In 2006, I wrote New Father’s Guide: How to Survive 42 Days Without Sex as a gift for one of my friends expecting the birth of his first daughter. As I was sitting at a couple’s shower for my friend and his wife, I realized that all the gifts are geared for women and the baby (as they should be). I wanted to give something fun to my friend. After looking for books at a local bookstore and not finding anything, I decided to create my own. It was important to me to keep the book’s content as PG-13 as possible.
I started brainstorming ideas, got a few suggestions from friends and then enlisted the help of a graphic designer friend to help layout the pages and another friend to help me with editing. I ended up self-publishing the book at Lulu.com. I don’t want to overstate the scope of the project. I’m calling it a book but it’s something you can read in one bathroom sitting.
It was a fun project and I learned a lot about book publishing.
I’m proud to say that I delivered a signed copy of the book to my friend at the hospital right after his daughter was born.
Over the years, I sold a few copies at NewFathersGuide.com and gave some others out to friends and family. If you’re looking for a gag gift for a new father, feel free to drop me a line. I still have a few copies of the book lying around.
You can see a sample layout to the left and download a full .pdf of the book for free here.