Order of Man - March 16, 2018


FFN 099： How to Write a Book


Episode Stats


Length

24 minutes

Words per minute

217.22629

Word count

5,361

Sentence count

417


Summary

Summaries generated with gmurro/bart-large-finetuned-filtered-spotify-podcast-summ .

In this episode, Ryan Michler talks about what it means to be a man and why we need to reclaim the role of being a strong man in society. He also talks about the benefits of writing your own book and some of the things that have worked well for him.

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
00:00:00.000 You're a man of action. You live life to the fullest. Embrace your fears and boldly chart your own path.
00:00:06.020 When life knocks you down, you get back up one more time. Every time.
00:00:10.440 You are not easily deterred or defeated. Rugged. Resilient. Strong.
00:00:15.500 This is your life. This is who you are. This is who you will become.
00:00:19.760 At the end of the day, and after all is said and done, you can call yourself a man.
00:00:24.720 Hey, gentlemen. What is going on today? My name is Ryan Michler, and I am the host and founder of this podcast, The Order of Man.
00:00:31.800 I am glad that you are joining us today.
00:00:34.320 If you're new, this one's a little different than our interview shows that we do each and every week.
00:00:38.380 Typically, on Tuesdays, we're interviewing guys like Jocko Willink, Lewis Howes, Andy Priscilla, Grant Cardone, Tim Kennedy.
00:00:45.260 I mean, you name it, we're having conversations with some of the most successful men on the planet.
00:00:49.880 We're extracting their wisdom, and we're delivering it straight to you, to your earbuds.
00:00:54.720 So I'm glad that you're here. But again, this one's a little different.
00:00:57.720 This is our Friday Field Notes, where you get to hear from me for about 10 to 15 minutes or so, whether you want to or not.
00:01:04.000 I guess if you didn't want to, you could just tune it off.
00:01:05.720 So hopefully you want to listen to me about some things that I've been thinking about from throughout the week about masculinity,
00:01:12.580 what it means to be a man, and how we can be better fathers, husbands, business owners, community leaders, and just better men in general in our lives.
00:01:19.840 I've got a good one lined up, I think, today. I've had a lot of questions lately about the new book I just came out with,
00:01:25.560 Sovereignty, The Battle for the Hearts and Minds of Men.
00:01:28.100 And I get emails, and I get messages, and I get texts from you guys who want to learn a little bit more about the process.
00:01:34.640 Because I think a lot of you probably have, or at least believe that you have, a book inside of you.
00:01:39.900 So today I'm going to talk about the goods, the bads, the things that worked well for us, the things that didn't go so well.
00:01:44.920 And then just give you some guidelines, some systems and some processes in a system that you can use to decide whether or not you are going to write your own book, your own work.
00:01:55.060 So before I get into that, let me give you a couple of quick announcements.
00:01:58.020 Number one, if you would, we need to grow this, guys. We really need to grow this.
00:02:01.520 It's been amazing to see the growth and the trajectory that we're on right now.
00:02:04.680 But of course, I would like to see that grow even more.
00:02:07.340 I realize that comes with time and patience, but I also want to be aggressive in the growth that we're seeing here because I think this is a message.
00:02:14.820 And I wouldn't be sharing this message if I didn't believe this was true, but it's something that we just, we need so bad in society.
00:02:21.840 You know, I look around and I see a lot of wonderful, amazing things.
00:02:25.180 And I think generally speaking, we're more educated, we're healthier, we're wealthier.
00:02:30.740 I think also peace is spreading, democracy is spreading.
00:02:35.140 I mean, there's so much good in this world, but I also see on the other hand, a dismissal.
00:02:41.560 It's a general dismissal of this notion of masculinity, what it means to be a man, why men are so valuable in society.
00:02:49.800 And what I've been thinking about this week is not only is it an attack on masculinity itself, but it's also attack on femininity.
00:02:57.940 Because if there is no importance in what it means to be a man, then quite honestly, there's no importance in what it means to be a woman either.
