No Man is an Island-- My 1st Book was Realized With Help from Many

“How can I move the crowd; first of all, ain’t no mistakes allowed….Cause I like to move the crowd.”
Rakim

Enjoy this Backstage Pass to the creation of my first book, "Move the Crowd: 30 Days of Hip Hop Affirmations to Change Your Life (www.runthepoint.com/products).

This page is dedicated to all those who have a dream and just don’t know how to get started or who have started but are at a standstill. My hope is that my journey serves as fuel for you to keep in pursuit of your dream. Below is a backstage pass into some of the struggles and roadblocks that could have prevented this book from being created. More importantly, it’s about how others have come together to help me realize a dream. I am forever grateful. “Go for yours, cause dreams come true.” ~Slick Rick

The concept for the book:

I had a vague idea that I wanted to combine my love of hip hop lyrics and my positive outlook on life. I originally started out trying to work with one of my good friends but that did not work out. I kept moving forward on and off with no real direction. One Sunday I was sitting in church and the words I needed to hear came to me. The pastor announced there would be a music section in this year’s Vacation Bible School hosted by our very own minister Emmett Price. The focus would be on hip hop. It was a sign from God so I moved forward, introduced myself to Minister Price and volunteered to work with him during Vacation Bible School. He turned out to be an unbelievable resource. He motivated me to move forward with my project, served as my editor and most importantly he held me accountable to my vision.

Front and Back Cover of the Book:

Me and Don at my first book signing

As I moved toward creation of my book, I was given a challenge to complete seven chapters that I could use as a Christmas gift. As I prepared to send out my draft, I had one of my good friends Don Sawyer take a look at what I was working on. I had a basic cover with my name and title of the book. No graphics at this time. During a phone conversation he said, “Is that what you are going to use as a cover?” I replied, “Yeah, it’s just a sample.” He remained silent and in a few hours he sent me a cover he created. It wasn’t exactly what I was looking for, so he took my feedback and then came back with the “HOT” cover you see before you today. Besides refusing to allow me to pay him for his company’s work, Harlem Son Enterprises (harlem.son@gmail.com), he raised the bar on the information that had to live between those covers. Thanks Don P.

Copyright:

One of my biggest challenges was figuring out if I could legally use the lyrics the way I wanted to. Without that piece all the writing could have been for naught. While flipping through my alumni magazine I noticed a picture of an alumnus who works in the music industry. I contacted my Alma Mater and asked to be connected with the music executive. Several weeks went by and I was not able to connect with him. To my surprise, my contact at the school, Josh Truman, had been working to find me another source. He gave me a call with a new contact who he actually knew personally. I was quickly in touch with my new contact and shared what I was working on and my copyright concerns. He put my mind at ease that the limited amount of information I would be using from the song and the way that I would be using it, would not have any legal ramifications. With that information in hand I moved forward with more confidence. Thanks for working for me Josh!

The Website:
Luis Inoa

His family: L to R- Mateo, Tito, Cha-Cha, Sara

I wanted a website to house my business and future book. I bought the name and got a yahoo account. The next step was to actually create the website. I tried it myself, but I knew I needed the help of someone with more expertise. While telling one of my friends and fraternity brother, Luis, about what I was trying to do, he quickly said, “I’ll do it for you.” I quickly told him that I must pay him out of my philosophy that “value deserves value.” He refused to accept my money. He simply made a request that I come and spend a weekend with him and his family. I accepted and a website was born. Thanks to Luis for the website; Ev, Sara, Tito, Mateo and Cha-Cha for allowing Macaroni to be part of the family.

The Printing and Formatting:

To my unbelievable contacts (Andrew, Leeann) at Kinko’s in Shrewsbury, MA for the dedication above and beyond the call of duty. I have to give a very special thank you to Ramia and Amira who kept me from taking my first run elsewhere.