From idea to side: The students write books about economics and climate activism during a pandemic

By Randall Perry On Apr 11, 2021

As if essay writing for class wasn’t enough, three Duke students spent a year of their undergraduate careers writing books.

These student writers took part in the Creator Institute, a program run by Georgetown Professor Eric Koester that helps structure the book-writing process for aspiring authors of all ages. Koester’s LinkedIn profile states that his “mission is to create 10,000 new writers over the next 10 years”.

Junior Joy Reeves’ book, Growing Up: Finding Unity in Climate Activism Across Generations, was published in July 2020. Reeves described the book as “a story about how activists of all generations can find common ground through environmental activism. instead of finding points that separate and separate us. ”

Reeves pondered many of the ideas in her book for years, but the opportunity to write a book came as a surprise. When Koester Reeves posted a message on LinkedIn asking if she was interested in the Creator Institute, she took it as a sign.

Junior Joy Reeves’ book, Growing Up: Finding Unity in Climate Activism Across Generations, was published in July 2020.

“This was a once in a lifetime opportunity and I decided writing was something I really wanted to pursue for a while,” Reeves said.

Senior Barbara Euripides’ book, Brain, Beauty, Boss: The Ultimate Guide for Women in the Workplace, was published in December 2020. The book, which focuses on empowering women in the workplace, includes interviews with more than 20 women who have appeared on the Forbes 30 under 30 list.

Euripides never thought she would become a published author. She had just got home from a semester abroad when Koester wrote to her on LinkedIn to tell her about the Creator Institute. At first Euripides thought she was way too busy to write a book, but a phone call to Koester convinced her to give the project a try.

Unlike Reeves and Euripides, Junior Rohin Shahi wrote his first book in the summer before starting high school. Though ultimately not published, the fantasy coming-of-age novel marked the beginning of Shahi’s journey as a book author.

Shahi came up with the idea for his recently published book “The Z-Factor: How to Make Gen Z Successful in the Workplace” while talking to a professor who commented on how much the students had changed in recent years. The book, which was published in December 2019, focuses on giving older generations insight into Generation Z’s habits and skills in the workplace.

Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox

While Euripides, Reeves, and Shahi all agreed that it was sometimes difficult to balance research and writing with their academic schedules, they said that the structure of the Creator Institute’s program helped split tasks and the whole company less disheartening to make.

Euripides said she had benefited from scheduled Zoom meetings where participants in the Creator Institute program would “just sit in zoom rooms, turn off cameras and write”.

“The program was very well structured. It felt so good to know that other people have written with you, ”said Euripides.

Reeves said that while most of the project was great fun, she sometimes struggled to balance writing with course assignments, especially towards the end of the process.

“There were some very stressful nights, some very tight deadlines towards the end,” Reeves said.

Shahi said he was able to get most of his rough draft done in a few weeks of hard work, but most of his time was spent on research and interviews to make sure his claims were backed up with reality.

Aside from the heavy workload, all three authors said they found the writing process very meaningful and fulfilling.

Reeves said her favorite part of the writing process was interviewing scientists, activists, and experts about their travels. With Reeves doing most of her research before the pandemic broke out, she was able to travel, attend rallies, and speak face-to-face with some of her interview topics.

Euripides echoed Reeves, saying that one of her favorite parts of the process was interviewing women from the Forbes 30 under 30 list. She was surprised and inspired by how quickly and willingly the women she contacted agreed to be interviewed for her book.

“These are strong successful women who want to help other women become successful. It really showed me that this community is powerful and inclusive, ”she said.

The Creator Institute’s program works with New Degree Press, which operates on a hybrid publishing model, explained Reeves. As part of the model, the authors retain full ownership of their books and use a crowdsourcing platform to raise enough money to produce the book, including bookbinding and cover design.

Shahi said he appreciated the program’s release process because it allowed him to focus more on his writing than logistical issues.

“I got an editor, an editor, and someone to help me design the book cover, which really got me through the process so that I could focus more on the writing than on all the other things,” said Shahi.

Two weeks after Euripides’ book was published and published on Amazon, where it became number one in the college guides category, she received a box of printed copies of the book at her home.

“It was one of the best moments of my whole life. I realized, “Wow, all the late nights I wrote and built into my schedule in the middle of the global pandemic were worth it,” Euripides said. “It shows you how big the community is that supports you and how many people have been there to help. It was a euphoric feeling. ”

Shahi, on the other hand, said it was “a very bittersweet feeling” to receive copies of his finished book.

“I’ll be completely honest here. I felt like the actual pursuit of writing the book was more fun than actually holding it in my hands. Yes, I was very glad I did, but it was equal parts relief and ‘what now? ‘”Said Shahi.

For each of the three authors, the publication of a book was not the end of the journey. Reeves works with a duke professor to teach small seminars on science communication, which is the focus of a section of her book. Euripides spoke virtually to women in business associations at several universities.

“I absolutely love the entire follow-up process of the book because I can talk about some of my greatest lessons from the women I interviewed,” said Euripides. She explained that one of her favorite parts of these events is getting feedback from attendees who have experienced some of the challenges that Euripides describes in her book.

“As I say at the very end of my book, when a person reads this book and becomes a better version of themselves or becomes more confident, that’s all I want,” she said.

Since the publication of his book, Shahi has conducted lectures, podcast interviews and small pro bono consultancy work for various companies.

In the future he hopes to be able to write follow-up articles and newsletters in order to keep in touch with his community of readers. Since his book was written and published prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, he is particularly keen to write about Generation Z’s work habits and skills during the pandemic.

“A lot of people assume that because we grew up with technology, Gen Z wants that technology to be the focus of our work. And that’s true to a certain extent. But what’s really interesting is that Gen Z, more than other generations in the past, prefers face-to-face communication in the workplace, ”said Shahi.

He noted that this created problems for many members of the generation during the pandemic, as many employers and educators shifted operations to an entirely virtual format.

The three students agreed that they had grown significantly as authors and as people while writing their books.

“Before I wrote this book, I didn’t have the confidence to believe that my ideas were good enough to share on such a scale,” Reeves said. “After the exhausting writing process and the really fulfilling interview process and all the support I got with it, all of this has helped me get really confident about the work that I can produce, even its imperfections … I think this is just the beginning of my creative career and I am very grateful for that. “