Business author – Immersive

The Kara Sutra #7—Satisfy Your Desire

Be Passionate About Your Book—Don’t Just Write the Book You Feel You Should
Things to avoid when writing your business book—Part Seven

Many new authors, especially in the business arena, set out to write the book they feel they should be writing. They focus on what everybody else is doing, what others say is on trend and constantly ponder how they will be perceived by others.
As a business author, you want to share a powerful and transformative message with the world, to be authentic and to claim your space within an already overcrowded market. You want to make a difference, to be successful and to catapult your business to new levels of achievement.
You have a burning desire within… a unique and extraordinary perspective. This is your truth, your life-experience, your distinct message to the world. Chances are, however, the book you want to write—the book about this very personal passion is not the book you will actually start to write.
You so want to reveal your mastery—to become a leader—yet the prospect of doing that, goes against the norm. It is different to what other authors and business people are doing.
On the one hand you have this extraordinarily different perspective and on the other you have the pressure to be accepted. The thought of what your existing clients would say, the negative reviews and the embarrassment of being all on your own within your field, all push you away from your core message.
The heart says, write that book on Accountancy for Cat Lovers…
Talking Crystals and How to Market Them…
…Interpretive Dance on Your iMac,
The head says, write a book on accounting, marketing and using an iMac. And so on.
Every profession is so jam-packed with experts, preaching their expertise and trying to outdo each other, it is just boring to audiences. We now live in a world where just doing what everybody else is doing just gets you lost in a smog of content.
To achieve what you want to achieve, do not do the norm, do what you are passionate about. Take your special and unusual perspective and allow it to change you from yet another expert in the field, to the leader of the field.
The audience for the book you want to write is out there… if your current audience are advocates of your brand, they will also follow you. Those who do not like the finished book—even if they write a bad review to prove it—will only demonstrate their own lack of innovative thinking.
And as they get lost in the same smog of content that threatened to drag you down, you will be rewarded for being the pioneer; the one who journeyed where nobody had dared venture before.

The Kara Sutra #6—Keep ‘Em Wanting More!

It is vital you play hard to get when writing your book…

Things to avoid when writing your business book—Part Six

Behind the scenes of most businesses, there is no time or patience for stories. Most people want you to get to the point and to do it yesterday! So, we find ourselves constantly running full pelt to the finish line as quickly and concisely as possible.

When writing a book, however, getting to the point is not the point of writing the book.

As an author, you are seeking to engage your audience; to lure them into your world and once they are there, to tease them, play with them and generally have your way with them!

Ahem…

This is achieved through story—the more you master your art as a storyteller, the greater your storyselling.

For, once the audience is in your world, you can lead them from moment to moment, product to product.

They will not mind being sold to, because they enjoy the experience of the story… and you will not have to force them to buy, because storyselling is subtle and offered with an open hand (rather than a closed fist held to your client’s throat).

The challenge is, before you can master the craft of storyselling, you will need to transition from… getting to the point, to meandering to the point.

Most business authors charge out of the starting gate and head, in a dead straight line, to the finish. They have no time to offer their reader except when stating facts, figures and the occasional anecdote for illustrative purposes.

That approach has worked well for many years, but now it is failing more and more.

Why? Because the audience is so saturated in sales and marketing, they have become exceptionally adept at filtering it out of their awareness.

It takes microseconds for the savvy, modern brain to make a decision. If you are attempting to get to the point in that time, you will lose them, whether or not you are going at light speed with those facts and figures or not.

In less than a second, you have time to do one thing and one thing only…

Raise their heart rate.

If you achieve this, you will have them for them for a minute more, maybe several minutes. Then you can begin to tell your story, engage them and compel them to keep going on this journey. All the while you are walking beside them, sharing your story and meandering past different events.

The building of these events through narration, creating tension and the release of tension are not to the point—the purpose is not to get to the point, but to enthral your audience; leading them from one dramatic event to the next.

Everything in your story needs to be designed to keep the audience wanting more. And if you craft your narrative with powerful storyselling techniques, there will come a point in your book where the reader will relax into the story and begin to trust you.

