How do I write a book when most of the things I want to talk about have been covered by other books? If that is a reason for you to worry, then this is for you!
Today, I am going to talk to you about JUST ONE thing, ONE SELF-LIMITING BELIEF that is stopping people from writing their books. Do you doubt the uniqueness of your book’s content and how you can make it stand out in a crowded market? Unsure if people would want to buy your book? What if your book is the same as a hundred other books on the same topic? All these questions might have crossed your mind. If so, IT IS PERFECTLY NATURAL! Most aspiring authors think about all these questions and are some of the factors that stop them from becoming an author.
Yes! I do understand where you are coming from. You do not want to be known as somebody who copies content from other books. And you certainly do not want to be known as somebody with no original ideas. These could be some of the hesitations you may have which may be bothering you.
But let me ask you this – when you were born, were you born with all the knowledge and ideas you have today? No, instead, at birth our minds are nothing but a “blank slate”! Almost everything we know today is a result of what we have learned from others.
Think about it! There is almost nothing original about what we know and what we do because we, as human beings, love learning through imitation. We learn by looking and copying what others are doing. And based on what works for us, we adapt it to suit our lives. Most of the things we know today are a result of what we have learned from thousands upon thousands of people whom we have met throughout our lives, the books we read, the teachers we have known, our friends, family, media, and celebrities. All the people around us play an integral part in creating us.
So let us first understand that there is almost nothing original about what we know. Once you have understood this, your job is to bring with you all that you know and serve your readers.
How are you going to do that?
To qualify to be an author, you should have achieved some results in an area in your life. In my opinion, that is all it takes for you to write a book on what you know. You might have read hundreds of books on a particular subject you are interested in but for you to have authenticity and originality, you should have a certain experience and have achieved results in that area.
If you have indeed achieved results from being an expert in your field, do not discount those achievements. You might downplay yourself and think that other people have done this far better than you, doubting yourself if you can write a book tackling the same topic. And to be blunt, yes! There are, in fact, other people who are far more experienced than you but understand that everyone’s journey is unique. While trying to get results in a certain area of your life, you must have discovered a process that is unique to you. You might have read tons of books on a particular topic you are most interested in and might all have influenced you in a way. However, your own experience in your journey will help you gain the unique insights you need. So instead of depending entirely on all the various sources for inspiration and knowledge, the deep understanding you have gained from your personal experience will give you most of the unique insight into the topic you want to write about. So of course and without a doubt, you need to own all of what you’ve learned during your journey! Embrace it! That is what makes you an author.
Now, when transferring your knowledge into a book, you need to remember two things: the story and the strategy.
Many authors mainly talk about their stories, which is good and inspiring. However, they tend to leave out their strategy. Likewise, many other authors mostly talk about their strategy, the five pillars, the pyramid formula, etc, but then they forget about their unique story. Your book needs a combination of both.
The book should talk about your story, your journey, your learnings, and your insight from your journey which can be easily replicated by your readers. While your strategy is all that you acquired from your journey and the wisdom you want to share and teach to your followers and your readers. You will need to be intentional about talking about both your story and your strategy. Talk about your story throughout the book and tell people that they can learn your strategy and implement it in their lives. By talking about both your story and your strategy, inevitably your book will become unique. There cannot be any other person on planet earth who has had the same story and has arrived at the same strategy as you. You might have heard about other people’s stories and have learned amazing strategies but when you apply it to your life, it automatically becomes unique. This, you need to believe!
I hope you found this piece of advice helpful enough to get the courage to go ahead and write your book. But remember one thing, it is important to give credit to all the people you have been learning from. You can do this in various places. If you have a set of people who helped you in the book project, please acknowledge them in the acknowledgement section of your book. If some of your concepts were taken out from other books, give credit to the particular author and the particular book at the various sections throughout your book. That way, you will not get into trouble and, instead, will feel good about giving due credit to the people who deserve it. That is all you need to do. The best way to give back to all these people you have learned from is to give credit where credit is due and place them in the required areas in your book. If there are some books that you think your readers should go ahead and read, add them to the references section of your book. Again, that is all you need to do.
Just because you read all these hundreds of books does not mean you should not write your own. Your story is unique. Your journey is unique and there will be people who will resonate with that. It will be a disservice if you do not write a book. So go ahead, write your book!
Meanwhile, if you would like to speak to one of our Publishing Consultants to discuss your book project, head over to www.happyselfpublishing.com to schedule your book strategy call.
If you are in the early stages and you do not know what to do next, make sure you attend my Author Success Bootcamp that happens inside our Facebook group. Go to www.happyselfpublishing.com/tribe to be a part of Happy Authors’ Tribe and participate in our next Bootcamp.
Also, do not forget to subscribe to our Youtube channel, as well as, subscribe to our podcast – The Author Success Show via iTunes.
Until the next time. Happy Authoring!
