I’ve had the privilege and honor to interview Dr. Russ Riendeau about the benefits of Writing. Dr Riendeau explains how one can get started quickly and how, through his writing, doors were opened to him that helped him in his other businesses. It is my hope that the tips you learned from Dr. Reindeau will encourage you to start on your journey to writing.
Dr. Russ Riendeau is a successful entrepreneur, national speaker and award-winning executive search professional. He has turned his ideas, passions and talents into million-dollar business with ideas that have enriched the lives of thousands, as well as a rewarding personal and professional life. Russ is also the creator of the Rusty & Pogo comic series. His ideas, writings and art work have appeared in thousands of media outlets including, TEDx Talks, The Wall Street Journal, Wall Street Journal Radio, ABC News, CNBC, MSNBC, CNN, Boston Globe, Artprize 2014, Sales & Marketing Magazine, Training Magazine and CIO Magazine.
Alan: How did you get started in writing?
Russ: I started writing at a very early age. Jim Bouton, a Yankees pitcher in the 1960s, decided to keep a diary of a Yankee’s season that detailed the player’s shenanigans and then published the diary as a book. The book was a big hit and a big influence on me. As a 13 year old, I decided to keep a diary of that summer’s activities. My friend John, after reading excerpts of the diary, said I should write a book. While I didn’t write one right away, the idea of writing a book stayed with me.
Alan: Being an author is not your only business. Has writing helped your other businesses?
Russ: I found that writing was a great format to establish my competence and expertise in business. Writing enables me to demonstrate how I could help others. I was in the homebuilding business, early in my career and I started to write how-to articles and I would get them published in industry newsletters. This was well before the Internet. After that, I started to write articles on sales training and those were published as well. At that time I wasn’t paid for articles, but it enabled my business to grow. Writing was a very worthwhile investment.
Alan: What was your first book?
Russ: My first book was Thinking on your Seat, and the target audience was those that worked in the executive search industry. The book was also field guide. It was published in 1996 and sold for many years. It was priced at $39 and I sold the first 100 copies in 30 days. The initial printing run was 450 books and it sold out in a couple of months. I made back my investment pretty quickly.
While I had been writing articles for years and felt very comfortable writing them, I knew writing a book was at whole different level. I wrote the book to see if I could get through the writing process. Did I have the discipline and drive to consistently write? I wanted to prove that to myself.
Not only did publishing that book give me a sense of accomplishment, it also opened other avenues for me as well. I landed speaking engagements and started a series of training seminars which have continued till today.
As my circle of influence grew, I was able to reach out to well-established authors to have them write forewords and to-date seven of the forewords have been written by best-selling authors. As of today I have written 11 books and even though the money from book sales is good, I focus on writing what I enjoy. A few years back I created a comic called Rusty, Pogo and Soup and have loved every minute of writing it.
Alan: What did you learn from writing the first book?
Russ: First, there is such joy in writing. We put ourselves into the writing and it is very fulfilling to write. The fun is in the creating. The feedback you receive on your book is not so much fun, it actually creates tension. You’ve put yourself out there, revealing what you think and this creates tension in yourself. You ask yourself, “Will they like what I write? What if they don’t like it?” It can be difficult to handle the feedback. But, people will read what you write. There will be some that don’t like it and others who love it. Getting the first book under your belt opens up a whole new world for you.
Alan: What advice would you give to someone that wants to write? Someone that wants to have a second career as a writer?
Russ: There are a few things you must do.
First, write. Get your idea on paper quickly. Write down everything you think that is related to the topic.
Second, can you write from different perspectives? Can you see both sides of an argument and write about each of them? That is, can I write from an unbiased approach? Try to write from both sides of an argument and see if you are able to do so. You will get better at being able write from more than one perspective as you work at it.
Third, you have to be willing to accept there may be people that don’t like what you write. That’s okay. Writing is quite personal and you must be willing to put yourself out there and accept feedback on what you write. Doesn’t mean you agree with their opinion. Don’t take the criticisms personally.
Fourth, don’t plan to write the great American novel the first time you write. Build up to it. Write articles, 1500 to 2000 words each. Give the article to people; get their feedback on it. Write 20 articles. You might be able to turn those articles into a compilation which turns into a book.
Years ago people wrote pamphlets to get across a point, such as in the time of Thomas Paine, Thomas Jefferson and Ben Franklin. These pamphlets were expanded into books in many cases.
Fifth, be willing to pay for editing. I’m good at turning a phrase and developing great content, but having an editor has been a boon to my writing and my business.
A good book to read is Stephen King’s On Writing. He talks about how he goes about writing. Anyone serious about writing should read it.
Alan: What’s next for you?
Russ: A third volume of my single-panel comic, Rusty, Pogo and Soup will be coming out. In addition, I focus on my executive search business, Jobplex. As you know, I’ve created several original music compositions and continue to compose today.
Alan: Where can we reach you?
Russ: I can be reached at russriendeau@gmail.com
Alan: Thanks for sharing this advice with us.
Get Russ’s latest book, The Big Swing: What the Chicago Cubs are teaching Business Leaders about Capitalism, Commitment and Culture.
interesting. perspective from the other side.
Thanks Fei-Chen. I’ll likely follow up this interview with another discussion with Russ. I want to get into more details on how to find a publisher, how to promote your writing, etc.