00:03:04.900 And so as much as I'm not talking necessarily about damaging thoughts about what it means to be a man or a woman,
00:03:11.920 I am suggesting that we maybe consider reclaiming what each of those means, because there are definitely, definitely a need for strong men and strong women in society today.
00:03:23.880 And what we're doing here is we're covering one side of that equation, which is to help us, me included, become the men that we are meant to be.
00:03:31.500 And when we do that, guys, when we do that, we are called to be protectors, providers, and presiders.
00:03:38.020 And when we step into that calling and we arm ourselves with the tools and the skills and the abilities and the processes to step fully into that role, I think life gets better.
00:03:49.720 Life just gets better.
00:03:51.820 It gets better for us.
00:03:53.020 It gets better for our bank account.
00:03:54.400 It gets better for our relationships.
00:03:56.480 It gets better for the conversations we're having and our health.
00:04:00.500 It gets better for our families.
00:04:02.580 It gets better for the businesses that we're engaging in.
00:04:05.340 It gets better for the communities and the countries.
00:04:07.480 I mean, you name it.
00:04:08.640 It's just better.
00:04:09.720 It's better for humans in general when there are strong, noble, virtuous, honorable men who know exactly, exactly what it means to be a man.
00:04:22.180 And they're willing and capable of stepping into that calling.
00:04:26.100 So that's what we're doing here.
00:04:27.560 Again, this one's a little bit different because you're hearing from me.
00:04:30.500 I'm going to be talking about writing a book, which isn't necessarily a masculine thing to do, but I think it's something that you guys want to hear from.
00:04:37.220 So we'll get into that in a minute.
00:04:38.280 So make sure guys on the note of just growing this movement that you subscribe, you leave us a rating and review.
00:04:44.180 I think we're getting close to a thousand rating and reviews, which is very, very cool.
00:04:48.760 I'm honored and I'm humbled by that.
00:04:50.900 And then just go ahead and share it.
00:04:52.240 All right.
00:04:52.440 Just share this show, share this movement, invite guys to join the Facebook group or follow me on Instagram.
00:04:59.220 We're doing a lot more on Instagram lately.
00:05:01.040 It's at my personal Instagram.
00:05:02.900 So it's at Ryan Mickler.
00:05:04.680 And my last name is spelled M-I-C-H-L-E-R.
00:05:07.460 So it's at Ryan Mickler.
00:05:09.060 Doing a little bit more on Twitter lately at order of man and just share.
00:05:12.760 All right.
00:05:13.200 Communicate with me, engage with me.
00:05:14.760 I'm pretty good about responding back and, and just having conversations with you guys who engage with me on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.
00:05:21.160 Outside of that, just a couple of other things.
00:05:23.000 Number one is the Iron Council.
00:05:24.540 This is our band of brothers, 360 men inside of the Iron Council right now.
00:05:28.900 We're talking about this month, the idea of vision and values, because I believe there's a lot of men out there who probably know what it means to be a man.
00:05:36.260 And yet they have no vision for the future.
00:05:38.600 No real clear sense of direction and purpose for what it is they're supposed to be doing with themselves, with their families, with their businesses, all those areas that we talked about earlier.
00:05:48.120 And inside the Iron Council, we're having these discussions where we're doing challenges.
00:05:52.140 We're holding each other accountable and we're doing, frankly, what men do when we band together, which is to improve.
00:05:58.500 You know, you can go at it alone and you can pretend that you have this thing all figured out, but the reality paints an entirely different picture.
00:06:04.920 When I was going at it alone, I was producing significantly less results than when I was operating with, and currently a band of brothers, guys who want to succeed, who are doing the things to succeed.
00:06:17.100 And then they're helping me do the things to succeed as well.
00:06:19.740 So you can check that out at order of man.com slash iron council, order of man.com slash iron council.
00:06:26.240 And then the last thing before I get into my thoughts for today, we are talking about the book writing process.
