My New Book: 21 Insights for 21st Century Creatives

Today I publish my new book, 21 Insights for 21st Century Creatives.

You can pick it up from the usual bookstores.

So what’s the book about?

It’s a compilation of the most powerful insights that have emerged from my coaching conversations with creative professionals over the past two decades, and also from my own practice as a poet and author.

The insights cover a range of challenges and topics, including the psychology of creativity and success, the struggles of obscurity, the temptations of fame, the pros and cons of technology, the challenge of making a living, and how to get your most important work done.

The thread running through the book is the fundamental challenge faced by all creatives in the 21st century:

How can you chart your course and make meaningful progress when you set out on an original path, where there is no conventional career ladder, no job security, and the usual rules don’t apply?

In tackling this challenge, I’ve come up with answers you won’t find in books of traditional career advice. And I didn’t pluck them out of thin air – they emerged from 21 years of conversations with hundreds of creative professionals like you, who were wrestling with these issues for real.

I’ve deliberately kept the book short, with a brief chapter for each insight, so that you can keep it handy on your phone and consult it in the quiet moments of your day, or on those days when you need to dig deep for motivation.

I published an earlier version of the 21 insights on my blog last December. Once I’d done that, I thought it would be nice to turn it into a booklet for my coaching clients, as a welcome present and required reading when they started working with me.

So I started working on that, and found myself revising and expanding the text… until it grew into the length of a short book. At which point, I thought ‘Why don’t I publish this and give it to all my readers and listeners?’ It seemed like the obvious thing to do, so here it is for you.

As usual, the book cover has been designed by Irene Hoffman – and as usual, she has outdone herself and delighted me with her visual magic. Thank you Irene!

And thank you, as always, for reading. You can learn more about the book and pick up your copy here.

I hope it helps you create more and suffer less, whatever your creative path and wherever it leads you.