Drafting The 2.0 Version of My First Book

Photo by Kimberly Farmer on Unsplash

Last week I had a unique and interesting first-time experience. It demonstrated the power of networks and how our storytelling can matter years after documenting the experience that likely shaped our lives forever.

I was contacted by someone on LinkedIn who had read my first book, Tales of a Displaced Worker, and wanted to talk to me about her own job loss experience.

We talked for a little over an hour, talking and commiserating about how our stories that happened years apart shared many similar milestones and outcomes. We shared the questions that trigger a strong emotional response and how to find balance with job searching activities and personal hobbies. And we ended the conversation, brainstorming a possible group conversation with her colleagues facing the same closure experience but who may not have found a voice that mirrored their life right now.

As I processed the conversation afterward, I realized that I had more to share about the job-loss experience and perhaps there is a 2.0 version of this book that could be drafted.

Why the Story is Necessary to Share

When I wrote the book in 2019 and published it in 2020, college closures were still a rarity. Since publishing the book in 2020, over 60 colleges have closed. Their reasons for…