00:06:31.540 A lot of you guys know a couple of months ago, or I think it was about a month, maybe six weeks or so ago.
00:06:36.680 I released the book sovereignty, the battle for the hearts and minds of men.
00:06:40.200 It is available on Amazon.
00:06:42.040 Finally, for those of you who have been following for any amount of time, know a little bit about the battle we've been dealing with.
00:06:47.020 There, but it's on available on Amazon available on Barnes and Noble.
00:06:51.320 Again, it's called sovereignty.
00:06:52.940 The subtitle is the battle for the hearts and minds of men.
00:06:55.580 So pick up a hardback cover, a paperback, the ebook, the audible version, which I read myself.
00:07:02.100 And again, that's a great way to support what we're doing, but then learn some of the tools and the skills and the things that I've been developing and implementing in my life for the past 10 years or so.
00:07:10.040 So check it out again, order of man.com slash book, order of man.com slash book.
00:07:15.340 And then you can pick up a book there.
00:07:17.220 All right, guys, let's get into this subject, this discussion today.
00:07:19.940 I thought I would pull back again, the curtain, uh, and just share with you a little bit about this, this process of writing the book.
00:07:27.520 You know, I've received again, a lot of messages since we published sovereignty, the battle for the hearts and minds of men, uh, about what it's taken to write the book, the challenges, the victories, uh, the things that went well, uh, and the things that didn't go so well in making this book available to you.
00:07:41.720 So let's face it.
00:07:43.520 And I want to start here that writing a book is not, it's not an easy process.
00:07:47.600 It's a painstakingly slow journey that really causes you to question your own sanity in, in some way.
00:07:57.040 You know, sometimes you run across days where you feel a hundred percent committed to the process and other days, I mean, there was just days I wanted to quit and I wanted to throw in the towel and scrap the whole idea altogether.
00:08:06.840 Uh, so again, since I received so many questions about the process, uh, I figure I'd give you some insight and then you can decide, you can decide from there.
00:08:14.820 If writing a book is something that you want to take part in, uh, we're going to cover the reason that you need a strong why, when it comes to writing a book, the actual process, including some of the tools that I use, which were very, very simplistic.
00:08:27.080 I'll mention that later, uh, the timeline that you can follow, uh, what format you should consider publishing in.
00:08:33.900 And then whether or not you should find a publisher or go ahead and self publish it.
00:08:37.600 So those are the, the topics, those are the areas that I want to address.
00:08:40.660 Now, guys, I got to give this disclaimer and I don't like giving disclaimers because I hope most people can figure this out, but not everybody can as evidenced by the emails and messages that I receive from people who find exceptions to everything I say.
00:08:52.440 Uh, but the disclaimer is this, I am not guys, this subject matter expert on this.
00:08:57.940 All right.
00:08:58.220 I haven't been doing this for a long time.
00:08:59.680 I'm not a New York times bestselling author, uh, did very, very well on Amazon.
00:09:03.820 I feel good about the book that we wrote, but again, I am not the subject matter expert.
00:09:08.660 I'm just sharing my journey with you.
00:09:10.380 If you're genuinely ready to write a book and you want detailed instructions or the intricacies of the process, there's plenty more qualified resources than what I'm going to share with you here in the next 15 minute podcast or so.
00:09:24.920 All right.
00:09:25.600 So find those, if you're ready to go find those, this is just a 30,000 foot overview.
00:09:29.880 So you can know a little bit about what I went through over the past three, four months.
00:09:33.840 All right.
00:09:34.300 So first let's talk about the why I truly believe that you have to have a strong reason for writing a book.
00:09:41.140 I don't really like the term find a why because it's so overused and I think the meaning is lost, but really you've just got to have a strong reason for doing what you're going to do.
00:09:51.160 If you're going to successfully write a book, you have to know why you're doing it and has to be emotionally driven and it has to be strong just because someone told you that writing a book was a good idea or you saw my book and you thought, well, I'd like to do that.
00:10:06.580 Or you think you quote unquote should write a book.
