Life has been so busy, 2 festivals on the run ( Minety and 2000 Trees) with a third this coming weekend (Electric Bay) and with every moment in between spent working on my book – Rethinking Retirement for Positive Ageing.
Routledge have a slick process to publishing … last Wednesday I got 17 separate word files with all the chapters of my book. It had gone through the copy-editing process and now it was my time to review.
I first read through where I could see all the changes and comments. Most were straightforward to deal with.
There was a lot less than I’d expected. Over the years my writing has improved, I have more clarity of thought.
I then read each chapter again, this time without any editing marks showing. It brought to light some other revisions. These were minor, but I set high standards and want this book to be as good as can be.
Finally, I went through the list I had been making of when I refer to an earlier chapter to ensure it linked well. I carefully reviewed different chapters together, this needed completely silence and attention to focus on the task.
I liked what I was reading!
And at 20.45 on Tuesday evening, I’m done.
For now.
No time for a break, I now need to work on the index.
But I will take a break this weekend, Electric Bay festival is in Torquay, and I’m staying at a B&B, so I get some walks on the beach and some time to embrace how far I’ve come.
4 years ago, aged 60, I’d been offered a place to study, completed my first vision quest and had decided on what I was going to research.
I did the research, wrote my thesis, was awarded my doctorate and then set out a proposal for this book.
And Routledge said yes.
Publication date is 8 November.
Marketing ideas to come next … I will be looking to get the word out, talking at events (online and in person) so if you know any organisations who would welcome a talk from me on rethinking retirement and positive ageing, do let me know. I’m open to talks with HR, guests on podcasts, talking to where people in their 50s hang out. Might I get to be a speaker on a cruise ship? Maybe? A book tour seems interesting too.
The cover is finalised and I love the way the title has been set out; I can’t wait to see how the inside will look. The PDF of the laid-out book will be with me in just over 2 weeks. My final chance to spot anything that needs changing. I plan for a week in nature for this final read through with time to also plan how to make the content into a group event.
Publication blurb
Rethinking Retirement for Positive Ageing is a practical guide that shows you how to make retirement successful, based on the most up-to-date research available. It encourages a deeper and wider view of retirement and reveals how retirement can be a time of transition, renewal and re-imagination.
Written by career coach Dr Denise Taylor, it considers the psychological factors that impact a successful adjustment to retirement and offers a deeper analysis of how people can find meaning and purpose after full-time work. It examines retirement as an event that often brings about great changes in a person’s personal and social life, and how to move forward with meaning in life. Illustrated with interviews, activities and case studies, and with exercises and questions for reflection, it covers key topics including identity, health, well-being, finances and relationships.
This insightful guidebook is for all prospective and current retirees as well as employers, careers professionals and counsellors who want to help people reflect on their approaches to retirement.
Review
Dr. Denise Taylor provides you a roadmap along an unexplored path from relationships to health, self and wealth that allows you to be open to discover meaning in the process of re-imagining retirement.
Kerry Hannon, workplace futurist, Yahoo Finance senior columnist and bestselling author of In Control at 50+: How to Succeed in the New World of Work
This practical and inspirational book couldn’t be more timely. With the changes we have seen in recent times to pensions, health and the world of work, we urgently need to set our outdated assumptions of what retirement should be aside if we are to truly make the most of twenty-first century life expectancies.
Catherine Foot, Director of Longevity Think Tank, Phoenix Insights
Dr Denise Taylor has written an outstanding blueprint with practical ideas to help you navigate your journey in later life. A personal roadmap designed for you.
Lynda Smith, Longevity Advocate, South Africa
About the Author
Denise Taylor started a series of changes and transitions at age 60 which began with regaining her own identity by becoming single after 39 years of marriage. She completed a Vision Quest 18 months later, a 10-day Rites of Passage in nature including four days and nights on a ‘solo’ with no tent and no food. This led to her interest in transitions, particularly the later life transition around retirement. Dr Taylor returned to study, 30 years after gaining an MSc in Occupational Psychology, and at 64, has gained her doctorate and built on her reputation as an expert in helping people find work after 50. Her research has given her expert standing in how to have a successful retirement.
