“If You’re Good, You Can Have Some Ice Cream”

I wonder how many times, in the history of ice cream, a parent has said something like this to a small child as a way of bribing them to cooperate. In one sense, it sounds like a simple harmless statement.  In another sense, it’s a walk down a dangerous road because so many bad things can happen if ice cream becomes a parent’s go-to behavior solution. The child could grow up deciding (s)he needs to be “paid” for their cooperation. Or they could become addicted to sugar both physically and mentally. The list goes on.

If you understand the dangers of ice cream, or cookies, cakes, candy, sugary cereal, etc., then you know something a lot of younger less-experienced parents haven’t learned or figured out yet. If you’re a grandparent, you could probably come up with nine other things younger less-experienced parents could benefit from knowing too. In fact, you could write a book—10 Quick Parenting Tips Every New Parent Needs—upload it to Amazon, and sell it. Will it sell? If you put your honest effort into writing it, making sure it looks great, and marketing it, then it’ll sell. I don’t know how many copies. That generally depends on how much genuine and sincere effort you put into writing, editing, formatting, and marketing.

We all have specialized knowledge of some sort. Sometimes, it’s a bizarre sort of knowledge such as how to always get the window seat on a plane. Trust me, there are people who want to know how to do this, and if you know how to make this happen, and you write and market a quick, but good, ebook about how to accomplish this, you’re very likely to sell a few copies.

Just about everybody has some kind of specialized knowledge that could help others. Sometimes those people think about writing a book too. Perhaps you know what I’m talking about because you’re getting that tingling feeling, the one that reminds you how much you’d like to share what you’ve learned. If that’s you, then please, on behalf of all the people waiting for the knowledge, information, wisdom, and insights you have to offer, please write your book.

Don’t let yourself get bogged down by the idea that your book has to be perfect, or that it has to hit the NY Times best seller list. Focus on the person who desperately needs your knowledge and wisdom in their life, and write your book for them. Help that person change their life for the better so they can then pay it forward in their own way. 

Writing a book is not the daunting task it used to be—especially when it comes to self-publishing. So, if you’ve been toying with the idea of writing a book, let’s trade a few emails or have a conversation so I can answer the questions you’re sure to have.