias have been doing the decorating and making this house look as amazing as it does.
Then to kickstarter! I mean that one is still in progress but one thing I knew was that I needed a video. I’ve been friends with Mark Ruperelia pretty much I started snowboarding and we’ve been through all sorts together. He has been filming a lot the last decade across multiple industries and been doing some great work along the way under the name of Single cask Productions. When I mentioned to him about this idea he pretty quickly took what I was thinking and had a vision for how this whole thing could come to life. The lighting, the tone, the amount of pauses needed in the audio. We set up the office/soundproofed music studio in our house (long story) and got to work. Its crazy when he showed me the first edit after working on this on my own for the last 6 months to see it coming to life it was the craziest feeling. Like “this is actually happening”. To be honest it was one of those moments when the hairs on the back of your neck stand up and you know if you were on a plane right now you’d be crying.
From there I started looking at testing consumer groups through facebook ads. I had a hypnosis that meant building out a few tests on adverts across instagram and facebook. That required some lifting and as if by chance one day out in the water in Portugal I bumped into Moritz Born who used to work at TTR when I was doing various hosting for them. Luckily this is his area of expertise so a couple of coffees later and the was onboard.
Its quite ironic though as working in marketing I would loved to have more specific experience about all of this but to be honest I spend a lot of my time working on strategy and not as much on the tactical side of paid media marketing. Thankfully Moritz was able to help me and really took what I was doing to the next stage. It also really helped that I was able to test and learn as we launched to identify the kinds of potential people who might be interested in the book and the creative that works best for them. He and Jack Reeves are part of Mates Inc providing digital solutions to brands across the world.
So as much as this has been a project that I have been driving in terms of the content, this whole thing wouldn’t have been possible without the help of this amazing group of people. The morale of the story? Focus on what you are great at and ask for help in areas you need. It allows you to spend more time on the areas that you can excel at and learning from others who are way better at some things than you may be.
