In case you missed it…

I wrote a book!

And not like I’m thinking about writing a book. I literally wrote and published a book to be sold… to you! 

But before I jump into all the reasons you should pre-order my new book — which you totally should by the way — I wanted to share with you some fun facts about the entire project that you may not know. Some of it is behind the scenes stuff. Some of it is an invitation into my head. And some of it is just pure random fun factness. But all of it is important to understanding how we go to here — me, an author. 

Fun Fact #1 — 

I wrote the book in 28 days!

I’m not being facetious — I literally wrote the book through the month February. The main core of the book was actually written in a week, then I continued to build from there “finishing” the first version of the manuscript right before my birthday, when I announced my book on my Instagram stories. 

Over the next few months I kept building out the book but it’s entire essence was basically done within those first 4 weeks. 

Fun Fact #2 — 

The book concept was inspired by a make-up book.

Let me start by saying that in no way am I someone who is that invested in my make-up skills. What drove me to read the book was the title and description — in short, it was all about tackling your make-up and beauty routine in a way that was easy to understand and even easier to execute. 

That’s when I had my lightbulb moment — is there a book like this for interior design and decoration? I should write a book like this for interior design and decorating!

And so I did. 

Fun Fact #3 — 

This isn’t the first book I’ve written.

While this is my first published book, many, many moons again I’d begun writing a book that I will probably one day publish as my memoirs. 

I started this book in high school and continued working on in a little bit through college. It was a collection of stories and poems from my lifetime, making it a project that is super personal to me. Translation: this is definitely not something I’m ready to share with the world…yet. 

Fun Fact #4 — 

My book is published through Barnes & Noble Press. 

If you’re like any of the people I’ve told this too, you’re probably like thinking, “say what now?!” And I don’t blame you!

Like most people I’ve told, I had no idea Barnes and Noble provides publishing services. When I started my self-publishing journey all my research lead me to Amazon’s self publishing platform and a few other major players like Lulu. Never did I ever consider Barnes and Noble an option for publishing! Which, in hindsight, should be kind of an obvious choice being who they are and all, but I digress.

I wish I could tell you how I eventually learned about Barnes and Noble Press but I can’t remember — I literally stumbled upon the resource, then after comparing all my options, felt like they were the best fit for what I wanted my book to be.

Fun Fact #5 — 

The hardest part of this process was choosing paper.

Whoulda thunk it?!

I don’t know about you, but I would’ve never imagined that the hardest part of this process would be choosing paper and printing options for the book. It really never crossed my mind. But that’s probably the best part of self-publishing — I have learned so much about the most minute details, details that might have escaped me if I was working with a publisher. 

As someone who loves to research and learn, while this was an unexpected few weeks of decision making, it was pretty awesome. 

Fun Fact #6 — 

Publishing a square book was completely inspired by Aimee Song’s book Capture Your Style.

While entering the design phase of the book, I hadn’t initially given much thought to the size and trim of the book — I didn’t know any of this lingo! This was an entirely new world to me and so, for inspiration, I pulled out all the books I owned, specifically the ones related to home, to “teaching”, or to inspiration — because, duh, that’s what I wanted my book to be. Aimee’s book, simply put, is all about learning to use Instagram with more intention, immediately stuck out to me. It was beautifully formatted and, for me, that started with its square size. 

The rest is history. 

Fun Fact #7 — 

This is only one of three in a series of books. 

Yes, this is my first book but yes, I am already thinking about the second and the third. I have no idea how this book will perform — if it’ll sell, what the reviews will say, and just how it’ll be received in the marketplace. It’s not like people asked me to write a book or a publishing house approached me to write a book. 

This was all on me. 

But in thinking about the book, I knew I wanted this to be something that had longevity and would essentially be part of my legacy. I didn’t want a “one and done” type of situation, so like any good product developer, in coming up with this idea, I had to think about how I could continue to build upon this idea. 

I asked myself, “had a publishing house approached me and contracted me for multiple books,  is this idea one that could sustain that?”

So, yes…one of three. Stay tuned. 

Fun Fact #8 —

It’s not a picture book but it’s definitely a quick read. 

If you’ve been paying attention to me for any length of time then you know I am not a traditional designer by any stretch of the imagination. I am an online interior designer, so with that, I have a heavily digital portfolio. 

Most interior design books that are considered “picture books” are filled with beautiful photography of interior design projects, the author’s home, and/or styled photoshoots. That’s just not my ministry.   But I also didn’t want a book that was cover to cover words — this isn’t exactly a textbook!

I wanted a happy balance of information and inspiration, pretty yet practical. 

So what you’ll find are my designs — specifically, my renderings — and quick chapters that are easy to digest and understand. As a subscriber once commented on one of my videos, this isn’t exactly rocket science! 

There’s so much more I could tell you about this book — from conception to the editing process to getting it listed for sale on amazon.com. P.S. if these are things you actually want to know about, feel free to drop me question and I’ll do a Q & Albie on the whole thing. 

Writing this book has been probably one of the biggest projects I’ve ever taken on — bigger a virtual conference… bigger than a project installation…bigger than a podcast. To be honest, it’s almost like having another child…almost. 

I can’t wait for you all to actually be able to read (or listen to) the book but I also wanted to bring you inside the journey with me by sharing some of these fun facts. 

You can pre-order the book right now — hardcover, paperback, and ebook — via Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

And if you’re really really impatient, then you can go ahead and grab a free preview right now. Over on my Instagram stories I shared my current book rankings on Amazon and how I’ve come a VERY long way, and that’s thanks to amazing folks like you placing your pre-orders…and if you haven’t yet, that means I can only continue to go up from here!