A Guest Post by Harry Paul, Co-author, FISH! A Proven Way to Boost Morale and Improve Results
As I listened to the announcer introduce the next keynote speaker and mention all the bestseller lists his books are on, with millions of copies sold worldwide in dozens of languages, I thought to myself, “This guy has seen and done it all—what a success story!”
The announcer continued, “Ladies and gentlemen please give a warm welcome to Harry Paul!”…
“Hey, wait a minute, that’s me!”
I felt myself feeling somewhat self-conscious. Why am I feeling this way? I’ve been a professional speaker for several years and always believed in myself. During the next few seconds as I walked toward the stage I reflected on how I got here.
My story is one of opportunity knocking, and I’ve had lots of them.
An early one was in 1981, when Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson self-published THE ONE MINUTE MANAGER that has since sold over 10 million copies. As the owner of a small printing company that helped authors self-publish their books, Ken and Spencer approached me about publishing theirs. They were so excited about the book when they came to see me, but when I gave them the price quote for printing 5000 copies, they said the amount was a stretch for them and hung their heads. They asked me if I was interested in reducing my price in exchange for a piece of the book.
Knock, Knock, Knock!
Of course, me being an astute businessman, and seeing these two guys dressed more for the beach than a meeting, trying to publish a business book that started out with, “Once upon a time,” I said the first word that popped into my head, “No!”
Fast forward seventeen years and I am working for Ken Blanchard — helping him with his successful publishing and speaking career — and I’m asked to be part of another book project.
It started when Ken was offered an opportunity to be a coauthor on a book that was based on a fish market in Seattle. The market was already the subject of a best-selling business video. When I informed the authors that Ken was not interested, I also gave them some of his feedback on the manuscript.
The authors mistakenly took this as a signal to do a revision and resubmit it to Ken. Ken asked me what I thought of the revision. I said, “Ken, they missed it again. But I have some ideas that can really make the manuscript come alive.” Ken said to make sure they understood that he definitely wasn’t interested in the project, and encouraged me to share my ideas with them. I did with Steve Lundin, one of the coauthors.
When Steve looked at my suggestions, I watched as he shook his head, and mumbled to himself, “Why hadn’t I thought of these ideas?”
From my experience working with authors, I know that sometimes when you’re too close to a project it’s difficult to see what can make it better. Steve looked at me and said, “Be a coauthor on the book.” And what do you think I said? You guessed it, I told him, “No!”
Knock, Knock, Knock!
I told Steve that my feedback was a gift and to feel free to use my ideas. He asked me to think it over. I thought it over again, still not seeing myself in the role of coauthor and again said, “No.”
“Knock, Knock, Knock?”
I couldn’t stop thinking about what Steve had offered me so I decided to share this with Ken. He thought it was a good idea. Ken even offered to write the foreword if I decided to coauthor the book.
Knock, Knock, Knock!
Hmmm, I knew that would be great for the book. I then spoke with Ken’s literary agent who had seen the first draft and didn’t care for it. She said, “Harry, if they make the changes that you suggested, and you’re a coauthor, I’ll represent the book.” Saying further, “It’s a win or break-even bet. You can’t lose.”
Knock, Knock, Knock!
I was starting to think about going in on the project, but still wasn’t sure. I finally decided that this might be a book I’d like to be involved in so I shared all this with Mary, my wife, and her reaction was, “Why not go for it Harry?”
Knock, Knock, Knock!
With Mary’s support I could feel myself continually getting excited about the book. I finally called Steve and told him that I was in.
I can remember what I felt at that moment: a little numb, unsure, excited and positive all at the same time. The thought kept going through my mind, “I can’t believe it, my name is going to be on a book—Harry Paul you’re going to become an author!”
…A smile crossed my face as I walked to the center of the stage and looked out at the audience and said, “I have the greatest job in the world…and you can too!”
So, when opportunity knocks, don’t second-guess yourself — go for it! It might only knock once!
Note: FISH! hit the bookstores in March 2000 and has been a bestseller ever since.
More than 2,500,000 hardback copies have been sold in the United States. It is translated into more than 35 languages and is a bestseller in many countries such as Germany, Korea, and Spain with over 5,000,000 copies in print. I now have six books published and three additional books and a short story in various stages of completion.
Knock! Knock! Knock!
