Monday, December 7, 2015
By Laura L. Bush, Ph.D.
If there’s a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.
—Toni Morrison, Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winning author
My advice about why you should write and finish your book is brief. Why? Because I want you to get the benefits of finishing your book without spending any more valuable time thinking about writing or trying to get to the writing. I just want you to finish your book. As Yoda says, “Do or do not. There is no try.”
So here are the top 5 reasons you should write and finish your book:
- To Clarify and Organize Your Expertise
If you’re an expert in relationships, health, fitness, business, finances, marketing, leadership, or some other area, you likely refer clients to books that have been useful for you. But none of them fully express YOUR unique experience, perspective, techniques, or wisdom. Besides that, until you get serious about clarifying and organizing your own expertise, you won’t be clear about your real value—for yourself or other people—and you won’t have an organized structure for sharing your expertise.
- To Establish and Reinforce Your Credibility
A book is actually a long writing assignment you give yourself. The rewards are great once you’ve finished it, but finishing a book takes real commitment—so most people don’t do it. That’s one big reason authoring a book establishes your credibility in other people’s minds. Your book demonstrates your ability, willingness, and staying power to think through your ideas, write them down, and share them in a way that they can be read, used, and scrutinized by others.
- To Market and Sell What You Have to Offer
A well-written book provides you one of the most valuable tools you can use to share and market your expertise for others. With a book you can sell what you have to offer in print and online for national or even international audiences. Customers and current or potential clients will buy your book as a resource. It also reassures them that you know what you’re talking about, especially when you can say things like, “In my book, I explain how . . .”
- To Get Endorsements and Speaking Opportunities
As part of your marketing strategy, you’ll seek testimonials from reviewers, other experts, and influencers in your field. These testimonials will be printed on your book cover, as well as in any press or media releases. If you have a website, you can also use testimonials there. Endorsements from experts who’ve read your book or know your work always increase your odds of getting more and better speaking opportunities (and more clients). Speaking itself is one of the most valuable methods for sharing your expertise and increasing your client base. At speaking engagements, you can also leverage testimonials from audience members as added social proof of your value.
- To Package and Distribute Your Valuable Knowledge and Expertise
If you’re considering writing a book, you’re a person who knows you have something unique and valuable to offer the world, whether from your training, education, and/or experience. You know you can help others or spare them from mistakes you’ve made, offering solutions to problems you’ve already worked out. Your book, written from your perspective and in your voice, could be the resource that gives another person hope, answers, and power in their life. From my perspective, that’s the very best reason for writing and finishing your book.
With all my best for your success,
Laura L. Bush
laurabushphd@gmail.com