You could hardly find a better time to write a book. On every level, 2020 shook the world out of its familiar patterns of operation. Nowhere is this truer than in the area of how we do business.
You could have several compelling reasons to write a book.
- Your business has created and successfully implemented new methods for managing your remote office work situation.
- You’ve discovered new ways to reach customers, via creative use of blogs, newsletters, AI, and other forms of communication.
- You’ve organized successful online conferences and retreats.
These are only a few possibilities.
Maybe you’re a visionary with a gift of anticipating trends. With your picture of the future in mind, you have a number of ideas for restructuring aspects of your business to meet anticipated needs.
You could feel the passage of time and want to preserve your story In a memoir, to share your life lessons. Two of my clients just completed their memoirs, including Jerry Guyden and Janet Folk. Jerry shared how he shaped the lives of graduate students who thrived In his lab, and Janet presented a picture of thriving In a male-dominated Industry
Other business leaders want to know about whatever you have to contribute. The times demand increased cooperation and sharing of ideas.
“But I Can’t Write a Book.”
This argument gets weaker with every technological advance. I know a man who dictatd his book on the train going to and from work. In a year, this can yield enough material for a book.
I had a potential client who asked me if she could narrate her chapters and have me turn them into a book. I assured her that I could, and I have done this kind of work on many occasions.
Maybe You’ve Already Written a Book
You might be surprised how quickly blog posts can add up to book-length material. If your blog is 500-800 words in length, and you write one weekly, that’s 2000-3200 words a month. A year’s worth of blogs comes out to 24,400 to 38,400 words. These are decent size books.
We tend to be conditioned by the idea that books are long, 400-500 pages, which depending on page and type size, can log in at over 100,000 words. In reality, as people’s attention spans have contracted, books have gotten shorter. A 100-page book, which can run from 24,000 to 30+ thousand words in length, is thick enough to have a spine, which you want in your print version. E-books can be as short as you want.
Most business books are getting shorter.
Your blog posts have already landed you at the low end of that range. Editing and expansion of key ideas can move the text into the higher range.
“But I Don’t Know How to Organize That Material.”
Enter the developmental editor. These are experts who have the gift of looking at your material with fresh eyes and organizing it into a comprehensive and compelling book.
If you go the dictation route, a ghostwriter can interview you by asking key questions. In this format, both the questions they ask and the completeness of the answers you give are what makes or breaks the value of your book, as does the ease of communication between the two of you. Once they’ve gathered the material, they will organize and edit it in much the way that a developmental editor does.
Result: A Book of Which You Can Be Proud
And that book can make a difference in your industry. You can take additional pride in the contribution you make.
Another benefit worth mentioning is that by focusing on particular subjects related to your business or business developments in general, you will discover even more ideas. The questions a ghostwriter asks may spark creativity. The way an editor rearranges your thoughts may have the same result.
You could also become hooked on writing books. And that’s not a bad thing.
Pat Iyer has written over 60 books, and loves to see her clients share their hard-won knowledge. See the image above for some of her books.
