Today is a celebration of a Poem in Your Pocket Day, a time for readers to carry a copy of their favorite poem and share it with the world. The idea is this:

Select a poem you love during National Poetry Month. Carry it with you on Poem In Your Pocket Day, sharing it with friends, family, colleagues. Poem In Your Pocket Day has been celebrated each April in NYC since 2002, and nationwide since 2008.

There are lots of poems I cherish, but one of the first I chose post-college was a companion “daffodil poem” to Wordsworth’s “I wandered lonely as a cloud/…When all at once I saw a crowd, a host, of daffodils.”

E. E. Cummings’ poems aren’t in the public domain, so I’ve just shared a few lines below and a link to a posting of the poem (scroll part-way down page 1) that I found on someone’s personal page on the booklovers booklist site GoodReads.com.

from E. E. Cummings, Complete Poems 1913-1962

in time of daffodils(who know

the goal of living is to grow)

forgetting why,remember how

…

and in a mystery to be

(when time from time shall set us free)

forgetting me,remember me”

― E.E. Cummings

Since you’re getting news of this celebration late, shall we make it a week, not a day?

Take a look at your bookshelves–perhaps those college books you have on a top shelf.

Or look at the poems in your children’s books.

Or open the Bible with the heart and ear of a poet and let the words in.

Or make a point to dive into a book of poems in the library or a bookstore tomorrow.

Savoring a little less, but a bit more deeply, is a good practice for all of us.

The worry, confusion, and sheer pushing we do can make us forget that at the heart of our work is our creative spirit.

Yet what happens when we forget (knock, knock) that we ourselves are the joyful, creative heartbeat at the center of our our ideas, our projects, and our relationships?

How do we tap into, and really listen to, that joyful heartbeat? How can this joyful beat give us clarity and a lighter, happier step for even the hardest things we’re trying to do?

I’ve thought about this a lot over the past couple of years when I’ve felt like I was stuck in the drudgery or wasting time. And I’ve discovered that when I consciously connect to some creative, joyful element–that joyful heartbeat–everything shifts for me.

The extra half hour I spend finding a piece of art for a presentation, the bad drawing I make, or the moments of sharing some new insight with a trusted friend seem absolutely right.

So, when I received an email from my friend and colleague Jennifer Louden asking me (and others) to write about Joyful Work in celebration and getting-readyiness for her upcoming joy retreat, I got inspired to imagine a Joyful Heartbeat Checklist.

I wanted to capture some ways I (and others) connect to this joyful beat. Below is this very provisional list for you to use and add to:

“I get a joyful heartbeat and a smile inside when…

___ “…I have a great conversation, exchanging ideas about my work?”

With whom? _________________________________

For ex: Bubbling exchange where I talk something through, see what I know, what I don’t, getting new angles and ideas.

____ “…I experience the pleasure of learning, even if some of it might be a side track.”

For ex: Looking for a perfect quote, a reference, roaming the library, interviewing someone.

____ “…I’m engaged in the actual making of something – folding, cutting, cooking, photoshopping, drawing.”

For ex: I love the crafting and shaping part of laying out a book, creating a vision board, making an artistic version of my idea, having a display, testing recipes or patterns for a blog post.

____ “…I get to the completing part and know it’s done.”

For ex: I’m so satisfied and driven to meet deadlines, have that Tada! feeling, keep a promise (to myself or others).

____ “…I feel some sensuous connection.”

For ex: I’m out of the abstraction and physically connected with scents, touch, beauty, sound in my environment or the work itself.

____ “…I feel a sense of purpose and serving.”

For ex: I really feel connected to my work when it matters, when it feels like it’s part of some need or community, or good in the world.

____ “…I love it when I sense that people will want what I’m working on, that I’m getting feedback that it’s good.”

For ex: There’s nothing like the thrill and creative joy that comes from connecting my work with an audience.

____ “…I love that sense of connecting with nature.”

For ex: Imagine sitting with a notebook or sketchbook at the beach or in the woods. (According to recent research, forests have healing properties and reduce anxiety, along with lots of other amazing things. Makes sense, doesn’t it?)

