Rebounders by Rick Newman

Usually I wait to post about a book until I've finished reading it, but I have a free moment right now, and I don't want to put off writing about this book until I get around to it later (you never know when that will be!). I picked up the book Rebounders by journalist Rick Newman at the library a few weeks ago along with some other books about entrepreneurship and career change. For more about the book, check out this page on Newman's website.

There are two things I really like about this book! First of all, it's story-based; Newman shares the stories of people in a variety of career fields who either went through a "comeback" (or multiple comebacks) after having career and/or personal difficulties, or who have had a long, hard road to success. The other thing I really like is that Newman shares his own story of figuring out how to bounce back in his own life following a difficult divorce and some professional struggles because of the downturn of print journalism as blogs and other online outlets started taking over.

It was interesting for me as a reader because the first couple of in-depth examples in the book were about men, and I thought, wow, if he doesn't write about a woman soon, I'm going to lose patience with this book, and then the next chapter told the story of Lucinda Williams. I have to say that it was pretty motivating to me personally to read about Williams taking singing lessons in Los Angeles while she was working on kickstarting her career. If Lucinda Williams can be humble and take voice lessons, I can certainly be open to taking classes, doing research, learning from others, etc. There are a lot of things to do as an artist or other professional rather than just "waiting" for something to happen; success isn't just going to come while you wait for it--you have to work on your skills, put in the hours on your new business, etc.

In other words, this is an encouraging book that teaches by example. If you're like me and can draw strength by taking lessons from the experiences from others, pick up this book--especially if you're working through a challenging phase in your career.

An Inspiring Book for Indie Businesspeople

I've been meaning to post about some books I read earlier this year, but I keep getting busy posting interviews to With Five Questions. Well, I was thinking this morning about how much books help to inspire me as an independent author and entrepreneur, so I wanted to take time to share.

If you read blogs and/or books about do-it-yourself small businesses, you've probably already heard of Chris Guillebeau. I'd been hearing his name for quite a while but hadn't read any of his stuff. Turns out that I liked The $100 Startup quite a lot.

The subtitle of the book is "Reinvent the Way You Make a Living, Do What You Love, and Create a New Future." The central idea of the book is that you can start a small business on your own right now, using skills you already have. The author shows you lots of examples of creative people working in a wide range of fields who are doing just that. Guillebeau bases the book on his own experience as well as the experiences of a number of people he's personally interviewed. He has a very encouraging voice as an author; basically he wants you to put down the book and go and set up a website or write a sales letter or do something to get your business idea off the ground.

What I like most about the book is the author's assertion that you don't need a lot of capital or other resources to start a business. In fact, he discourages readers from borrowing money, etc. His emphasis is on starting small. This low-risk and potentially high-yield approach is very tempting, and you can experiment with it without quitting your day job.

The book actually inspired me to start teaching some independently-run online classes. I read about an artist Guillebeau interviewed who had turned her photography skills into a series of online classes, and I decided to try the same with my writing skills. My first poetry workshop is just wrapping up, and I'm taking registrations for a summer workshop now.

With his examples and his you-can-do-it perspective, Guillebeau makes you want to explore new ways to turn your interests and skills into businesses that you can run independently from home (or from anywhere in the world, if you want to travel with your laptop or tablet or smartphone). There are enough examples in the book that something is going to resonate with you. Based on my personal experience, I can definitely recommend The $100 Startup: Reinvent the Way You Make a Living, Do What You Love, and Create a New Future.

Coming soon: a review of Making a Living without a Job by Barbara Winter.

Try Visual Journaling for Creative Flow

If you're looking for ways to bring more creative energy to your work, why not give visual journaling a try?

It's like keeping any other type of journal except that you incorporate visual elements in addition to (or instead of) written text. You can use any media you enjoy in your visual journal, and it can be a fun way to finally utilize that cool sketchbook or notebook someone gave you as a gift but you haven't used yet. I like to use inexpensive materials like crayons, magazine paper, and a children's watercolor set.

There's a great resource/community for art journaling on Ning. This article in Psychology Today looks at visual journaling from a healing/therapeutic angle, and this article on creativepublic.com comes from a more business-focused approach, looking at the benefits visual journaling can bring to your work.

We spend so much of our time in front of screens that it can be good for our thinking to take even a few minutes a day to jot down a few words with a pencil, draw a doodle with a marker, or glue down a couple of scraps of paper.