How She Did It: Author Profile of Joanna Puciata
/Meet Book in 90 Days Author Joanna Puciata, CHHC, CGP, THCC, founder of Heal ‘N Glow, Chicago, IL, www.vaguememories.com Have you always wanted to write a book? Why?
Yes, I’ve always wanted to write and I did write a book, but got stuck on the rejection part. I was determined knowing that everybody gets rejected, including JK Rowling, but after two months of “sorry, not now” letters from the agents and publishers, I just gave-up.
What made you decide that NOW was the time to get it done?
After creating a holistic skincare company four years later, I had an idea for an educational book that would go with my health and lifestyle coaching. So when Karin’s email invitation about the Book in 90 Days program arrived in my inbox, my book dreams were immediately rekindled. In fact, it felt like one of those “let me push your desire over the edge” moments. I had no money for the program, but I knew I needed it. The money came out of nowhere and the book was written in more or less 90 days. And as it turns out, the book I wrote wasn’t the one I had originally intended to write.
What was the best part of the book writing and publishing process for you?
The best part was self-discovery process. If you’ve ever read the Alchemist, you will understand what I mean. Sometimes the goal that you strive to achieve is not really the goal you were meant to achieve. This is what happened to me. I sign-up for the program to write a book about beauty for my skincare company, but ended-up writing about the beauty of my sister, an artist with Down Syndrome.
When you write, have an accountability partner and are dedicating time to it, as Karin and Drew encouraged us to do, you open-up that dormant part of you, the one that is dying to come out and spread the message, whatever that is. And Drew repeatedly shared with us that no topic is unimportant, that there will always be that someone longing for that you want to write about. That simply erased all of my writer’s fears and hesitation of writing about my sister (something unrelated to my business) and made writing with confidence so easy.
Can you roughly estimate how much you invested in your book production team (editor, designer, kindle conversion, etc)?
I invested approximately $600. I wrote this book because my sister asked not to be forgotten and I sought no monetary reward for my writing. Yet it brought so much more than I ever expected and it is just a beginning. For those who write to attract clients, it pays off (including the cost of the program) with one client or two. If you are just beginning, it is an investment with high return, if you are smart about it.
How long would you say did it take you to write it, start to finish?
With the U Turn that I took, switching the book idea from something for my business to sharing my family’s story, I started writing early August and by mid-November I had the book in my hand. About 100 days?
What is one tip you can share to that helped you FINISH your book?
Accountability! Karin and Drew’s message was very simple: anybody can write a book, but will it take you a lifetime to do it? Will you put it in a drawer? Will you feel like you are not good enough? Will you get stuck publishing it? My mom is 82 years old. I wanted her to have my book and I did not want to write it for years and put it in the drawer with the other book. I discovered determination and loved the responsibility to myself. I wasn’t going to pay for this accountability partnership and not finish. I must say that with the price of the program being high enough, I wasn’t going to give-up. If it were less, I might have been easier on myself.
How are you using your book now in your small business, private practice or creative work?
My book, which is about a family’s aristocratic legacy, growing-up in socialistic Poland, and my sister’s life as an artist in a rejecting society is used as an inspiration to many. It was featured by the National Down Syndrome Society and the International Coalition for Down Syndrome Awareness; it was awarded along with one of my sister’s paintings to Hoda Kotb, the co-anchor of the Today Show and it will be displayed during my sister’s exhibit in October, sponsored by the city of Warsaw, Poland. I did not plan any of that. I just had a dream. As I opened-up to was I was meant to do, it all started to come to me and became grand. The book validated what I was meant to do to make my sister famous.
What kind of benefits have you seen in your life or work from writing your book?
I am an AUTHOR. That word gives you so much satisfaction! It’s just like saying I am a MOTHER. It is a labor of love. It brings respect, evokes curiosity, and makes you so much more interesting. You no longer hide your knowledge or experience. You make the world know about it.
Anything else you want to share about writing and publishing your book and getting it done?
It is not easy to write. It requires commitment, accountability and desirability to overcome procrastination and any excuses. I have four children, a husband, I was graduating from nutrition school, signing-up for the school’s Immersion continuing education program, doing a gluten certification, promoting my skincare and producing it, and at the same time writing at night, by the pool or at the park. I had plenty of excuses not to finish and at some point I did let them take over so not to lose my sanity. But I wouldn’t let them take over indefinitely because I paid for the program and because I owed it to myself and my mother!
You must also remember, that once you know how to do it, you can repeat the process indefinitely. Who says you should be satisfied with one book? When you discover that you can write and you know how to go about it, the sky is the limit.
Thank you Karin and Drew for showing-up in my life. You changed its trajectory.
Want to know how to write and publish your own book? Well I wrote a book on it! Come grab your FREE copy here: http://bookin90days.com