Should You Write a Book?

"To me a book is a message from the gods to mankind; or, if not, should never be published at all." Aleister Crowley, The Confessions of Aleister Crowley

Over the years, dozens of people have asked me what I think of their idea for a book. My response is always the same:

Imagine you’re in a Barnes & Noble bookstore (let’s hope there are still bookstores when you read this) or you’re on the home page of Amazon. You see novels by Isabel Allende, Jonathan Franzen, Daniel Silva, Anne Lamott, and Lee Child. Over in nonfiction there are books by Stephen Jay Gould, Malcolm Gladwell, and Clayton Christensen. And maybe there are a few vanity tomes by the CEOs of large, well-known companies.

In this sea of choices, why should anyone give a shiitake about your book?

Many would-be (and some published) authors cannot answer this question because they’re focused on a different one:

How will I benefit from writing a book?

Their answers to this other question include: “It’s good for my visibility.” “To make money.” “It will help me get speaking gigs and consulting engagements.” “It’s good for my company.” “It will make me a thought leader.” Any of these reasons may be true for the author, but they are not relevant for readers.

Think about this:

How often do you peruse Barnes & Noble or Amazon while wondering how you can help an author achieve his or her personal goals? Your answer, like mine, is probably “never.” I’m happy for authors to earn lots of royalties, but that’s not why I buy their books. I’d bet the same is true for you, too. Let’s examine the good and bad reasons to write a book.

Good Reason 1: Enrich Lives

The first good reason to write a book is to add value to people’s lives. Both writer and reader benefit when a book enables gains in these arenas:

• Knowledge. Science books explain how the world works. Business books explain management techniques. History books explain events of the past. Books like these spread knowledge and expertise. Example: The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. and E. B. White.

• Understanding. Both novels and nonfiction can help people understand themselves and others. They can provide tools and techniques to foster greater awareness and comprehension of their lives. Example: Light in August by William Faulkner.

• Entertainment. Novels entertain people by providing adventure, fantasy, and out-of-the-ordinary role-playing. Some people want to be heroines. Some people want to be spies. I want to be a Navy SEAL. To each his own. Example: The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien.

• Laughter. Some books brighten people’s lives with humor, mirth, or sarcasm. For me, there’s Fran Lebowitz’s Social Studies and Alice Kahn and Whoopi Goldberg’s Multiple Sarcasm. Another example: Stuff White People Like by Christian Lander.

Stop reading and answer this question: Will your book add value to people’s lives? This is a severe test, but if your answer is affirmative, there’s no doubt that you should write a book.

Good Reason 2: Intellectual Challenge
At the tender age of forty-eight I took up ice hockey even though I had never skated before (there are no frozen ponds in Hawaii). Canadians will tell you that I was forty-five years too late, eh? I would never make money or earn a college scholarship by playing hockey. My motivation was the joy of learning the world’s most enchanting sport.

The second good reason to write a book is the same reason I play hockey: to master a new skill, not to make money. I found an extreme example of this in writing. Ernest Vincent Wright wrote a novel that did not contain any words with the letter “E.” It’s called Gadsby—50,000 Word Novel Without the Letter “E.” You can download a PDF if you don’t believe me.

Good Reason 3: Further a Cause

The third good reason to write a book is to evangelize a cause. A cause seeks to either end something bad (pollution, abuse, bigotry) or perpetuate something good (beauty, peace, affection). Silent Spring by Rachel Carson is an example. Her cause was the environment, and her book resulted in the ban of DDT and catalyzed the start of the environmental movement.

Good Reason 4: Catharsis

Way back in 1987, I wrote my first book, The Macintosh Way. At the time I was running a small software company, but it was not operating the way I thought it should. I wrote this book because I knew there had to be a better way to do business.

This experience taught me the fourth good reason to write a book: Writing is therapeutic. It helps you cope with issues that seem gargantuan at the time. The process of expressing yourself about a problem, editing your thoughts, and writing some more can help you control issues that you face.

Bad Reason 1: Popular Demand
There are also bad reasons to write a book. The first one is popular demand: “Lots of people tell me I have a good story.” Or, “Lots of people tell me that I’m a good writer.” Let’s dissect this. Exactly how many is “lots”? Divide that number by a hundred to estimate how many people will buy your book. Then divide that number by four to estimate how many people will actually read your book.

Have you ever told friends or relatives that they should open a restaurant because they were great cooks? How about telling a funny person she should be a comedienne? If you have, did you truly intend that they go into the food business or start calling comedy clubs? Maybe people were making polite conversation or flattering you when they said you should write a book, but these are not reasons enough.

The exception to this rule is if a writer or author tells you that you should write a book, which is the equivalent of a restaurateur or comedian telling you to get in the business. This is because they know how much work is involved—as well as the exhilaration of finishing and publishing a book. For example, Percy Bysshe Shelley encouraged his wife, Mary Shelley, to finish a short story that she’d written at the suggestion of Lord Byron (yes, the Lord Byron). This short story became Frankenstein. (Hat-tip to Carlos dos Santos for this story.)

Bad Reason 2: Money
The second bad reason to write a book is to make a lot of money. The average number of copies that most books sell, according to street wisdom, is a few hundred. You may believe that publishing a book will boost your speaking and consulting opportunities too—but only if your book is good and your marketing is great.

Sure, you hear about people who self-published their books and made millions of dollars, but the reason you hear about them is that they are rare, not commonplace. A more realistic and healthier approach is to believe that making money is a possible outcome, but not the purpose, of writing a great book. May you be so fortunate as to experience both.

Summary
Writing is often a lonely and difficult process, so take a moment to reflect on the good reasons and bad reasons to write a book. We still encourage you to do it because it is one of the most rewarding experiences in life, but few things worth doing are easy.

Do you have the next great American novel inside you? Maybe my latest
book APE: Author, Publisher, Entrepreneur — How to Publish a Book can help you.

Guy Kawasaki is the author of twelve books including APE: Author, Publisher, Entrepreneur — How to Publish a Book, What the Plus!, and Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds and Action. He’s the former chief evangelist of Apple and currently an advisor to Motorola. Guy shares enchanting stuff on the topics of marketing, enchantment, social media, writing, self-publishing, innovation, and venture capital.

For a limited time, we're giving away free copies of APE. Get yours here.

Help me spread the word about this offer by clicking here to tweet about it. {click to tweet}

If you liked this post, please share it and click the FOLLOW button above to get more! Or consider subscribing to my mailing list at http://eepurl.com/u0U81.

Excerpt from APE: Author, Publisher, Entrepreneur — How to Publish a Book by Guy Kawasaki and Shawn Welch.