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The DIY Book Tour

Over the past few years, I've hosted more than 100 events with readers in eight countries. There is no “author school” where one learns to do these things—it's very much been a make-it-up-as-I-go process.

I've also received a lot of questions from other authors, aspiring authors, musicians, artists, and other readers who like the idea of taking their show on the road.

In this (long!) post I'll share a few stories, highlights, and lessons learned from the past three years of coordinating and hosting book events. I hope something here will be helpful to anyone who hopes to reach more people with their message.

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Life

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You May Feel Inadequate, But …

I'm home and writing this week and next. From the research files -->

"What advice would you give to someone else who wants to pursue a big dream but feels hesitant or uncertain?"

"Do it. Just do it. You will feel inadequate. You will feel you can't do it, but you owe it to yourself to try. You might only have a 50/50 chance of making it, but you're looking at a 100% chance of failure if you don't even try."

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Travel

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Travel Hacking in Early 2013

Every year when the calendar rolls around to January 1, it's time for me to get back out on the road. I love travel and I love doing events—I've been in eight cities in the past ten days—but I also have to get back to work on requalifying my elite status with all my favorite airlines and hotels.

Last year I hit the mark for the highest status with American Airlines, Hyatt, and Hilton hotels. This year I'm hoping to requalify for each, with the addition of more Starwood stays to earn the highest status with them as well.

Why bother? Because it makes my traveling life easier, and also because it's fun.

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Life

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Changing the System

I'm back on the road, talking with interesting people every night. Many of them ask questions about "changing the system.” Everyone agrees it's broken and frustration is expressed all around. But what is this system, why isn't it working, and how can we change it?

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Travel

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Tuvalu to California

A few weeks ago, your humble correspondent was sitting on a modest balcony in a guest house in Tuvalu, a tiny nation in the South Pacific that is now known as country #192 in his mind. The island itself was somewhat depressing, at least for a modern traveler. He walked the entire island—and then back around the other way—in less than one morning.

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Work

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A Tale of 9 Startups

Jon was inspired by a blog post that told him to quit his job and start a business. He dutifully did so, firing off a farewell message to his boss and former colleagues. Having heard about becoming “location independent,” he bought a backpack and went off to the world. What was it about that business thing? How would he actually make a living? He would figure it out along the way, he assured himself ...

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Life

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A Year in the Life of You

I came back from Tuvalu and my gym was packed with dozens of people I had never seen before—an influx of New Year's Resolutions. "How many of them will still be here in February?" I wondered. Whether you're pro- or anti-resolution, there's nothing inherently special about a new calendar year. If you don't like the western calendar, there are plenty of others.

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Life

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2012 Annual Review: Looking Forward

I did it. I made it to Tuvalu, the penultimate country! It took a while to get here, but that's to be expected.

Someone said they spent 20 minutes reading the Tuvalu Wikipedia page the other day. I said I was surprised it took 20 minutes—that's the same amount of time it took me to run the length of the entire island of Funafuti last night.

Anyway, 192 countries down. File under your choice of: Wow, WTF, tired, or awesome.

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Et Cetera

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End-of-Year Giveaway (Plus! New books from Seth and Dan)

Greetings from the Pacific Ocean! Happy New Year's to everyone in advance. I'm currently flying over the water and will miss New Year's Eve (all of it) due to crossing the international date line today. Don't feel bad for me, though—I'm en route to my penultimate country. If all goes well, tomorrow I'll be on Tuvalu and only one country away from ... all of them. (Also: I like the word penultimate. I think it means “almost there.”)

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Travel

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2012 Annual Review: Travel Roundup

Where did you go in 2012? Feel free to share with other readers … my own notes are below.

Every year as part of the Annual Review, I look back on where I've been. As usual, this year's list is fairly long—though not as long as some previous years in terms of new countries. This year has been more of a clean-up mission, where I've visited a number of places that have eluded me over the previous few years.

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Life

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2012 Annual Review: Overview

Greetings! Every year I devote an entire week—and usually several weeks of blog posts—to an Annual Review, where I look back on the previous year and make plans for the coming year. Many of our readers now do the same thing, some by following the same structure I use and others by modifying it to suit their own needs. This year the review is considerably abridged, mostly due to my recent tour of India. When the option came to decide about the trip, it was a tough call. I don't think it would always be the right decision to shorten the important Annual Review process, but in this case I was so excited to visit India that I decided to switch it up a little.

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Work

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A Challenging Question

In talking with Chris Brogan for his new podcast recently, he said something I've been thinking of ever since. It was a question that you ask yourself when evaluating new opportunities. This question didn't actually come from Chris—I believe he said it was from one of his other podcast guests—but Chris is the one who implanted it in my head.

The question is: How will this new opportunity help me serve the community I already have?

Wow. Tough question.

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