Their trust is the most important aspect of the author/reader relationship. For when they trust you, you can offer them value in the purchases they make and the relationship you develop together. You can turn basic information into profound transformation.

The Kara Sutra #4—The Narrative Position

Invite your reader in by opening the door, rather than demanding they enter!

Things to avoid when writing your business book—Part Four

The narrative position is such a simple factor in your authoring, yet so many new and self-published authors fail to realise how important it is. The position involves that of the reader and where they feel they are in relation to the narrative.

Are they in the story—a character fully immersed in your narrative? Are they sitting beside you in some unknown place faraway? Or are they at their desk on their lunch break, reading your book whilst scoffing a sandwich?

The narrative position that is ignored will achieve one result… the reader may read your book, but will never be touched by it, moved by it, transformed by it. This could be called the Report position, because it amounts to simply reporting information to your reader.

The narrative position of you as a disembodied narrator will have the reader come to you, but they will never be sure of their bearings, unless you make these very clear.

The reason this is the most popular form of narrative position is not because it is the most effective, it is down to how much we use it. People are so accustomed to reading in this style—it is so acceptable and safe—that it has become the default.

More than sufficient for blog posts, articles, reports and other everyday forms of media, the Narrator-Out-There position will suit many needs. However, when it comes to writing your book, this same position will create a finished book that promotes your bland, not your brand.

The Story Narrative position, grabs your reader and pulls them in, not by shouting at them to be a part of the story, but through inviting them into the excitement, drama and thrills that exist within the world.

Storytelling—or in the case of business books, storyselling—is the most powerful form of narrative. It will enthral, enchant and literally transform your reader’s life, through the emotions they feel and the relationship you share together.

Yet, this approach does meet with resistance on both sides… new authors find storyselling very challenging to write, because there is a lot to learn if you are going to get it right!

Readers find it easy to escape the story and just go for the bullet points… because the author has not fully committed to their narrative position. Even confident writers are known to play it safe with a get-out clause! This sends a message to the reader… There is a really good story here, but if you do not have the time/inclination to read it, here is a summary…

The Story position builds a world, opens the door and invites your audience in. The summary is a signpost outside that describes what is inside. So, not only is there no need for the reader to enter the world, they have also destroyed any mystery or value for them.

When a storyseller gets it right; the audience not only immerse themselves in the world, they never want to leave! This is where they are transformed by your expertise, their lives changed for the better and you gain an army of loyal, fervent advocates.

______________

In this series of blogs, author and ghost writer, Martyn Pentecost, explores the foundations of authoring through a series of Author Laws… The Kara Sutra.

The Kara Sutra #3—The Textuality Paradox

Beware of paradoxical contentment!

Things to avoid when writing your business book—Part Three

One of the more subtle, yet most commonplace of rookie author errors is the creation of internal paradoxes within a narrative. This is not necessarily the story-based paradox that is frequently involved in time-travel fiction, but a paradox of logic.

For instance, the phrase…

Don’t do what you are told

…creates a paradox. To do what you are told, you cannot not do what you are told. When you do not do as you are told, you are doing what you are told! And so on.

This is an obvious example, yet so many authors, particularly when it comes to business books, create more convoluted forms of paradox.

These transition from the very mild—yet very damaging—telling your reader not to do a thing that you then proceed to do yourself, to complex and hard to detect paradoxes.

The challenge created by every paradox—unless you are using them knowingly—is they undermine your authenticity as an author and business person. This is because paradoxes highlight gaps in your own expertise, logic or self-awareness.

The self-proclaimed pioneer who just does what everybody is doing.
The sales guru, who fails to sell their readers.
The authority in their field, who writes without authority in their book.

Here are some actual instances of the narrative paradox—can you spot them?

A Selection of Tweets…

Are you giving too much value? Don’t give people advice they haven’t asked for.

Where there is light there can be no darkness.

