Don’t write a book

If you read this blog, you may be considering writing and publishing a nonfiction book. You’ve probably seen lots of service providers — developmental editors, writing coaches, hybrid publishers, self-publishing services, book publicists, and the like — who are encouraging you to write that book. “You can do it!”, they say. What you can’t hear is them also saying, “You should pay us to help.”

Those people are obviously biased. Let’s look at why they may be overstating their case.

Reasons not to write a book

• There are way too many books in the world already. We don’t need more.
• Writing is hard. Ask any writer.
• A good editor will take the hard-earned results of what you’ve written and criticize the hell out of it. That will hurt.
• Other people have had your idea. (Do a search and check.) They already wrote books on your topic.
• Your chances of getting a traditional publishing contract are low — and that’s only after you’ve put dozens of hours into creating a book proposal and probably gotten rejected by a bunch of potential agents.
• While you are working on the book, nobody will be paying you. Even if you’re lucky enough to get a publishing contract with an advance, it’s unlikely to cover your financial needs while you are writing.
• You probably need help to make the book worth doing. Developmental editors, hybrid publishers, and book publicists are expensive.
• In a survey of published business book authors, the median financial investment (not counting the value of your time) was $7,000. Half of authors reported unexpected costs; 19% spent a lot more than they expected.
• It’s really hard to make time to write a book when you have a full-time job.
• Your family will resent the time you spend on the book.
• If you’re employed, your company may be unhappy that you’re writing a book, and may even take the position that they own the intellectual property that you are creating.
• Counting all revenues and expenses, one in three business book authors in the survey said their book didn’t make a profit.
• In the same survey, the median traditionally published book sold only 4,600 copies, even though authors expected to sell a median of nearly 9,000 copies. And the numbers are even lower for hybrid and self-published books. That’s a lot of work for a small number of readers.

Why I wrote this

If reading this made you give up, thank me. I just saved you endless months of suffering. I also saved you from the vultures who want to inflame your dreams and take your money.

Unlike most editors and ghostwriters, I have enough work. I can choose who I work with.

I have little interest in taking money from dreamers and pretenders. I don’t want to get you excited. Excited people make poor decisions. And there’s nothing that wastes more time — mine and yours — then for me to get involved with helping you when you really shouldn’t be writing a book.

I wrote this out of self-interest. I wanted to discourage people who are easily discouraged.

Still here?

I like people who are smart, determined, creative realists with terrific ideas.

If reading this made you even more determined — if you are so sure that your idea must get out into the world, that you have the ability to write, and that you can succeed in this challenging endeavor — well, you’re my kind of people.

A surprising 89% of the published authors in our survey were glad they wrote a book. For them, mostly, it was worth it. Maybe it will be worth it for you.

Read this first. Then let’s talk.