Do This Before It’s Too Late
I met up with a good friend last night and we began
discussing where we wanted to go business-wise regarding our books and their
promotions. He suggested that since writers like King and Koontz had their books
converted to graphic novels, I should consider that option for my Revolution in
America series.
It made perfect sense and the series is well-suited
for that genre.
It was a great idea, and I gave it some serious
consideration.
But in the end, I decided against it.
Here’s why.
In previous blogs I have discussed my two personalities.
I call the attention hog Stageshow Johnny, he’s the one that is a lead singer
for a rock band, goes on book tours, gets interviewed on TV and so on. He’s
quick-witted, funny and adores being the center of attention.
Then there is
the other one. The one I am most of the time. I call that on The Dullard. He is
quiet, introspective, incredibly shy, paranoid and socially awkward. But he’s
the one that gets all the work done. He writes the songs, the books, creates
businesses, websites, promotional videos and so on.
Although the Dullard is the nuttier of the two, I am
more comfortable being him than Stageshow.
When I was in my teens I was a singer-songwriter and
performed in Greenwich Village, New York. I loved it, but noticed I was
attracting people who were, let’s say, slightly off center. I’d be walking down
the street and they would recognize me and come up and start telling me their
life story and how my music deeply affected their life.
It was off-putting, sort of like the Moody Blues song,
“I’m just a singer in a rock and roll band. If I had met John Lennon, the first
thing I would have told him about New York, is that it’s great to live there,
but nobody should ever know WHERE you live.
When music
changed from rock to disco and living and working in NYC had become incredibly
dangerous, my family and me moved upstate to a small community. I loved it, but
my creative juices demanded attention, so I decided to start writing books.
The transition
wasn’t hard. I had already written the lyrics for over 300 songs, so I adapted
pretty easily. Within a few years I was submitting manuscripts and eventually
landed a publishing contract.
And then the requisite
book tour.
Strangely that started a bizarre conflict between Stageshow
and the Dullard.
Stageshow loved the attention, signing autographs, being
interviewed on TV, even had my crooked teeth fixed to be more presentable.
The Dullard was
miserable because being Stageshow required so much effort that the exhaustion
would be felt by the Dullard not Stageshow. But that was part of the job, so it
got done.
When the Great Recession hit, and the bookstores
closed, my publisher was one of the fatalities and so I was on my own again. I
started my own publishing company, Ari
Publishing. The first 5 years were very rough, but after a few
tweaks here and there and the evolution into Ari Communications,
I started seeing a profit.
At present I have published 15 of my own books which
can be viewed on my website zackaryrichards.com and
those of several other authors. I have created numerous promotion videos for
businesses, countless videos on how to create an online business and the
website www.thebestwaystogetrich.com
I am not rich, and do not want to be, I have seen
being rich up close and it appears the adage, mo’money, mo’ problems is true in
most cases. But I am comfortable, and I am also happy. I work when I want to
for as long as I want to. The books I publish for other authors has given me
insights into many fascinating topics that I never would have known about had I
not become a publisher.
Now, back to last night’s discussion with my friend.
When I told him I wasn’t interested in having my books
converted into graphic novels I could see the disappointment in his face. It
truly was a good idea but…
I explained that at this point in my life I don’t want
drama, I don’t want travel, I don’t want to be on TV, I don’t want to be the
center of attention. I don’t want fans or admirers.
What I do want is what I already have.
I live in a
wonderful town with great neighbors, good friends, and no drama. My sister
lives with me and she handles all the regular stuff while I work. She has been
a tremendous help with the conversion of my garage into a business office and
has made my house something I look forward to coming home to.
She’s an early
bird and I’m a night owl so we don’t spend enough time together to get on each
other’s nerves. Her room is packed with everything she wants or needs, so she
spends most of her free time in there.
When I explained to my friend that I didn’t want to
further promote my own stuff and instead focus on doing all the things I like
to do, A look of having struck a chord came over his face.
He said, “You’re the second person who’s said
something very similar to me in the past week.” He said while he was dining
with a friend and discussing his work plans once he got off disability, his
friend said, “You’ve been swimming upstream all your life, isn’t it time for you
to just float?”
Like me, he’s
in a position to do just that and he decided then and there that was exactly
what he was going to do.
Once you hit your fifties you start losing friends and
family to cancer, heart disease, strokes, and diabetes just to name a few. The
kids move away and suddenly you have a big house and a big car and only you and
your spouse rattling around in them.
As I approach
my “Golden Years” Let me give you this advice. Find a way to stop doing the
things you don’t want to do. Being miserable will bring on disease faster than
anything else. Dump toxic people, find out just how much money you’ll need to
have everything you need, and be grateful for everything you have.
Nothing stays the same, don’t put off for tomorrow
what you can start doing today because tomorrow your life can be very different
than it is now.
And in many
cases, not in a good way.
