What Really Happens When You Spend Two Years Writing A Book

Nothing prepared me for it.

Writing a book about thrifting and upcycling is a career goal I have dreamed about for as long as I can remember. I’d always heard the process is gruelling, yet rewarding, so I made sure to do as much preparation as possible. I listened to a tonne of different podcasts, read magazine articles and watched countless YouTube episodes. But nothing prepared me for what really happens BTS. So I’m going to share it with you now. Step by step.

When I signed with an influencer agency 5 years ago, one of the reasons that convinced me to join was the fact that the owner had real-world experience working with book agents and publishing books for her talent. I had always wanted to write a book about thrifting and upcycling, and fill it with lots of upcycling projects. I had been looking for something similar for years and knew there was a gap in the market. After discussions on and off over the following couple of years, we decided the time was right in January 2023. It took me about 6 months to perfect my book pitch, and my manager was integral in this process. I learned a lot about the layout of a book pitch, what to include (and what not to include). It was a very exciting process! She pitched my idea to a book agent 6 months later, and thankfully, she immediately understood exactly what I wanted to convey to the world. From there, my new book agent pitched my book to several publishing agents. We had a few knockbacks, which were disheartening; I remember feeling a deep sense of anxiety and unworthiness in the pit of my stomach, but my manager told me this was part of the process. Not long after, the publisher (like “the” publisher) at Hardie Grant loved my concept and idea. She resonated with me and could see exactly what I wanted the world to see - to change the way people think about furnishing their homes. I had an initial meeting with my manager and the Hardie Grant team, and we clicked instantly. From there, my manager and book agent helped me negotiate the terms of my contract, including my author fee, photography fee and materials budget. When my book agent took my idea to publishers and when I officially signed my contract, this stage took about 4 to 5 months. I remember sitting in the car outside Officeworks. I had been surfing earlier that morning and had done some Christmas shopping for our kids (you can see some of their gifts in the backseat!). Our printer had broken, but there was something nostalgic about printing a contract and signing it at a photocopy shop - it was giving Tom Cruise manifesto vibes in Jerry Maguire.

In December 2023, I started planning my projects. I knew I wanted to make at least 40 new upcycling projects and give my readers as much value as possible. I was very intentional and spent a lot of time coming up with projects that would, in two years, still be relevant in terms of design and trends. I got to work and made sure to include several techniques and materials I had already worked with, such as tiles, plaster, upholstery, paint and timber stain. It was also really important that I create a mix of projects that would suit everyone of all skill levels, from beginner to intermediate to advanced.

Once I had come up with my project ideas, I spent the entire Christmas holidays thrifting and gathering all the furniture, decor, tools and materials I would need for each project. My publishing contract included a materials budget, so it was incredible to have the financial support. Most people don’t realise that these upcycling projects can be add up, let alone making at least 40!

Behind the scenes, only my friends and family knew I was working on my book projects. Truthfully, it was a very chaotic time and thank goodness for Jase because he completely held down the fort. He was basically solo parenting for three months while I was trying to keep my head above water. I still needed to make sure I was exercising each day, so I was at the gym from Monday to Friday at 4am without fail. Yes, I was setting my alarm for 3 am each day and it was brutal. However, it was the only thing keeping me sane. Oh, and surfing with friends. Thank goodness for that! I don’t think I’ve ever worked hard enough in my life and I barely saw our kids throughout the week. I also had to work on weekends just to get it all done, but I made sure to take Saturday off otherwise I would have ended up in hospital. The pressure was on and I had 11 weeks to get over 40 projects made, plus my marketing work for my clients. I also had to keep showing up on my social media with my brand collaborations and personal projects. For my personal projects, I decided to work smarter, not harder. I shared a new upcycling project every week, but they were quick and fast projects to make and share on social media. I always think back to this time and wonder why I don’t continue making more of those smaller projects nowadays. I guess I like to push myself creatively, but that doesn’t mean I need to reinvent the wheel every single time. Storage for my 40+ projects was also a bit of a mission, so thankfully we were able to use our double-car garage.