00:10:09.720 It doesn't mean that actually writing a book is in your cards.
00:10:13.420 The truth is that it's not always the most enjoyable experience as with anything, right?
00:10:19.180 Anything is going to have its ups and downs.
00:10:21.420 So in order to keep the, the movement and the process alive and sustainable, you're going to have to find a strong reason for continuing to move through that process, even when you don't want to.
00:10:34.360 And there will be days that you do not want to write.
00:10:37.700 I'll tell you more about that in a minute.
00:10:39.300 But for me, I took this book as, as a challenge.
00:10:43.140 I don't particularly enjoy writing.
00:10:45.800 I've never done much of it.
00:10:47.100 Even in high school, my reports weren't all that great when I had to write and do those sorts of things and book reports and all of that kind of stuff.
00:10:53.400 So the challenge for me was appealing.
00:10:55.300 I try to put myself in positions where I'm challenging myself and doing things that I normally wouldn't do.
00:11:00.940 But I also firmly believe in what our mission here is.
00:11:04.560 I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't believe wholeheartedly in what we're doing.
00:11:09.040 And because I believe so strongly in my mission, I knew that writing a book was one additional way to spread this message.
00:11:17.100 To the men who would not otherwise know what we're all about.
00:11:20.800 And so when there were days when I thought, I'm going to throw in the towel, I'm not going to do this.
00:11:24.240 I don't want to write today.
00:11:25.160 It was the mission.
00:11:26.400 It was the purpose.
00:11:27.680 It was the drive that kept me going past those days into days where I was motivated and inspired to write it.
00:11:35.040 That's what kept me going when things were challenging.
00:11:37.680 So finding a strong reason.
00:11:39.040 Number two, the process.
00:11:40.640 It's very simple, guys.
00:11:42.340 Very simple.
00:11:43.480 Do not overthink this.
00:11:44.980 If you were trying to write a book or thinking about writing a book, please, I beg of you, do not overlook this simplicity.
00:11:53.240 Just write.
00:11:55.140 That's all I want you to do.
00:11:56.380 Just write.
00:11:57.460 Too many people try to overlook the simplicity that I'm talking about.
00:12:01.560 They try to game the system.
00:12:02.960 But at the end of the day, if you can't find time to sit down in a chair and behind a computer screen and just crank out words and do that every single day, you're just not going to complete your work.
00:12:14.420 You won't do it.
00:12:15.560 So that's exactly what I decided to do.
00:12:17.480 I wrote roughly 63,000 words in 60 days.
00:12:21.300 And some people hear that and think I could never do that.
00:12:24.520 And others are like, well, that's too easy.
00:12:26.740 That's just what I did.
00:12:27.920 All right.
00:12:28.220 What I do isn't necessarily going to work for you, but I wrote 1,000 words every single day.
00:12:34.500 Now, okay, let me back up because that's probably not entirely true.
00:12:37.160 There were some days that I missed.
00:12:38.780 All right.
00:12:39.280 There were some days that I didn't write 1,000 words or only a couple hundred or not at all, but I more than made up for those missed days the following day.
00:12:47.100 I didn't let those things compound because again, I wrote those 63,000 words in 60 days.
00:12:52.080 That's it.
00:12:53.220 It's really, it's that simple.
00:12:55.400 And for me, I used Microsoft Word.
00:12:58.020 A lot of people ask me what I use.
00:12:59.480 Microsoft Word is what I used up until about 15 or 20,000 words.
00:13:04.460 And then I started to lose it a little bit because it really wasn't organized.
00:13:07.840 It was one big document.
00:13:09.460 And I know a lot of writers were using a program called Scrivener.
00:13:13.480 So I bought that.
00:13:14.800 I can't remember exactly how much it was.
00:13:16.360 You can look that up.
00:13:17.040 Not very much.
00:13:18.000 And I switched over about 20,000, maybe 15,000 or so words into it.
00:13:23.160 And it was, it was so much easier.
00:13:25.400 I mean, it really was.
