The eighth secret the gurus don’t tell you when you’re writing your book…
Have you ever been at a business or networking event and found it tricky to make small talk?
Imagine my delight when I met a young marketer at a networking event who mentioned he was in the midst of writing a book. I said to myself, “This is going to be fun!”
If only…
I was keen to find out
- how the writing was going
- who his ideal readers were
- what the message was
- what results it would offer
- how his own personality and quirkiness were going to appear in the book, etc.
Then I discovered he was writing his book as part of a write-your-book-claim-your-space-become-the-go-to-authority-in-your-field sausage factory that one of the big internet marketing companies has created.
He was about two-thirds of the way through writing the book, but struggled to explain what it was about.
One of the big selling points is that the budding author is coached through the process so that they can complete it and get it out there. He was two-thirds of the way through the book, had been working on it for a couple of months… and couldn’t remember the name of his book coach or really describe what they’d helped him with.
The role of a book writing coach
If you’ve already written books and enjoyed success with them (whether through large sales or through fewer sales to perfect readers who then become big-ticket clients), then it is unlikely you need a coach to take you through the book planning, writing, development and publication process.
For everybody else…
A great book coach:
- Has a personal, professional relationship with the author
- Is able to probe, question and uncover layers of expertise the author doesn’t value yet
- Encourages the author to clarify their message and audience
- Helps the author to write the book the reader wants and needs
- Assists in the development of all the writing and structural skills that other kinds of writing don’t need
The list goes on an on.
So, how do you choose a good book coach?
Well, if you meet someone who is a book coach and you’re thinking about working with them review your first encounter or conversation with them.
On reflection did they:
- Connect well with you—were they professional and able to listen?
- Ask great questions that made you think about things in a new way?
- Help you get clarity about how to speak with your audience?
- Inspire you with confidence that they could help you turn your information into real results for the reader?
- Suggest ways in which you could build on your existing skills?
There’s a lot more to research afterwards. Look at the kinds of projects they’ve worked on previously. Are they distinctive or dull, generic or genius, plain or passionate?
Think about how you want your effort, your message to be sculpted—then you’ll be in a position to know who can coach you to authoring success.
Then, at the very least, should we ever meet at a networking event, you’ll leave me inspired rather than deflated…
The eight secret—Not all book coaches are created equal…