Publishing a Poetry Book: My Proven System for Success

The System!

Here we are in the final stretch and the part that separates the amateur dreamer from the professional – systems. Systems are much cooler than goals, and like ideas, goals are usually just fancy fantasies toward the desired result. The problem with goals is that they set you up for failure, e.g., I want to write and publish a worthwhile book this year; goals help aim and answer its underlying meaning—the why. Yet, even with those two pieces between the idea and a published book, several things can happen along the way:

• You show up on a Saturday morning to your computer with vigor. 
• You stare at a blank page…” what was I supposed to write, and how to start”
• You’re struck with an idea of what book you want to write.
• You think, “well, I’ll just free-write, and it’ll come together, eventually.”
• You write on end for months because, along the way, there were distractions and writer’s block.
• You finally reach your first draft after a couple of months of revision.
• And you stare at a final draft, and it’s almost a year later, and you wonder how do I publish this?
• You do as any other person would; you google it and learn the process from countless articles or invest the up-front work in publishing.
• You hire a designer for book cover and formatting and become exclusive on Amazon. 
• When you finally reach it, you hit publish on Amazon KDP and celebrate with family and friends. That feeling wanes and ultimately whimpers out, and an unease fills you and tells yourself, I need another goal, pronto!

Despite succeeding in their endeavor, this person misjudged the time required. They wrote whenever possible, and that creative well varied partly because life got busy. Sometimes there needed to be a drive or an idea of how to pick up where they left off, which continued to delay the publication date of an undetermined book. Because of the need for more consistency, your aim is to write a book. Still, you can’t articulate why you’re going through periods of defeat. Until you achieve your goal, you’re a failure.

Whether you write anything at all. You’re experiencing bouts of defeat because you don’t have a plan. We’re not robots; we can’t easily program our system toward reaching that goal and have it all figured out. Suppose we need to define and acknowledge our reasons for doing it. In that case, it’s a matter of time before you return to where you started, unfulfilled. It’s like not understanding the meaning of Sisyphus pushing a rock up a mountain only to roll down and once again push it up. 

• Goals focus you on the wrong things: so yeah, you wrote and published a book, then what? You can tell everyone you know that you published a book and hold the esteemed title of author. Well, you established your identity, but is that sufficient, and will it last? Probably. What the person sought was an external motivator. It doesn’t hold a candle to an internal one: expressing your creativity, learning more about yourself and the world, and providing value for others.
• Everybody can set goals: 81% of those aspire to publish a book someday… How many start a book but never finish it, and how many write one book but never another? There is no cost associated with setting goals, and our ambitions are limitless. In this game of interconnected objectives, there will be victors and losers. Those who wish to write a book are limited in number.
• Achieving a goal is temporary: having dreams is ephemeral and lost in the noise of life. The intentions were to earn a place in history as a legend, alongside J. R. R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings epic saga. They also wanted to have their book adapted into a film and a video game and exchange ideas with J. K. Rowling at an award ceremony. How long will that feeling of happiness persist? Months? Hopefully years? If only it was. I ask you: does the title, the status, and the fame burn forever bright or meet a sad whimpering end?

And the winner in this corner is systems!

So one morning, we met for coffee and discussed your dream about writing a book. You shared with me what it’s about, and you want to publish it in eight months; then, go on about how much research it will entail and read similar books for inspiration. I asked a simple question—what is your process for having the manuscript ready to publish in eight months?

1. “Well, I have a daily writing goal for an hour on a recurring to-do list with a reminder I check off after a writing session.”
2. That’s okay. Do you have an outline of what topics to cover, so there is less room for error, especially not staring at a blank page?
3. “Uh… I have notes littered about in my note-taking app, and I figure I free-write and reference these notes as I go. I’m sure the pieces will all come together.”
4. Okay, you know what you’re doing. Still, you have yet to determine how long it will take to write a similar book in your genre and get it all done in eight months. I developed a method that will help you increase your odds and work better from a framework that emphasizes why it matters and habits you can be proud of cultivating: the system’s hierarchy.

Hierarchy of system

In contrast to goals, the system is made up of layers, much like Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Each layer is constructed on an innate basis that serves as a pillar supporting the layer above it, and they are arranged in the base in the following order:

1. The vision: this entails daydreams throughout the day, recurring dreams (sometimes nightmares of the reality for not heeding the call), the fantasy, the fiction that’s driving you towards the desired outcome, state, result, and what meaning it’s trying to convey that warrants its presence and helps establish the goal
2. The why: The identity you want to create, the ambitions (experiences) you want to earn, how it matches with your values and interests that fuel and reinforce your desire for doing so, and the purpose it has on a larger scale for the world are all important considerations as the why stage gets underway. This encapsulates a sense of purpose in life.
3. Strategy: This stage includes planning, subsystems, and the broader scope; this scope consists of the SMART BETTER FASTER method, preparations needed in advance, technology and tools required, and contingency if surprises occur to stay on track
4. Process: the last stage of the hierarchy is essentially the outline of steps from A through Z, the habits, the recurring schedule slots on the calendar, and the schedule to-do list; you will find in my processes where I use temptation bundling, cues to make that mental switch, and tools to curb impulses

Hey Jose! That’s cool and all, but can you show me examples of the hierarchy of a system? I will, of course, and here it goes with book one.

The vision

I detail why I write in my posts, The Origin Story Why I Write, and Writing Humble Beginnings. Some of the reasons: I was feeling unfulfilled at my job and missing something from my life. I would walk down the evening corridor of the office and envision this repetition in five years, which filled me with dread. By this point, I had already explored other options like web design, but it was a fleeting novelty. 

