Plant a tree, father a son, write a book

I don’t know who came up with this ‘bucket-list for men’, and I am usually not in the habit of ticking boxes on other people’s To-do-lists. So I may have planted some trees over the past decades, have not fathered a son (as far as I’m aware), but yes, I have just written a book.

I did not set out to write a book. I thought about it, but the prospect of spending weeks and months holed up in a room while life passes by outside always outweighed the potential prestige of being “an author”.

In my SMU classes I felt myself less and less relying on the US textbook – it was just too US-focused, some of the brands used in their cases I had never heard of. So when a publisher suggested I write my own textbook, I agreed to give it a try.

But I wanted to write more than a textbook. A book that sums up 20 years of working in Advertising and Branding, 10 of those in Asia. A handbook for everybody in the profession, as bed-time reading or for easy reference when it comes to finding an agency or shooting a TV commercial.

Surprisingly, the writing itself was actually the easiest part. I escaped Singapore and the busy office and locked myself into a room at the Legian Hotel in Seminyak, Bali. I sat on the terrace and wrote wrote wrote, once in a while glancing out at the sea or following one of the many kites. The other half went for tennis and massages, and reminded me to eat once in a while.

After a week I returned to Singapore, with the skeleton of the book saved in my Macbook Pro. Then came the hard part: We had to get case studies of interesting campaigns that ran in Asia: my poor colleague Bruce spent days writing to clients and agencies, asking for write-ups and release forms, TV footage and print ads. In addition, I asked some of my friends in the industry, working in different markets across Asia, to write a guest comment about Advertising in their country or whatever else they wanted to write about. They all said yes, but still had to be chased when the deadline was up.

So, finally, after almost a year of research, writing, chasing, collecting, the book was ready to print.

That’s when I fired my publisher.

The editor who had been with us throughout the process, was leaving, and his successor did not see any market for the book outside the universities. So her calculation was simple: 3 classes with 50 students per term, times 2, makes 300 copies per year. At a low print run like this, the book would be in black-and-white.

Black-and-white? But it’s a book about communication! It has many case studies which show ads! And we can only show those in black-and-white? Impossible!

We saw the whole project going down the drain, when another publisher we contacted had a different view: Sell the book in universities and bookstores, market it to the general public, print it in glorious colour. Yes! Finally someone who understands!

Next step: Finding people who blurb on the back cover. Have you ever wondered where these statements come from, on a book that is newly released? This is how it works: The author and publisher think about whose voice would carry enough weight to make people buy the book. Industry experts, celebrities, academics, other authors – they all qualify. If the author knows them personally, even better. So I wrote to a few, sent them a softcopy of the content, and waited.

Then we started chasing – every time I saw my friends on facebook or MSN, I would gently ask when they will send their blurb. “Soon”, they all said. But naturally writing a blurb for a book back cover is never a top priority. So it took quite a bit of chasing until all the blurbs were in.

The the proofreading started – first online, then on the printed page proofs. And funny enough, even after going through it for 6 or 8 times, there were still typos to be found, misunderstood words or jobtitles that had changed in the meantime.

Finally, rien ne va plus. I signed the final printout and couriered it back to the publishers. Then we started planning the launch party for end of August at the SMU library – a chance for students to buy their textbook at a discount. I will be sitting behind a desk signing copies – like a book author. Who would have thought?

And I can tick one more box on the bucket-list.

Jorg

“Create Connect Convince – Fundamentals of Advertising, Branding and Communication” is published this month by Marshall Cavendish Business.

The official launch is on 29 August, 1800 hs, at SMU Library (Top Floor)

Also available on our website - http://www.jorgdietzel.com
Read the interview on - http://knowledge.smu.edu.sg/