Who's Who and the Business of Being Recognized

Yesterday I received a call from a senior editor of Universal Who's Who, informing me that I had been selected to be featured in its upcoming publication.  This is probably the sixth or seventh Who's Who publication that's contacted me and advised me that I have been selected for inclusion in their database and/or print-publication.

While I am honored at the recognition, I have found consistently that, to enjoy more recognition, I need to make some kind of investment in the publication--for materials they offer celebrating this recognition, for print copies of the publication, etc.  As I look at my bookshelf, I see my copies of the 2003 edition of the Marquis Who's Who in America.

Over the years I have learned to offer my input as long as there is no dollar investment.  I've leaned to do that after investing several hundred dollars in various Who's Who publications.  It's nice to be recognized, though, to date, I am not aware of any new business generated by being recognized in these publications.

One of my grandfathers was a minister recognized on a Who's Who publication of his time.  I'm glad I'm carrying on the tradition, though I've now forgotten how many Who's Who publications I'm listed in--or, indeed, if they continue to remember me after my money stops going to them.

Being recognized is nice, though, as a business, it leaves something to be desired by the people being recognized.

Why Would Someone Want to Read This Blog as a Book?

Julie and Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously was a successful blog published as a book and then as a movie.  Julie Powell focused on working with Julia Child's recipes.

Readers of this blog know that the posts may vary from day to day, based on what is "top of mind" for that day.  With this post I have 240 separate entries ready to edit and am now visiting public libraries and book stores to see how I can organize these entries in a way that will be both interesting and marketable.  (If anyone reading this has suggestions, they will be welcome.)

I have created categories (for chapters), though I am not fully happy with those categories yet.  I will probably edit the posts a little for publication.

I am also checking out a book on the stories of Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) for inspiration.  My goal is to have this ready for the publisher this week.

I reviewed my earlier draft books (from 2001) and don't feel compelled to rework them at this point.  Publishing this blog as a book is something new.

Preparing the DrM-Blog to be Published--categories, titles, and more

I have been organizing this blog for publishing today and have been working with categories for related posts.  While the labels help, I am already finding that I will be adjusting the categories a bit before the blog is ready to be published as a book.

An old friend, Jack Canfield, is the co-author of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series of books.  I like the title of his books and the way he formats them.  This blog has covered lots of territory (categories) since it began last August.  I'll have to see what kind of titles evolve as I edit the material.

More work tomorrow.  I look forward to seeing what develops.

Blogging--Purpose of this Blog

Someone spoke about my blog this morning and I wanted to think again about its purpose.  One of my goals is to begin publishing books and the discipline of writing a daily blog was intended to be a "baby step" toward publishing--the blog and beyond.

I mention the purpose of this blog in both my first post and in the header that appears with every post (see below).
(Click on the image to see it completely and bigger.  It is the same as the comment appearing at the top of this page.)

 The content of my blog posts is eclectic, reflecting my thoughts, observations, or reflections of the moment.  Overall the focus is on helping readers navigate the world with a few more insights and resources.  I maintain current links in the posts so that people can get back to source information.

It is a business and a personal post in that many of the topics are business related and all are influenced by my personal reflection, experience, and sense of values.  This is post number 224 and I expect to turn the posts into a book soon.  The question is, should I wait for a year of posts or do it earlier?  I also need a way to organize the posts by themes and to make sure that the links remain alive in the electronic version of the book I expect to publish.

Ninety-first post to this blog

When I began this blog on August 10, 2009, I was committing to a daily post of reflections and ideas.  As I write the post tonight, I notice that this is the ninety-first blog.  One or two days had two posts, especially if I missed the midnight deadline for a post.

I want to write and publish several books.  A few are in various draft forms.  One of the purposes of a daily blog was to have the discipline of writing.  Indeed, another possibility for a book is to combine the daily blogs once I have enough of them written.

Reflection on daily thoughts and activities has been very worthwhile.  I don't know who is reading this blog and I refer to it in various posts and websites.  The process also allows me to make connections between activities and reflection that I might otherwise miss.

Sometimes I wait until almost 11:00PM to make my entries.  It seems that it takes that long sometimes to focus on what I want to post.  The good news is that throughout the day ideas for the blog are percolating in my mind, waiting for me to write them down.

Today has been an unusual day.  Lately I have been involved in contacting business professionals around the world to find people who want to work with me in enrolling language learners in a new, affordable, online language learning program.  I have been asking for people who are interested to contact me and have been responding to their e-mails with information.  There were fewer e-mails today and I find myself challenged to find innovative ways to encourage business professionals to check-out the programs and the business opportunities associated with them.

I need to explore new ways to connect with people who can and who want to benefit from the language learning these programs make available.  Anyone with any ideas, please comment on this post.