A Book Marketing Truth & Apple’s Unexpected Hero
And why your mind needs a zen garden
Creative Sparks with Kevin
Quick, no pressure insights and inspiration to help you push past perfectionism, stay true to your vision and market your work authentically. Delivered weekly on Fridays.
The Biggest Contributor to Apple’s Design Excellence
Susan Kare was a professional sculptor and artist before her life changed forever. One of her high school acquaintances, who worked at Apple, asked if she wanted to do freelance work for the company and she agreed.
The work she ended up doing for Apple is the reason we have fun designs on computers today. After her success at Apple she also went on to work with many other tech giants. It just goes to show one connection can change the course of your career.
Market Your Book More
Sarah Silva wrote a great guest post for Katie Sadler’s Plotting Substack talking about why your book marketing is never over. There are things you should do to market your book at every stage of the process. Even after your book is already out!
No one notices your marketing as much as you do, so don’t stop talking about your books just because you think you’re doing it too much. In fact, people have found it takes at least seven touch points before someone takes action on your offers.
Creativity and Improv at Its Finest
Ari at Home is one my favorite creators on any platform. His ability to improvise seamlessly with any vocalist is unmatched. Here’s a video of him walking around NYC with his mobile recording studio finding different people across the city to create amazing songs with. I have to stop any time he releases a new video just to admire his beautiful collabs!
In Case You Missed It
This Week’s Creativity Card
The Creative Comeback deck was created to help you avoid or come back from burnout. Instead of letting difficult feelings stew, we can build them a safe space for holding.
My response
I like the idea of leaving my difficult feelings inside a Zen garden.
Shaping the Sand – Each rake creates a path around your feelings, acknowledging them without letting them overwhelm you.
Placing Stones – Each stone represents a specific emotion or challenge. You can arrange them in a way that feels balanced and helps you externalize them.
Letting the Wind Shape It – Just like emotions, the patterns in the sand are temporary. The wind slowly smooths it over, and reminds you that feelings shift and transform with time.
What kind of container would you use to hold your difficult feelings? Let me know in the comments!
💡Fun Fact: By the way, I have a digital deck with over 600 creative prompts covering everything from curiosity to burnout recovery. Want to help test more? Let me know in the comments!
If you have any ideas for creative sparks leave them in the comments. I’d love to hear what’s sparking your creativity right now.
Until next time, stay motivated and stay creative.
— Kevin
Man this is exactly what I needed to read today!! Love the manifesto :)