____ “…I always feel connected and joyful when I’m in a private, safe space and letting it flow.”

For ex: Novelist Sandra Cisneros talks about “writing in your pajamas” as way to get the teacher, critical mother, boss off your shoulder so you are safe, at ease, and private with your ideas, beliefs, words, and the story you need to tell.

Do some or all of these resonate with you?

What’s missing?

Which do you most turn to already?

How could you add one these elements into your work overall or one specific project?

Share your thoughts in the comments below.  (AND DEAR READERS: Do check out this dream joyful event that Jen Louden is co-leading with Susannah Conway and Marianne Elliott. Attend if it calls you and you can!)

bossygirl photo

This will be short and sweet. To go with the title. You are the boss of your book.

You can take a crisp, firm, clear, confident, no-nonsense approach to your work, even for a day or a week.

Especially if you’re lost. Especially if you’re floundering or stuck. You can be the boss. You ARE the boss.

If you are writing fiction, you write the characters. They can try to boss you around, but you are in charge and can whip your plot, themes, mood, and the meaning of your work into submission.

If you knew what the answer was to make your work better or to get the flow going again, what would you do? Act “as if” you knew and write accordingly.

Of course, you’ll ruin your work if all the characters–and the narrator–sound like you. But what will rescue your work is putting a stop to indulging in each character, scene, idea. Think of your characters like a kindergarten class where some firmness is in order. (All you writing teachers – be kind to me if this advice seems horrifyingly off-base. I do know it works at the right time.)

Same with nonfiction.

If your book and ideas aren’t coming, you can give yourself and your pages a talking-to.

There’s the stern, “I can figure this out and I can write 2 paragraphs or 2 pages or 20. I can get this concept down on paper right now and I can go back and revise, add, disagree, improve.”

So many writers and experts I work with (myself included) feel intimidated by their work. But you’re the boss. We can get our ideas and writing to work (and we can get the help we need if we have the clarity and the bossy-ness to move forward).

Alternatively, there’s the loving, “make friends with your project”–the-boss-who-cares–approach.

That works too. You might be in a bad relationship with something you’re writing. I sometimes have a heart-to-heart with myself to discover what’s not right. I need to take on an attitude of fierce lovingkindness. In other words, we can love our work into submission.

This is sort of like what happens in couple’s counseling when the therapist asks you when and how you first fell in the love. The idea is to reconnect and reignite the passion, caring, and sparks.

Those sparks are the momentum that get you moving forward. If you take a role of loving leadership, you can get clear about what’s not working and you can instigate one caring step forward.

You can be the one to change. See, you’re the boss, not your work.

Have you ever gotten bossy with your work–the stern kind of bossy or the loving kind?

What happened?

Can you try it right now with a piece of work?

Given how important conversations and trusted readers are to the life of writers and thought leaders, I highly recommend you dive into the riffs, everyday lessons, and deep wisdom you’ll find at Charlie’s blog from the likes of Seth Godin, Andrea J. Lee, Danielle LaPorte, Mark Silver and other favorite writers and entrepreneurs.

Especially today, as my post on Getting to the Truth of Our Work is being published as part of the series!  If you’ve heard me talk or write about the importance of going public with your work—sooner rather than later—this article will resonate.  And I hope it will inspire you to use deep conversations (with yourself and others) to stretch, test, develop, and ground your ideas and best work.

“The biggest challenge we often face isn’t the start of an idea, it’s the discovery of a missing element—what I think of as a missing truth. It’s the missing idea that keeps the whole from making sense. So often, we begin to work on a business idea, a theory, or what I call our core “idea sets” but there’s a gap.”  Read more

My friend and colleague Michael Bungay Stanier’s new book will not only introduce you to fabulous ideas, tools, and steps that will inspire you to do more of your own life-changing work, it will literally save lives with every copy purchased.

The book is titled End Malaria: Bold Innovation, Limitless Generosity, and the Opportunity to Save a Life and it is a collection of essays by 62 business thinkers on the theme of what it means to do “Great Work,” including Dan Pink, Tom Peters, Nancy Daurte, Brené Brown, Sir Ken Robinson, Pam Slim, David Allen, Steven Johnson, and so many more of my author heros for their astuteness, brilliant ideas, graceful prose, and good work in the world. Reading the book will lead you to do more of the work that makes a difference to your life and the lives of others. More than that, the action of purchasing the book will set in motion a donation of $20 to buy a mosquito net to protect a family and to support Malaria No More, an international charity whose goal is to end malaria in Africa by 2015.

