Publication / Think it Real

In his book, Infinite Possibilities, Mike Dooley says, “Manifesting our dreams isn’t about hard work–it’s about belief, expectation, and above all, knowing the truth about our place in the universe.”

Dooley’s words are the perfect introduction to an exercise we were asked to perform in my seventh Plug In class with Janet Conner: 

Visit and fall in love with your book’s neighborhood.

Yes, even for those of us who aren’t published yet.  Especially for those of us who aren’t published yet.  This exercise is one of intention and creative visualization to help get us there.

The first part of the exercise goes like this:

• Walk into the store where you’d like your book to appear and up to the exact spot where it will be displayed.  This is your spot.  Study it, name it, fall in love with it.
• Check out what other authors are there.  These are your neighbors.
• Study the authors’ names, the names of their agents and publishers; study the books’ titles and subtitles, their key messages, appearance, layout, font, and design.
• Now, visualize your book in this neighborhood–your neighborhood.  Believing leads to feeling and feeling makes it happen.

Your book’s publication is only a thought away.

I write Visionary Fiction, and because this genre does not yet merit its own shelf space, it’s housed in the Metaphysical section.  Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it), this section of the bookstore is almost exclusively made up of nonfiction.  The only only Visionary writers I’ve seen there are Paul Coelho (The Alchemist) and James Redfield (The Celestine Prophecy) . Ever heard of them?

Anyway, when I walked into Borders, the authors I found in my immediate neighborhood (other than Paul Coelho) were of the mind-body-spirit variety. To my left, Mike Dooley (Infinite Possibilities) and Larry Dossey (Recovering the Soul, A Scientific and Spiritual Search), to my right, Allison DuBois (The Medium), John Edward (Infinite Quest), and Jonathan H. Ellerby (Return to the Sacred, Ancient Pathways to Spiritual Awakening).

I liked this neighborhood.  I felt comfortable there.  The book shelf became my vision board, showing me the end result of what I wished to experience.

I imagined readers (spiritual seekers, women, men in touch with their divine feminine) coming up to my spot on the shelf, selecting my books, opening them, smiling, and then taking them to check out.

From bookshelf to nightstand.  Yes!

The next part of the assignment goes as follows:

• Start visualizing your work in your neighborhood.
• Draw your work inside your neighborhood on a piece of paper and stick it on your wall at home and label it by a name that speaks to you.
• Design an ad for your work.
• Say thank you in advance to your neighbors for welcoming you there.
• Act as if you belong.
• Read your neighbhors’ books, let them know you appreciate their work, friend them on Facebook, become their fan, follow them on Twitter, visit their websites, read their blogs.

Define your dream in every imaginable detail, using your imagination as a tool to reach your goal.  Pretending is powerful.  Think it real.

I bought Mike Dooley’s Infinite Possibilities and Jonathan Ellerby’s Return to the Sacred.  A quick scan of their work told me we were on the same page.  I couldn’t wait to dig deeper.

Now, for the last part of the exercise:

• Put your belief in motion.
• If you haven’t already, start producing work for your neighborhood.
• Rededicate yourself to your craft.
• Set goals and start moving toward them.
• Focus on the end result.

In other words, get to work!

You have the power to achieve your publication dreams.  Once you think it and believe it, look out world..

For more on Janet Connor and her Plug In class, visit Plug In For Writers.

As always, thanks for stopping by,