00:13:26.320 The chapters were easy to organize.
00:13:28.320 There was a little bit of a learning curve.
00:13:30.060 The search function within Scrivener is so much better than what you would experience with Microsoft Word.
00:13:35.980 So for me, that was a good move.
00:13:37.840 If you're even thinking about using Scrivener, I would just use it from day one as opposed to switching over.
00:13:42.800 Because that was a little bit of a pain trying to switch from Word to Scrivener with a learning curve and all of that.
00:13:47.000 So it doesn't matter though, guys, at the end of the day, it doesn't really matter what you use.
00:13:50.780 As long as the program you use is going to help you crank out those words.
00:13:55.540 That's the most important thing.
00:13:56.500 It's like a workout.
00:13:57.700 You know, people ask me all the time, what's the best workout?
00:13:59.580 Well, the best workout is the one you'll do.
00:14:01.400 So if you're doing strength training and you hate strength training and you're not going to do it and you're going to sit on the couch or sleep in instead, well, that's not really a great workout.
00:14:09.080 If CrossFit is something that you've heard is good and you're not going to get up and that doesn't motivate you or inspire you.
00:14:14.580 And so you're going to sit around and be lazy and do the things you've always done, then CrossFit isn't the workout for you.
00:14:19.340 So find something that works for you, Microsoft Word or Scrivener.
00:14:24.080 There's a ton of programs out there that you can use.
00:14:25.700 That's just what I happen to use.
00:14:27.200 Now, outside of that, once I got about halfway through what I thought was about halfway through, so about 30,000 words or so under my belt, I started to research graphic designers.
00:14:36.180 I started to research editors.
00:14:38.080 You're going to want both if you're going to write a book.
00:14:39.660 You need a graphic designer.
00:14:40.680 Don't do it yourself or don't hire your uncle or your cousin who one time made a crappy logo for your son's lawn mowing business or something.
00:14:49.740 That's not what you want.
00:14:50.780 All right.
00:14:51.020 You want professional work here.
00:14:53.440 So what I did is I interviewed several graphic designers, several editors.
00:14:58.160 My graphic designer is somebody I've already worked with.
00:15:00.340 I've seen a ton of his work already.
00:15:01.980 We talked.
00:15:02.620 We had a good feel and fit for each other.
00:15:04.740 I liked his style.
00:15:06.300 He was on top of things.
00:15:07.580 If you want an introduction to him, I can certainly make that for you.
00:15:10.680 And then same thing with editors.
00:15:12.280 I just put a call to our editors inside the Iron Council, which I mentioned earlier, and the guys stepped up.
00:15:17.800 I had about six to eight different professional editors.
00:15:21.020 These weren't just random people.
00:15:22.560 These were professional editors.
00:15:23.840 And I used one of our brothers inside the Iron Council.
00:15:27.100 I used his wife as an editor and she just did an amazing, amazing job.
00:15:31.500 I wouldn't have been able to do it without her.
00:15:33.040 So she was very thorough.
00:15:34.960 She didn't agree with all my points, but that doesn't matter.
00:15:37.680 She appreciated them.
00:15:39.120 And she even told me, hey, I don't agree with this point.
00:15:41.940 But that being said, it's not even really articulated all that well.
00:15:45.040 So you need to articulate it a little better.
00:15:46.800 Or she agreed with a point and she told me to clean it up.
00:15:50.100 Or, I mean, she was just good that way.
00:15:51.380 She really gave me some insight, but didn't try to change the book.
00:15:54.080 And that's what you want in an editor and a formatter that way.
00:15:57.600 And again, I would just suggest and word of caution that you don't use cheap designers.
00:16:03.640 Don't use cheap editors.
00:16:05.440 Don't attempt to do this yourself unless you're a professional.
00:16:08.260 Don't attempt to do it yourself.
00:16:09.380 I wouldn't even edit it myself because you're too attached to it.
00:16:12.260 You can't see your errors and how you communicate and how it comes across.
