Why Publish a
Book?
The reasons run
deeper than fame or fortune ...
by Diane Eble
Perhaps you crave fame,
perhaps fortune, when you think of getting a book
published.
I suspect there's a deeper reason.
You know from your own experience that
books can change lives. In your own life,
aren't there at least half a dozen, perhaps many more, books
that have made a major impact on your life? Books that
changed your way of life in some way, that altered the way
you look at the world, or yourself, forever.
You feel, deep down, that you have such a book
inside you, a story or knowledge or insights that can change
the quality of other people's lives. You long to make that
kind of difference in other people's lives.
And I'm here to tell you with the firmest
conviction: This is entirely possible. Fame and fortune may
or may not follow publishing your book. As a book coach I
can tell you how to substantially increase your chances of
achieving those things, but there is no guarantee.
What I can guarantee is that if you get your
book out there, it will change at least a few lives. And
that is something that no amount of fame or money can ever
touch.
Let me share an example
...
On the
morning of July 31, 2004, the phone rang and my
husband, Gene, answered it. The woman on the
other end of the line asked for me. Gene told
her I was in the shower, and offered to take a
message. The woman was crying inconsolably,
which prompted Gene to knock on the bathroom
door and insist that I take the call.
Turning off the
shower--I was halfway through, between the
shampoo and the conditioner--and dripping wet,
I took the phone Gene handed me. Who could be
calling? I felt a little alarmed, wondering
what was the matter, somehow expecting bad
news.
It turned out to be
Maria, a woman I barely knew at the time, whom
I'd met recently on the Internet while
researching ways to promote my book, Abundant
Gifts. She had been so helpful to me that I had
sent her a complimentary copy of the book a
couple of weeks previously.
Between her tears, she told
me she was on the 9th day of reading the daily
stories contained in my book. She said that
every day she read my book, her eyes were so
reawakened to God’s abundance in her everyday
life that she’d made it a habit to pick up the
phone and call someone to share what she had
discovered in my book.
That particular morning, the
day’s meditation made her weep because it gave
rise to profound revelations that resonated
with her. She said that upon reading the
meditation, she came to the realization that as
abundant as God’s gifts are, they couldn’t
compare with his greatest gift of all--the gift
of himself. "The Giver is the gift!" she
exclaimed, clearly stirred by her
realization.
I was heartened by Maria's
words because that's what I wanted people to
"get " from Abundant Gifts: that God
is a gift-giving God who gives
abundantly because of his gracious
God-love. He is not the some cosmic vending
machine, dispensiing candy to greedy children.
He gives so lavishly for one purpose--to draw
each beloved child closer to His heart of
love.
In this instance, the gifts
kept coming. Incredibly, after Maria shared
with me what my book had done for her, I too
received a gift of immeasurable value.
For some time before that
moment, I’d had a jaded attitude toward being
an author. About two years prior, I got very
discouraged about how my books would get into
print, then shortly thereafter go out of print.
This made me wonder whether I ought to write
any more books at all--and I even considered
quit writing books altogether and finding
something else to do for "real money." Maria’s
call made me realize that if my words could
touch people’s lives the way they’d visibly
touched her, I had no business doubting whether
I should continue writing books or not. This
ability to write was a gift that God entrusted
to me, and through which he intends to bless
others. What right had I to refuse to serve the
gift?
Four days later, I received
yet another gift. Maria had sent me a check in
the amount of $1,000. Maria knew I didn’t have
much of a budget to promote Abundant Gifts, so
she said if a thousand dollars could help get
my book into the hands of more people, to her
it was money well spent.
I thanked her profusely -- but she
insisted that the gift I had given her by
sending her my book was an even greater gift to
her.
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Books change lives!
Books also pave the way to great friendships,
as I've discovered. More than once I've sent one of my books
to someone, and became close friends with a former stranger
as a result.
One of the most precious experiences of being
an author came from something Robert Allen,
best-selling author of many books such as Nothing
Down and The One-Minute Millionaire, told me.
Bob had gotten in a horrific car accident in 2003 that he
survived by a miracle. When I heard about the accident, I
sent him a copy of Abundant Gifts.
A year or so later, I met him at a book
convention in Los Angeles. I introduced myself as the author
of Abundant Gifts. Amazingly, he remembered the
book. He said, "Thousands of people sent me books and other
gifts after my accident. Yours was one that stayed on my
bookshelf and that I returned to often."
There is nothing like the feeling that you have
profoundly affected the life of another person through your
words. Nothing.
There are people out there who need
what you have to share. What only you can
share.
In the many years I worked with authors,
promoting them and editing them, they shared with me their
own stories and letters of how their books have affected
their readers. It's quite astounding, and extremely
gratifying.
In fact, it doesn't matter what kind of book
you write--you WILL affect someone deeply. Some of the
authors I've worked with write very "light" fiction--pure
"entertainment." Yet they, too, get letters from readers who
say they got some new insight from the book.
But ... before you can taste the sweetness of
the fruit of your labor, you must do the hard work. You
must prepare the ground, plant the seed, cultivate it,
fertilize it, water it, protect it from weeds and the
elements and the insects....
In other wrods, you have to WRITE the book and
then--get it PUBLISHED!
Finally, you have to promote
it. Unless the world knows about your book, it does no one
any good.
As you do all that hard work, keep a clear
vision of the people whom you seek to reach, the lives
you want to change through your story, information product,
or articles. They are waiting, hungry (though they may not
know it) for just what you have to give them.
This vision of my "ideal reader"--the person
who resonates with what I write--is what keeps me writing,
day after day. I hope it's what will inspire you too to
action ... to starting your book now, or perhaps pulling up
that manuscript you started years ago and have locked away
in a drawer.
There's no time like now. People are waiting
... I am waiting, to hear your story, to revel in
your song....
About the author:
Diane Eble is the author of 11 published books
and more than 450 articles, an editor, and book
coach. To learn how to get your book started today,
visit http://www.WordsToProfit.com/JumpStartYourBook.html.
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