After 18 months, four drafts and countless cups of coffee, my new book Motivation for Creative People is finally complete.
You can pick up the ebook edition from Amazon, Apple, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, Google Play and Smashwords.
There’s also a paperback edition, beautifully designed and illustrated by the wonderful Irene Hoffman.
So what’s the book about?
How to stay creative while gaining money, fame, and reputation
Psychological research confirms what we know in our hearts: we are at our most creative when we are driven by intrinsic motivation – working for the sheer joy of it, regardless of rewards. Focusing on extrinsic motivation – such as money, fame, or other rewards – can kill your creativity.
Which is all well and good, but if you’re a creative professional you can’t ignore the rewards:
You need money to enjoy your life and to fund your projects. You may not need to be famous, but you do need a good reputation within your professional network. And if you’re in a fame-driven industry you need a powerful public profile, whether or not you enjoy the limelight.
There’s a precious balance at play – get it wrong, and you could seriously damage your creativity and even your career.
I’ve written Motivation for Creative People to help you strike the right balance, so that you stay creative even as you pursue your professional ambitions.
Did I succeed?
The answer from my beta readers has been overwhelmingly “Yes!”.
I also showed the book to Steven Pressfield, author of the creativity classic The War of Art and a string of successful novels. As a bestselling author and Hollywood veteran, Steve knows a thing or two about balancing creativity and success. Here’s what he had to say after reading the book:
Mark McGuinness is a rare cat – part poet, part coach for creative professionals, part old-time, overeducated Brit who thinks deeply about stuff you and I have never heard of.
His extraordinary new book Motivation for Creative People is a deep, unsentimental dive into the quotidian realities of the artist’s life – how to stay sane, pay the rent, refrain from murdering your spouse, all while pursuing your calling with purity of heart and nobility of intention.
This is a How To manual at the highest level from a man who has lived the life and has watched and worked intimately with hundreds of others who’ve done the same. Indispensable reading for anyone in a creative field who is seeking to achieve not just a flash of brilliance but a lifelong career.
Steven Pressfield, bestselling author of The War of Art
click here to learn more about Motivation for Creative People.
