Hard Truth: Not Every Idea Should Be a Book
Amanda Rooker
Internationally Bestselling Book Collaborator • Story Coach • Turn Your Idea Into Industry-Transforming Books and Talks • Learn How to Write, Publish, and Expand Impact
Are you a book person?
I am. When I was growing up, I LOVED reading books. My parents tell me I spontaneously started sounding out and reading signs from my car seat when I was two, and I never looked back.
As a kid, my very favorite series was Anne of Green Gables. Why? Because for the first time in my young life, someone else was speaking my inner language. Instead of feeling like a loner or outcast for loving what I loved, and feeling like I had to hide it, I now had a secret friend: Anne was also intoxicated with the tiny details of life, had a rich inner world, had overwhelming, powerful emotions, had strong, ambitious desires - and unlike me, she freely lived it all.
I finally felt seen, heard, and understood - and had a role model for how to live out loud.
If you're also a book person, maybe this story sounds familiar. If so, then you know how powerful books can be.
What was that book for you?
If you're a coach, consultant, leader, or visionary, maybe you've appreciated the deep impact other authors have had on your life. And maybe, for that reason, you've always wanted to write a book to do the same for others.
Or maybe you're not a book person. There's a long list of things you'd rather to do than read - especially since so much of your work time is spent reading and processing content. Yet you also know we are in the Golden Age of Content - and if you're an expert or successful leader in your field who wants to expand their impact, you need to be producing your own content regularly.
Maybe even—groan—write a book.
In fact, you've likely heard others say, "When are you going to write YOUR book?"
Never, you think. But you end up saying, "Well, I've actually been thinking about it."
Counting the Cost of Writing a Book
If you're thinking about writing a book—whether from your own passion or by being dragged kicking and screaming—you're not alone.
According to Forbes, over 80 percent of people in the United States alone want to write a book.
It's not surprising. Ever since the explosive innovation of the printing press (at least in the Western world), books have held the monopoly on being THE vehicle for sharing powerful ideas and stories.
But, as you already know all too well, that's no longer the case. Today you can positively change lives—intimately and powerfully—through video, courses, speaking, workshops, client services, and so much more.
Today, a book is just ONE way to share your story or idea. That one way just happens to include a LOT of work.
Just because others are telling you that you should write a book - or even if you've always wanted to write a book - doesn't mean you have to.
If you're a coach, consultant, leader, or visionary who wants to write a book to increase your positive impact in the world, one of the most important strategic decisions you need to make is whether your idea is a book idea.
BEFORE you start writing it.
You must count the cost, and nobody can do this for you but you.
4 Signs Your Idea Would Make a Great Nonfiction Book
How do you make sure writing a book isn't wasting your time? Here are four signs your idea would make a great nonfiction book (how-to, narrative, or allegory).
1. Your idea/story/framework has positively impacted people in your target audience who don't know you personally.
In other words, your idea hasn't just transformed you. It's transformed others who don't know you. How do you know? You've put it out there in the form of posts, videos, talks, client services, or courses. And people who are not related to you, don't work for you, and don't already love (or hate) you have specifically told you it has positively impacted their life. Just as importantly, you've created an ongoing feedback loop, so if your idea doesn't work so well, you know that too, and you're actively incorporating the suggestions you receive.
You're not writing a book to clarify your idea/story/framework to see if it works. It's ALREADY having a positive impact. It's well tested and proven. A book would simplify magnify that impact.
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2. Your idea can be considered a sequential journey.
A book is a fundamentally linear medium. Letters need to be in the right order to make words; words need to be in the right order to make sentences; sentences need to be in the right order to create coherent thoughts, pages need to be in the right order to make sense; chapters need to be in the right order to create a compelling reader's journey...you get the idea. In a book, sequence matters. So for your idea to fit the linear medium of a book, it needs to be sequential in some way, and take readers on a journey.
