What does Writing a Book Have in Common with an Iceberg?

You may think that writing a book has nothing in common with an iceberg. Here’s my take.

1. When you look at a photo of an iceberg, you see an ice island floating in the water. The part of the island of ice that you see makes up about 10 percent of the total iceberg. This 10 percent is like the completion of the manuscript. Are you finished the first draft of your manuscript? If you said yes, you are about 10 percent of the way toward finishing your book.
2. Writing a book takes time. It takes following through on your commitment to complete a long-term goal. It may have taken millions of years to make the iceberg. It can feel like it is taking millions of years to complete the manuscript and you are still not done. It can feel like it could take another set of millions of years to work through the editing process. By the way, the editing process is the most important ingredient in the development of the book.
3. In its entirety, the 10 percent above the water is added to the 90 percent of the iceberg that is below the waterline. And so it is with your book. The general public never sees the 90 percent of the work behind the scenes that goes into making your manuscript into a book.
4. Eventually, icebergs completely melt out of sight and so it is with some manuscripts. They get written but never find their way to being a book. Their authors keep the work out of sight never to be shared with the world of readers.

Whether you are at the manuscript development stage or the publishing process stage or the marketing stage or the launch stage, there are things you can do on your own and there are resources available to help you. My 90-minute coaching session could turn out to be exactly the kickstart you need to take the next step in getting your book out there. Send me your most burning question in an email here.