We Have an Author In the Family!

And it isn’t me.

My baby brother has managed to do what I have been dreaming of since I was a ‘tween: Write AND publish a book.

Yup, Sami Gyekye, my once potbellied, slobbering baby brother is now a published author.

His journey began more than a year ago. He called me one afternoon (as he rarely did) and started asking me questions about what my kids liked to read and what kind of pictures they were most attracted to. I, feeling very puffed up and happy to be consulted as an authority about ANYTHING, was more than pleased to rattle off the answers to his questions.

Then my brother went silent again; which was pretty typical. A few weeks later, he sent me the manuscript for his newly penned children’s book about Halo the duck… and it was really good. I encouraged him to seek out publishers and gave him the name of a few. Over the next few months, he called me off and on, informing me that he had received rejection after rejection.

Then my brother went silent again; which was pretty typical.

Finally, after 2 months of silence, Sami showed signs of life. He left a post on my sister and my wall.

$7.99, Amazon.com, buy it! And don’t pretend like you don’t know what I’m talking about.

What? We really didn’t KNOW what he was talking about.

Dude…what are you talking about?

Halo. My new book. Buy it, and while you’re at it, like it.

So I go to amazon.com, do s search for Sami Gyekye and lo, there is my brother’s book…online! In one felled swoop, he said screw the publishing world and did it. With one hand he took the steps towards self-publishing, and with the other he gave brand name publishers the finger.

This is profound for me, because I’ve been talking about writing a book for YEARS; people have been encouraging me to write a book for YEARS; but I still haven’t done it yet – because I’m scared.

What if no one buys the book? What if no one likes it? What if I don’t get published?

If only had my brother’s balls! (And I mean this figuratively.) I could have 30 books written and published by now. He was neither paralyzed nor hindered by fear. He was not discouraged by any rejection that he might imagine, nor by the rejection that happened in reality. We live in a great age, this internet age. It allows us to take control of the direction of our individual destinies. It puts the power to create and disperse our creativity squarely in our hands. Did Moses need Random House before he wrote the 10 Commandments? Naw! He just did it because God told him to, and he had was a chisel and some stone tablets.

Really…what’s my excuse?

Well done baby bro…well done!

#yallbuythisbook!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1460924649/ref=cm_sw_r_fa_alp_vUQDnb19232HA