100 - When’s the Right Time to Write Your Book?

When’s the Right Time to Write Your Book?
Planning for Success

Intro:
Hey Guys! Nicole Gabriel here! I’m the host of the Let’s Get Your Book Published podcast. I’m also the author multiple books, a Book Designer, and a Publishing Coach as well as an intuitive Business Coach.

I’ve been in the book business for awhile now and I’ve helped many clients get their book published. On this podcast I share personal stories, client stories, and the truths about the publishing industry.

I love what I do but I don’t like seeing people being taken advantage of or given false promises on the journey to publishing their book.

I do my best to keep things real here and that means the greatest gift I can give you is that I won’t build you up with false promises and I help you align the content of your book so that it returns the greatest value personally and professionally.…this approach helps to build your platform. And, I align you with the business of writing a book.

Ultimately, I shoot to give you the truth about the publishing industry from a girl that’s been there and done that.

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When is the right time to write a book?

I recently had a new client come to me that has been run through the book publishing fiasco for many years. He had been through the Hayhouse/Balboa system, been through the Best Seller Publishing program and hired a few other coaches and the like to bring his book to a reality. He’s been running through many systems and many coaches and I believe he’s been doing this some six years. He contacted me the other day and said he’s finally tired of the various systems and ready to get his book published. He said his manuscript is nearly complete and off with an editor. He wanted to hire me for one of my core competencies - book cover design and interior layout. At this stage in the game I’m not going to sell him on my coaching system and delay the output of his book any longer. At the same point, I could see where he had some room for improvement. I wanted to coach him a bit further but I could also see that he was beyond frustrated. This is a tough place to be in as a coach. Every now and again I get someone like this that is just frustrated and ready to produce whatever it is they have and now! It really does make me sad because somewhere in the process something has been lost in translation. They have missed the purpose or become misaligned with the intention and the why behind writing the book. Perhaps they just never found the right coach that really helped them understand any of this. I know what is out there and there are plenty of coaching systems to show you the process of writing a book and a few of them have techniques, but not one of them tells you that the best book is the one completely on target with an overall business plan…they don’t take an interest in the business behind your book. The process for producing a book is much the same. Some systems have content generation boosting techniques for the author that is limited on word count. Some have formulas for generating ideas. While some focus on the narrative and creative elements. But very few take a sincere interest in the business of the book. This means that they aren’t helping authors align with their why. They aren’t helping join the parallels happening in business and life with the content, structure, and purpose of the manuscript.

If this particular client had come to me in the earlier phases of his book project I would have asked him what his intentions or goals were with the book. He’s told me he wants to hire people in their core competencies to complete his book but he’s told me nothing about what his intentions are with its outcome. I believe he wants to take the stage and speak, but outside of that I’m not even entirely sure he knows what the next steps will look like. I see this often. People with amazing stories and a real reason to write a book, but not real clear purpose on what will happen once it’s complete. I think for many it’s a very exhausting project just to write the book and by the time they are ready to be done with it they have no energy left. They just kinda want to put it out there and see what happens. The same thing happens for many authors…you don’t know what you want to happen…nothing happens but you sell a few books and move on! It’s really that simple. I hate to break it to you. No matter what experiences in your life have given rise to the purpose behind your intentions…you don’t have a plan…no one creates one for you! What many authors fail to see is that what is really behind the emotion of the words and the experiences of challenge that have given rise to the book…it’s still a business! So you tell your story, but what is your business?

This client in particular has been through some massive challenges in life and he’s overcome tremendous obstacles and, by all practical purposes, he’s a winner! He’s got a real purpose-driven reason to write his book. But, now to pull him out from behind the pages means that he has to develop a way to reach and speak to people. His book will be a part of his ecosystem as one of his tools for sharing his thoughts, messages, and stories. The book will help him begin to define and brand himself…it will set in stone his slogan…it will give him his image. And, if he’s written the content in a meaningful way, he can leverage the content to build the platform for his speech or program…in other words, he doesn’t have to re-work all the content later if he does it once and makes it re-purposeful… and leverages it for the foundation of his income-generating business.

If he’s in the business of inspiring others through speaking then he would first have to look at the industries he’s planning to speak to. Does the content and his message fit that audience? Is motivational and inspirational speaking what he intends to do to generate income or is it more important to simply share his message? Of course, if one is going to bother speaking to inspire it would be nice to know that time was compensated. Being paid for speaking can be a tough business. It means hoping on planes and traveling to the next event..or perhaps, during covid, it means opening up time on your schedule for joining in on online events…or creating events of your own to market, position, and sell. Getting aligned with the business of the book doesn’t happen after the book is written in other words. It begins before the words go down on the pages! Why am I writing and what is my plan when it’s complete?

I believe a good majority of authors fail because they have yet to see the business behind the book. They write because they have compelling thoughts and experiences…and this is great! People want to be entertained and they want to see how you’ve overcome a similar challenge to what they’ve faced. Most of the time they will say wow, that was moving and I see why they wrote the book then they will move on. But, will they remember your name? Will they have a personal experience that came from what you wrote? How long will the experience last within their memory? If you think about the most meaningful book or movie you’ve resonated with…how did it make you feel? Did you have a call to action as a result? Do you remember the movie name? The actor? Do you follow sequels or other movies the actor plays roles in? If it was a business book you read, do you now follow the author and their other books or programs?

As an author of a book we get to decide how we want to guide and direct the reader…are we building followers or inspiring leaders? When the author is clear on the end result and the purpose for writing then everything is built for that end goal. The book simply supports the end goal. It may even provide working materials to supplement the end goal. Perhaps there are exercises or the beginnings to an outline for a training program. Maybe the book is a primer to wet the tastebuds of the reader…to inspire them to want more. As an author you are the guide for the experience you wish the reader to have.

So, as far as timing goes? What are you trying to do and do you have a platform built that the reader can go to after they read the book and want more? If you are in the business of writing books, do you have the next book written to promote it as they are completing the one prior? If you are in the business of motivational speaking, where can the reader go to see you speak? Or can they hire you for their event? Do you have pricing? Do you have a speaker one sheet describing your speaking topics? If you are a business coach or inspirational leader, how can they engage with you? Do you have a program well-thought-out they can invest in? Or are you simply trying to leave a lasting impression with the reader? Did you make your name unforgettable so they can recommend you to a friend or co-worker that also needs inspiration? How easy are you to find, to remember, to engage with, or to hire? Your timing? It’s when you feel the book will help launch the thing you are trying to do as a result of writing it. The clearer you are in the effort of writing your book the clearer the outcome.

So guys…I hope I’ve given you some clarity on the right timing for you to write your book and some tips for success. Just so you are clear, let’s see if I can identify…

The Key Success Factors on Timing:

1. Get clear on your why
2. Identify if you want followers or if you are inspiring leaders
3. Build out your core competencies and identify them on your platform
4. Make yourself easy to hire
5. Have you made yourself memorable

If you’ve done these 5 items in conjunction with writing your book, then you are perfectly aligned to launch it. If you are launching with a wait-and-see attitude and you aren’t ready to capitalize on the attention, I might suggest picking one area to focus on and blow that out before you write and certainly before you launch. So much to unpack here, but let’s leave this here for this episode for now. As always guys…happy to help coach you or do the creative elements for your book project. For now…wishing you peace, love, and light.