Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
My writing career began by drafting press releases and artist bios for NYC music and film companies, later producing financial articles for Forbes, travel and tourism pieces for a medical publisher, and more recently, marketing and sales copy for a Beijing-based e-commerce firm.
I am originally from New York and earned a BA from Columbia University; several years later I relocated to Beijing, China to reinvent myself and pursue new opportunities for business. There I created a successful education consulting business for a local training center to assist students to study abroad. In addition to managing, I produced staff training programs, presented at various industry events, and taught my own writing and communications skills courses.
Today, I oversee Shanghai EDGE Consulting, an online education services company where I teach English, Business, and Writing, and am a consultant to international students. In the future, I hope to use my new book, Escape from America, as a platform for making a positive impact on society and inspiring others to improve their lives and pursue their passions.
So as of today, I’ve been initiated into the world of an authorpreneur. Escape from America is my first traditional book—and it’s quite a comprehensive and multifaceted work. In fact, I toyed with the idea of making it into two books, but decided against it. So I basically poured everything I had into it over the course of several years with the thought that this may be my only one. Whether it is or not remains to be seen. I’ve had ideas for another, but for the foreseeable future, I’m happy to focus my efforts on “Escape” since I believe it can truly make a difference in people’s lives, regardless of background or individual genre preference.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My book is called Escape from America: An Introspective Journey from America into China. It was inspired by my love for international travel and experiencing different cultures. This opened a new way of viewing the world for me and realizing that many opportunities exist in other parts of the world that may not be available back home. My first visit to China in the early 2000s first planted the seed in my mind; it was an exciting place that was growing rapidly, and I soon discovered I had a lot in common with people I’d met there, and so I saw China as a place where I could reinvent myself. So as time went on, as my experience grew, I thought it would make for an interesting story idea to put something together that documented my experiences as an American and also a foreigner in China, who could highlight similarities and differences that existed between us in an effort to gain better understanding and improve our relationship.
But more so than simple accounts of living in each country, my goal was to give people the real truth from having “boots on the ground” versus the typically biased political rhetoric and media propaganda that would lead, or mislead, our thinking. So this is very much to do with my “journey” these past several years, offering true representations of America and China, but also sharing my insights in such a way that most anyone can benefit from my experience—the ups, downs, triumphs, and struggles as it may apply to their own lives, whether they’re also expats or business owners or whatever, and potentially discover a greater sense of purpose.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Hmm… that’s an interesting one. I don’t really know what would qualify as “unusual.” For me, writing comes in fits and starts. It’s difficult for most anyone I would think who’s not a professional full-time author to be able to find enough time to just sit for hours and write, or even read a book. We have to pick and choose our spots. So I suppose what would be unusual for me is that this book took the better part of ten years to complete. That was partly because of my time schedule, but also due to the transitional period in my life where I relocated to China and opted to wait a while until I had sufficient experience as a full-time resident to present content to readers in an educated, objective way—and that’s what comprises Phase 3 of my book.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
I tend to prefer variety when choosing books. For me, particularly today, where time is at a premium, I’m focused on the learning experience or what new knowledge I can derive from a book. So titles like The Effective Executive, which I’ve read three times, Thinking Fast and Slow, Smart Tribes, Start with Why, all satisfy my need to learn more about business and management, and also how psychology aids our understanding. Lately, I’ve been finishing up If I Understood You Would I Have This Look on My Face by Alan Alda, who was one of my favorite actors, and who I’ve since discovered handles himself quite well as an author. It was gratifying to discover that a lot of his writing style parallels with mine, where we each aspire to educate readers, but also entertain readers without coming across as pompous or presumptuous (or so we hope). I will also add I tend toward books that include at least a few well-chosen visuals to add greater impact to the story. That’s something that’s missing to a large extent with the many books I’ve just cited… but definitely not with mine.
What are you working on now?
