Some of my Facebook friends already know this, but I wanted to share the news here as well.
For the past year and a bit I have been secretly toiling away on a special project.
Longtime Fishbowl readers will be familiar with a family challenge I issued and undertook a handful of times starting back in 2006; we called it the Shopping Embargo. The Embargo is essentially about curbing impulse shopping and being mindful about the things we did buy. We’d pick a period of time (usually one or two months right after Christmas) and refrain from making unnecessary purchases for the duration. Well, on the tenth anniversary of the Embargo, Mark and I decided to challenge ourselves to a Shopping Embargo for an entire year.
YES. All of 2016!
While we were busy avoiding the siren song of the mall, I wrote about our experience and what we were going through at the time to form the basis of an e-book: what worked, what didn’t, what my triggers are, where we slipped up and what helped me climb back on the wagon. I learned so much about myself during this process. I know I’m not the only one who is overwhelmed by the STUFF we have accumulated over the years. I know I’m not the only one who hates storing and organizing and dusting all of this stuff. I know I’m not the only one who heads to the mall when I’m feeling crappy, or feels pressure to look a certain way at the office (with matching accessories, of course!). I also know how much money we can save by being a little bit more mindful about how we spend our hard-earned money.
I wrote every day (more or less) for the entire year. In fact, I am still writing! My hope is that the book will serve as a guide for people who want to shave down their personal debt and live a little lighter on the planet. I believe it will help people reevaluate their relationship with their belongings and shift a few of the dollars from items that will eventually just end up in a landfill to more meaningful pursuits.
For the past couple of months, I’ve been editing what I wrote during our Embargo year and I’ve slowwwly started to look a little more deeply into the self-publishing side of things. I have three words for you: Oh.My.God. It’s slightly overwhelming and there’s still a lot for me to figure out before I start selling copies. (Like getting this thing proofread somehow, designing a cover, figuring out ISBN numbers, etc.) Sigh.
I am writing this post for two reasons. (1) In case some of you have any wisdom to share about the world of publishing. (I am all ears!) and (2) to let you know that I’ve set up an email list in case you’d like me to let you know when the book is ready to download. If so, you can sign up right here: http://eepurl.com/cv3S95!
One of my main goals has already been met. I have always wondered if I could write a book. I know now the answer is yes. :)
