Featherstone 
Book launch and learnings from author Emma Lovell’s new book ‘The Art of Bleisure’
Being an author advocate is such a privilege…being called a ‘book fairy godmother’ makes me smile from the inside out. That’s what happened last night at the Sydney launch of Emma Lovell’s book The Art of Bleisure: Travel the world, make money, and live a life you love, now.
Many months back when I opened the email with an early draft of the manuscript, I thought I’m excited about helping this book be the best it can be, but combining business and leisure is not really going to apply to me. Why? I’m head down busy with clients, I’ve been caring for my gorgeous Mumma Bear for nearly 6 years, for more than a decade have tried to limit travel for ecological reasons; and have other kid and work commitments that keep me grounded. But…within the first few pages I was hooked.
In The Art of Bleisure, Emma speaks to the myth that ‘we can’t’ do things. She also showed me that travel doesn’t need to be overseas but can be in your own backyard and reinforced the importance of self-care and the myriad of ways this can be achieved through the blurring/merging/integration/maximisation of business and leisure.
Emma’s writing is top notch, honest, balanced, funny and inspirational. There are actionable tips, checklists and plenty of anecdotes and though I don’t want to replicate Emma’s experience traveling to 76 countries (and counting!), I do want to replicate her outlook and give more things a go in my business and life.
Hence…I drove 5 hours for the book launch! And am combining the trip with a visit to Melbourne for the preliminary judging of the Australian Business Book Awards, and then back to Sydney for The ContentByte Summit…all just a month after I spent a week up at Byron Writers Festival running a workshop and appearing on panels. Might I have said ‘no’ to some of these opportunities if I hadn’t had a recent dose of The Art of Bleisure? Probably!
It’s about mindset too, sometimes it can seem too hard to get out and do things when you have other commitments, but since reading the book, I’ve lifted my game and have been getting to as many author talks and creative events in my local town and just loving the breath of fresh air for my mind and heart.
The Art of Bleisure is a fun and poignant read too as we learn about Emma’s personal and business background and the forces that propelled her to write the book. It’s a great mix of memoir, business, how-to, travel and inspiration.
In my endorsement for the book, I wrote: ‘In The Art of Bleisure, author Emma Lovell is your VIP travel guide to a world of business and personal fulfilment’.
It’s been an absolute treat seeing Emma’s passion, drive, craft and unique IP shaped into book form. Emma and I once spoke about how much of the writing and publishing of a book comes down to an author’s grit: grit to live a life worth writing about, grit to turn it into book form, and then grit to publish and market it. Yup…Emma has proven she has the grit.
Daily I get to walk alongside writers like Emma as they seek direction on their early stage or near complete manuscripts. And often even post-publication. I accompany them, or step in just for a key moment, when they need help as they wrestle with blocks, big ideas, writing craft and the ups and downs of pitching and publishing.
Then there’s the whole bag that is book marketing, the pointy part of the journey that can be so taxing for traditionally published and indie authors alike.
I love the energy that comes with learning new things from the authors I meet and the manuscripts I read, I love the brainstorming and working out answers and solutions to the many and varied problems authors face – as every author has such different goals, skill sets, resources, timelines and audiences.
I love seeing these writers grow and take on challenges head on, and I really love being independent. I’m able to direct authors to other resources, give them the tools or gentle but honest guidance, or suggest other publishing professionals to them who may be an important part of their journey.
If you’re ready to start, move forward or ramp up your book and author journey, you could begin by reading a copy of ‘Look-It’s Your Book!’ like Emma did, or , also like Emma, book me in for a one-on-one consult to help move your project forward better, faster.
It’d be an honour. But for now, I’m off to do some bleisure!
You can find out more about Emma Lovell and The Art of Bleisure here.