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The Power of the Pioneer
by Valerie Kirschenbaum |
Valerie Kirschenbaum is a 12-year veteran of New York City public schools and
one of the world’s leading experts on the creation of full-color book
interiors. She is the first female writer in 500 years to design her own font
and the inventor of the new genre of “designer writing.” The book can be viewed
online at www.goodbyegutenberg.com
Zev Saftlas, host of www.EmpoweringMessages.com and author of Motivation That Works.
ZEV: Val, your book is breathtakingly beautiful, but you say that now anyone
can
do it, and soon everyone will. Isn't this a bit far fetched?
VALERIE: I am a high school English teacher with literally no art or technology
background. I studied literature in college, and that was it. I'm a certified
dingbat when it comes to learning new technologies. (I make Edith Bunker look
like a genius). It takes me months and months of painstaking effort to learn a
new design program, then I keep forgetting what I learned and have to start
over. The only thing I credit myself with is faith and perseverance. The book
in your hands is proof that anyone can do it. Jack Canfield often speaks of
"ordinary people" doing "extraordinary things." What's extraordinary is not my
talent but the new technologies that can make us all look extraordinary.
Goodbye Gutenberg proves that a Renaissance in literature and the arts is
really possible. And if it’s possible, given all the extraordinary benefits,
it’s inevitable. It's only a matter of time before the floodgates are opened.
ZEV: Jack Canfield said he would have self-published Chicken Soup for the Soul
if he had to, but that he’s glad he didn’t. “It is hard enough writing these
books, let alone trying to be a publishing company,” he said. How do you feel
in being not only the author and designer, but also the publisher? Is it scary?
What concerns do you have?
VALERIE: I’m actually trying to create a new market of readers, which is far
more challenging than self-publishing a “normal” book, if you’ll forgive the
word. I’m introducing a new kind of book and showing why our publishing culture
must make some substantial changes to thrive in the new millennium. I’m also
creating a new emotional space for writers, a space in which it is not only
acceptable but encouraged to present your ideas visually as well as verbally.
We desperately need this space because fewer and fewer people are reading
(although more and more people are writing). This would be hard enough for
Random House to do, but for a high school teacher in the Bronx to do alone, it
seems ridiculous, at times. But Jack also said that “if you have a vision and a
life purpose, and you believe in it, then you do not let external events tell
you what is so. You follow your internal guidance and follow your bliss.” My
mission in life is to get America reading again and to help writers create
books as magnificent as the illuminated manuscripts of the Middle Ages. This is
my bliss, and I am following it.
ZEV: How do you feel about the need to self-promote, given that you are your
own
publisher?
VALERIE: That’s a very good question, and honestly, I struggle with it. I have
spent my entire adult life serving in the New York City public school system,
devoting myself to educating the young. I’ve always been a giver, and it’s not
in my nature to ask for things, or promote myself. For example, I am the first
female writer in 500 years to design her own font and the first to design a
book like this. I say these things to show others that it’s possible. If I can
do it, they can do it, maybe even ten times better. Ultimately, I’m not
promoting myself, I’m promoting the ideas. And ideas belong to everyone, they
can’t be copyrighted. I don’t make any money if people take my ideas and run
with them. I’ve already received dozens of letters from people saying that
Goodbye Gutenberg changed the way they see the written word. They want to try
writing their first book, or their next book, in color. This is my biggest
reward.
ZEV: What do you think the impact of Goodbye Gutenberg will be?
VALERIE: Publishers Weekly listed the top selling book of each year between
1900
and 1999. All of the books, without exception – let me say this again – without
exception, were printed in the standard black and white way. And if you look at
every Nobel prize winner of the past 100 years, you will see that all of them,
again without exception, wrote in the standard black and white way. Now compare
this to 1300 through 1399, the last century before Gutenberg invented the
printing press. Every one of the major books produced during that 100 year
period, without exception, was beautifully illuminated in gorgeous colors. My
“big vision,” my destiny in life, is to show other young writers how beautiful
their books can be and to invite them to join me in creating this Renaissance.
In the year 2100, when Publishers Weekly lists the top selling books between
2000 and 2099, most of the books will have been beautifully designed, like they
were in the Middle Ages.
ZEV: Your work is not without criticism. How do you react when you read a
negative review?
