My memoir, American Climber, turns 10 years old tomorrow on 4-20. I pitched the book to publishers, and not one was interested. I instead published it myself, through The Zine, which helped build my own business.
I’ve sold thousands, not millions. Most importantly I’ve received the most positive feedback about this book, more than anything I’ve ever written. I like to think it’s because of the good writing, but more than that, I was vulnerable about my mental health battles as a late teen, and in my early 20s.
I was nervous about being that vulnerable when I wrote the book, and now I use this book as my template for writing essays, and other books.
To get to our greatest strengths we first have to face our biggest vulnerabilities. That can be facing our demons, or simply facing up to the fact that no one in the world might believe in your work like you do.
Write on, Luke
PS: American Climber 2 is in the works…like the first one it’s taken years just to get started.
PPS: Score a copy of the book in paperback here: https://shop.climbingzine.com/collections/books
