In the summer of 2017, I was on fire. 🔥
I was teaching the Applied Yoga Integration seminar across the US and international offers were starting to come in. Word was spreading and within a year I’d be teaching in the Netherlands, Taiwan, Japan and Thailand.
I was also hired by two old clients of mine to travel to Baltimore and help them compete in a lacrosse competition.
On my drive down, the phone rang…
It was an acquisition editor from New Harbinger Publications (NHP).
He had seen the work I was doing and asked if I wanted to write a book.
I was excited. Said yes. And then completely shit the bed.
The fact was it just wasn’t the right time for me. I had yet to put the Applied Yoga course online. I had other projects that were pressing and demanding my attention.
So I put the book aside. I fell in love. Moved to Bali.
And then the pandemic struck. I went through a break up. Got a knee replacement. And magically, the door opened. It was time.
I spent most of last winter writing the book. I hired an editor and accountability coach that I met with weekly.
By October, I was ready to send off my proposal.
I decided to talk to an agent before going straight to NHP. Boy was he promising! Good vibes, short response time, positive attitude.
Upon receiving the proposal, he said, “Give me a week to review and I’ll get right back to you!”
2 weeks later, nothing. 4 weeks later, still nothing…
So I wrote him. Within a day he responded saying “Sorry. Thanks for your patience. I’ll get back to you very shortly.”
2 more months went by. Nothing. I wrote him.
Nothing.
And then two weeks after that, I wrote again and called him out. Maybe not the best move but I only have a limited amount of space for people who are not true to their word.
He responded within hours and said sorry.
Relationship over.
I prepared a new proposal for NHP. They welcomed it, read it, and said they aren’t putting out yoga therapy books anymore. The simply weren’t getting the return on them that they hoped for. I missed my window. NHP is out.
Sadness was the first thing that came over me. Here I am in this beautiful house in Thailand where my plan has been to finish the book and I have no contract.
And then I remembered listening to one of Brene Brown’s books where she said her first book was rejected by 3 or 4 publishers before it got picked up.
Geez, if it’s even happened to her, I am far from in rare company.
That gave me resolve.
What’s the phrase again? “If at first you don’t succeed, pack your bags?” Oh wait, no, that’s not it.
“Try try again.” Yeah, that’s more like it.
I honestly don’t know if I’ll finish it. I don’t know if it’ll ever be published.
The book tells my story of being a yogi. The successes I’ve had and the many pitfalls I’ve faced. It details the journey of aspiration and the many promises that yoga makes to the youth, most of which are just false narratives.
There are therapy sequences for the low back, knee, hip, shoulder and neck.
I did a mock photo shoot and hired an artist to draw muscles on my body in the poses. The same artist who did these…
I really think the book’s quite good.
And at worst, it’s been a great endeavor. It’s been a labor of love. I hope it gets out there but if it doesn’t that’s ok. It’s been healing for me to write.
And sometimes we need to do things because we want to do them, not because we have an end goal in sight. Maybe this is my book. Maybe not.
Only time will tell.