51 Alternatives to a Real Job: Proof Approved Yesterday!

I drove to the printer yesterday to approve the proof of 51 Alternatives to a Real Job.  We had some last minute challenges to get it to the printer so we might run one day late, but they said I could pick up the books on Monday (the 1st, which is when we were hoping to ship the first batch) or Tuesday.

What a cool experience.  It actually took all of 5 minutes to approve the proof. I looked at the cover to see if it was even and the spine and back and front looked right, and then I flipped through the book to see if the margins looked good.  I learned there is a thing called the 40/60 split on the margin, which means when you open a book, the inside margins are 60% and the outside are 40%… that’s how you can open a book and read without having to peer in the crack and try to read words too close to the spine.  Who’da thunk?

As I tell more people about this book I sometimes am nervous.  They’ll hate it…. they’ll think it is a pamphlet (which is what some said about the first edition of my LinkedIn book – whiners who have never done a book project before)… they’ll think the ideas are too above them, or too below them… they’ll think “I could never do that!” and then trade their time at a company they don’t care about, working on projects that don’t inspire them, reporting to bosses they hate.  But no, they won’t consider doing something for their own financial empowerment.  I have been worried people will see this as a fattened list of ideas… which it kind of is, but with so much more.

These will be the people who complain about the book.

I hope YOU will do two things as you read it:

1. Mark it up!  I want you to write in this book and highlight it! Get a crayon or colored pencils and mark stuff. As I was proofreading it for the last time last week I was impressed at how many AWESOME quotes are spread throughout the book.  I was so inspired by the entrepreneurs I interviewed and with their wisdom and experience.
2. Talk about it!  I hope this book inspires you to talk with a spouse, child, brother or sister, parent, or friend about ideas.  I want you to become personally empowered and not beholden to “the machine.”  Share ideas from this book — whether they are one of the 51 Alternatives or whether they are quotes from entrepreneurs or whether they are ideas that you get as you read the book.  Maybe none of the 51 Alternatives are for you… that is OKAY!  I hope as you read you get ideas for what would work for you.

If you mark it up, and it inspires you, and you talk about it and have this become a big part of the new conversation about your income, and the income of those around you, then my mission is accomplished.

Please let this book inspire you and your family and friends!