1 Leads to 2 Then 2 Billion

By Doyne Phillips, Managing Editor for Southern Writers Magazine

I enjoy a McDonald’s bacon egg and cheese biscuit about 2 to 3 times a year. It has to be a special occasion such as having the grandkids over but even then the breakfast trip to McDonald’s makes the occasion even more exciting.

Now I’m not McDonald’s biggest customer with only 2 to 3 purchases a year. McDonald’s CEO recently announced the company was going to serve only cage free eggs. He went on the say that would be over 2 Billion eggs a year. I realize my 2 or 3 aren’t much compared to 2 Billion but they do all add up.

The same is true for writers. We start with a word or two and before we know it they add up to a paragraph, page, chapter, short story or book. I am a fan of the short story. One of my favorites was a 2009 John Grisham book of short stories call Ford County. Grisham took some of his better shorts, put them together and they added up to one great book.    

In some cases writers take their individual stories and compile them in an anthology. Chicken Soup for the Soul is an example of this. Another example would be our local writers group of some 26 or more writers annually compiling their own anthology. It is a great way to gather the efforts of several writers and produce a very interesting collaboration. Everyone can be a part of the work without carrying the full weight of the production.

Over the years I have known of pastors putting their sermons together to form a book. Imagine preaching one sermon each week then bring them together for a book. In another case a psychologist has a nationwide practice complete with newsletter, blog and interactive sites. She has taken her blogs combined them by topic and created many topic related eBooks.

Since the founding of Southern Writers Magazine I and others have written blogs for our blog site Suite T. To show you how 1 leads to 2 then 2 Billion here is an example. I do not have 2 Billion blog entries but I do have, as of this post, 149. 1 post every 2 weeks has led to 149. Other staff members have more or less but each of us have enough material to put into a book or eBook. It didn’t come over night or within a break neck period of deadline meeting writing, but it did come, it all added up.

Now it is your turn. What have you done with your writing over the years? Have you logged numerous short stories or blogs? Maybe you should consider gathering them together for a book or eBook. What you have done over the years has added up to something you may have yet to realize. 1 can lead to 2 then, if not to 2 Billion, to a book. Look into it, you may be happily surprised.