Overcoming Objections: Defeating Your Top Book-Writing
Hurdles
You know you need to do it. You’ve had it on
your to-do list for years. Your own coach has told you time and again that this
is the year you must get your book in print.
And yet…nothing.
It’s not that you don’t recognize the
benefits, or that you don’t want to have a published book on your resume. You
just struggle with it, and probably for the same reasons many other coaches
resist publication.
You don’t have time. Here’s a
biggie. Everyone is busy. We all get that. But that’s not a good excuse when it
comes to growing your business.
Rather than lamenting your lack of time, you
should be prioritizing your day to accommodate the important things, like
writing your book. Maybe that means getting up 30 minutes earlier for a focused
(if short) writing stint every morning, or turning off the television after
dinner so you can write, or even setting aside several hours each Sunday
morning until your book is done.
The point is, you must make this a priority.
Block out the time in your calendar, and treat that time as sacred. Pretend
it’s an appointment with your most important client, and do not allow anything
to get in the way of keeping it.
You can’t write. Many, many
people claim they cannot write; yet when you look at their blogs, there are
hundreds of posts. What it really means when someone says they can’t write is
that they don’t like to.
Luckily, you have plenty of options for
overcoming this particular hurdle. Hire a ghostwriter. Start with PLR.
Repurpose your blog posts into a book (Darren Rowse of Problogger.net did this
with great success).
And if all else fails, speak. Use software
such as Dragon Naturally Speaking, or simply record using your favorite MP3 app
and then have it transcribed.
You can’t organize a long project like a book. Ok, so you’re great with blog posts, and you don’t mind writing
them, but the thought of writing an entire book makes you stare at your blank
screen like a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming car.
First, if you can write a blog post, you can
write an entire series of books. The process is all the same, after all. It’s
just putting words into sentences, sentences into paragraphs, and so on.
But if you really feel you can’t manage a
long project, then an outline is going to be your best friend. Start with a broad
overview of your project, and then break it down by sections, then chapters.
Make notes about what you’ll cover in each, and then it’s just a matter of
filling in the blanks.
There are dozens of reasons to write a book. It’s important for
establishing your expertise, for growing your audience, and for solidifying
your message. But none of that will happen if you don’t actually write it. So
it’s time to get beyond your hurdles and get your book done.
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