Blog – Celebrating Color

How Do I Prevent a Train Wreck?

June 18, 2019 By Carol McIntyre

Have you ever tried to avoid a train wreck — not literally, but personally?

My body has been sending several unhappy messages these past few months and it’s time for me to acknowledge them. I am mentally exhausted; sleep isn’t what it used to be and there I days I wake up not wanting to do anything. I dread opening my email or trying to think of something creative to write for a blog post. These signs indicate that all is not well.

Instead of waiting for a train wreck to happen, which would force me to stop, I have decided that it is time for me to take a sabbatical. My tank is empty, and it needs to be re-charged. Writing, producing, printing, marketing and distributing my book I Just Want to Paint: Mixing the Colors You Want! has drained my reserves. I entered this book publishing journey not knowing the extent of the time, energy and money commitment required nor that it is like an elderly uncle who won’t leave.

The amount of information and experience I have taken in during the past two and half years has been like a graduate doctoral crash course. Not only do I need to take a step back to re-fuel, I think I would benefit from assessing everything that I have learned and accomplished.

Interestingly, about the time I started to think about taking a sabbatical, the World Health Organization stated that Burnout is Officially a Workplace Crisis. Its handbook International Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems lists burnout as “a syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed.” It is characterized by three key factors: “feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion; increased mental distance from one’s job, or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one’s job; and reduced professional efficacy.” This announcement didn’t surprise me .

When I began taking stock of my emotional and physical state, I started journaling and asking myself some challenging questions, such as:

How did I get here?
How do I want to live the rest of my life (I am 68)?
What does joy mean to me? What brings me joy? Etc.

These questions lead me to several insights, the one that stood out the most is:

I was an artist who wrote, who became an author who paints. Ah! Time to switch back to the former.

No regrets as I love the quality and content of I Just Want to Paint! It is doing exactly what I intended it to do as stated by the many testimonials I have received such as this one from Ruth Jansson:

Carol McIntyre has done an extraordinary job taking a very complex subject and breaking it down to its simplest form, unravelling the mysteries of color mixing along the way. Not only is this book very attractive, it is easy to follow and understand and is written in a wonderful conversational style rich with colorful graphics and photographs.

Whether you are a seasoned painter or a beginner, if you want a clear, concise, easy-to-understand explanation of how to mix the colors you want, this book belongs next to your palette.

Best of all, I found a renewed enthusiasm for painting.

I love knowing that my book is helping to unleash the creative spirit.

Another positive aspect of I Just Want to Paint’s is that its evergreen content, which means I do not need to be the hare anymore. One of the challenges with taking a sabbatical will be to see if and how I will shut my book marketing engine down. As a person known for her persistence and high expectations, I suspect that throwing the throttle back might take some time. It will also require learning how to let go, even though it is temporary.

The good news is that I have lots of paint, yummy art materials and blank canvases to distract and re-direct me. Soon, I depart for my annual month-long stay at our remote mountain cabin, which is my sacred place.

Me in the cabin’s porch last summer hanging-out on the hammock

Fortunately, I Just Want to Paint! sales are going well. Most importantly, I have a fulfillment company that can take care of any sales that come in while I take a break.

I won’t be disappearing completely, though my appearance in your email box and online will be sporadic announcement of events and blogs as my muse moves me. At the time of this writing, I plan to take a two-month sabbatical, but is could be longer.

I do need to return to marketing my book, teaching and coaching, as I have over 1,000 books to get out into the world! Your assistance is welcome.

How might you help?

Continue to spread the word and tell your artists friends about I Just Want to Paint!
Ask your library to carry it.
Write an Amazon Review. Currently I have about ten and I need 25 or more to motivate the Amazon algorithm to give I Just Want to Paint! attention to people browsing the site. Please go to: https://amzn.to/2F4FWZ1 and scroll down a bit. On the left you can write, after you have logged in, how my book has impacted your painting and/or solved your color mixing problems.
Consider having me speak or teach at your art society or art center in 2020-21.
Jot down ideas for appropriate podcasts and other events and send them along to me.

Have you ever experienced burnout? What did you do? How did you recover?

With deep gratitude and appreciation, your support and understanding are cherished.

Colorfully yours,

Carol

Santa Fe Book Signing & Presentation

May 30, 2019 By Carol McIntyre

You are invited to my Book Signing at Garcia Street Books

Wednesday, June 5th at 6pm

376 Garcia Street, Ste B

Santa Fe, NM

I will be discussing my Balanced Palette System along with a couple of brief color mixing demos.

Please click here to register.

What Are the 5 Phases of Publishing a Book? | Part Two

May 17, 2019 By Carol McIntyre

In my recent blog post: What Are the 5 Phases of Publishing a Book? | Part One I introduced you to these five phases of publishing a book and discussed phases one through three:

Incubating and Conceiving the Idea
Writing
Producing
Marketing
Distributing and Shipping

In this post, I will discuss the last two phases – 4. Marketing and 5. Distributing and Shipping. Although the five listed steps imply a linear progression, the journey is never quite straight and/or sequential, as in any creative process. For example, in the book publishing process, marketing activities underly all of the stages, because it actually starts when the first viable draft of the manuscript has been written. This surprises most new authors.

