Draft book manuscript surrendered
After many early mornings and coffees, I submitted my book manuscript for Marketing Strategy for Museums to the publishers Routledge a fortnight ago.
It’s been an enormous treat to set aside more time to research, read, reflect, and write over the past 15 months. A huge and heartfelt thank you to everyone who took the time to share their experiences and work so generously with me. Our conversations were a highlight of my research and these contributions have enriched both the book and my practice. And thank you to the people and organisations who kindly gave me permission to reference their words and research in the book, providing relevant data and talking points.
A special shout-out to Marge Ainsley for constant support, cheerleading and advice; to Rebecca Morris-Buck who has been incredibly generous in providing feedback and words of encouragement; and to Steve Slack for paving the way on this book series and advice on trusting my voice and sharing my perspectives.
But it’s also been the biggest challenge of my professional life, juggling the enormity of it with all the usual deadlines and responsibilities, and battling imposter syndrome. The process has taught me so much.
I heard columnist and author Marina Hyde on the How to Change Your World podcast say she feels like she surrenders her manuscripts, and this feels so apt. In many ways it will never feel done, I could have kept going to finetune and update it forever. Having spent months constantly thinking about it, there’s now a void that I’m easing my way out of as I look forward to the book’s publication in the winter.