Here’s the tl;dr version of this post to save you some 5-10 minutes depending on how wordy this gets:
I’m in the process of writing a book. I hope to finish the manuscript completely around September. I’ll keep y’all posted on release dates and other things here and there. You can always keep tabs on me on other platforms: click here for link tree.
So in April of 2021, about a month after downloading tiktok, I decided that I’ll just start playing with it and start uploading videos.
A year(ish) later, I have been able to somehow manage to gain nearly 55k followers.
This whole thing has been fun, fascinating, and interesting.
What goes viral and what doesn’t has been the most curious thing.
Only 2 videos I intentionally made in hopes that it’ll go semi viral has done that.
The first one was like my 3rd video I ever posted. And it was a fictional situation.
I sat in my car with my collared shirt saying that I can never go back to Specs again because when I went in, the cashier said, ”Oh, we don’t see your kind here that much” and I thought she was talking about my ethnicity when in ”reality” she was talking about a clergyperson.
Did it happen? Nope.
Could it have happened? Sure.
Was it funny? I thought so, and so did others.
Do I like answering my own questions? Yea, I kinda do.
That video ended up getting 120k views and started garnering followers.
The other video I made in hopes that it’ll get attention was a response to a really weird comment, so I went to Wendy’s and said to the commenter, ”Sir, this is a Wendy’s” living out the meme. Then went to my meeting a street over with a colleague. When we were done, I opened tiktok to see that my notifications were out of control and that video ended up getting over 250k views.
Anyway, the reason why I’m sharing this — during this time, I had this idea for a book.
It’s not my first idea or proposal.
I want a do-over with the first book proposal I ever submitted.
I thought I had a fantastic idea (maybe… maybe not).
I was going to break down the Jonah story and mix in pop culture; my story; and general reflections of faith, life, and everything in between (which is what the tagline of this blog is… at least unofficially, if it’s not visible anywhere).
Maybe I can revisit it in the further future.
But what I should’ve done was hone the proposal and gave it at least a moment’s thought because — what was the working title that I submitted?
I mean, of all the things I could’ve hoped to have named it: Jonah and Me; Go Against the Flow (with a fish swimming the opposite direction of a school of fish) or whatever.
My proposed title? God’s Over-Whale-ming Love.
Was it funny? Mmmmm… even I think that’s debatable.
So, I had this idea for a book — or at least a 10 part blog post series that may or may never happen.
And I figured, I should strike the iron while it’s hot. That brings us to today.
What the book is about, I’ll let y’all in a little later.
I already had commissioned artwork to accompany the book, and we’re working on including it in the book itself.
How I met the artist was through Tiktok as well. They came on one of my Lives and asked something quite serious. I gave them my email address and we’ve been in contact ever since.
Check out her work here.
And her husband is working on some lofi beats and here’s his spotify info here.
And here’s a preview of what the accompanying art for the book will be:
I have to admit.
I knew this would be challenging entering this process.
But it’s a lot more challenging than I had originally anticipated.
5000 words are a lot easier to think/talk about than actually write.
Then the ”imposter syndrome” or versions of it start having a field day with your psyche.
When this idea first popped in my head, I felt like I had something to say; something worthwhile; something relevant; something authentic.
But once everything officially came into place, I’m starting to wonder, did I really have something to say or am I just wanting to say something?
From 30,000 ft in the air, it’s a ridiculous thing I’m embarking on.
Like, who am I? Who’ll actually read what I write?
It’s one thing to stumble upon this blog or Tiktok and take a gander what I’m up to… because those things are free.
Now, I’m hoping that people will shell out their money for roughly 50,000 words I’ve written that may not even be worthwhile?
But that’s a reality I’ll have to put on the back burner whilst I type away in between regular day responsibilities.
In the mean time, I stopped my podcast altogether.
I just got a notification that I achieved 2000 downloads. But it was becoming one more thing that I felt like I had to do and it wasn’t something I had to do.
However, thanks to Tiktok, I got connected with Jeremy Coleman, the Pastor From Oklahoma. We even got lunch when he came out to Galveston. We, along with this dude named Josh, are starting a podcast that’s gonna launch real soon. Or at least, we’re gonna record the first episode real soon.
It’s either gonna be fantastic or a disaster. Nothing in between. And if it is a disaster, I hope it’s one of those train wrecks that one can’t look away from.
I’m sure this blog might take even a further backseat during this journey.
OR. Or.
It might be the season with the most updates since like 2006 (when this blog started) because I’m either procrastinating or desperate to write about something that isn’t related to this.
Please don’t mistake this as a complaint of anything.
I’m extremely grateful.
Also extremely nervous and anxious and all that other stuff.
I can’t wait to see what the final outcome of this journey will be.
See you around.
(Also, don’t let the grammatical errors dissuade you, haha)
Joseph Yoo 