How to Make an Impact: Part 2
do you want to write a book, or a great book?
When I was a kid, my mom used to take me to AAA before we’d go on roadtrips. We’d slog through the ankle-deep slush to tell them where we were going. They’d do some computer stuff and a few minutes later hand us a Triptik.
We never took a big trip without one, because the concise turn-by-turn directions gave us confidence that we would get to our destination without suffering (aside from the fact that for years we only had the same three cassettes in the car).
The truth hiding in plain sight
When we left off thinking about impact, and how to make one, (checkout How to Make an Impact: Part 1 if you haven’t already) it was with Daniel Priestley and his ideas about becoming a Key Person of Influence. He said if that would help you make the impact you envision, you should write a book. And he’s right.
Don’t be fooled by the snake oil salesmen
It’s in the interest of most people pitching their advice for building a personal brand to make it sound totally achievable. So easy.
I’ve seen people (usually with something related to sell you) claiming that you can write a book in 30 days, or even a week. I saw one guy on YouTube who said something like “just hire someone on Fiverr to write one for you.” This stuff makes my skin crawl.
Priestley doesn’t make such ridiculous claims, though he does discuss some very optimistic timelines. What he doesn’t come right out and say is that writing a book is hard, and it will cost you.
Costs will be: time (your own, and hours taken from family/friends/fun), stress, self-doubt, more time. Of course you can reduce the negatives by swapping in another cost: money. You can save a huge amount of time and consternation by hiring a writing coach or editor who can help you identify your destination and who’s done it enough to recognize the landmarks along the way.
Despite the costs, the overwhelming majority of people I’ve worked with have felt that writing their book was worthwhile. None have regretted going through all of that. I just want you to know what to expect.
To anyone in the middle of a book now, I’d say: if it feels hard, that’s okay, because it is. Put some of your struggles in the comments and we’ll see if I can tell you something useful. If you’re mid-project and enjoying it, maybe share some ideas about how you find the process fulfilling. I’m sure it would help a lot of people.
I don’t want to sound like I’m knocking Priestley. He knows all this, and he’s forthright about it, although it would be easy to miss if you didn’t know what to look for in his book. He says anyone trying to do this should get a writing coach, or at least a writing group. He has a writing coach himself. He says, “if you want to get good at tennis, join a tennis club or get a coach. If you want to write a book…” You get the idea.
Priestley is clear that you have to write “to a high standard,” but he seems to gloss over what that means and how it’s done vs. what you’ll get if you take the “quick ebook” approach that some people promote.
A Good Book, Or Just Any Book?
Maybe what’s glossed over is the difference between a good book and a so-so book, and how each of them will affect your position of influence in both the near and long term.
I was talking with a friend who’s nearly finished writing her book, and is starting to promote it. We talked about pre-sales tactics, how to talk about the book and herself as its author, and other details. Then we worked backwards to the way she planned the book itself and some things she could add to help the book support her goal. When I work with my own authors, we talk about big-picture goals much earlier in the process, because it really does make a difference.
You want the Triptik before you leave home, not after you lose your way.
The quality of your book is what’s going to ultimately make or break its success, however you define that. Maybe you’re most concerned with sales numbers because this is going to be one way you want to make money. Or maybe you’re interested in building your profile and becoming the go-to voice in your field so that you will be invited to the best projects, people will want you on your teams, and you’ll start getting nice speaking opportunities. Maybe your goal is to leave a lasting impression on your field or on your readers.
So imagine these scenarios:
In the first, you do it the “easy” way. The result isn’t the one you’d pin your legacy on, but the important thing is that you’ve got a book, right? You tell a friend or a colleague—someone who should be in the market for your ideas—about your book, and they buy it, because they believe in you (they know the quality of your expertise, afterall). They read it, or at least some of it. When their colleagues, partners, or friends ask how it is, the response comes: “it’s okay.” And that’s how a promising idea and a growing reputation fizzles out.
In the second scenario, you recommend the book to the same people and they read it. But this time, you put in the work. You planned carefully, executed the plan diligently. You tested your ideas, found the right stories to tell, refined everything. So now, page after page, it does something: it solves a problem for them, it makes them feel smart, it energizes them. They tell everyone they know who cares about this stuff, and because they have real conviction, almost all of those people buy the book, and a lot of them have the same reaction. This is how ideas spread, how a book can take on a life of its own to put your ideas in people’s minds and your name at the top of everyone’s list.
The Happy Hour Test
If you’re an author I’ve worked with on a broad-audience book, you’ve probably heard me talk about The Happy Hour Test.
Imagine someone’s just read a chapter of your book and then meets up with friends for happy hour. Do they talk about your book and your ideas?
It’s not a real test—I made it up. But if you do the work you can write a book that passes that test and catches fire. So why not put in the necessary resources to write a truly great book?
Tune in for the next installment when I write about this guy and what he can teach you about your book.