I fantasize about a lifestyle of autonomy, doing what I love and sharing it with the world in the hopes it will bring whoever joy, inspiration, or information to live a better virtuous life. This motif would repeat in the drudgery of job tasks, the triviality that I created nothing of enduring value. Then it finally came through deliberate introspection in a journal entry: I want to write a book, to be an author, and from there, I had the goal to write a book.

The Why

Before I invested energy and time pursuing this newfound hope, I had to be honest with myself; why was this important to me, and what would I do even if I earned several million dollars from the lottery? I knew it would feed my values of creativity, curiosity, growth, resourcefulness, and passion for showing up every day to the activity without question. I wanted to reinforce the identity that I’m creative, resourceful, curious about knowledge and growth, driven, disciplined, consistent, and reliable. 

I have a voice to share and provide value to others like all the books, articles, blogs, and videos before and now enrich my life with their value. I felt this is also one of my purposes—to pass on the torch and encourage others to do the same. Once I came to grips with this, I was confident this was meaningful for me to pursue, and I could solidify the strategy’s next stage in my journey.

Strategy

This is when you feel the weight of something you do not know about. I took on the pilot role (a concept borrowed from Ali Abdaal). I had to start with what I knew, what I didn’t, and how to and where to find it so I could take notes, build a skeleton framework and refine the project scope to include all the bells and whistles. Thus, writing a book consists of the publishing and marketing aspects, and each has its processes. I needed to learn more about poetry as an art and how to write it. When I collected and organized my notes, I had a clearer vision of how to tackle them down the process. 

There are multiple subsystems at play here I labeled as the Author Production and Poetry Writing Process. The Author’s Production includes four parts: ideation, writing & revision, publishing, and marketing. Each book goes through this scope from start to finish with the writing process outline. Then I established the timeline and schedule; I chose a publication date and selected sixty poems, so it’s a book rather than a chapbook.

Set two deadlines for the first and final drafts and began working with the editor and book designer. I leave a two-month window between the completion of the final proofread copy, the design of the book cover, and the publication date. I will need 14-16 hours a week to write the book and break down those hours that factor into my day job and obligations throughout the week. I will write for an hour Monday through Friday, Saturday, and Sunday for four to six hours each. I will search, collect, and organize additional research material in Evernote and Google Drive and manage the project folder with manuscripts and related assets. 

I also define which books will complement my writing for inspiration, run through a pass of brainstorming topics for each poem, and which form I like to apply to each. In addition, I reference which tools will assist in my writing journey: dictionary, thesaurus, LitCharts, literary devices list, and apps that will help get into the flow and minimize disruption, like Spotify for soundtrack music and Freedom to block distracting websites and apps on computer and smartphone. Also, include basic publishing and marketing strategy and go into more details the closer I get to the publication date and cover this topic in a later post.

Process

Where the fun begins. As much as I love planning, this is where creativity unfurls its fangs. When it comes to any project, having a ritual increases the likelihood of showing up and getting into the flow. It entails getting up early in the morning to review today’s task, complete my vocab quiz, have breakfast, and play a movie or video game soundtrack. Then the plane is off for flight. I run with my Poetry Writing Process outline for the poetry book. When I’m done with the writing session, I mark it off in Todoist and record the writing session length in a spreadsheet. 

And it’s rinsed and repeated; the writing sessions are scheduled on the calendar, and I just have to show up and write where I left off. When life’s unintended circumstances happen, or if I cannot show up, my contingencies kick in. I’ll reschedule and shift tasks around in the week or the next. Like an engineer who tweaks the autopilot system as effectively as possible, and in my weekly review, I’ll look for adjustments where they’re needed. Here’s a copy of the Notion weekly review.

While all that sums up the hierarchy of my system, I don’t live by a rigid schedule. I’m not a robot; I need a break or switch projects. I know I will falter or get sick and adapt to changes. Meanwhile, having a system creates order; without one, I’ll feel the universe’s chaos jostling me to my impulses. This is what separates an amateur for a professional.

The Gist

This post focuses on the author’s goals and a strategy for achieving them. This is accomplished by establishing a mindset and set of always-present behaviors. Still, much guidance may be used in any aspect of your life. I hope you find the ideas presented here helpful and that they help you live more peacefully. To shape the concepts described here, imagination is needed. To tie everything together, I’ll express the key ideas from each topic below.

• Goals are problematic because they predispose you to failure. Your focus will be misdirected by goals. Anyone can create plans. The achievement of a dream is fleeting. Like Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, the system is composed of levels instead of goals. They are positioned in the base in the following order: The Vision, The Why, Strategy, and the Process. Each layer is built on an innate basis that acts as a pillar supporting the layer above it.
• When it’s all put together, it’s time to put our foot on the pedal, live and breathe our plan, cue the environment, listen to those lovely calendar reminders and carry out rituals to get into the rhythm of accomplishing a task. 
• As we enjoy the road and what should matter most, we’re positioned to make our goal a reality. We do this every day, task after task, baby steps. However, listen to your body; if you need rest, then take it; if you need to drift for a bit, then do it; balancing is key in any task in life.

I hope I have provided invaluable insight into what it takes to make a successful outcome of writing and publishing a book and, even better, have a system to easily copy and paste into the next project or pursue another venture, like scripting videos for YouTube, freelance writing, and courses. The next part of the series will cover the poetry writing process book outline.