The entire project is made possible by the Domino Project business model, the new publishing project created by Seth Godin and powered by Amazon. Please buy the book now—I just did here– and then keep reading the Q&A with Michael below and listen to the fantastic 30-minute audio conversation we recorded about how the book came to be. It’s rich with key lessons on effort, letting go, stretching, getting help, publishing models, and working FAST. (audio links below). It’s relevant for everyone who wants to get their work and message out into the world.

Michael – You’re a huge proponent of helping all of us do more of what you call “great work,” less of the “good work” (we need some of it because if we did great work all the time we’d be neurotic messes), and the minimal amount of the “suck-y stuff” (which depends on who you are). To start off this Q&A, can you tell us what inspired this theme for your work?

I have a favorite quote which is: “Inspiration is when your past suddenly makes sense.” My background is in the world of innovation, change management, and coaching. When a friend of mine sent me a photocopy of the one-page introduction to Milton Glaser’s book Work Is Art, it provided the serendipitous insight that made everything else fall into line. Suddenly I had an angle on how I wanted to talk about this age-old theme: How to live the good life. “Do more Great Work and less Good Work” has become the on-going touchstone of the work I do now.

So that begs the questions, How did the idea for this new book, End Malaria (publishing today, September 7), take shape and how does it tie in with your own efforts to do more great work?

My book Do More Great Work had just had its second life–I self-published it initially, and then it got picked up by Workman, a New York publisher. In the book, I encourage people to think about defining a Great Work Project–something that will focus them for the next 3 to 9 months and that they can put time and effort and energy into. This is the project that, at the end of the year, you want to be telling stories about: either success or heroic failure. So, in an effort to practice what I preached I sat down and thought hard about what would be the Great Work Project for me that would stretch and challenge and excite me.

Which came first for you, the cause, the desire (perhaps bug, or itch) to write another book, perhaps a conversation?

It was actually the hunger to do a Great Work Project. From there, I took time to look at my assets. They included some weak ties to some famous and influential writers and bloggers, the ability to write books and do OK at selling them, and a hunger to Save The World. Writing a book was just one option. As you know, it’s just one channel for an idea and its got its pros and cons. But when Seth Godin launched The Domino Project, and that became a real possibility, it all seems to make sense.

Can you tell us what the most challenging part of the book project has been–whether on the creative and editorial side, or the publishing and launching side?

It’s actually been the need to share control/power with others on the project–The Domino Project Team and the Malaria No More partners. They’ve all been pretty fantastic, but I’ve found that I like to have my fingers in all the pies. Which is a way of saying “Michael is a bottleneck.” A friend of mine says “there are always punishments and prizes,” and in this case the “punishment” of stepping away from control is more than compensated by the prizes of working with Seth and the team, feeling like I’m on the edge of what’s possible in publishing, and having a deeper commitment to marketing the book than I’ve experienced to date.

And what about the unexpected and exciting aspect? Tell us something specific that goes beyond “everyone has been so wonderful.”

What’s been cool is having my ambitions stretched. I started the project going, I’d like to make $10 a book and raise $100k. We’re now able to donate $20 a book to Malaria No More (100% of the Kindle and 80% of the $25 book price), and (secretly) I think we could sell up to 100k copies. That’s two million dollars and many many lives saved. Normally, I’m the slightly out-there person on the team being bold, but this time around I was the one having my edges pushed.

Thanks so much Michael. It’s so wonderful that we’ve known each other so long and to be able to share your powerful, creative ways of making a mark in the world–and this time with such a life- and world-changing cause.

Here’s download link for our 30-minute conversation about the book, the writing and creative process, and the publishing path and strategy for this book.

Here’s where you can order your copy right now.

Please, take action NOW on your Great Work: Buy a book, save someone’s life. I’m a tough reader, as most of you know. I promise, it will be worth it–for the lives saved and for the inspiration gained.

For more information about the initiative, visit here.

And please add your thoughts and questions about the book, the interview, and your good and great work. I hope to do more of these in the future and would love your reactions.

