Dubowsky is originally from Evanston, Illinois and went to Southwest Acupuncture College. After finishing acupuncture school, she returned to Chicago and has practiced there since 2002.

I asked her to share a little bit more about her book. Dubowsky says, “I wanted to share my passion for this work so, my intention for Adventures in Chinese Medicine is to convey the essential ideas and describe some of the well known techniques of Traditional Chinese Medicine in friendly language illustrated with charts, photographs, cartoons, and diagrams.”

“Adventures in Chinese Medicine explains common treatments and the history behind them, such as: Acupuncture; Cupping; Moxabustion; and Herbal Medicine. There are also sections that describe unique concepts that are fundamental to Chinese Medicine – Yin and Yang, Qi, meridians, and the five elements. I believe that all people will be able to relate to the discussion of these ideas.

“My target audiences are those who are curious and want to learn more about the practices and philosophy of Chinese Medicine; practitioners who want to educate their patients; and certainly for patients who already love their treatments and want to understand more about how they work.”

While there are few really good books for lay people on acupuncture, as the profession gains traction, there are more books coming out. I asked Dubowsky what made her book unique.

She says, “My book is unique because I made sure that it is enjoyable (as well as informative) and people will be able to connect to the concepts. Adventures is also visually inviting and beautiful. I worked very hard to create a reader-friendly book and I think having a super girl of Chinese Medicine makes it even more cool and fun for the reader.”

The cover stands out, with it’s acupuncture “super girl” jumping towards the reader from the cover, creating interest from the moment it’s viewed on the shelf.  Dubowsky didn’t actually do the drawings. Instead she conveyed the sort of look she wanted to an illustrator who did the actual drawing for her.  She did do the charts and tables and her mother drew a couple of the diagrams.

Writing a book for lay people means really listening to patients. I asked if Dubowsky had any advice for people explaining the medicine to their patients.  Her biggest advice is to “listen, listen, listen” to what the patient is asking and then explain as simply and as clearly as possible.

For those who want a taste of Dubowsky’s style, she writes at Acupuncture Blog Chicago on a regular basis. Talking about her blog, Dubowsky says, “My blog is intended for anyone interested in learning more about Chinese Medicine and good health. As in my book, I try to maintain a writing style that is friendly and approachable.” Dubowsky has been writing her blog since 2008.

I asked Dubowsky how much work writing the book was.  She said, “From conception to publication, this took over two years to finish with writing and re-writing.” She does plan to write some more books but first she feels like she needs a break. Her patients were often involved in the process and were very supportive. Dubowsky says she asked patients for reactions to the cartoons and the topics she covered.

Dubowsky says, “Adventures in Chinese Medicine has been a labor of love, and I hope it is received as such. I think it is truly a one of a kind book, that many people will enjoy and get something from it.”

The early language that introduced the idea was appropriate to both groups.  Neither group had a lot of information about what he was speaking about unless they already knew his technique and philosophy.

The next section was written simply, more for lay people with some added notes that would be appropriate for professionals. As a lay person, the notes were annoying but not bad.  As a professional, I might have been tempted to skip the book because of the simplistic way this was written.

In the final section he promised to talk about how to help each of these categories of people. This is where it clearly became about the professional.  He took one of his categories  and wrote a long and specific treatment plan based on all the expanded knowledge he had on this particular constellation of problems.  After writing several more chapters going more in-depth with the same category of person, he then talks about ways you can generalize for all the other categories.  This is fine for a practitioner, but for the lay person who might have been hoping for some personal insight, this was a let down.

Both categories of readers were ultimately let down by the book.  Understand that no matter what you write, it’s not for everyone.  It targets an audience.  This author, who thought his ideas would be appropriate for lay people and professionals was right. However, the idea that one book would work for both was not.  He’d have done better to write two books. One for lay people and one for professionals.

The most important thing you can do as a professional writing a book based on your knowledge is to target your audience. Stop worrying about the people who don’t fit that category.  You, or someone else, will write the book for them.

When it comes to basic marketing messages, Acupuncture Media Works does a good product. Jeffrey’s background as a graphic designer means he has some very professional looking items, including some good looking websites.  But you do have to pay him for his work.

As small business owners, it’s easy to think about cutting corners when trying to work on our own marketing materials. We think we know what looks good, not even realizing how much change a couple of small tweaks by a professional can make.  A couple of weeks ago I was working on the cover for my first fiction book, struggling because it just didn’t look right. My friend Debbie, who is a graphic artist, spent about five minutes, found a font that spoke to her and dashed it off with another tiny little change that I probably wouldn’t have thought about, making the whole cover come together.