00:16:15.860 So find professionals.
00:16:17.560 All right.
00:16:17.940 Spend a little money.
00:16:18.960 If you want a professional looking book, a professional feeling book,
00:16:22.340 something people are going to be proud to hold, proud to show off, proud to gift,
00:16:26.240 then you've got to hire professionals to help you do it.
00:16:29.000 And it's hard because you have to spend, you have to spend money.
00:16:31.280 You have to pay for that.
00:16:32.780 But again, it's going to come back.
00:16:34.180 It's an investment in your book.
00:16:35.580 It's an investment in your message and movement.
00:16:37.860 All right.
00:16:38.480 Next guys, timeline.
00:16:39.880 I'd been thinking about writing a book for years, years now.
00:16:44.580 I've been thinking about writing a book, but it really wasn't until I got serious
00:16:47.620 and I shortened this timeline.
00:16:49.140 I already told you 63,000 words, roughly in 60 days.
00:16:53.160 Guys, this was not easy.
00:16:54.780 I mean, it really took its toll on me.
00:16:57.740 It took a toll on its business.
00:16:59.380 I was exhausted mentally, physically, emotionally.
00:17:03.700 Never really got to the point where I was like, I'm done.
00:17:06.060 I'm not going to do this.
00:17:06.860 But like, I was exhausted.
00:17:08.220 I was tired.
00:17:09.580 But I really, again, had a strong reason to do it and just to keep pushing through.
00:17:14.600 And I knew I could see the light at the end of the tunnel.
00:17:16.660 And I just kept driving.
00:17:18.100 I talked with a publisher, which I'm going to talk more about in the next point that I'll
00:17:21.580 make.
00:17:21.920 But I talked with a publisher about how quickly I wanted to get the book out in the public.
00:17:26.420 It was a very, very, very short timeline.
00:17:29.780 The next book I write is definitely going to be a little bit longer timeline.
00:17:33.540 I had my graphic designer working on the formatting while I was actually writing the book.
00:17:38.140 So I didn't wait to finish till I got a graphic designer.
00:17:40.940 He was working on it while I was writing the book.
00:17:43.480 And then my editor would review a batch of chapters at a time, again, while I was working
00:17:48.700 on the next part of the book.
00:17:49.860 So we were like overlapping tasks and just really cranking it out.
00:17:54.780 It worked because it was able to get the book out quick.
00:17:57.540 And that's what motivated me, inspired me to do it.
00:17:59.700 But again, I probably lengthen out the timeline a little bit more on my next one and really,
00:18:03.520 really do it the right way.
00:18:05.220 So we could be a little bit more thorough in that.
00:18:07.040 But again, everything was overlapped since we had such a short deadline to meet.
00:18:10.800 Again, it worked for me because it forced me to keep moving.
00:18:13.000 But definitely on the next book, I'm going to expand that timeline since I know right now.
00:18:17.760 I know I know I'm capable of seeing this all the way through to the end and I proved it
00:18:21.540 to myself.
00:18:22.060 And now I'm working from a different perspective, a different framework, but you'll have to play
00:18:25.580 with the timelines, play with the timelines, talk with a publisher, talk with other people
00:18:28.400 who've written books and just find something that works for you so that you can be consistent.
00:18:32.860 That's the key.
00:18:33.520 You want to be consistent.
00:18:35.020 All right.
00:18:35.460 Next point format.
00:18:36.740 All right.
00:18:37.020 You can go paperback, hardcover, ebook, audio version.
00:18:40.780 Those are the four main formats.
00:18:42.320 I can't even really think what it would be outside of that.
00:18:44.740 Since I had the idea of writing sovereignty, I knew that I wanted to do a hardcover book
00:18:50.320 in my mind.
00:18:51.140 I wanted to write this quote unquote real book as if like paperback isn't, isn't a real
00:18:56.520 book.
00:18:56.880 That's not the case, but that's what I had in my mind.
00:18:59.640 It worked for me and that's what I wanted.