Marketing is the most important and the most complex phase. It is a long and arduous process that is not unlike having a child. I say this because the book needs constant and consistent attention over a long period of time, particularly if your content is evergreen.

[Disclaimer: This article describes my author experience of independently publishing a non-fiction art instruction book to be sold internationally. Off-set printing was used because color is on every page and it is a hard back so that it is durable, lays flat for better usability, and is marketable to a variety of venues, including libraries. Every book carries its unique goals.]

Phase 4: Marketing

What is marketing? It is the business process of creating relationships with and satisfying customers. With its focus on the customer, marketing is one of the premier components of business management.

Given the above definition, to write and sell a book, the author must understand that he/she is starting a book publishing business. Most authors do not fully comprehend this phenomenon, which can cause angst and frustration. I arrived in my book publishing journey having taken classes in marketing and I worked in a marketing department within a medium-sized corporation many years ago. Hence, the principles were and are not difficult for me to grasp. If you do not have similar knowledge, I recommend that you take a basic Marketing 101 course BEFORE taking advantage of the many books and online resources available on the subject of marketing books.

It is important to know who will be reading your book and whether they represent a viable market. Along this line of thinking, knowing the problem(s) your book will solve and providing solutions to this problem is also critical. If these are not completely thought out then your book will not sell. [Read more…]

Let’s Mix Green! Workshop

April 28, 2019 By Carol McIntyre

Do greens ever frustrate you?

Or would you like to efficiently mix natural-looking greens with just a couple of tubes of paint?

Or do you get overwhelmed with all of those yellows and blues, and then wonder which to use to mix your green?

My next Let’s Mix Green! Workshop will be held in Colorado Springs, CO.

Eliminate the angst and learn the joy of mixing the greens you want in this 1-day workshop. Stop using those acid-looking tube greens and learn to mix natural-looking greens with an easy-to-use approach.

During this workshop, you will learn:

The color bias of your yellows and blues and why this is critical when mixing color
Which yellows and blues you want for your working palette
How to mix bright and dull natural-looking greens
Why tube greens are not necessary
If you are a plein air painter, which few tubes you need to achieve the greens you want
How to mix greens for all four seasons

Carol will demonstrate throughout the day to assure the information is processed to everyone’s satisfaction. If time allows, we will paint a “greens only” painting.

This workshop is for: Advanced beginners* of all tube-based media (i.e., watercolor, oil, acrylic, water mixable oils) who work in any style.

Upon registration, you will receive a supply list and how to order lunch if you choose not to brown bag.

Questions? Contact Carol McIntyre at: 719-510-0006 or carol@mcintyrfineart.com

Carol is the recent author of “I Just Want to Paint: Mixing the Colors You Want!” and she has worked in all major media and styles. To view her painting portfolios and learn more about her book, click on the tabs above.

Signed copies of “I Just Want to Paint!” will be available.

Join us for this fun and exploratory workshop.

Date: Friday, May 17th

Time: 9am – 4pm

Location: LSJ Gallery, 218 W. Colorado Avenue, Colorado Springs.

Cost: $85.00. Only 8 spaces available.

Register via this Facebook Event Page: https://www.facebook.com/events/402211357284219/

*Advanced beginner is a painter who has completed a minimum of 15 unsuccessful and/or successful paintings.

What Are the 5 Phases of Publishing a Book? | Part One

April 24, 2019 By Carol McIntyre

“Carol, you have written and published a book! Congratulations! How did you do it?”

Writing I Just Want to Paint: Mixing the Colors You Want! has, as many of you know, consumed much of my time and energy the past two years. As I depart the launch phase, I have been reflecting upon the process and I thought I’d share it with you. Some of you might like to hear one author’s insight to becoming an independent book publisher. The latter is sometimes referred to as “Indie.”

Readers of my blog and my book, know that clarity is foremost in my mind when explaining a concept or skill. I believe clarity is key to understanding or learning something new. I also think it is a skill I have worked at developing. Here is my attempt at explaining a complex and time-consuming process.

What are the 5 Phases of Publishing a Book?

Caveat: I write this article solely from my perspective. I am not a book publishing coach or consultant. I have never seen the process described in phases as I have identified. My book publishing story is about writing a non-fiction book — a how-to art instruction book. I outline the phases I have experienced though many nuances and details of book publishing are skimmed, so consider this an overview.

The Phases are:

Incubating and Conceiving the Idea
Writing
Producing
Marketing
Distributing and Shipping

Even though I have portrayed them as a sequence, publishing a book, like any creative endeavor, is not linear and be a bit mushy with lots of overlap. However, I think these five phases represent a model and provide a good framework to take an aerial view of the process.

Phase 1: Incubating and Conceiving the Idea

[Read more…]