I’ve written before about hiring someone who knows websites to design your website. If you do decide to try and do it yourself, at least get someone professional to do graphic design. And have someone on hand who can help you with the technical details.

When it comes to promotional materials, consider getting a graphic artist to do the work.

If you are writing a book about your topic, get a graphic artist to do the cover for you. People really do judge a book by it’s cover.

If you aren’t sure where to go, there are a lot of good graphic designers out there. Remember my friend Debbie who just popped off a design for my novel (which I ended up changing a font because she might have owned it, I didn’t and it had a commercial license that was more than I wanted to pay)? She does freelance graphic design work at Glogirly Design. I know her through blogging about our pets. In the last two years she’s become well known in that community for clean designs with distinctive colors. She’s easy to work with and her prices are very reasonable. She works quickly.  If you need something personal for your business, consider contacting her. You won’t regret it.

If you don’t like her style, then find a designer whose style you do like. Just find someone who knows about graphic designs. These images might be your first contact with a potential client. Make them look professional.

Start with your audience.Who is the book for? Are you sharing your expertise with other professionals or are you sharing health tips for your patients? If you’re sharing health tips, will they only be for your patients or for anyone who wants to feel better or has a certain disease?  These questions will help you as you make notes that you can turn into a book outline or, if you are more free spirited, you can work from directly as you write your book.

Knowing your audience will help you with your writing voice.  A book targeted at other practitioners will have a depth and use language that would not be appropriate for lay people.  It’s important to keep that in mind as you write.

Make some notes about topics within your book topic. What sorts of things do you want to share. If you are writing about acupuncture and insomnia, are you going to talk about diagnosis or how to make a diagnosis? This could be one section. Of course another section or within those subsections, you might also have point prescriptions and herbal prescriptions and adjunct therapies that you hope to use.  Finally, you might be talking about the definitions of insomnia. Of course, looking at the notes, you might think it would be smarter to write about insomnia and how it manifests first and then talk about diagnosis second.  This would be a good call.  Notes and outlines are helpful that way.

Looking over your topics and ideas, you can get a feel for what you want to write. How many sections. How many notes to do you have within each of those sections. How much do you think you can write about each subtopic?  This will help you plan out your time for writing.

Now, consider how to set aside some time for writing.  Even if it’s only an hour a week, plan to sit down and write something (no matter how bad) once a week for that hour. Make more note, make an outline, write some chapters or even just write a sentence, no matter what you do during that time, make that time about your book.  At some point you’ll actually have a manuscript.  After that, you can decide what to do next about publishing.

Writing a book may not be any easier than it ever has been, but publishing a book has never been easier.  Amazon’s Kindle direct and Barnes and Noble’s interface for the Nook make publishing an e-book easier than ever.  Create Space on Amazon allows for easy publishing of print work.  In both cases, you’ll be listed with all the other books on the appropriate websites. It’s like getting your book put in the bookstores immediately.  This is a huge help.

Okay, getting people to notice your book among all the others can be an issue but that once you’re in the store, you’re definitely getting somewhere. Like everything else, knowing your target audience is important.  Are you writing for other acupuncturists or lay people? Knowing that you can more easily target the appropriate people via appropriate marketing strategies.  If you are writing for lay people, the best marketing strategies might be the same ones you use to market your clinic.

In addition to marketing strategies, make sure you have a good looking product. In this case you need a professional looking book. A professional looking book  has a good cover that makes the author and the title stand out.  The print quality of the image is good.  The inside copy is correctly formatted and reads easily with a standard typeface.  Images are professional and well laid out.  The text has quality editing.  There are few typos.  No book is ever completely free of typos, but you want yours to have as few as possible.  An editor is an invaluable resource.

As the profession grows, anyone who has a specialty or success with certain conditions owes it to the profession to share their knowledge.  Don’t hold back because you think you don’t know what you’re doing.

I’ve written this book for the lay person who is interested in acupuncture, but perhaps too afraid to try it. They’ve seen the news and wondered if it could help them but they have a lot of misconceptions.  My goal for this book is for potential patients to feel safe making the choice to try acupuncture.  While the style is a bit more pendantic than I would like, I wanted to make sure that my word choices were exact and my information clear.

I hope that if you have a need to share this information with potential patients, you will think of me.

I am struck that the vast majority of people who really count themselves wildly successful, beyond the dreams of many acupuncture students, are people who love both the business and the acupuncture side.  Those that are successful and making a living doing what they love may love just being an acupuncturist.  It takes some time to decide who you are and what you want.

