Maybe you Shouldn’t Write a Book

No, that wasn’t a typo. Not everyone out there should write a book.

There are good reasons to pour your heart and soul (and several months of your life) into a manuscript. However, there are also plenty of bad ones. Whether you complete the journey or leave your characters or concepts languishing in purgatory, will come down to two things: are you’re doing it for the right reasons and do you want it bad enough.

Let’s start off with why you shouldn’t write a book. That way, you don’t waste any more time reading than you have to.

The Wrong Reasons

Please do not attempt to write a book if:

1)Your main goal is to become the next Nora Roberts.

This has two implications. The first, is that very few people ever rise to the level of stardom and household name-dom (yep, new word. Just run with it) that she did. There are millions of books out there that don’t sell more than a few hundred copies, and very few authors that ever make it to the upper echelon. I’m not saying it’s impossible, but if you won’t be satisfied until you hit the big time, chances are that you’ll be… unsatisfied.

The second implication is that you’re trying to emulate someone else. You believe that they are the be all end all in the world of writing and you want to write just like them. Please don’t. The world already has one Nora Roberts, one James Patterson, one Simon Sinek… it doesn’t need another. What it needs, is a you.

When I first started speaking, I decided that I wanted to be the next Tony Robbins. While I’d still like to have a similar looking bank account, Tony is already out there doing what he does and helping who he can help. I need to do what I do and help the people that I can help. Plus, I think his shoes are huge and my tiny, size 6.5 feet will never fill them.

2) Your main goal is to make a billion dollars.

Well wouldn’t that be lovely! Unfortunately, it’s about as uncommon as the number of authors who rise to mega household name-dom. Probably even less.

This isn’t to say that you can’t make any money off your books and the platform you build around them, you can even make a living. But if you’re hoping to write your first book and be handed a check for 2 billion dollars the following week… maybe go buy a lottery ticket instead.

3) You’re not actually a good writer.

That may sound harsh but not everyone is good at everything. I’m terrible at remembering to get my oil changed and I’m not strong enough to take the lug nuts off of a tire. Should I become a mechanic? Probably not.

It’s okay to not be good at something. In fact, it’s okay if you suck at a whole lot of things. The important part is to find what you are good at, and rock it like a hurricane.

Now if you aren’t a good writer but you are a brilliant (insert whatever it is that you do), you may not want to write the book, but you may have wonderful content that needs to be shared with the world.  That’s why ghostwriter’s exist.

Just because I once road around with my car completely devoid of oil, and my engine would have seized if the mechanic was 20 feet further away, doesn’t mean that I don’t drive. I just pay someone else to do the maintenance on my vehicle (and put reminders in my calendar when it’s time for an oil change).

The Right Reasons

Fire up your laptop if:

• You want to position yourself as an expert in your field.
• You are a speaker, coach, trainer, consultant and want to expand your platform and have a product to sell in the back of the room, send to meeting planners, or provide to your clients.
• You have been dreaming of writing a novel your entire life and have a great concept that you’ll be satisfied self publishing and marketing yourself.
• You’ve lived through an experience that can help others overcome a circumstance in their life.
• You’ve experienced a traumatic event and want to write a book for the therapeutic benefits (whether you publish it or not).

There are many more reasons why you shouldn’t and should write a book. I’m not trying to dissuade you from sharing your genius with the world. However, figure out why you want to write a book before you start. Knowing your motivation will help you weather the literary storm. If you are ready to write, or ready to have someone write for you, let’s chat and see if we’d be a good fit. Email me at sheryl@sherylgreenspeaks.com and we’ll schedule a call.

Learn the 5 stages of book development with my free e-book. Download it today.