I’m not a fan of absolutes. So I naturally hate it when someone says everyone should do something. But here is the one exception.
Everyone should write a book.
Here’s the thing about writing a book: it is the best thing you can create. Why? A book is the ultimate Swiss-Army knife. You can do absolutely whatever you want with it.
Writing a book is one thing you can do to really set yourself apart from everyone else.
I don’t care if you officially publish it. That’s honestly up to you. Maybe your book would work better first as a course. I’ve seen that approach used quite a few times. For example, Donald Miller had a conference and a course before he ever created his book Building A Story Brand.
A book can become the basis for your content marketing. Emails. Blog posts. Social media. You name it. A book is a mountain of content that you can share with other people. People may not have time to digest an entire book. That’s fine! Give them smaller samples in different forms via repurposing.
You can write a book, even if you don’t consider yourself to be a writer. No typewriter, sweater or pipe required. All you need is a notebook and pencil or a word processor. That’s it!
No one will ever anoint you as a writer. There’s no secret handshake or club. Author Steven Pressfield says that you’re a writer when you say you’re a writer. Other people will say you’re a writer when you’ve written a book.
The Secret No One Tells You
Here’s a secret I wish someone told me years ago: It doesn’t even have to be a long book. Here’s a secret that people rarely talk about: a lot of people like short books. Believe it or not, my first book, Ready Aim Fire, was only around 12,000 words or so.
That being said, Ready Aim Fire wasn’t one of those books that is really a blog post in disguise. It was 12,000 words long but those words carry the weight of a 50,000-word book. Best of all, my first book wasn’t about me. It was actually about the reader. We all need to get better with achieving our goals. We all need to get better with creating habits and finishing projects.
Make no mistake, the book Ready Aim Fire completely changed my life. It really became my manifesto of sorts and is the foundation for everything I’ve achieved in my career.
I still remember opening that box revealing my book for the first time. I was in my daughter’s room. I couldn’t believe how it looked and what it felt like to hold it in my hands.
That book helped me get out of debt and build a readership. It landed me freelance opportunities and honestly is the one thing that really jumpstarted my writing career. I was moving from a 14-year accounting career to a writing career. I still pinch myself when I think about that.
It’s easy to do what’s comfortable and easy. It’s easy to maintain the status quo. I truly thought I was trapped in my accounting job. I didn’t know I could get out. I thought I’d have to keep hustling in the margins forever by writing before work and after work. I was wrong.
The ultimate way to shake things up is to write a book. A book is a master key that unlocks a lot of doors.
Writing a book is the single most powerful thing you can do if you want to have some serious impact.
The hard truth is that not many people write books. According to New York Times writer Joseph Epstein, 81 percent of Americans feel that they have a book in them. But of that 81 percent, only .5 (half of one percent) actually write a book.
Being an author opens doors that are not available to everyone else.
Whether or not you make much money from your book sales alone is irrelevant. By writing a productivity book, I landed a gig working with one of the biggest productivity websites in the world. You can’t make this up!
Writing a book gave me the authority to become a productivity coach. And I found myself working at a major productivity blog for several years too.
But that’s just me. How about you?
Let’s say you want to start a business.
I know of many examples of individuals who wrote books to build their own business. Tim Grahl immediately comes to mind. He wanted to help people with book launches, and he wrote the book, Your First 1,000 Copies. Boom. He gave away thousands and thousands of copies of this book that helps writers sell books. And he also found many, many clients that way. Using a book as a funnel of sorts is super smart. Just make sure to provide a lot of value. Don’t make it a salesy webinar in text form or it will surely backfire. You don’t need lots of calls to action in a book for some up-sell or something like that. That’s annoying and means the book doesn’t stand on it’s own.
Maybe you want to be a speaker. Becoming an author is an no-brainer. Maybe you want to be a coach or provide some kind of service. Look at the example above. It definitely works.
Maybe you just want to write a book because you want to write a book.
That’s a great reason. But I would challenge you to dig deeper and think of even more reasons why you want to write a book. Come up with a list that includes as many reasons as possible. Writing a book can be a lot of fun. But there will be a few times when you’re thinking… what the heck am I doing? Shoot, I’ve written four books and I STILL ask that question. Your list of reasons is very powerful and will help keep you moving forward.
It’s time to get started. You absolutely should write a book. What’s your next step? I’m glad you asked!
How To Start Your Own Book
After you write down your list of reasons you want to write a book, figure out what kind of book you want to write. If possible, figure out the genre. Is it non-fiction? Is it a memoir? Maybe it’s a thriller. Go to your bookshelves or your local library and find three books you really like that have the same vibe as the book you want to write.
Take some notes on those books. Reread those books. The answers to the book you want to write often lie in your favorite books. Those books are your favorites for very good reason. Plus, you’re not starting out with a totally blank page. You’re creating a blueprint of sorts for your book. That’s where I would recommend starting. You’re really just doing some fun research and brainstorming, so keep it fun. This is not calculus or rocket science.
Repeat after me: start simple, and keep it fun.
If you’re still not sure, that’s totally cool too. Just exploring your bookshelves and finding your favorite books is always a great place to start. Consider your list of reasons you want to write a book too.
Need some more help? No problem! Fire me an email, and we can set up a free 15-minute chat at your convenience. You absolutely can write a book. And you really should! You’ve got a great story that needs to be shared.
Jim Woods is a writer who loves helping others bring their story into the world. He’s written four books and has worked with authors such as Jon Acuff, Mike Vardy, Courtney Carver, Eric Ries, and Gretchen Rubin.
👋🏼 P.S. — Want to know how you can blog, write a book and build a platform at the same time?