One woman that I see as very energetic doesn’t see herself that way but she was bound and determined to be successful as a practitioner and she is.  She got there within a few months of being out of school because she wasn’t going to let anything limit her chances of making it.   Other people took longer.  Still others worked very hard, took some time but made long term plans that included not just working for themselves and seeing one person an hour but figured out ways to leverage their working hours by seeing more patients or by taking on other practitioners.  The advantage of this is clear.  The employer made more money per hour.  The downside, of course, is that the work isn’t all about acupuncture any longer.  It’s a business.

I don’t think there is any one way to run a business. There’s no one way to go about your practice or find a niche or see patients.  There are many ways.  There are certain things the successful people do in one way shape or form.  Eric Grey, who has a successful practice at Watershed Wellness Center is setting up a year long acupuncture business course.  If you are an acupuncturist don’t have a waiting list or are frustrated with things you barely understand in business, consider looking at his offering.  It’s based on Classical Chinese Medicine too, so you can work and live the philosophy which is so important to people.  Check it out.

Mauricio Quintana, writes about the Wisdom of enough in Chinese Medicine over at Deepest Health.  I love this post because it’s a great reminder about balance, about acceptance and about the concept of not too little and not too much.  The article is definitely worth a read.

My goals for 2013 aren’t so dissimilar.  I hope to write another five books. I want to get at least four of the books from last year published via indie publishing.  I also want to take at least one class from Dean Wesley Smith and Kristine Kathryn Rusch.  I’m working on getting this site changed to a business site.  I want to do more editing.  As I’m an acupuncturist and an English major, that means I have the skills and knowledge to work with complementary healthcare providers.  I’m hopeful that I’ll even be able to outline a coaching program that allows me to help people through writing their book. You know, someone to be accountable to so you have to get that done and the writing doesn’t fall by the wayside.

I’m also setting myself a goal of at least four of six virtual retreats held at Heart of Business. I love those and love the insights that comes from them.

What are you hoping to do?

Here’s the thing, fat is a symptom.  Any acupuncturist should know that, but how many fall into the category of labeling someone negatively because their body is fat.  What if that’s their only symptom?  Do we label people with high blood pressure as their only health symptom in the same way?  Yes, granted, people who are very obese are often in the office for a range of symptoms. So are a lot of other patients.  Do we think of the fat people as different.

I find it interesting that even presenting the fact that fat may be an underlying symptom of something else, which is why dieting so often doesn’t work (read the research articles here), that people immediately jump on the calories in and calories out bandwagon.  Gary Taubes talks about that myth in both of his books. You don’t have to agree that some calories are better than others (he’s a low carb guy, high veggie guy), but you can see in the studies that calories are not quite the building blocks of fat that we’ve been led to believe.

Okay, let’s be clear. I’m not about to throw the baby out with the bath water.  Calories may play a part. They may not. What we need to do is look at the overall picture. If you have someone who has a ton of stasis particularly around their middle, no amount of calorie counting will make a difference. That’s not going to move.  Damp, which manifests as fat, often comes with stasis.  What might start as creating some damp (or fat) ends up snowballing into stasis making it ever more difficult for the fat person to lose weight without heroic efforts, like gastric bypass or starvation level diets.

As someone who tends towards qi deficiency and damp, believe me I get it.  Although I was still quite heavy on my one Weight Watcher’s foray I ended up down at their minimum level of points.  I couldn’t go any lower, even though I was one week into the program.  That kind of starvation means that ultimately after finishing the program I gained it all back (simply because it wasn’t possible to live on such a low calorie diet) and then some.

Heading out to an acupuncturist to say hey, I know there’s something wrong because I’ve historically been able to eat these foods and not gain weight and now I am, I wasn’t just stagnant (my tendency) but had huge amounts of stasis, leading to ever more damp and of course fat.  I’m not losing weight.  I’ve actually gained a few holiday pounds (well duh) but I’m eating more.  I’m eating more than I ever did and maintaining weight, which I wasn’t doing before this.  Something has changed. Yes, I have a ways to go. My goal?  To lose thirty pounds. When I do that, I’ll consider if I want to lose those extra ten or twenty that I always wanted to lose.  Or maybe I’ll be in a place where I can really love my body exactly where it is.

You see, that’s the biggest thing.  Because everyone can see fat in a way they can’t see high blood pressure, everyone thinks it’s okay to comment on fat.  I’m horrified by what the women on the Fat Blogs put up with in their daily lives.  I’m horrified at what they have tried to do to lose weight.  I think about the eating disorders I see in my practice. They’re clearly connected.  We need to stop stigmatizing fat and start realizing that it’s a symptom of underlying issues, that just trying to lose weight won’t solve. We need to move the focus back to health. As practitioners who see the whole person, who understand balance and imbalance, acupuncturists should be on the front lines in this one.