Your friends think you’re pretty smart. They know you’re a hard worker and that you achieve your goals. They’re impressed with your ideas. They think you should write a book.
That feels really good, and you may be tempted to jump right in and start writing. But before you do, step back and give it some thought.
Evaluate your idea.
Just how good is your idea? Will it sustain a book? Better find out.
Go to Amazon and check out similar books. Do people buy books like the one you intend to write? Who’s the competition and how will your book stand out?
Find an intelligent 15-year-old and describe the book you want to write. You’ll get good feedback about your idea and how clearly you explain it.
Evaluate what it will take to write your book.
You may think that all you need to do is sit down at the old laptop and let the inspiration flow, but it’s not that easy. If it were, there’d be a lot more good books.
The writing itself will take a year or more. You’ll revise the manuscript several times.
There’ll be stress on your relationships as you devote time to the book. You may need to cut back on the time you spend earning money, so that you can finish the book.
When you get the book done, You’re not finished. You need to publish the book and promote and sell it. An author’s work is never done.
Don’t write for the money.
You may be thinking that you’ll make a bunch of money from book sales. Bury that thought.
The odds of you making significant income from book sales are vanishingly small. The average business book sells less than 1000 books in its lifetime in alll forms. There’s big potential ROI from writing a book, but it will come from increased reputation, higher fees, and speaking income.
Identify your why.
Why do you want to write a book? You need a big why to sustain you after excitement and motivation fade away.
Take a moment to imagine your life after you’ve published. How will it be different from today?
Make a conscious decision.
When you’ve thought about the upsides and the downsides, the pros and the cons, it’s time to decide. You may have an idea that will support a successful book, but you still must be willing to do the work of writing it and selling it. Don’t just automatically accept someone’s idea that you should write a book. Analyze the market and your situation and make a wise decision.
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Want some help deciding if you should write a book? I’ve helped dozens of authors and I can help you. Contact me.