My Journey to Writing a Book, Part 2: Authoring

This past week, I received two rounds of proof copies of my book and started preparing for launch. The book is now published in paperback and ebook formats, and I’m preparing for the official launch in the coming weeks.

In my last post, I focused on the change in self-perception that I needed to go through to even consider writing a book: seeing myself as a writer simply because I express myself through writing, not because of external validation or accolades. The next major phase spanned the decision to commit through completing the first manuscript draft.

This is probably the part that most aspiring authors find the most daunting, so I wanted to share my own experience, along with a few surprising things I learned along the way.

Making the Commitment

A book was not in my plans for 2026. I had a lot of other goals, like growing my coaching business. While I didn’t particularly love the idea of relying on social media to do this, I saw a lot of other coaches posting regularly, so I felt like I should give it a try. I kicked off an experiment in February, committing to twice-weekly posts about a topic I’m passionate about: the attributes of leadership. While I can’t say I enjoyed the work, it did give my visibility on LinkedIn a little boost; I started receiving more messages from people offering various services to help me grow my business.

One of those people was Cliff, a publishing coach. He sent a simple message acknowledging my work and asked if I had ever considered publishing a book. The timing of this message couldn't have been better; I already was in experimental mode and open to new ideas. We exchanged a few messages, and his thoughtful feedback and questions roused that little seed that was planted a few years ago by my executive coach. After several years of blogging, I already had a lot of ideas that I wanted to share with the world, but I lacked a strong vision and narrative to tie them all together. I decided to meet with him, and after our first conversation, things suddenly made sense.

It helped me to hear that you don’t have to have a completely novel idea or be a top expert to write a book. What matters is that it’s a topic you truly care about, and you’re presenting your unique perspective and story. There are people who will be drawn to your book for your insights, knowledge, and expertise. 

I knew that writing a book would require discipline and persistence, which were not a problem for me. I had enough evidence that I possessed both of those. But what I lacked was clarity on the message and any knowledge about what it takes to write and publish a book. So when I met Cliff, the path forward became clear. 

The other reason why I never wanted to write a book was that it felt like a gargantuan effort. I had an image of authors spending years and years doing extensive research, suffering through writer’s block, and I was not someone with the patience to work on a multi-year project like that. But I did some back-of-the-envelope calculations and reasoned that I could write a book in three months if I spent one to two hours a day writing an average of 750 to 1000 words (the equivalent of a short blog article) five days per week. I knew I could afford to invest that time over three months, and that I possessed the determination to stay committed. 

Now, with someone to guide me through the process, what had seemed impossible became possible. Lastly, because I was self-publishing, I had autonomy to write the book and set a timeline on my own terms. I wanted to get the book out before the end-of-year holidays when attention was divided and people were winding down for the year.

At the same time, it also felt like I was being impulsive. In the space of just a few days, I had decided that I was going to write a book, something I had never felt compelled to do, and I was going to do it in three months. I was also going to spend money working with a publishing coach that hadn’t been budgeted for the year. Before committing to moving forward, I spoke with my husband and a close friend, and both of them thought it made perfect sense with everything I’d been doing for the past several years. Their belief in me gave me confidence to follow my instinct.

Drafting the Manuscript

Within days, we had a working title and a cover design concept. That was an unexpected way to start, but the process of nailing down what I wanted the book to be about in just a few words and images gave me focus during the creative process. From there, I brainstormed book topics and ideas and created the initial blueprint.

I started the official writing phase at the end of March. One of the hardest parts was figuring out how to use AI to help me with the overall structure and flow of the book without losing my own voice. Since the book is about being authentic, this was essential. Cliff’s custom GPT helped me create the blueprint from my chosen topic and with copy editing, but tended to offer a lot of specific suggestions and rewrites that didn’t sound like anything I would ever say, so I had to maintain firm boundaries and say no a lot.

Fortunately, I didn’t have to worry about hurting anyone’s feelings. My key takeaway was that while AI is useful for structure and testing out ideas, you can’t let it tell you what to say or how to say it–protecting your authentic voice is essential.

The process of writing was consuming, which on the plus side meant that I was getting into a flow state. I stuck to my commitment of writing at least five days a week, but the writing progress was far from linear. On some days, the words just flowed out, and on others, I worked endlessly on editing and refining. 

When I first started out, I imagined that I’d be able to take all of the articles I’d written about the topics I wanted to include in my book and stitch them together. In reality, while regular writing on my blog was helpful preparation, I had to take a very different approach with the book so that everything was cohesive and progressed from one chapter to another. I couldn’t just have a collection of chapters about miscellaneous topics without a through line. 

A book requires taking readers on an intentional journey that delivers not only insight, but transformation. Just like high school expository essays, it needs a central thesis, a unifying theme that elevates a collection of interesting ideas into a coherent philosophy.

Writer’s block is real, but sitting at a keyboard (or with a pen and paper) is not the only way to create a manuscript. If you don’t love writing, recording a conversation or speaking aloud into your phone’s voice recorder app can work just as well. In several instances when I had no idea how to start a section, I rambled out loud to my phone and used the transcript as an initial draft. While common advice suggests writing a messy and imperfect first draft, my perfectionist tendencies wouldn’t let me move on from a chapter until it was in decent shape. 

The book creation itself felt organic, like it had a life of its own. I modified the blueprint several times, adding and consolidating chapters, narrowing or broadening the focus, and searching my memories for stories to illustrate the lessons I had learned.

One of the most unexpected challenges was the aches and pains that came from sitting for hours while I was fully immersed in authoring. I had already been working from home for a year when I started and had worsening soreness in my hips and shoulders that no amount of stretching, foam rolling, massage, and chiropractic visits could fully relieve. Finally, I changed the angle of my chair, tilting the seat slightly forward so my knees were lower than my hips, and that eventually alleviated the acute discomfort. My office chair was adjustable, but I also bought a wedge to sit on in my car and at the dining table, where I sometimes worked.

While I had time for writing during the day, it was an intense period when I had also started Health and Wellness Coach training and a new yoga teaching job while coping with the challenges of parenting two teenagers. Still, I met my self-imposed deadline, finishing my initial manuscript two weeks before the three-month mark. 

Early Feedback and Revisions

During this entire time, I had been reticent about telling people I was writing a book because it felt fragile and unreal. Was I really going to be able to do this? I was afraid to tell the world and then flop. But now, I had my manuscript!

I loaded it onto my Kindle Scribe to read from cover to cover. It felt very satisfying to proofread using a pen (stylus). Reading the whole book inspired some additions to the final chapter.

Then I shared it with my first readers, my husband and a few friends and coaching clients. After their feedback, I added a few more stories and then finished my acknowledgments and introduction. 

At last, I was ready to share the manuscript with Cliff. That was a major milestone, and a proud moment. But I was about to learn that this was just one stop in the long journey to publishing. In Part 3, I’ll share what happens next: editing, interior and cover design, and the realities of self-publishing.

To learn more about the book or subscribe for book updates, visit carolineykim.com/book.