I got off the phone the other afternoon with a long-time publishing colleague. We worked together for three years on the cusp of the creation of the Random House empire and years later we continue to compare notes around changes in the industry. We talk about:

What’s “clicking” and what’s not (for authors, readers, booksellers, the media).

What we’re trying to make happen for the books and ideas we’re most excited about.

What our authors and clients are missing…and how they’re going to get it!

It can be a high-wire act to talk about the push-me-pull-me of publishing success. It’s easy to point fingers when things aren’t working as planned. It’s easy to pop open the champagne when they are. It’s easy to “expect” and “assume” that the author does “this” and the publisher does “that.” But it’s not a this-or-that relationship. It’s a COLLABORATION!

Whether you self-publish or traditionally publish, the concept of collaboration is getting lost on the proverbial editing room floor.  In my conversation with my friend, we didn’t call it a “collaboration equation,” but that’s what I believe it is. It’s what has worked for me and my authors for my entire career as an acquisitions editor, an imprint director, and as an editorial and publishing strategist today.

• It’s what worked for David Allen, author of the mega-bestselling Getting Things Done (originally titled Zen and the Art of In-Box Management), when we started out with some 5,000 or 6,000 copies in print and sold more copies month after month. He shared the investment with the publisher to expand the book’s reach in waves of promotion and outreach.
• It’s what worked for the now-iconic novelist and national treasure Barbara Kingsolver who, following the inspiration of Terry McMillan in an article in Poets and Writers built her relationship with booksellers and readers one thank-you note at a time (and so much more).Yes, everyone who read The Bean Trees book loved it, but Barbara’s passion–and efforts–made it so easy for others to collaborate with her and to help find champions and readers for the book.
• It’s what worked for Harriet Lerner when I said she couldn’t call her book Witches and Bitches (or some such working title on a manuscript that had been turned down by dozens of publishers). I spent two weeks brainstorming titles and suggested The Dance of Anger at a launch meeting (plus a major rewrite!). That was the beginning of a taking a feminist book of psychology into the mainstream and an eventual 2.5 million copies in print today.
• It’s what worked for recent author, Shama Kabani and the launch of The Zen of Social Media Marketing with a mainstream publisher after a successful self-publication. The cover design was beautifully refined, the manuscript was further developed and expanded, and the publisher and author committed to ongoing support, ebook enhancements, and now a second edition in the works.

The collaboration equation between authors and traditional publishers has lessons for all aspiring and established writers–even in today’s publishing world.

Traditional publishers have a set of requirements to take on a book project and to make it work, including:

• A strong idea…that they can explain to others in order to get them excited and committed to the success of the book
• Strong writing as well as a compelling voice that is exactly right for the intended market
• An author “footprint” that can be built upon−If no one knows the author or book exists–if there’s no trace of it yet established, how will people discover it?
• A partner who understands (and is willing to get better at wooing readers, reviewers, retailers, audiences
• An entrepreneurial, even evangelic spirit who believes in their work and its potential impact
• A professional who does great work and is open to making it even greater and more effective–including investing time and money in their own success.

In traditional publishing there’s a “contract,” an equation, a bargain. In my 25+ years as a rising editor and editorial executive, I always thought of my relationships with authors like marriage. My career, reputation, relationship with the author and literary agent, all depended on getting the best possible book completed and launched. I aspired to make the book even better than our wildest hopes could have imagined.

Publishing has always had a bit of the hope-against-hope, “if you build it they will come,” type of spirit. Some of that optimism and emotional investment is waning in the new world of publishing, but it’s there more of the time than you’d think.

The other side of the equation is what the publisher offers (in spite of disappointments and frequent let-downs):

• A belief that the books and authors they invest in and acquire are worthwhile – that they matter
• A belief that an audience for the book can be found
• A vision for how the books they commit to can be positioned and launched
• The investment to produce a well-crafted “product” with design, editing, and production standards we recognize as professional
• An organized group of people to get the finished book “done” (if you don’t meet your deadlines the contract can be cancelled!)
• An enterprise that wants to monetize the book itself through distribution to the fullest extent possible, utilizing the latest digital publishing pathways, marketing and promotional activities, bulk sales, foreign sales, niche markets, and media opportunities

Here’s the thing: Publishing remains the ultimate “craft” business. In spite of all the technological changes, the rise of ereaders, online marketing and virtual communities, connecting ideas and stories with readers is still an art. It’s a work of passion that relies on word of mouth, enthusiasm, luck, and the talents of many people.