Getting better acquainted with the self-publishing process and how we as authors must develop into authorpreneurs in that we’re now in the “business” of writing and publishing. So I’m educating myself every day to learn more about how to promote my work and develop a following. This to me is a fun aspect of the entire process–it’s hard work, sure, lots of grunt work, but also the fact that we have a product/service that we’re proud of, it’s the logical next step to want to share with the world.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Well, I don’t really know yet. I’m still in the early stages having just released my book, and so I’m learning as I go along, trying multiple methods. I would say in the early going, prior to release, word-of-mouth promoting to friends and professional acquaintances was helpful in generating interest—it hasn’t amount to much in terms of book reviews just yet, but I hope will soon! From what I’ve discovered in my research, I think sites such as Reedsy provides a good, collaborative platform for readers and writers; Goodreads seems promising, however, in spite of its many members, there are an awful lot of forum subjects and countless books being released and promoted, so I can’t say to this point it holds much promise; but maybe. I’m also planning to leverage LinkedIn and Facebook as much as possible, where I think I can reach many more people who are already “connections” to help spread the word or perhaps become customers.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Understand that writing in general will benefit you in all aspects of your professional career, and is not limited to just authoring books or articles. As such, use this to your advantage whenever you’re faced with external or even internal notions that being a writer is a limited function or creates limited opportunities. That’s not true.
Believe in yourself first and foremost. The key to becoming a writer, and a good one at that, is to keep writing; read the work of others, see how other authors have moved or inspired you in some way, then go to work on developing your own ability. You’ll struggle with self-doubt and the usual writer’s block, and you’ll get frustrated and may even shelve your book for a time (no pun intended there), but so long as you always come back to your purpose for writing and what you hope to achieve, you’ll be able to get back on track and be even better motivated than before.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
In terms of writing, nothing much to be honest. If I reach back to my early days of writing, I recall various teachers and later, managing editor, stress the importance of brevity in writing—being able to say a lot with a little. Of course as writers, we strive to be creative—we have something to say and we want the space to say it. But I’d grown to understand the necessity of brevity in writing, though it also doesn’t apply to all forms.
Since I’ve been writing for more than 30 years in one form or another all throughout my career, most anyone I’ve come in contact with has been supportive and complimentary toward material I’ve produced—and it’s no different for my book for those who’ve read it. But to try to answer the question if indirectly, I would say advice that I’ve discovered is motivational: “If you can see it, you can be it,” which I feature in Chapter 13 of my book. People will be supportive and some will be disruptive, and so you have to block out the static and stay the course.
What are you reading now?
For books, I have two in particular that I’m behind schedule on reading; the first is The Innovator’s Solution by Clayton M. Christensen, and the second is Leaders Eat Last by Simon Sinek. Much of my reading these days comes from online articles through LinkedIn or education-industry blogs to stay on top of the latest trends, and useful information for my consulting practice. But I do like to “get away” and connect with my books whenever time permits.
What’s next for you as a writer?
I’ll continue to produce articles for my website blog to do with the education industry, particularly for helping students understand the college admissions process, and how to improve their skills and abilities. I’ve also taken to produce some articles for LinkedIn where I want to share my knowledge of business and leadership, and as I become better educated, book publishing. So there’s still plenty of web content and one-off pieces I will continue to write; in terms of another book, I have some ideas bouncing around my mind that come from a similar place as Escape from America, where I draw on my experiences and develop a more broadly-focused inspirational work—self-help, if you like—and perhaps drawing on life lessons to help people avoid mistakes and move forward. So for now, I think shorter, diverse pieces will comprise most of my writing, mainly for business and education.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
I would have to begin with a few of the titles I enjoyed as a kid, which were more humorous in nature than what I read today. So for example, I’m probably dating myself here, but I loved those Mad paperback books that featured various subject matter, usually headlined by a current event and seguing into various “skits” that you might find on a TV variety show like Saturday Night Live. Just for the fact they would take me back to my youth and a time that was more innocent and less intense would help me cope with my seclusion. I would also have to choose at least one of the Harry Potter books, probably the first one, and maybe the fourth. I was very much into sci-fi/fantasy as a kid as well, but these books can easily follow you wherever you go in life. And then maybe… One Up on Wall Street by Peter Lynch. That was definitely a deal-breaker for me in terms of taking more interest in investing. I can’t say it’s helped produce better results just yet, but that’s on me. The advice presented therein is practical and pretty easy to absorb.
Author Websites and Profiles
Vinnie Apicella Website
Vinnie Apicella Amazon Profile
Vinnie Apicella’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Pinterest Account