Checking In

There is something about Sunday mornings that get me motivated. I have not written in a couple weeks, nor have I thought much about it, as I have been busy nesting. Well, I am proud to announce that I delivered my second child, Riley Alexa Clark, on November 29th. A beautiful baby girl who damn near brought herself into the world. Needless to say, I am filled with gratitude and renewed purpose.

This morning I started reading through my Guide to Literary Agents. It is interesting to read agents' perspectives on the book proposal process. It has me thinking even more about the elements of my proposal and how I really do have something here. I am the queen of persuasive writing, so I can't wait to see my finished product and where it leads me.

Although I would have loved to have my proposal completed already, I am still proud of my progress. Unlike when I had my first child, I do not feel any rush or pressure to do anything in a certain amount of time. This book is my other baby and I will give it all the attention and nurturing it needs before I send it out into the world. I should be able to gauge how much time I will have to devote to finishing my proposal over the next couple weeks. Riley is pretty low maintenance right now, but I am not counting on that to continue. In the meantime, I will do what I can do and I am sure everything will work out how it is supposed to work out.

Turn my Swag On

Goal Setting

At every stage in my life, I set a high goal and was able to attain it. For college I wanted to go to Berkeley or Brandeis. I only applied to 4 schools and got into all of them. For law school I wanted to go to the #1 school in the country, Yale. I punked out of applying, but I applied to 13 schools, all in the top 15. I got into all of them except Standford (down with the Cardinal!). When I graduated law school, I wanted to work at a top law firm. I went through the process and ended up at a Top 40 law firm.

I recently said to myself that now is not the time for little goals. I have two friends that are published and they are are both under two of the top 10 publishers in the US: HarperCollins and Houghton Mifflin. One of them already sold the rights to have her book adapted into a film and the other got her book sold in a literary auction, which means lots of people were interested in it. These are my peers and, therefore, my benchmark for success.

So, I am setting a top 10 publisher as my goal.

How do I get there?

Well, this is difficult to figure out, but a major aspect is the marketability of your book. I have started this section of my proposal and I think I have a pretty good segment of the market carved out:

In the academic world, I have connections to lots of published and respected professors. I need my book to be good enough to get testimonials from two of my NYU professors, Professor Derrick Bell (who is super famous in Critical Race Theory circles and beyond) and Professor Tony Thompson (who recently published the bible of books on Reentry studies). I am also getting in touch with NYU to see how they can support me in my efforts. For $190k, I assume there is something they can do to support my efforts. Especially because this book is definitely good PR for them.

I have a chapter devoted to who I consider to be the key members of my network. All of these individuals have their own networks and I am relying on them to be my cheerleaders in pushing my book. Each of them will be impressed with the role that they play and what I have to say about them and all are go-getters so if their name is attached they will want it to be a success.

Aspiring lawyers, law students and lawyers, particularly African-Americans are definitely a key demographic for my book.

Up and coming entrepreneurs are also part of the market for my book.

Another key element is access to press. I have this down in the DC area and I will be relying on my PR mavens on both coasts to help me push this.

I think my title is a seller as well.

Most importantly, the book has to be good. I am still yet to finish a full chapter, though I have been writing everyday. I jump around between the into, chapter 1 and chapter 6. Sometimes I stray and start writing up my marketability piece or, this week, I have been trying to stop myself from writing parts of Chapter 5 which follows my years at Berkeley.

What Now?

These goals are just there to help me dream big an do what needs to be done to make it happen. Right now my focus is on completing my proposal. Sunday is a good writing day, so if I could just keep myself focused on one chapter I know that I can finish it. I feel that it should be Chapter 1 because it will set the tone for the rest of my book, but Chapter 6 is so fresh and full of characters and the meat of my theory that it has been much easier to write. I will set my goal as finishing Chapter 1 and see where I get. No pressure. Baby Riley is due sometime in the next 15 days and she has been a huge motivation to get this done. I am trusting that everything will work out how it is meant to work out, so I am feeling confident and self-assured by my process. Wish me luck!

Evaluation Time

Checking in with Muse v Fear

1) LACK OF CONFIDENCE 1 point for me

2) FAILURE TO ACT tied

3) FEAR OF GOING AFTER MY OWN DREAMS 1 point for me

4) FEAR OF BEING ACCOUNTABLE 1 point for me

5) DELUSIONS OF GRANDEUR 1 point for me

6) LACK OF COMMITMENT 1 point for me

7) FEAR OF GREATNESS 1 point for Fear

All in all, I am kicking butt. I have very little anxiety about my ability to write the book that I see in my head. I am not pushing myself too hard because I am keeping my kids as my priority right now. I am continuing to post blogs and keep it honest in my writing. By writing my own story, there are so many characters whose feelings I have to consider. It is teaching me how to write in a way that is both honest and considerate. I am enjoying the challenge.