Truly listening to others, hearing what “lands” and what doesn’t, making it easy for people to talk about challenging, new, and even scary ideas–all that is possible when we allow partners and collaborators to care about our projects alongside of us.

We need to allow other people to care. As authors, publishers, and advisers, we need to cultivate, engage in, and work together in the deep, collective determination to reach a shared goal. Taking stories and  ideas out into the world is not a solo enterprise–it’s a collaborative process of shared discovery, hope, zeal, and commercial effort.

Without collaboration we are lone voices in the forest with no one to hear us.

Want to learn about the 4 roles of collaboration?

If you would like to see and hear collaboration in action, check out the recording of a videocast call I did recently with Elizabeth Marshall here.

Ready for Your Book Breakthrough?

Are you ready to take the next step towards getting published? Grab your free Book Breakthrough Success Kit here. To get more information and sign up for the information-loaded and inspirational BBNYC 2011 visit:  www.bookbreakthrough.com.

It struck me that there's truth in the idea that writers are introverted, shy, private, clearly not the sales-y marketing types we seem to expect writers to be in today's world of everyone-for-her/himself. But I wonder…. Is this really "how it is," or is it partially true but also partially a myth? Is the introvert a personality trait as well as a persona? An explanation that one can fall back on.

When I teach, I often define "publishing" as "writing for an audience." Writing in a journal or keeping notes and dream journals by the side of our bed seems natural and part of being human. Many of us write.

But writing for others–for a readership–takes guts. It takes chutzpah. It takes cajones.
 
The act of writing is aggressive, assertive, bold, fierce.
 
Who am I to have something to say that deserves–that commands–the attention of readers?
 
There's power in words (they're mightier than swords), and we feel that power internally as we put our fingers to the keys. The more urgent and important our work feels to us, the more strength, the more assertiveness, it can take to get the words out.

So, I wonder if there's another construct for thinking about sharing our work. Can we own that assertiveness with our work–and perhaps attack our work the way a ballet dancer attacks a fouette or a musician attacks a note or a new piece? Then maybe we can take that powerful "inside" stance and carry it into the "outside" world.

If we have that strength "inside" ourselves then we can take it "outside" ourselves. We CAN go public with our work and not be afraid we'll be too exposed or defeated.

When I go to writers' conferences and lead workshops there is often a huge light bulb effect. The inside and the outside come together. People are hugely interested in each others' work, processes, stories, relationships, successes, and disappointments. Did you ever think: No one seems "stuck" at a writer's conference, or any other conference, workshop, or live event for that matter. We might be shy, but we're there, we're thinking, we're absorbing, we're sharing.

If I look at my collective "showing up" experiences over the past two years, all of it has been good–even when I wasn't 100% aligned with the content or philosophy. The individual connections, the experiences, the exchanges, the testing of my ideas and beliefs, all have had a lasting impact.

My "default" is to disappear under stress or confusion. Yet I teach people the power of going public and Showing Up. I think I've proved something important to myself and hope you feel encourage to test this Inside/Outside equation with your own work, schedule, and goals.

Not only does "showing up" bring our "inside" and "outside" perspectives together,  the experience itself makes us dig deeper into the work we're doing, clarify and push it forward, and experience sharing it.

•     Where can you safely show up and go "outside" of yourself?
•     How can you push your writing to be as powerful, strong, aggressive as possible? What shifts when you do?
•     What would it feel like to go to a writing class, retreat, conference with your powerful "inside" writer self brought to the "outside" context? Of course, the idea isn't to act like your baddest character, but to see how you can tap into your strength as well as your vulnerability in order to experiment and discover opportunities.

What do you think about this loose exploration? I'd love to get your comments.

What if you could reliably have access to the best thoughts you have inside you, that maybe you don’t even know you’re capable of yet?  You know, the most inventive and most valuable to your market, the ones that make everyone around you go ‘Ooooh, how did you come up with that??’

via www.andreajlee.com

How can you use Momentum + Completion to take your work to the next level?

This essay is from Janet’s latest newsletter.
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