By this point, I was completely drained. I had no creative energy left and knew I would need help with styling each project. Thankfully, my incredibly gifted friend Samantha, who has a knack for styling, was more than happy to help. I honestly could not have done this book project without her. I set about planning the book shoot down to every last detail, and she came over for a few hours to help with imagining the styling and location for each shot at the venue I had chosen for the first book shoot, Havana Haus. She also kept me sane and laughing throughout this time. And I’m obsessed when she tells me what to do - it’s so refreshing because I work on my own and have to make all the decisions, so it was lovely to have someone else run with my vision and make the shots.

When I thought about photographing the book, I knew I had to bring my friend Aimee on board. She was the first friend I made here in Noosa when I moved up over 11 years ago, and we’ve worked with each other in our marketing roles ever since. She also photographed our wedding and our kids when they were babies, so in my humble opinion, there was no one better to do the job. Our lives are always in sync and we often talk about how our milestones are the same and intertwined - work, kids, weddings, homes and so much more!

And let me tell you, Jason did not want to do any more car trips between our house and Havana Haus ever again - ha! He borrowed his Dad’s 4WD for a few days over this shoot and thank goodness, because at that stage I had no money left in the materials budget to hire a removalist to help us out.

I honestly can’t look at those flowers on the table without thinking of bees, hundreds of them! I’m a very scrappy, budget-conscious person and didn’t want to spend more money on flowers, so when I was driving down to my friend’s hair salon, I kept noticing these wildflowers on the side of the highway. So, what does one do when they want to pick some flowers? They slow down from 100 kmph, park on the side of the highway and go foraging - ha! And there were hundreds of bees. Don’t get me wrong, I love bees, but I was a woman on a mission with no time to spar,e and in this moment, was terrified of them haha. But I managed to pick what I needed, with no doubt, people speeding past me, wondering what on earth I was doing. And the fact that they feature on the cover is so freaking CUTE. When I look at the cover, I am transported back to this delirious moment.

By the end of this second shoot, I was SO OVER IT. I have nothing left to give this world, and a little bit of resentment was creeping in. I felt tired and broken. But there was still so much more to do, so I gave myself a couple of days off before I had to dive into writing the book. Upcycling 43 projects, writing the tutorials and photographing the shots and cover is one thing. But writing a book? That’s a whole other experience.

I specifically decided to write the bulk of the book away from home. I spent a week at my parents’ house in Brisbane, away from Jason and the kids, so I could fully focus. I spent a couple of days writing in the library at UQ and then decided to switch up my surroundings and write at the State Library; this was where I used to do my high school studying and had so many lovely memories from there. I loved it! I worked in the quiet area overlooking the Brisbane River. My dad would drive me in and pick me up each day, and I would have lunch somewhere close each day. This part of the process really made me feel like a bona fide author. It was incredible! I also want to say that I didn’t use any AI program to write any of the words in my book - no Gemini, no ChatGPT (in fact, I still don’t use either for anything). It was impiortant to me and my personal integrity that every word in my book, was my own. I don’t even know if it’s legal to use AI when writing a book, but I didn’t. So that’s that ha!

After 3 huge stages of editing, I was simultaneously working on the design of the book with the graphic design team at Hardie Grant. I knew it had to be grown up, colourful and font selection was everything. In terms of colour, I wanted to make sure it included my brand colours (which it does ,woo hoo!), which are burgundy, dusty blue, red, butter yellow, dusty pink and olive green. It took a while to find the final font for the cover and the book pages because I wanted to to look timeless and elevated. While my book deal was in the contract phase, I was already starting to collect font samples. Yup! I knew it would make a big impact with how my book looked so I took this very seriously. And I leaned on my years of experience in fashion PR to make sure the design was simple yet engaging, grown up and elevated. I’ve worked with tonnes of graphic designers in my time, so it was great to have that knowledge in my back pocket.

I hope this Substack post has given you lots of BTS insight into the makings of a book, especially one like this. If you have any questions about the process, please feel free to get in touch with me over on IG and send me a DM.

If you love thrifting, vintage shopping and upcycling as much as I do, make sure to grab a copy of my book Dream Home DIY! It's colourful, informative and jam-packed with toolkits, checklists, printables, project planners and practical how-to guides that give you all the hands-on skills you need for thrifting and upcycling. I share hundreds of upcycling techniques and ideas, as well as 35 elevated, sustainable and affordable projects for every room in your home, plus so much more. It’s available worldwide!

Jaharn xo

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