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I’ve just sold my 500th copy of ‘The Aha Journal’.
I know that to many of you, 500 sales must seem like a trifling number.
But to me, it’s momentous! Because it seemed so unlikely, that with little budget, no publishing experience and limited design skills, 'The Aha Journal' would ever exist in reality. So, I wanted to share my imperfect journey with you - a short story of blind faith, hopeless optimism and great friends.
8 months ago: The Aha Journal was just the seed of an idea - anchored in a desire to give everyone access to transformational, coaching-type ‘aha moments’. I wanted to create a beautiful, printed product that people could use away from the constraints of their desk. An accessible, evidence-based, fun source of questions and help that would democratize coaching support.
7 months ago: 1st Problem – The journal needed to be designed, and I’m a psychologist, not a designer! I searched the web for brilliant designers. There are so many amazing, creative people out there, but I couldn’t afford any of them. So, to get this off the ground, I needed to put my design skills to the test.
6 months ago: I bought a subscription for InDesign and quickly realised I had absolutely no idea what I was doing! After hours and hours of You Tube tutorials, many wasted days of wrong turns and terrible design ideas, I started to get the hang of it. Software like InDesign becomes amazingly intuitive once you understand the basics.
5 months ago: So.Many.Iterations! My poor friends were bombarded with draft colours, layouts, copy. There was no consensus, but quite a lot of laughing/horrified emojis. My mum took on the role of Editor-in-Chief. She’s read The Aha Journal about 500 times. It still gives her nightmares. I challenge anyone to find a spelling error in it – if you do, please have a word with her for me 😉
4 months ago: I was ready to go to the printer (or so I thought). Novice creators like me don’t get these things right first time. Oh, brilliant ExWhyZed Print, you have the patience of a saint. After about 2,000 design ‘tweaks’ we were finally able to go to print. Amazing support and a quality product. I can’t recommend them highly enough.
And then, a week later, they arrived…hundreds of copies of beautiful journals. I was convinced something was going to be horribly wrong with them, but they were perfect, and it’s hard to describe the feeling of holding something for the first time that you’ve created.
And then after a quick website build (more new skills) and a bit of marketing we launched in February 2023…AND people actually bought them…500 of you!
Do you know the sheer joy you bring creators when you buy their products? I could hug every one of you!
And then, the wonderful ThreeUK invited me to talk about innovation and 'Aha Moments' at their inaugural International Women’s Day and gave copies of the Aha Journal to each of their delegates. It was so brilliant!
And the best bit of all – the reviews started arriving:
“I had a huge mindset shift last week and decades of anxiety vanished. The Aha Journal really works!”
“Gave me inspiration and motivation to achieve my goals. I would highly recommend to buy for yourself or as a present.”
"...it literally flew off the shelves and is now in massive demand..."
“Such a brilliant journal and concept. I was excited but also a bit apprehensive to start it, but now in the thick of it I’ve found it an amazing tool to gather and focus my thoughts about the future.”
I know I still have a really long way to go - The Aha Journal certainly doesn’t pay my bills yet…but what a wonderful, bumpy, joyful and nerve-wracking journey it’s been so far. To everyone who’s supported me and my dream venture along the way – thank you - you’re amazing!
By Amy Redmond
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