RAW - Evan's problem project

Hey guys, it's Evan. I wanted to make a quick video today because I'm a little frustrated with something in my business, and I wanted to share that with you and vent a little bit. A challenge I'm facing right now is I'm working on a project and I'm not fully committed to it. I've been working on this book deal, and since I started my website, almost in the beginning, I've had people come at me with offers to make a book deal. I've always pushed it back. I pushed it back because it seemed like, one, a lot of work, and I don't really enjoy writing. I like the end result of my writing. You know, when I see somebody read what I've written and they're inspired and they take action, it makes me feel good. I'm proud of what I wrote, but I don't enjoy the process of writing. So the thought of this huge book was stressful and overwhelming. So I thought, like, what? Don't do it. I don't have a need for it. And the second reason was a lot of times that publishers won't do much to promote your book. They'll pick some authors and they'll do some promotion with them, but for a lot of people, they don't do much on the promotion side. And I didn't want to put all this effort into a book and then just have it die and sit on the shelves. I guess the final reason was a lot of authors use a book as a way to have some credibility to say, "Hey, I'm the author of this book," and open doors. For me, I always had my website, which is powerful, and I can use that to say, "Hey, I'm the founder of EvanCarmichael.com," and show them some stats, and that opens doors for me. So I've never had a credibility issue in having to need a book to say that I'm somebody. So that's the backstory. I've been working with my agent Steve, and he's telling me I need a book deal. And I said, Steve, okay, you know what, if you can get me a good deal, get me a good deal with a good upfront payment, show me that the publisher is committed to this and they're going to help promote it and they're willing to pay something upfront, a good amount upfront, then I'm on board. I want to do this because I like the thought of it. If everything works out. And so I told him that, and he ran with it, and, and he helped me create a book proposal, and he gave it to one of the top book agents in America, and she looked at it and she liked it, and she wanted more information, and she said, okay, give me a sample chapter. And I didn't have a sample chapter ready to go, and I put something together quickly that was okay, not my best stuff, not something I can really be proud of, mostly because I wasn't committed to this project yet, right? I'm waiting for Steve to get me that deal before I go out and put my all into it. And that's not enough. So the feedback came back on the chapter that it was too boring, it was too vanilla, you know, it wasn't good enough, it wasn't bestseller kind of material. And I kind of knew that when I created it. It wasn't my best stuff, it's not something I'm really proud of, and And that's bad for business. I know we all have these projects that we are working on that we're not fully committed to, and you have to decide, should I keep doing this or should I drop it? And in my case, I also made my agent look a little bad. Now, he has a reputation with, with the book agents, so they know each other, and he's vouching for me, and so I want to deliver for him as well as Create this book that's going to be awesome for all you guys and helping entrepreneurs. And so today I made the decision after the frustration that I have to commit myself to this project. It's either I do this and I'm focused on it and I put everything into it and I write an amazing sample chapter, or I just let it drop and say, listen, I don't want to do a book deal. And I think I'm far enough along the road You know, Steve's put in a ton of time, and he's put me in touch with a great book agent who represents some of the biggest names in the industry, and she likes the idea. So I'm about as close to a book deal as I can get without getting a book deal, and all that's missing is a really great sample chapter, and it means me working to get that sample chapter. And so I have to commit to it. And that's what I'm going to do. So as much as it pains me to start doing the work without having a deal, it's required to make this project happen. It's either that or I drop it, and I don't want to drop it. So a little frustration, but I actually feel better telling you guys about it and making this video. And so the next week or two, I'm going to invest a lot of time into making that sample chapter awesome. And if you're interested, maybe I'll post a quick update later on. Let me know in the comments below. And for any of you who are facing the same thing, you have some kind of challenge or problem project you're working on that, you know, you're not giving your all at. It's frustrating. At least it's frustrating for me. It should be frustrating for you. You don't want to put out stuff that's just okay. It should be your best or shouldn't be at all. And so you have to make a decision. Either commit to it, make it happen, do something every day to move that project forward, or drop it and move on to something else that you are more passionate about. Thank you for letting me share this with you guys today. I feel better already. I'm ready to go on, and it's a Wednesday, so I'm going to be filming all my videos this afternoon. I feel like I've unloaded a little bit, so thanks for that. I'd love to hear what you have to think. Let me know in the comments below if you're going through something similar. Or if you want more, more details on what I'm doing, please leave it in the comments below. I really, guys, I love seeing that stuff come in. You really make my morning every time when I check my comments. So thank you guys, and I'll see you soon.