Eyeworld

24 Ophthalmology Business • December 2017 word out about the book, do promo- tions, and go to different conferences to sell the book. Dr. Okeke encouraged others to give real consideration to writing a book even if they think this may be difficult to fit in with their current responsibilities. She has a husband and three children who were 7 and younger at the time. "I had a busy life and I'm a full-time physician and the lead glaucoma specialist at our practice," she said. "If your passion is there, it can be done." Ultimately, there is nothing like holding the finished book in your hand, know- ing that the concept you have had for years is now an actual entity, Dr. Okeke said. "It came from you, and it's a wonderful feeling and well worth the effort." OB Contact information Okeke: iglaucoma@gmail.com back from multiple levels," she said, adding that this enabled her to write a book that was appealing to a wide range of audiences. Getting published Dr. Okeke started looking for a pub- lisher toward the beginning of the process, before she started writing intensively. "I had a passion, a con- cept, a good outline, and an under- standing that it was a good topic before I went to the publisher," she said. "When I looked for a publisher, I went to those that I was familiar with in terms of books that I owned." She went to those publishers and told them about her book idea and asked if this was something they would be interested in publishing. While self-publishing is also an option, Dr. Okeke pointed out that you don't have as many resources to market your book if you go that route. A publisher can help get the doing most of my writing in the evening hours after I put the kids to bed," Dr. Okeke said. "I wanted to make sure that I had time for my family, so it wasn't something I did every night, but there were certain nights of the week that my husband knew I was going to want to write." There were also some times, such as when her husband traveled, that Dr. Okeke burned the midnight oil trying to get writing done. "Because I was passionate about it, this wasn't a chore," she said. She encourages practitioners to share their manuscript with others in the field. "I utilized a number of beta readers," she said. "Beta readers are people who read your finished prod- uct and give feedback, and that could change the course of the book." She received feedback from practitioners who ranged from ophthalmology residents and optometry interns to glaucoma specialists. "I had feed- continued from page 23

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