121 | The 3 Questions You Must Understand Before Writing A Book with Kelly Epperson
Don’t be scared of writing a book. Don’t let fear stop you. Kelly Epperson joins us today and she is an expert in writing, coaching and guiding leaders from the idea stage to a finished book. Kelly’s mission is to help new authors by removing the fears of writing and making the book actually help you reach your goals. We explore the 3 questions that every author must understand before writing a book so that you are completely clear about why you are writing the book in the first place. Kelly has written 25+ books, some for New York Times bestselling authors, one that sold 3 millions copies. Don’t miss this episode if you might want to write a book some day.
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Kelly’s Target Audience: Kelly mentors business owners who want to bring their message to the page (or book) where it can actually do something for them and their business.
Kelly is a coach, an author, an editor and ghostwriter. She has written more than 25 books as a ghostwriter some of which have been for New York Times best selling authors. One of them sold over 3 million copies. She is also a judge for the Erma Bombeck essay competition. Additionally, she’s a book coach for Larry Winget and Susan Evans for the Hell Yeah Star Program.
Kelly believes writing a book is important because it gives one credibility, exposure and opportunities. It sets you apart from experts and sets you up as the authority. Writing a book provides one more opportunities to speak at events. In the eyes of clients and/or potential clients, it increases respect. Most importantly, you receive deeper clarity into what you are all about.
Kelly shares the significance of doing “upfront” work. Before you start writing you must establish your “Passion- Purpose.” Ask yourself how it is serving your reader. Also ask yourself: what is the practical purpose? How is it serving you and your business? Is it attracting your ideal people? Who are you writing it for? It should be for those people that you want to work with.
This is what Kelly calls the “Clarity exercise” (3 WHY questions):
- WHY this book now?
- WHY would anyone read it? (there has to be something in it for the reader)
- WHY you? (what makes you the person to write it now?- Your credentials, your story, etc)
When you nail your purpose, it helps the planning and writing of it to flow. Kelly sees people get overwhelmed by the idea of writing a book but points out that books today are about 25,000 words. So if you are already blogging, you have tons of content already you can work with.
Kelly also advises to pick one person to write to. Think about what you want them to know or do or feel. Once you resonate with one person, you’ll connect with many. It may turn into an overflow of people, but in the initial stage of writing a book, honing in on one person is the focus.
Just like all of us, Kelly experienced her own time in the trenches. Being a creative writer, creating systems was something she had a lot of resistance towards. However, once she did it, she found it allowed more time and flow for her creativity. She also realized that if she wanted to grow in her success, she had to reach out for help by working with coaches and mentors. She reflects on how far we can come because of that.
In this episode we’ll cover:
- The common fears people have over writing a book
- Why writing is a book is easier than you think
- How books today are shorter than you think
- The 3 questions to give you CLARITY
- Why you shouldn’t write to a broad audience
- Why Kelly realized it was ok to reach out for guidance
Practical and Actionable:
Answer those WHY questions. Here they are again:
- WHY this book now?
- WHY would anyone read it?
- WHY you?
To give Kelly a shout out, follow her and send him a message. Connect with Gene too on LinkedIn or Twitter at @genehammett.
Resources and Links
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