(This blog post is a slightly revised excerpt from Change the World One Book at a Time: Make a Positive and Meaningful Difference with Your Words by Nina Amir, which will be released January 6, 2026, by Books That Save Lives. Preorder a copy here, and receive a free course!)

Authors serve as change agents when they write books intentionally meant to inspire and motivate readers to new action, promote a cause, or start a movement. No matter your genre—poetry, fiction, nonfiction, memoir—you can make a positive and meaningful difference with your words.

In fact, right now the world needs writers like you to produce books that provide sorely needed solutions and answers. We need more “Authors of Change” to encourage readers to join causes and movements and take new action that creates a ripple effect of transformation in all arenas—personal, political, organizational, national, and global.

You Can Make a Difference

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You need no expertise to look at the world and exclaim, “We need change…now!” Anyone can see that transformation is a necessity—almost everywhere and in every situation. Yet, it’s easy to fall into apathy and a sense of powerlessness. You might tell yourself, “I can’t make a difference. I’m just one person. The problem is too large.” Or “I’m nobody…no one knows who I am. I won’t be able to influence anyone or anything. Few people, if any, will read my book.”

Here’s the truth of the matter: if you have a solution to even one small problem, you can make a significant difference. If you have the answer to just one question or a strategy that works for you in a specific situation, you can have a positive impact. This fact is especially true for writers.

This moment in time is filled with opportunities for writers to repair even a small piece of what’s broken in the world. With the technology available, you can choose a vehicle—a print, audio, or digital book—and set about impacting your target audience. You no longer need to wait for permission or ask a gatekeeper to get your message heard by those who need it most.

A Necessary Three-Step Process for Authoring Change

However, to author change, you must possess more than the ability to put words on paper or complete the publishing process. You need more than passion, purpose, inspiration, motivation, a cause, or a sense of calling. You need the courage and energy to take bold and consistent action as well.

Specifically, becoming an Author of Change requires completing a three-step process.

1. Activate change in your life and understand how to inspire it in the lives of others.
2. Motivate others to join your movement or take different action.
3. Write a transformational book and get it in the hands of your readers.

Why These Steps are Essential for Writing for Change

All three parts are essential if you want to write a book that can change the world. Let me explain why.

First, your life must become a reflection of the transformation about which you want to write. You must become someone who can lead a movement and inspire others to join it. You must understand change and how to motivate people to do things differently, and you need to transform yourself into an author.

Second, you need to take your mission or cause into the world. You have to create a community of like-minded people eager and willing to join your movement, try your strategies or solutions, or behave in ways you propose. You initiate your mission by inviting people to become part of it via your website, online activity, speaking, and any tool that gathers interested people around your cause. Your community gives you the ability to market your book effectively before and after publication—and for many years after.

Third, you must write a book that will sell. If it sells, it gets read, and the impact of your message grows. Additionally, you must compose a manuscript that moves readers to take the action you recommend.

Only with these three pieces in place can you successfully author change. While these steps don’t have to be completed in chronological order, your book stands a better chance of success if you have already created transformation in your life or that of others, stepped into a leadership role, and attracted an audience ready and willing to purchase the book. Also, you’ll write a better book—one targeted at the needs of your reader—after time spent with and in your community. That experience informs your book’s content.

Step Up and Into Your Best Writing Self

The world needs people like you. That’s why now is the time to write your book—not later. You feel the intense internal push to make a difference. Personal, business, or world circumstances have increased the intensity of your desire to act. Sometimes you think your book must be released this moment…or it will be too late.

You may hesitate. But think of all the reluctant leaders throughout history, such as Moses, Jonah, George Washington, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Thomas Beckett, and King George VI. Like them, you may believe you don’t know enough, have too little experience, lack leadership ability, or have no expert status. You may think you communicate haltingly, which makes you an unqualified candidate to share an important message. After all, who are you to lead a movement or suggest new strategies, right?

In reality, who are you not to lead a movement? As Marianne Williamson so aptly wrote in A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of A Course in Miracles: “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, ‘Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?’ Actually, who are you not to be? …Your playing small does not serve the world…”

Someone Needs Your Book…Now!

I get it. Like you, I have struggled with the same negative thoughts and beliefs, ones that stopped me in my tracks while writing. I have lacked courage. But here’s what I know: you are the right person to share your message. You know this, too. It may feel egotistical to say that to yourself, but no one else can tell your story, provide your solution, or inspire others in the same way. Only you can write your book. So, admit it: it is your book to write.

You also know you need to write the book and get it in readers’ hands sooner rather than later. After all, what would happen—or not happen—if you never wrote your book? Who would you fail to impact, and what would be the result of that fact? Do these people need your book in two years or right now?

Realizing the necessity of writing your book doesn’t mean you should rush the process. In fact, the opposite is true, as successful authorship does not happen overnight. Take steps toward becoming an Author of Change deliberately, carefully, and patiently. Little by little, step into being a leader and change agent, build your community, and produce a viable manuscript.

As you do so, remember: someone needs your book. More than likely, many people need to read your book. In fact, they want and seek the inspiration and specific strategies you can provide. Each time you hesitate, stammer, or question the value you offer, you fail to provide the information they seek and force them to continue searching for the tips, tools, and answers necessary for transformation.

Just Start

I know becoming an Author of Change feels like a big, scary, and demanding task. However, the moment you take even one small-but-bold action toward completing your manuscript and publishing your book, you possess the courage to continue. You need only start.

How long ago did the idea for your book pop into your head? When did your passion and purpose collide, leaving you feeling inspired to action? Yesterday? A year ago? Two, three, four (or more) years ago? Don’t feel bad about yourself because you have not written or published your book yet. And don’t allow disappointment in yourself or a belief that you have already failed stop you from authoring change.

Not this time. Not now.

Do something different. Take bold and inspired action. Be an Author of Change.

What type of change do you want to write about? Tell me in a comment below, and preorder your copy of Change the World One Book at a Time. Also, please share this post with a writer who would benefit from reading it.

Image courtesy of lightfieldstudios.