I can imagine haha any1 can write a book now cause 2days world we tak authority(author) as truth instead vice-versa [sic]

58 Experts Share their Best Personal Branding and Authority Tips…

Several times per year, I do something that is difficult and original. There are three of them:

Publish a book
Run a conference
Do original research

I’ve done each of these for years. They all started small, but they’ve gotten easier (and bigger) over time. The book, Content Chemistry, is in it’s fourth edition. This was the fifth year for our conference, Content Jam. The research, our Survey of 1000+ Bloggers, was just published for the third time.—Andy Crestodina

But in order to reach this level of influence, you have to be known and on people’s minds regularly. You have to be everywhere at once… We know exactly where our target market is and we go there. —James McAllister

The New Pioneers, by Tania Ellis…

Einstein’s famous quote: ‘No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it’, says it all: the finance, environmental and social challenges of the 21st Century cannot be met with solutions based on 20th Century mindsets, models and designs.

Inspirational Book Writing, by Dave Thompson…

This is a book written in my unique tone and conversational style. I don’t know anyone that reads 18th century [sic] English literature, so I may not always follow the perfectly proper conventions of spelling and grammar. Honestly, I’m not fussed about it—the message you hold in your hands is FAR more important than a missing full stop 😉 [sic]

Communication Mastery, by Zayne Parker

[The first paragraph of the first chapter]

In this first chapter, we have given you a lowdown on the importance of being a good communicator and in the subsequent chapter we have covered the above-mentioned 50 techniques in a detailed and comprehensive manner.

The textuality paradox is not merely a slip of narrative tongue; it is a demonstration of how your professional expertise is diminished by your lack of authoring skills.

There are powerful, noble and transformative ideas beneath the text, but the act of writing from own’s own perspective, rather than authoring with an understanding of what it is to be the reader, develops the paradox.

And, whilst most will not notice the paradox consciously, somewhere inside they will feel uneasy—and this sensation will be linked to your writing, your brand and your business.

______________

In this series of blogs, author and ghost writer, Martyn Pentecost, explores the foundations of authoring through a series of Author Laws… The Kara Sutra.

The Kara Sutra #2—Aural Pleasure

You are having a conversation, but not THAT sort of conversation…

Things to avoid when writing your business book—Part Two

A mistake so many new authors make is writing as they speak. The written word comes from a different part of you to the spoken word. This is true even for those authors who dictate their writing—they dictate for the narrative word, not the conversational.

Even when we consider audio books, the writing immerses the listener in narrative; it evokes a sense of reality that impromptu conversation does not necessarily have. Whilst in conversation, the listener is usually preparing a response—when listening to audio they are imagining they are in the story-world.

When in discussion, all parties use the same parts of the brain whether they are listening or speaking. When conversing through writing and reading, the author and audience are using different areas of the brain. If they encounter a narrative tone, too similar to a spoken conversation, they will start replying in their head, rather than just letting go and enjoying the story.

Now, the written word is a form of dialogue—an interaction between you and your audience. However, the conversation is sculpted, designed and polished to very specific effect. The cadence of writing is different to that of speaking.

Simply writing down words as you would speak them (without subsequent honing of the narrative), does not come across as informality or friendliness—it provokes a defensive/offensive position, instead of a trusting relationship.

To avoid the conversation trap when you are authoring, pay particular attention to these aspects of your work…

Shortening words such as I’m, Don’t or Wouldn’t (possessives are fine, for instance… Sandra’s car). Remember that it’s is not possessive, it is a shortened version of—it is—and therefore it is not suitable.
I believe, I would say, In my opinion—of course you believe, you would say, it is your opinion… it is your book!
I remember… As I recall… When I think about it… any form of conversational position that places the reader with you, rather than in the narrative world.
We use a lot of superfluous words in spoken conversation, for example: All of the decision-making vs. all the decision making.
Habitual words (or phrases), are another example of superfluous words, such as—do not overuse that… the people that we know/the people we know
Vagaries, such as perhaps, maybe, should, etc. Also be sure of yourself—I was fourteen or fifteen at the time—this really does not work when immersing the reader!

When you are in debate, discussion or generally conversing with others, you are improvising, giving impromptu information, getting to the end as quickly as you can so they stay interested. When authoring, you are storytelling—even in a non-fiction, educational or business book.

