The Microcopy book I’ve been working on these past few months is finally out on Amazon Kindle. It’s a surreal feeling to actually see it published because it was a struggle to finish it, despite being a short ebook consisting of only 15,000 words. I’ll talk a little bit about how it happened in case you want to do this yourself.
It all started when I gave a talk about the topic at a UX Philippines meetup the fairly new Google Philippines office in Taguig. Hosted by Chelle Obligacion-Gray of Google Philippines and organized by Ely Apao of UXPH, the meetup gave me a chance to talk about an application of my favorite theme—the intersection of language and technology.
Some time after the talk, I realized not many people covered the topic, so I thought it would be a good idea to write a short book about it. I’ve always dreamed of becoming an author, and if I could finish a short ebook, then I’d be a little bit closer to my dream. If I could do that, I thought, I will have proven to myself I have what it takes and can finish things. So I began writing on March 16. I had material from the talks and workshops I’ve been conducting, but it still took me until April 26 to finish the content.
It was a battle against self-doubt. Along the way, I’ve had thoughts like, “who am I to write this?” I battled with thoughts of not being an adequate writer. To my delight, my dream was compelling enough to motivate me finish the thing, ask people to help me proofread, edit, format, and publish. I’m grateful to beta readers Toni-Jan Keith Monserrat and Pierce Jonota for the detailed suggestions and for spotting my blunders. Thanks to Jelvin Base and Eric Luciano for the encouraging feedback.
It’s heartening to see that a few people have started buying the book, but I can’t rest on my laurels. I’ve got to keep on creating useful things for people. My dreams are waiting.