00:19:01.900 So that's what I did.
00:19:02.540 But the version you choose, it doesn't really matter.
00:19:04.880 As long as it's high quality, it has to be high quality.
00:19:07.340 If you're going to do an audio version, for example, like have it professionally done,
00:19:11.280 go into a professional recording studio.
00:19:13.180 I did it in my office because I'm a podcaster.
00:19:15.520 So I have professional equipment.
00:19:16.860 So people ask me like, where did you do your audio recording?
00:19:19.380 Well, I did it right here because I've got the, I've got the stuff.
00:19:22.220 I've got the technology to do it.
00:19:23.760 Just do it professionally.
00:19:25.280 If it's paperback professional, hardcover professional, ebook professional, audio version
00:19:30.520 professional.
00:19:31.220 It's very, very important that you do it professionally.
00:19:33.920 I mean, there's so many programs out there where you can get this stuff done and people
00:19:37.880 do it for five bucks or 20 bucks or whatever it is.
00:19:40.160 And yeah, I mean, it might work and you might get some books out there, but I'm more interested
00:19:44.740 in the long play.
00:19:45.620 So I want to put information and works that I can put my stamp, my seal of approval on because
00:19:51.180 I know it's going to be out there forever.
00:19:52.800 And I want it to be out there forever.
00:19:54.240 I want it to be something that people gift and they pass on to other people and their
00:19:58.500 kids.
00:19:58.980 And that's what I wanted.
00:20:00.640 So that's why I decided to do it professionally.
00:20:02.440 And that's why initially I decided to do the, uh, the hardcover.
00:20:05.520 But since I got that hardcover out and done, I also did the ebook at the same time.
00:20:10.860 I released the paperback version.
00:20:12.940 Now the audio version is available now.
00:20:16.000 So I've got all four versions out.
00:20:18.060 But one thing I would suggest on the audio version is that you read it yourself, right?
00:20:22.100 If you're going to do an audio version, read it yourself, especially if you're
00:20:24.220 if you have an audience, especially if you have an audience, people know you, uh, they
00:20:28.480 like you, they trust you and your voice has weight.
00:20:31.440 All right.
00:20:31.840 There's weight behind your voice, especially for me, since I'm a podcaster, I mean, people
00:20:35.880 listen to my voice.
00:20:36.860 So if I had anybody else read my book, frankly, it just would have been weird.
00:20:41.100 So I read my own book and I get compliments every single day.
00:20:44.920 I really like how you read it.
00:20:46.280 I really like the passion.
00:20:47.280 Well, yeah, there's passion because those are my words.
00:20:49.460 That's my belief.
00:20:50.500 Those are my viewpoints.
00:20:51.700 So yeah, I'm passionate about it.
00:20:53.440 So I got a lot of praise for that.
00:20:55.240 So again, if you're going to do an audio version, read it yourself.
00:20:57.640 All right.
00:20:57.920 Make sure you read it.
00:20:58.960 It's much more powerful.
00:21:00.000 It's much more relatable to your audience.
00:21:01.960 And again, the format doesn't really matter all that much is just, just make it work for
00:21:05.700 you.
00:21:06.180 And my goal was to create something that would reach the masses.
00:21:09.540 I wanted to reach as many people as possible.
00:21:11.720 So I opted to make every version available, hardcover, paperback, ebook, audio.
00:21:16.480 All right, guys.
00:21:16.840 And the last point that I want to make is whether you want to have a publisher or you want to
00:21:21.700 self-publish, whether you go with a publisher or decide to self-publish it.
00:21:26.140 This is a difficult proposition to answer.
00:21:28.320 There's pros and cons to both.
00:21:29.860 I opted to go with a publisher on this round since it was my first.
00:21:33.280 And I really had no idea.
00:21:35.100 I had no idea what I was doing and their expertise with the publisher was invaluable when it came
00:21:41.320 to formatting and hitting my timetable and making sure we worked into all the distribution
00:21:47.340 channels that were available.
