14 Benefits of Becoming an Author

Authoring a book requires a big investment in time, effort, and money. With the writing, editing, and production work required to publish a book, it can take years before it’s done. And if you can’t write the book yourself, hiring a ghostwriter costs as much as—a client once told me—a car. Not a fancy car, necessarily, but still a car. However, becoming an author offers some big returns too.

Becoming an author is worth it, even when it takes years and costs thousands. I wouldn’t have started this business, trying to sell writing a book to people, if I didn’t think it was worth it—I promise. I’m a hustler with a passion.

Because writing a book is such a big project, people often dream of doing it but don’t actually get it done. If you've been thinking about writing a book for a long time, then you're definitely not alone. It's one of those projects that can easily be put off so more immediate things can get done. 

Some Numbers

Authors—all coaches, professionals, consultants, and speakers—surveyed by RainToday for The Business Impact of Writing a Book reported that writing and publishing a book made a huge difference in their visibility, income, and success. 

96 percent said having a book positively influenced their business; 

96 percent generated more clients; 

94 percent generated more leads; 

87 percent could charge higher fees; 

87 percent attracted a more desirable client base; 

And 76 percent closed more deals.

One survey respondent said that since writing and publishing her book, she'd never had a shortage of clients. These statistics have been out for a few years, but they're still amazing! Particularly for bloggers, self-employed professionals, and consultants who want to establish and grow a business. 

1. Help Others

If you had some knowledge or expertise that you knew could make someone’s life easier, would you share it? For many people, the reason they become an author is to help. They’ve lived through something terrible and want to encourage people in similar circumstances. Or they’ve accomplished something great and want to show others how to do the same. Becoming an author allows you to help far more people than you could reach in person.

2. Spread the Word

There's no better way to share your story and experiences with a huge amount of people than by writing a book. It allows you to reach audiences unlimited by geography and economic status. Now, you could argue that’s true for the Internet too. But I will argue back that a book has inherently more value than a web site because it’s a physical object. People carry books around with them, give books space in their homes, don’t like to throw books away, and give books freely. The number of people who can read your book is unlimited as well, especially the ebook version.

3. Influence Others

Books are different from any other type of media because readers spend more time with books. By becoming an author, people are reading and absorbing your ideas and material in a different way than they might a movie or article or blog. So books are influential, and they are a powerful way to change people's lives for the better.

4. Establish Credibility

I was catching up on my podcast listening the other day when I heard an interview with a HER NAME? on the Authorpreneur show. She’s a young woman who, back when social media marketing was brand-new, learned everything she could about how businesses could use social media marketing. She wrote a book about it, self-published, and then researched companies that could benefit most from embracing the new social media trend. Then she sent the targeted companies copies of her book and offered to get their social media marketing departments up and running. She got in the door and got positions at companies that otherwise wouldn’t have given her the time of day because her book gave her credibility. Isn’t that cool?! 

5. Become an Expert

Even when you know what you’re talking about, you don’t really know it until you’ve written about it so another person can understand. So just the process of writing a book actually adds to your expertise. Becoming an author lets everyone else know you’re the expert too. Wouldn't you be more likely to buy an income property from someone who wrote a book on real estate investing? And wouldn’t you be more likely to tell all your friends about an organizer who'd written a book on organization? Of course. 

6. Passive Income from Royalties

Books don’t sell if you don’t promote them. But if you’re a person trying to make a living from your writing, a book is something you write once and can make money from as long as you keep it in print. When you have the book, every article or blog post you write is an opportunity to sell a few books.

7. Raise Your Fees

Once you get your book written and published, you can make money with it in numerous ways. Most people think of passive income from book sales first. But as an author you can increase your fees for the services you offer because your level of expertise will be perceived as higher. You can use the book to sell more people into higher-priced programs. And you can attract more clients and leads with the book.

8. Get Publicity and Media Attention

Many people find getting media attention difficult, whether they're just trying to share their story, or they're trying to get their business mentioned. A book tends to attract media attention. Journalists are always looking for experts to interview. Books can be reviewed in newspapers and magazines. And authors make great guests to radio and television shows.

9. Get Booked to Speak

If you're not already doing public speaking, or you’d like to do more, becoming an author can lead to speaking opportunities. Authors are often booked as guest speakers by associations and other organizations, and paid handsomely for it. 

10. Get Traffic to Your Site

I recently took an e-mail list-building class to learn how to get more web traffic, and guess what? One of the strategies was writing a Kindle book. You write an ebook that solves a problem related to your blog and put links in the book to drive readers back to your site. 

11. Attract Ideal Clients

A book has always been, and will always be, one of the most powerful marketing tools you can use to attract attention to yourself and your business. For many self-employed professionals, the biggest priority on our list is getting clients and taking action to ensure our business stays successful for the long-term. When you write your book for your ideal clients, becoming an author is an effective long-term client attraction strategy.

12. Leave a Legacy

Sometimes we don’t know to ask questions until it’s too late. For this reason, many people decide to become an author to share the story of their family history. I had a client once write a memoir so his grandchildren would know the turmoil that brought the family to the United States. It was a lovely story, and one that his family will cherish long into the future.

13. Share Your Story

Life is what we make of it, and sometimes life makes a great story. When you’ve learned an important lesson, or overcome something great, the urge to share the story is natural and human. And making meaning and art from your experiences can be very satisfying.

14. Unexpected Opportunities

Perhaps the best benefits of becoming an author are the unexpected ones. When you become an author, you never know who will read it or what will happen. You could be sitting on Oprah’s couch or delivering a TED Talk or watching your life story on the big screen. You never know what could happen when you become an author.

Getting Your Book DONE!

If you're ready to take your business to the next level, share your message with the world, and step into all the benefits of becoming an author, then find a way to do it. Attend a workshop; hire a coach; join a writing group—make the commitment and do what it takes to get your book out there. The world will thank you, and you'll thank yourself too!

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(c) The Writer's Sherpa, LLC