A few days ago I got an advance shipment of my new book, Boho Chic Jewelry,
and I couldn't be more excited! Yay! It's finally here!
Writing the book was tremendous work, but so worth it. To be able to share ideas
and inspire other folks to create is priceless. I know that many of you who follow
this blog are artists of one medium or another, so I think you can understand what I
mean when I say that you can't rush creativity. Working under writing deadlines
is hard work and can be very stressful, but the rewards of having a finished book in
your hands are greater than you'd think. It's all about sharing what you know
with others, so that they can learn and create too!
When my publisher first approached me about writing the book, it was a lot to think
about. A couple of friends and relatives asked me things like, "Do you really want to
give away all of your secrets and techniques?" and, "You worked so hard to build
your business up to what it is today, why would you want to give all of that away to
strangers?" But I didn't have to think about it for very long at all.
First of all, writing a book is a huge opportunity, and most folks go about it by putting
together proposals and approaching publishers on their own. Because the publisher
approached me instead of vice versa, I actually felt completely honored that they thought
my work, designs, and ideas were good enough to warrant publication. I had been creating
my china jewelry for many, many years. But I also create other types of jewelry too!
Probably the one thing that ties all of my work together is that I use unusual
materials in most of my designs. I saw this (publishing a book) as not just an
opportunity to show others how to create jewelry from broken china, but to
show others how they can create jewelry from all types of other materials too. Writing
this book was a chance to help other people explore and use their own creativity!
What could be better than that?
For this book, I had to put together twenty five different projects...that isn't just a lot
of ideas, it's also a lot of different ways to give people to look at things creatively!
So most importantly, in writing this book, I had the opportunity to inspire others.
That was reason enough for me.
But little did I know of the rewards that would come once I started writing and putting
the projects together. They were greater than I ever could imagine.
(to be continued...)
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