Everyone has a book inside them

I have been recently speaking with and assisting several people who are producing their own books to have them available for distribution; whether their goal of producing a book is for personal satisfaction or to share their craft and possibly make extra income, I’ve been guiding them on the process.

Whether you feel you're a writer or not, or if you think fiction is more your jam rather than non-fiction, we all have a book inside us.

You don’t need to be a natural writer to get your story out and into a book.

My father, a soldier in the Australian Army, didn’t finish high school and is now a 67-year-old PT who has written three books.

He spends his spare time (when not training his loyal community of mostly over 60’s down by the beach here in Queensland) travelling around in his van with my mum, chatting with community groups, radio stations and the general public about his message, selling his books is the bonus.

One of the books he wrote with his grandkids (my kids) in mind - he wanted his life story (even the tricky bits) written down in essay format for my kids and even me and my siblings to understand more of who he is and where we’ve come from.

Recently, I’ve been in chats with a builder who studied professional writing and writes for various publications whilst he renovates homes, and he wants help producing a magazine.

One of my best friends has been writing a play for several years and wants to turn it into a book. 

Another friend is compiling all her life lessons into a helpful guide.

Another wrote one year ago, under a pen name, to share her challenging experience married to a narcissist. She has since become an activist, creating policy change and a support group for others in her situation, which all stemmed from her book.

Even if you don’t feel you are the best writer, many tools and experts are available to help you get your story out into a book; don’t let that stop you.

You don’t need to have a business or want to earn money from your books (let’s face It, you really have to invest a lot of time, money and PR to get on the best sellers lists these days), but if you have a little (or large) feeling inside you that you’re ready to get your book out, I’d love to hear from you.

If you want to write a book as an extension of your business, that’s also great! They make an excellent business card attached to your work and really can add to your credibility. Even if you self-publish, don’t think that this doesn’t make you credible. You committed to even writing something, and finishing it is an impressive accomplishment.

My first book was an ebook that I wrote with very little software (I mean, look at that cover!), and it was a PDF sent to buyers' emails once purchased. 

In 6 weeks, I made $15k USD off a $7.99 PDF, and this was not what I expected from such a simple book, but because I was an established blogger with a healthy following on Facebook at the time as well as a growing newsletter list, and it was way before the digital saturation of email marketing, I was able to create a digital product that my audience had been asking for. 

The second ebook bombed and was nowhere near as financially successful, and I learnt why that was, but it was still learning, and I enjoyed the process.

My third book, which I wrote partly as an extension of my coaching business and as a way to document my journey on my body transformation, was a much heftier body of work. I used a structural editor to help me compile all my ideas (in fact, I had so much content we pulled a lot of it out into two more books I have yet to complete). I hired professional designers and copy editors and bought some decent software to help with the writing and formatting.

 

You don’t need to be a writer to be an author. Anyone can write a book!

Let me know in the comments below if you have any questions about the process or are keen to get the ball rolling on your book. I love chatting about this stuff!