You are seeking to meander along a path, so interesting, enthralling and profound, your audience follows. You are creating a trusting relationship. You are focusing on the effect your words are having upon the reader as they journey onwards…

______________

In this series of blogs, author and ghost writer, Martyn Pentecost, explores the foundations of authoring through a series of Author Laws… The Kara Sutra.

The Kara Sutra #1—The Ego Trap

It is all about you, but it is not about you…
Things to avoid when writing your business book—Part One
You want your readers to view you as arrogant; a self-centred, smug egotist!
You cannot wait to bore people to tears with your book—to make it difficult for them to get through the first page!
Your book needs to demonstrate how simplistic, rough and amateur your writing abilities are!
…or NOT!
Nobody sets out to write a bad book—one that bores reader, sends clients elsewhere and generally gets you disliked. Yet, so many inexperienced authors do this without knowing.
They plan to write a book that shares valuable information with their readers, yet what they write is…
It’s all about me and what I think, because you know that my option is so much more important that anything anybody else has to say—and even when I’m talking about somebody else or even you as my reader, it’s not really about you, it’s about me and what I feel you need to hear about me and my opinions!
Not pleasant.
The secret to creating a magnetic, powerful and valuable book that your readers will cherish is to stop just giving information and focus on transformation.
Avoid writing about what you know and instead, translate what you know into the experience of your audience members and what they want to know.
What are the benefits?
How will your book help them achieve their goals and lessen the pain?
Why will their lives be better when they make your words their mantras?
When you filter your experiences of the world through their experiences of the world, you share wisdom with them, instead of ramming your ego down their throats.

______________

The Kara Sutra is the Author’s Way of using the written word as a powerful tool (from the Sanskrit Kara, author/creator, and Sutra, law). A tool that impacts the reader and transforms their lives in some way.
In this series of blogs, author and ghost writer, Martyn Pentecost, explores the foundations of authoring through a series of Author Laws… The Kara Sutra.

You Know You Want To…

…but can’t find the time, money or energy to Write Your Book!

Authority publishing is an essential aspect of any modern SME business.

Every serious, savvy and trustworthy business needs to get its message out in the most powerful way possible. Amongst the marketing mix there is a way of demonstrating your authority that is more compelling and persuasive than any other.

The book is where an expert in their field reveals their authority; not only demonstrating their expertise and offering guidance to the reader, but also forming a relationship with your audience over many hours of interaction. This level of trust-building is of immense value to your business—it transforms your role from an expert in your field, to the leader in your field.

Overcome the challenge of less-competent competitors

Yet, your authority book is not simply about you and your reader; it is a powerful solution to the challenge of competitors who know less than you in your field, but are more willing to employ slick, usually slimy, sales and marketing techniques.

This not only loses you potential business, but damages the reputation of everybody in your field—when the sleek-marketeer-and-professional-novice doesn’t deliver.

Writing your authority title takes time, a lot of time and real commitment… and the frightening, yet absolutely vital, need to be bold in your narrative choices. Bland and generic business books are everywhere, saturating an already overcrowded arena.

To stand out you need to author something that is unlike anything else… something uniquely you!

This takes time and a commitment to learning how you match your authoring skills with your professional expertise.

Do you really want any weaknesses in your writing abilities to undermine the reader’s perception of your professional expertise? Yet, most wannabe business authors ignore this danger, forgetting that when the reader sees poor quality or boring text they also think that your expertise is of poor quality or uninteresting.

Yet, take the time to begin to match your writing skills with your field of expertise and you’ll stand out powerfully, for all the right reasons!

Your book… Your business!

With such a high commitment of effort, time and money, developing and writing your authority book is daunting and often perceived as an impossible goal. Thus, many well-meaning and excellent professionals regard authoring their authority book as second in line to running their business. Your book is not an addition to your business… it IS your business.

Every day you do not have a book to offer your potential clients is a day your business is gradually diverting away from success.

However, there is an alternative in the short term. This other option does not negate the need for an authority title, but it will buy you time, whilst you learn your new craft and get your authority title written.