This means your idea needs multiple steps or scenes or phases. One step leads to another, and the overall journey takes readers to a new place. That's not to say your idea has to be a step-by-step process, in that one step HAS to lead to another. I often tell authors, when envisioning their initial readers' journey, to think visually - and to include non-linear shapes like starbursts, for example, where there may be a core insight you want readers to have, and it has many angles or facets. In this case, the author chooses what order to present the facets in, and it probably could be done well in a number of ways - but the facets do need to be presented in a particular order that makes sense and that leads readers in a layered way to a new understanding.
3. You want to expand your reach beyond what you can do in person.
If you are a speaker, trainer, or service provider, you likely do most of your impactful work in person. If you have the bandwidth to continue serving your clients or audience in person, whether one-on-one or in groups, and create the quality of life you want, you truly don't have to write a book to maintain or grow your business.
However, if you want to scale your impact in some way, whether you are feeling stretched too thin, want to speak on bigger stages, or want to systematize your idea and train others to do it too, writing a book may be a good investment for you. You'll have to do the work to make sure your idea/process/story makes sense in words alone, as you won't see the confusion on readers' faces and instinctively be able explain more or answer questions, as you would in person. But the work of learning a new medium may well be worth the increase in time, money, or impact.
4. You want to be an author.
Even if all of the above are true—your idea is already making an impact, it's a sequential journey, and you want to expand your reach—there's one more question to ask yourself.
Do you want to be an author?
We began with the question of wanting to write a book (or not). But if we're being precise, when most of us say we want to write a book, we're not really saying we want to write a book-length manuscript.
We want to hold the published book in our hands, reading the glowing testimonials on the opening pages. We want to be approached by someone at a conference who says, "Hey, are you [your name]? I read your book [amazing title]. It completely changed my life—I tell everyone I know about it!" We want to be an in-demand speaker or consultant, doubling or tripling our fees, and phasing out all the work we didn't really want to do but felt we had to do to pay the bills.
We want the impact AFTER the book is written. When many of us say we want to write a book, we really mean we want to be an author.
Or do we?
This is the time to answer that question. What does it mean to be an author?
The whole process of "writing a book" is much bigger than just writing the manuscript. Even if you delegate writing the manuscript to someone like myself, you as the author must still spend a lot of time providing the content and examples to the writer. You as the author must make many strategic decisions in advance about how to publish and how to market (and who will do what). You as the author must do the work of soliciting testimonials and actually marketing your book according to your strategy. And you as the author must do the work of networking and converting your book into paid or partnership opportunities.
If all that lights you up, then writing a book may be a great choice for you.
If it sounds exhausting and draining, that's okay. If the purpose of writing a book is to scale your impact, it just means writing a book may not be the best choice for you. The truth is you don't need a book to scale your impact. You can create more margin with another type of one-to-many client offering (course, group coaching, etc.). You can get on a bigger stage through strategic relationships. You can systematize your idea and train others to do it too by investing in trainers to do just that.
A book may be a tried-and-true way of doing all of the above, but it's not the only way.
Only you can count the cost and know whether the payoff is worth it—to you.
So, if the following are true...
...your idea just might be a book idea.
I help leaders and experts write books at the intersection of their deepest purpose and their readers' deepest needs. If you're thinking about writing a book, I'd love to connect.
I offer two programs to empower entrepreneurs, coaches, consultants, and expert practitioners to share their message with those who need it most.
Faith-Inspired Art Therapist
5moAmanda, I enjoyed your insightful article and found it very helpful. Thank you for posting it.
Associate Professor of Management at Christopher Newport University, Multiple time CEO and Board member, Private Equity executive, TEDx Speaker
5moGreat stuff as usual! But, every one of my ideas is worthy of being a book, correct!! 🤣
Keynote Speaker 🎤 Live UNMUTED™ | Singer-Songwriter 🎶 TEDx | I unleash confidence, courage, purpose, and potential in people so they are more engaged and fulfilled at work and in the world 🦚 #UnmuteYourself Host
5moGrateful to be working with YOU on my first book, Amanda Rooker!! :)
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5moAmanda what an insightful piece. Thank you