“When I told him about Lucy’s offer, he said, ‘You’re going to take it aren’t you?’  As if it was a no brainer.”

“Jake was a coach at heart. ‘Olivia, you’ve got to give it a try. Remember, you need to be in the game in order to win.’”

Excerpted from the book, The Napkin, the Melon & the Monkey

Shortly after Olivia finally became a permanent employee at Mighty Power, her supervisor asked her to fill in as a team leader for a few months. Luckily, she accepted the challenge. Had she not spread her wings, she would not have discovered that she had the talent to be a leader. Olivia’s success as a team leader literally changed the direction of her life.

In the last few years I have spread my wings, took a few flights and crashed — multiple times. Looking back, I know that had I not crashed, my book, The Napkin, the Melon & the Monkey, would never have materialized. Like Olivia, taking those risks and failing made what initially seemed impossible — possible.

Here is a list of some of my flights — and crashes:

Risk #1. I’d never written a book, but decided to give it a try. My motivation? To write a story that would help the service reps I worked with handle the many challenges of their job more easily. About 100 of my clients and friends read the story in manuscript form and liked it. Many told me that reading it had changed them in fundamental ways. (2003)
Crash #1. Encouraged by the response, I sent the manuscript to 15 publishers and was rejected by all 15. (2004)
Crash #2. I decided to take a different route. I wrote to 10 literary agents to see if they’d represent the book to publishers. All said “Thanks, but no thanks.” (2004)
Risk #2. I self-published the book and created a website for it. Sold out the first printing in 3 months. (2006)
Risk #3. Ordered a 2nd printing and invested in a new website.  Subsequently sold those books and ordered a 3rd printing. (2007)
Risk #4. After having some success with the book, I decided I’d try again to get it published by a major publisher. I reached out to Mark Sanborn, the author of The Fred Factor (another fable book) to get his advice. Mark loved the book and referred me to his friend, a senior editor at John Wiley & Sons. I submitted a proposal to Wiley and they made me an offer to buy the rights to the book. (June, 2008)
Crash #3. I turned down Wiley’s offer. After reviewing the terms of the contract and discussing it with my literary attorney, I determined that Wiley was not the publisher for me. (July, 2008)
Risk #5. I decided to try again to get an agent to represent me. The two that I wrote to (from the original list of 15) contacted me immediately, expressing their interest. I ultimately decided on Joelle Delbourgo, one of the best in the business. (August, 2008)

Within days Joelle managed to get several offers from the big publishing houses, including a dream offer (with a six-figure advance) from Hay House. I happily accepted.  The book is scheduled to be released in hardcover in February 2010. Hay House plans to market the book throughout the world and translate it into several languages.

That’s my publishing story in a nutshell. Am I glad that I took the risks? You bet. Was the process more work than I ever imagined? You have no idea….. Was all drama and pain worth it? Absolutely. Will I fail again? Undoubtedly.

This week spread your wings. Trust me. It’s the only way to fly.

Share the wisdom.

P.S. An update on the book: Hay House informed me last week that they sold the rights to the book to a publisher in Holland who will translate it into Dutch. (!)