If you are daunted… start with a little step, a little book…

The answer is a little book that demonstrates your expertise in a quick, easy to read and highly transportable way. As an introduction for your audience (and for yourself into the realm of authoring), the pocket-sized wealth of wisdom does something the authority book does not…

The little book becomes a daily pickup and delve, rather than a large time commitment for your reader. The power of the authority title exists with your reader investing a large amount of time reading it… they explore the many themes and stories within; they walk with you and learn to like you, trust you, learn lots more from you.

However, if someone is cold and unprepared, this hefty commitment of time can be a challenge and cause them to disconnect. If this happens, the authority book will never be read.

Pitch your little book just right and your new audience will get into the habit of taking it with them as a quick-fix reference and inspirational tool. As this habit forms and sticks with them, they will become desperate to read your next book… the authority title… and will be much more enthusiastic about spending time exploring your meatier efforts.

The empty promise: ‘Write your book in thirty days…’

The little book is so powerful as a temporary solution that many book coaches and media content gurus actually sell programmes that create little books that pretend to be authority titles. These are padded with extra pages, large font sizes and lots and lots of white space—something that makes the author appear to be overreaching and content-light.

Crafting a little book with finesse and an appreciation for what the book needs to achieve is a very different goal than writing a little book disguised as a bigger book!

One is intended to be a portable, quick win… The other is a temporary fix hidden behind the promise of a lasting solution… Are you prepared to stake your brand, your business and your livelihood on a bland, safe and throwaway Band-Aid?

The big idea behind the little book

Writing a little book brings great rewards. When you know how to sculpt and develop your book it can also be completed very quickly. So, if you are planning to write a book, make that book part of a longer-term, bolder strategy—a series of books that will achieve so much more for you and your business.

Is the book you’re told to write the one your audience wants to read?

The first secret the gurus don’t tell you when you’re writing your book…

There is one lethal syndrome you never want to encounter when speaking with someone. You also definitely don’t want this to occur when someone picks up your book or looks at your product range.

TEGO (tee-go) leads to disaster, destruction and the death of your hopes for converting your audience into paying clients. It is also guaranteed to get a reader to put your book down and never give it a second thought in the future.

So, what is this mysterious TEGO?

It is the moment when the person you are speaking to finds the colour of your neighbour’s hair more interesting than your pre-planned pitch. It is the moment when a potential client drifts off into their favourite daydream whilst you share your wisdom and knowledge. It is the moment when a reader turns a page, sighs and drops your book in frustration.

You’ve experienced TEGO yourself. Indeed, you may even have triggered it in another person occasionally. Sadly, I have done this many times…

A guaranteed way to induce TEGO is to forget the essential principle of good business communication. When communicating with a client or potential client it isn’t what you do that is important. It is what you can do for them that is important.

When we are looking to grow and develop our business we either want a solution to a problem or a way of creating new possibilities for our business. We want to get rid of pain or we want to create some pleasure.”

When meeting prospective clients (in the room, online or via your book) the most important message you have to share is the one your audience needs to hear—that their problem is understood, that there is an effective solution to their problem and they can access that solution easily through you.

Most people who induce TEGO talk constantly about themselves, about the features of their product or service, about their venture-capital-backed brilliance or the 150 years of their traditional family business. They do this thinking that their prospective client will easily sign up on the dotted line. How wrong they are.

The result of their monologue is TEGO – The Eyes Glaze Over…

So many business books end up making the same fundamental mistake.

The business author writes down everything they think they know, hoping to impress the reader by demonstrating their authority and expertise. This is not how to write a business book—they fail to remember one vital point…

How to avoid TEGO and write the right book

The book you think you have to write to show your authority is not the book that will truly touch, impress and inspire your readers.

Understanding how to write your entire book for the benefit of your reader rather than yourself is, paradoxically, the only way to ensure that your book really does benefit your business.

Don’t pretend to speak with them—really take time to understand them. Show your appreciation by detailing how you will love their problems. Demonstrate your reliability by freely sharing powerful information and strategies from the first word to the final full stop.

Then, and only then, can you be confident that TEGO will not strike.

Oh, yes – the first secret – It’s not all about you!

Keep your eyes peeled for the second secret, coming soon…

Acknowledgement: A big thank you to Michael Henesy, a truly wonderful communicator, for introducing me to the concept of TEGO.