Why should I write a book?

Somewhere along the way, someone may have told you that you should write a book. Or maybe you know someone who wrote a book and saw the doors that opened for them. Or maybe you just love books and you have a story or wisdom you want to share, and so you’ve thought about writing a book.

At the same time, you may also have doubted yourself. Obviously, writing a book is no small task, and while it’s nice to say that you’ve written a book, you may ask yourself if you should. Why should you write a book?

A story from the automotive industry

In 1984, Chrysler Chairman Lee Iacocca, who had successfully helped save ailing Chrysler, wrote a book. It became a bestseller, and it helped make him even more of a household name. A few years later, a spoiled rich kid who had used his dad’s money to get into the real estate business wrote a book as he was on his way up, and it made him a household name and cemented his fame and fortune, which in turn helped him when he ran for president. You may have heard of him: Donald Trump. It seems that anyone who is anyone in business has written a book: Jack Welch, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Tony Robbins, etc. The list goes on.

So, let’s face it. Even though you're not Bill Gates or Jack Welch or Tony Robbins, that doesn’t mean you can’t gain a lot from writing a book about yourself or your business. Writing a book is even seen as an essential task if you want to make a name for yourself as a consultant, trainer, speaker, or motivator. Try to hold seminars on your sales philosophy or your secret to business success without having a book to go along with it and see what happens.

Books can even help those in traditional professions like medicine, banking, and law. Want to separate yourself from others in your field? Write a book that explains and teaches and helps people, and you may even find yourself segueing into a new career: professional writer and speaker.

And every time a major news story breaks, news outlets will interview a few experts in the field. Sometimes these people are household names, but much of the time they aren’t. How then do these experts get chosen to voice their opinions? It’s simple: most of them have written a book (or books) on the subject in question. This doesn’t mean that they alone know the most about the subject or that they’re even the most qualified to speak on their subject. But having written a book makes them an automatic authority on their subject, and they are the ones who get called by the news stations to comment.

What will writing a book do for me?

Finishing any difficult and lengthy task, like writing a book, is usually personally rewarding. I know that I feel satisfied every time I help one of my clients write their book, and if that’s how I, the ghostwriter, feels, I can only imagine how they must feel.

For the rest of your life, you will be able to call yourself an author. And you don’t have to have written a bestseller or a book that gets turned into a movie. Instead, you just need to write a book that shares your unique perspective and knowledge.

What will writing a book do for my name and reputation?

While your name and your reputation are the result of your actions over time, a book can broadcast who you are—your name especially—farther and wider than you can without one.

Write a book and become the named author for your subject area by logging your unique experiences, perspective, and wisdom.

What will writing a book do for my business?

Writing a book can increase yours and your business’s visibility and standing. And as a result of that, it can also increase your business’s revenue.

I was talking recently to a consultant who had over 25 years in the military. He trains teams and organizations on effective communication strategies and how to assess what others are saying, especially through their body language. He is the expert at what he does. And yet, he has not written a book. However, colleagues of his, who are less experienced than he is and who learned from him, have written their books, often using stories that happened to him. So, who gets more business? They do. Despite his greater years and experience, he isn’t getting the same level or number of gigs that they are, gigs they have gotten because they “wrote the book” on their subject.

Will writing a book make me famous?

The quick answer: probably not, though it can happen. What writing a book will do is make you more respected in your sphere of influence and to those in the know about your chosen field or line of work.

A quick challenge

Here is your challenge: dare to stand out from the crowd by writing a book. If you own or run a business owner and you’re proud of what you and your business have accomplished, and you want to promote your business, one of the best ways to get others talking about you and your business is by writing a book about you and your business. There is no other way to get the street cred, the respect, and most importantly, the exposure that being a book author can give you.

Obviously, many CEOs, presidents, and owners of businesses have written a book about their accomplishments and/or their business. So why not you?

Be bold. Be daring. Be successful. Take your life and your business to the next level and write that book. You’ll be glad you did.

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