Checking in with The Other N Word

Going back down memory lane is exhausting work. I have to edit myself when I write because this book is not my life story, if it is not relevant to teaching me the game of networking it should not go in. On the flip side, stories are injected in that I did not forsee being part of the book.

My goal is to draft my Intro, Chapter 1 and Chapter 6. I think these three things set up the premise for the book and are diverse enough to give a good impression of the rest of the book. I really like my intro so far. Framing my story has been like framing a piece of art. I have to put the reader in the mindset that I'd like them to be in. Choosing my words carefully and trusting my voice have been essential tools. I have parts of all 3 chapters done, I just really want to have a whole chapter done. This is my goal today. Chapter 1 is about my early childhood and Chapter 6 is about my law firm career. I straddle between the two depending on what I am in the mood to deal with. I think Chapter 6 might get written faster, though I am pretty close to being done with Chapter 1. A lot of framing of a lot of memories...can be slow work.

The law firm stuff is fresh in my mind and the chapter is entitled "The Knowledge Without the Game". At this point in my journey, I was beginning to notice a lot of things that I had missed before. I was still gaining the knowledge, but it took me becoming an entrepreneur to learn the game. The BigLaw partnership model makes an associate's job much like being an entrepreneur. You do not have a boss in the traditional sense, you still compete for the best work, and its about who you know as much as it is what you know. Interacting in the firm world with the knowledge of how to act, dress, be...showed me how understanding why I must (or think I must) do these things is more valuable.

I'm about to break for lunch and get back to writing soon after. Wish me luck on finishing up Chapter 6.

To the Wire

Since my last post, I have made serious progress toward my goal of having my proposal ready this month. The most exciting part was finally getting my final chapter titles and subtitles down. Just looking at my Table of Contents makes me proud. The fact that there are all these hidden meanings and/or thought processes that went into each one makes it even more exciting.

Decisions, Decisions

I have decided to complete my Introduction, Chapters 1 and 6 for my sample chapters. This will be interesting, as I am as excited as others to see how the book turns out. Most of what I had previously written serves as a basis for writing the final chapters, but I have been starting from scratch as I write so that my writing benefits from my clearer thought process and my focus on the art of storytelling and not just telling my story.

The Sneak Peekers

I have also been getting together the folks that I want to read and critique my proposal before I send it out. Having this feedback will be a major help in many ways, but mostly it will be the first time I really stop talking about it and be about it. I am yet to share my writing with anyone because I am not at a place that I feel comfortable with the final product yet, but that will all change soon.

The Big Test

I am hoping to have my three sample chapters completed by the end of the week. I am giving myself some leeway in the goal, as I am 37 weeks pregnant and rest is my main goal. In fact, last week I slept all day from Monday through Friday...it felt great and I fought off the guilt that I felt creeping in. My estimate is that that is 54 pages of writing, sounds daunting but you have to remember that that breaks down to approximately 22 standard pages. At 5 pages per day, with a lot of it already started, I should be able to stick to this plan. This will be a good indication of how long it takes me to complete the book once I secure a deal.

I have been working for most of the day, so I think I will quit for the day and start fresh tomorrow.

Momentum

Pitch Stage

Ok, so I feel wonderful today because, after months of brainstorming, writing, thinking, conceptualizing, etc. I am finally at the stage of putting together my book proposal to send to literary agents. My fellow entreprehustler and motivator Farrah Parker suggested that I could pitch my own book to publishers, but I really want to be free to just be creative in this situation.

The proposal for a nonfiction book contains the following elements:

Cover Letter

Book Overview

Marketing Potential

Table of Contents

Sample Chapters

Writer's CV

Other relevant information

I am happy to say that I have almost all these parts completed, plus a lot more writing done than is necessary for the pitch. For the rest of this month, I am focusing on getting each of these things in the best shape possible so that by November 1st, I am confident to send out my packet and see what comes back.

I am extremely optimistic about my ability to land an agent and I have been visualizing the success of my book. I feel like the timing is perfect, not just for my subject matter, but also for me personally. My baby is due December 1st and I need to take at least 3 months to devote all of my time to her. I also know that rejection is a major part of the process, so having a new baby to look after will ward off the depression that such rejection can cause.

The Difficulties of Writing Such a Personal Piece

The People

As I write, I am finding that my story is not my story alone, but includes many people that may have an opinion about what I write. I think I am a clever enough writer to be completely honest without throwing other people under the bus, but I honestly did not anticipate how many people's names would actually end up printed in my book. I plan to send everyone mentioned a copy of the part of the book about them, so this should be interesting.

The Obstacles

There are certain occurrences or event in my life that have shaped who I am and speak to my journey to uncover why networking is the other N word. Many of these are very personal and I have not shared them with anyone who was not privy to them as they occurred. Some stories I have really just started confronting over the last year. These are the most difficult to write, one because they bring up so much emotion and, two because I need to frame them in a way that makes me comfortable yet provides the proper context for the book.