VALERIE: Like many people, I used to fear rejection, kind of like stage fright,
but Tony Robbins really helped me redefine rejection, in fact, to learn to
eliminate the word “rejection” from my vocabulary. I still have my moments, but
now I understand that people aren’t rejecting or criticizing me, they just
haven’t understood what I’m saying yet. I am quickly discovering that when
you’re an innovator or pioneer, you get a lot of criticism from people who will
later change their minds anyway. Brian Tracy said that “a pioneer is someone
lying face down in the dirt with a back full of arrows.” The lesson is that you
have to accept the fact that there will be arrows, and prepare for them with
mental and emotional armor. I’ve learned to love and accept people for where
they are at the moment. One day they’ll wake up, their light bulbs will go off,
and they’ll understand what I’m saying. And when they do, it’s important to me
that even when they were critical of me, I treated them with kindness and
respect. It’s easy to be kind to others when they are kind to you, but the
ideal is to be kind even under adverse circumstances.
I have also learned to grow and get stronger with each critical review. Either
they help strengthen and polish my vision for the next edition, or their
comments are insincere and can easily be dismissed. It’s a win / win. Because
fundamentally, my vision is based on rock solid principles, as Steven Covey has
emphasized. And as Napoleon Hill said, you can’t envision something and be
really passionate about it and see it as your destiny without it eventually
coming to pass. My “big vision” may need improvements on the execution, the
packaging, the sales and marketing, but fundamentally, it has a solid
foundation. Who wouldn’t want to see a flowering of beautiful books? Who
wouldn’t want to experience a Renaissance?
ZEV: In such a crowded, competitive field, how do you plan to get people
interested in your work?
VALERIE: Jim Rohn said to work harder on yourself than at your job, and this is
my “meta-strategy.” It’s a combination of faith and perseverance more than
anything specific. I’ve launched about a dozen very different strategies, but
all I have to do is reach a few people – the right people – and they can really
help take this book to the next level. I’ve opened my heart and I’m reaching
out
to people with this edition. It’s often not the originator of an idea who has
the most impact, but the people who recognize the idea as brilliant, and spread
the word, who in fact have the greatest impact. There are people out there who
will read Goodbye Gutenberg, see the vision, see the Renaissance in ten years,
and really understand the significance of what I’m saying. One of my goals with
this edition is to connect with some wonderful people who will become lifetime
friends. I have so much to give and my focus now is finding people who would
like to share in this vision. We really are the luckiest generation ever. But
luck without action is useless. And I can’t do it all alone.
ZEV: Authors are rarely interviewed in a “success” magazine at the beginning of
their careers, before they have achieved much commercial success. Why would
anyone want to listen to an interview with you now?
VALERIE: Actually, I thought about that for a while, and I agreed for a while,
but then something really interesting occurred to me. The success magazines are
missing out on a really big story if they always wait until someone is
commercially successful. When people talk about their success in hindsight,
they invariably see it from a certain perspective. It’s a valid perspective,
but I would give anything to interview some of the most successful people in
our culture before they became household names. I would love to have heard Bob
Proctor when he was 21, or Wayne Dyer when he was 25. I think these interviews
would be just as interesting and inspirational, for different reasons.
ZEV: You mentioned a number of people in the personal development field. Who
are
the ones who’ve had the biggest influence on you, and why?
VALERIE: For years I rode the hour long train into the city and listened to
Tony
Robbins, Jim Rohn, Bob Proctor, Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Wayne Dyer,
Zig Ziglar, Denis Waitley, Steven Covey, and Earle Nightengale. These people
literally changed my life. Recently I discovered Jeff Gitomer. He made my laugh
so hard I needed a box of tissues. If Napoleon Hill and Don Rickles could have
a
son, it would have been Jeff Gitomer. The top personal development people are
all funny, but Jeff is in a league all his own.
ZEV: What’s the significance of the first edition? Why do you think this
particular edition might appreciate in value over time?
VALERIE: It’s one of the great ironies of being an artist or pioneer, that when
you need the money the most, your work is worth the least, and when you need
the money the least, your work is worth the most. Right now people can buy a
first edition of Goodbye Gutenberg for $47.95. The price is ridiculously cheap.
I don’t promise people anything – I’m careful, in that sense – but people keep
telling me that this edition is going to be worth an enormous amount of money
some day. One supposedly reputable agent sold one of my galley copies to a rare
books dealer (without my permission) and it is now listed on the Internet for
$202.22. Another person recently bought one of the galleys on amazon.com for
$250.00.
The first edition is dedicated to the employees of Adobe, who created such
amazing products as Photoshop, Illustrator and Acrobat. They get the credit as
much as anyone. In the final pages, I’ve acknowledged my errors and
shortcomings and invited everyone to surpass what I’ve done, to stand on my
shoulders and go way, way further. Goodbye Gutenberg is a gorgeous and exciting
book, but what is most exciting is that it is just the beginning, just a
prelude
of what is to come.
More information is available at www.goodbyegutenberg.com . Valerie can be
reached at val@goodbyegutenberg.com
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Copyright 2004-2013, All Rights Reserved by Zev Saftlas, EmpoweringMessages.com
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