Third & Goal!

I know next to nothing about American football, but that doesn’t stop me from nicking a phrase and re-purposing it here to describe where I am in life, which in my mind is third & goal.

Third, as in third career. Goal, as in a published book(s).

My 30-year career in documentary film and television – as told in 99 story frames in A Storyboard Life – came after a decade in my twenties in international design and architecture, another career I loved.

Now, as I wind down and wrap up my film work, I am pivoting to full-time writing. I’ve been writing most of my life and can at least say I am an award-winning travel writer. But I’d like to branch out.

So the next challenge I’ve set for myself is to see if I can write and publish not one, but perhaps even three memoirs – two of which are nearly finished.

This morning, I came upon a succinct soundbite for just how unlikely and improbable this will be to pull off while reading “How to get a book deal when you're not famous,” by Catherine Baab-Muguira, author of the wonderful book, Poe For Your Problems: Uncommon Advice from History’s Least Likely Self-Help Guru.

For those (like me) without “massive platforms or perhaps any platform to speak of,” Baab-Muguira writes, “it’s extremely, extremely hard, because the publishing industry thinks it can’t afford to take a chance. The big houses, these days, are more in the business of running proven winners than fresh horses.”

Okay, that does sound a bit daunting. But when you’ve reached your 60s and you’ve already got two careers behind you, it’s quite nice to be considered a fresh anything!