Muse Moment

Needless to say, I am super proud of myself for reaching this goal that I set out at the beginning of this process. I have committed to this singular goal and have not let other opportunities distract me. Every time I write, I get a great feeling and I know that this book is a huge stepping stone toward my ultimate destiny. I believe that your 30s are for finding yourself and the people who are destined for greatness are putting the work in now. I know that I will be counted among the greats and I am ready to do what it takes to make sure this happens.

Commercial Break

I opened this blog entry page not knowing what I was going to write. After having such an inspirational couple weeks, I took a trip to California to celebrate my niece's birthday and came back under the weather and tired as hell. I did not get anything accomplished until Friday and that accomplishment did not involve writing.

Ironically, I attended my friend Kimmi Chu's fathers funeral and it ended up being a great day. Sometimes inspiration and motivation come from the strangest places. I also found out that my grandmother passed away on Wednesday and because of Riley's impending birth, I will not be able to make the trip to New Orleans to attend her homegoing. This makes me sad, but I know that I do not have to a attend a funeral to honor her life and I am in no emotional state to deal with a reunion with my dad (though I look forward to hearing about my younger sister LaRita's encounter).

Yesterday, I got my day started at around 2pm and that was a struggle, but this morning I woke up bright and early to start preparing my environment for productivity. I'm looking forward to a nice family day today and tomorrow and getting back into my routine on Tuesday. I am really encouraged by where I am in my entrepreneurial journey and I am feeling both confident and optimistic. Only good can come from this.

A Charmed Life

A Wonderful Week

This has been a great week and I plan to ride this inspiration for as long as possible. I have never been into astrology or similar concepts, but I could not ignore the fact that "mercury was in retrograde" at the end of August through the middle of September. This is supposed to throw lots of things off and I have to say that Mercury was kicking my ass. I had no computer, writer's bloc, opportunities were not manifesting as expected, I was constantly tired, etc. I tried not to buy into this belief too much, yet not ignore the suggestions for riding out this period of retrograde. I did not push myself too hard on any front and I took that time to just enjoy Ryan, get some rest and not worry too much.

Anyway, things began to look up over the past couple weeks as I gained more confidence and clarity. I began to focus on what I wanted and what it would take for me to get it. I put my energy into doing those things and trusting that the outcome would be as I envisioned. Lo and behold, within a couple week's time the stars began to align:

I secured my first writing gig, nothing that would keep me so occupied that I would not have time for my book and something that I could ride out for now and turn into something more substantial once the baby is born and I have taken some time to just concentrate on her.

A deal I had been waiting to close finally did and I was called to be part of the branding/marketing team. This is the same opportunity that I knew was perfect when I received it, but which my excitement led me to forget the rules I had put into place for myself. I confronted the issue and gained the respect needed to be called upon when the money was right.

Earlier this week, I wrote down my "January Expectations" and by Friday I had confirmation that all of them were on track to happen.

Great Inspiration

The most powerful thing that has occurred is that I have regained my inspiration, i.e., my "Muse-ness." This year has primarily been about learning the tough lessons and going inside myself to correct faults that had gone undetected for decades. This has been a difficult process to undergo. Focusing on my weaknesses really slowed me down, which was a necessary step to getting where I am today. I was moving so fast that I did not realize that I was letting life happen to me and not taking charge of my life and figuring out the path that I wanted to pursue. Though I am still in the midst of my war with fear, this new phase is about doing the work and I am falling in love with my journey all over again.

Progress

So, I have been writing a lot more and it feels wonderful. Though I have been cautioned against it, there are certain things that I want my book to have that have no basis in logic. For instance, I want 8 chapters. 8 is my favorite number, it is a round number, I was born on the 8th day of the 8th month of year, I tend to like the 8th track on all good albums, and it turns out that "The Tipping Point" has 8 chapters. When I wrote my basic outline in July I wrote it based on 8 chapters, although i only had 7 of the chapter titles figured out. This did not bother me because I knew that these were not going to be my final chapters, it was just something I needed to get out in order to move forward and to have my basic theory parsed out.

Anyway, as I said in my last post, I have finally found a synergy between the two parts of my book--the personal narrative and the theory. Well, this morning I woke up at 7:30 to use the bathroom and instead of going back to sleep, I decided to ride the wave of inspiration I have been feeling and take another stab at the flow of the book with my 8 chapters in mind. Fate would have it that the various phases of my life that I have been piecemeal writing about add up to 8 and within each phase a major tenent of my overall theory is illustrated. This is great news because today is September 25th and I want to have my detailed outline finished by the 30th. I can now take a break from free writing the meat of my book and get the basic structure completely worked out so that it is easier for me to complete in a systematic fashion.

Needless to say, I am thrilled. I had a good 2 hours or so of "deck time" last night and it was great to reflect on my life and see its purpose and how everything I have learned up until this point has prepared me to write this book. I look forward to completing this outline and spending next month working on and sending out my pitch packet. I expect to secure an agent before Riley is born so wish me luck!

-The Muse