00:21:48.740 Those were really, really important to me.
00:21:50.440 But on my next book, I think I'm probably going to self-publish my next book.
00:21:54.220 I know a little bit more about the process and what I'm doing.
00:21:57.020 I'm going to lengthen the timeline out for a little bit more flexibility in my schedule.
00:22:00.840 And this way I have complete control over the process itself.
00:22:03.960 Self-publishing is easier than it's ever been.
00:22:07.760 And it's becoming more and more popular for a reason.
00:22:11.920 So that's the process, guys.
00:22:13.420 It's really not all that complex, but it certainly isn't easy.
00:22:16.640 Don't mistake the two.
00:22:18.000 If you're interested in writing a book, wrap your head around the idea of a writing schedule.
00:22:22.880 To me, that's the most important factor.
00:22:25.060 And pick a schedule which you can maintain consistency.
00:22:27.980 Again, consistency is so, so important.
00:22:30.680 And that momentum and getting in the groove of writing, overcoming writer's block.
00:22:35.580 Just be consistent.
00:22:36.900 That's what's going to help you the most.
00:22:37.960 From there, it's having a strong reason why you want to write a book.
00:22:41.060 Coming up with a timetable and a timeline.
00:22:43.840 Deciding again which format you want to choose.
00:22:46.140 And then whether or not you're going to get a publisher or self-publish the thing.
00:22:50.320 And for anyone who wants to write a book, I would first probably, if you were talking
00:22:54.600 to me, try to talk you out of it.
00:22:56.360 I'd try to talk you out of it because it's not.
00:22:58.640 It's not for the faint of heart.
00:23:00.160 And it's going to take its mental toll.
00:23:02.820 But if you cannot be convinced to table the idea, then I would just suggest and encourage
00:23:08.900 you to get started.
00:23:10.140 It's not easy.
00:23:11.380 Takes time.
00:23:12.560 There's going to be ups.
00:23:13.440 There's going to be downs.
00:23:14.380 But it's one of the most rewarding experiences I've ever taken part in.
00:23:19.360 So I hope that helps.
00:23:20.100 I hope that gives you a little bit of an insight.
00:23:22.100 Guys, as we wind things down today, again, if you are interested in the book, Sovereignty,
00:23:26.200 The Battle for the Hearts and Minds of Men, go to orderofman.com book.
00:23:32.100 Orderofman.com book.
00:23:33.720 I'd love for you to pick up a copy for yourself, your brother, your dad, your colleague, your
00:23:36.820 coworker, your son, whoever it may be, and share that.
00:23:40.460 And then leave a review.
00:23:41.340 Leave an Amazon review.
00:23:42.280 Let us know what you thought about the book.
00:23:43.460 I think we've got right around 100 reviews right now.
00:23:46.260 And I just, I'm blown away with the praise and how excited people are about this book.
00:23:51.060 And I appreciate you picking up a copy and the support that that means to me as well.
00:23:54.960 Outside of that, guys, the Iron Council, again, this month, we're talking about vision and
00:23:58.380 values.
00:23:59.480 Next month, we're talking about money, personal finances, investing, debt, budgeting, all that
00:24:04.200 kind of stuff.
00:24:04.680 So we've got a lot of good things going on in the Iron Council, the brotherhood, the
00:24:08.640 camaraderie, the accountability, which is really, really important.
00:24:11.740 And you can learn more at orderofman.com slash ironcouncil.
00:24:15.160 So guys, that's all I have for you today.
00:24:16.880 I hope you found that valuable.
00:24:18.040 I hope you get some insight from that.
00:24:19.640 Let's connect on Instagram at Ryan Mickler, Twitter at Order of Man, Facebook at Order of
00:24:24.720 Man.
00:24:25.480 And until next week, take action and become the man you are meant to be.
00:24:30.600 Thank you for listening to the Order of Man podcast.
00:24:33.020 If you're ready to take charge of your life and be more of the man you were meant to be,
00:24:37.620 we invite you to join the Order at orderofman.com.