Do You Have a Book in You?

Your answer to this question is probably one of the following:

• Yes. I must write. Writing is a part of who I am. (Internal desire)
• I feel I should write a book, but it’s not something I feel compelled to do. (External reason)
• I’m stuck somewhere in between having a compelling internal desire to write and knowing I should write because it will support some other area of my life. (Internal/external mix)

All three answers are valid. Everyone has a story to share, and everyone can publish. In “the old days” (roughly twenty years ago), the gatekeepers (publishers, editors, booksellers, librarians, and agents) prevented the masses from publishing. Now, anyone can write virtually anything and sell it worldwide. The need for a traditional publisher is gone, unless you’re dead-set on distribution in bookstores. Publishers still specialize in bookstore distribution, and typically do a better job getting wide distribution than self-published authors can. No matter – self-published authors still have excellent opportunities to find their ideal readers.

The frustration for most authors is when the book they’ve written does not line up with what people want to read. This is an entirely different issue than, “Do you have a book in you?” The question then becomes: “Do you have a book in you that people want to read?”

Here are a few questions to sort out the answer:

• What is interesting about my story or topic?
• Are there other books that address this topic? How many?
• How do those other books sell?
• What comments show up on the other books’ Amazon pages? Will my book address the issues or problems the commenters have with the other books?
• Does my book solve a problem?
• Does my book entertain, inform, or persuade?

Consider the following diagram:

It says: Book sales = what you want to write + what people want to read + the number of people who see your book. The greater any of the parts, the better the center – book sales – will be.

If you Google “Do you have a book in you?” most responses will be quite condescending. They start out something like this, “As the author of # number of books, I can tell you that not everyone has an idea worth writing about.” Well, fine for you, author of # number of books, glad you’re doing well. How about a little encouragement for the rest of us?

You’ll find no such condescension from me. I’m impressed with creative people. They fire me up. And for those of us who are not as creative? We can do it, too, with a little help and loving support.

So, how do you know if you have a book in you?

• You have an interesting story, either your personal story or a story you’ve been dreaming about writing.
• You have a skill to teach.
• You have the ability to entertain.
• You have a business and you want your ideal client to get to know you before they invest with you.
• You have a mission or vision to share with the world.
• You want to encourage others.
• You want to make others smile.
• You want long-term passive income.
• You want the satisfaction of being a published author.
• You want to hold your book in your hands (or see it on your Kindle…or phone…or iPad).
• You have dreams of becoming the next (famous author name).
• You want to leave your mark on this world.

Any or all of these reasons are valid. You may have a completely different reason I’ve forgotten to mention. The most important thing is to decide what you want your book to do for you, and then to start or continue writing.

Below this article is a great resource for writers who are in the planning and writing stages of their book project. It’s a planning/research guide that will help you determine if your topic will sell, and includes chapter and book structure outlines. (Get the PDF)

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