Three Things To Know Before Writing Your Book

Many people have dreams of writing a book, but few actually take action to do it. Those who actually try to start don’t seem to have a strong reason other than to “tell their story”. On top of that, they often feel stuck and at some point they decide to give up and not finish.

It doesn’t have to be this way.

A lot of you may know that I help people write their books, so I want to help you get a jump start.

Here are three of the most important things that you need to have in hand before you begin.

Number one, have a very clear and well defined message.

Having a clear and defined message should be obvious, but it’s interesting when people approach me about wanting to write their book, they’re not really sure what they want to write about. What I’ve found, though, is that when I work with entrepreneurs in their businesses, they already know what their message is.

Think about this. If you have a message that you want to share with the world, think about what it really is in terms of purpose and the impact you want to make.

First, what is your purpose and what do you want people to take away from it? If you want to tell your story, ask yourself “Why?”. Your friends and family will buy your book by default. But what about everybody else, especially those people who don’t know you? If you want to sell a lot of copies of your book, you have to convince people who don’t know who you are that you have a message that’s worth hearing, so what is that message and what is your purpose?

And secondly, how do you want to impact the world through that message? As an example, perhaps you’re a suicide survivor. That’s something that a lot of people think about, unfortunately, and it’s something that is a very valuable message. If you want people to think and do something different regarding your topic, if you want people to learn more about your topic, make that message very clear.

Number two, know what your audience wants.

I tell my clients all the time, the perfect intersection for your book is: what you know a lot about, what your audience wants to know about, and what your audience is willing to pay for.

So what does your audience want? Think about topics that are really hot right now, whether they are news worthy topics, business topics, or something else that people are talking about.

In fact, I recently finished doing a book for a client, and he had his book launch a few weeks ago. It’s about how to use LinkedIn in a network marketing business. LinkedIn a topic that a lot of people want to know about because it’s still really mysterious to a lot of people. So many people are on it, and the demographic of your audience on LinkedIn is very different than what you can find on Facebook, for example.

Number three, have an end game in mind.

A lot of people want to write their book because they simply want to get their message out there. There’s nothing wrong with all of that. But if you’ve ever read a book such as Robert Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad, Poor Dad, you will notice that his book is basically a giant commercial for his Cashflow game. The book isn’t a book just for the book.

The book is a book to sell something else after the fact. What do you want your end game to be?

• Are you looking just to have a book, or you are looking to expand your business as a result of your book?
• Are you looking to use your book to get speaking engagements?
• Are you looking to use your book to launch a coaching program?
• Are you looking to use your book as a credibility piece to have masterminds and retreats in exotic places in the world?

Your book needs to be the centerpiece and springboard for something else that you’re doing that will pay you a lot more money. Your book is probably going to be a $20 item, but speaking on stage could be thousands of dollars. Your mastermind coaching program could also be thousands of dollars, and if you put together a package for everything that you’re doing, that could be a five or six figure item. Your book is the launching pad for all of that.

So those are the three things that I really suggest that you have in hand before you start thinking about writing your book. Number one, have a message that includes knowing what purpose you want to convey, and knowing what impact you want to have. Number two, know what your audience wants because they aren’t going to pay for something they don’t want. And finally, number three, have an end game in mind.

Your book isn’t just the end. Your book is the beginning of something beautiful. As always, if you are thinking about writing a book, I am here to help. Reach out to me at brian@briankwright.com and we can talk about it.

Brian K Wright has been a Public Speaking and English Composition instructor at the college level, and is now the host of the popular Success Profiles Radio. He also publishes Success Profiles Magazine, and is a ghostwriter and book writing coach for his clients. You can learn more about him at www.briankwright.com or email him at brian@briankwright.com.