Stop Trying to Get Published
A client told me he wanted to come into his readers' lives through the kitchen window. I responded, “Well, I’d love to help you open it.”
He meant that he wanted to speak to them about his message, but in an indirect way that won their hearts and inspired their daily lives. What a great vision for his message!
And that’s what I want to talk about first in this course. Your message.
We tend to think of books as these finite objects that collect dust on our bookshelves. And, of course, books are physical objects. And they are digital objects. And they are audible objects. But what we don’t always think about as writers and creators—because I believe many of the principles I’m going to talk about can be applied to other works of creativity—when we talk about books is that books are primarily messages from one human being to another.
What I want to get you to stop thinking about as a writer or creator is the refrain, “I just want to get published.”
Publishing is the icing on the cake. It’s not the primary goal of writing. You can inspire another human being with your thoughts and words without being a published author.
It can be difficult for any book to gain traction in the U.S. publishing world. Bestsellers are not the rule; they are the exception. Everyone wants to sell a ton of copies, but no author is a sure bet. Even celebrity author’s books flop. So why write a book and send your message into the cultural noise?
Because you have a message that you’re passionate about, and that message doesn’t only live in your book. You live that message through your business experience, family life, and faith. Your message is your legacy, and that can manifest in several ways.
Why do we need to create an online message for this content?
Because a book is more than pages and binding, it is a message from one passionate human being to others that he or she seeks to guide into personal transformation. To reach an audience, authors need a vision for their content that reaches beyond just a book. The book’s message transcends the author’s platform when coupled with a vision. We aim to help you craft a vision for your content and create a message that continues to live on after the book launches.
