Sometimes I look around the Barnes and Noble and think, “Dang, it seems like everybody in the world has a book.”

Except they don’t. You may not, for instance.

But maybe it’s time to write a book?

Interestingly, the internet seems to assume that everyone who wants to write a book should write a book. When I googled “when to write a book,” I got a bunch of how-to articles. Now when, but how.

But let’s face it, not all books need to be written. How, then, do you decide if it’s worth competing with all those other authors out there?

To begin with, everyone has a story, and books depend upon stories.

The question is really more like, “How do I know that my story will make a good book?”

Well, here are seven signs you may have a book in you.

1. You have something to offer to a popular book market

Let’s start with the practical. The book market is changing, but it continues to be strong, and in fact print books have seen growing sales in the last three years.

The strongest sales last year were in adult nonfiction, which includes religion, hobbies, and business books. If you have a book idea that fits nicely into a market that is doing well right now, then you’re more likely to succeed in actually seeing it in print.

2. You’ve thought about how you’ve become successful

Plenty of people are successful, but not everyone has thought about becoming successful. For those folks who could be successful but don’t know how to get there, people like you who have given the matter some thought can become important guides along the way.

Now, you may feel like you aren’t an expert or that there’s a lot you still don’t know. But even that can be useful. It means you have the kind of perspective that only someone with real experience can have.

The fact is, even the experts are still learning. The main difference between an author and you is that the authors has made the effort to share what they know in order to help others.

3. You often see ways to solve a certain kind of problem

Is there some subject area that you happen to know enough about that you can see when people are doing it poorly? Or maybe you hear or read about decisions in business or other areas that strike you as obviously bone-headed, and you want to explain to someone why that is.

If you’re good at fixing problems and helping others succeed, then you may have a book in you. Business books, in particular, are all about starting and growing a thriving business, or about building and leading an effective and satisfied team.

But even religious, self-help, and hobby books often aim to help people. At their core, then, books in this nonfiction market have something important in common: they are all about solving problems.

If that’s something you know how to do, you can share it in a book.

4. You find yourself giving advice to others

This is similar to point two, but in this case you’re the kind of person that other people come to for advice. People see you as both knowledgeable and generous with your knowledge and time.

At the same time, you maybe feel the impulse to offer advice even when no one has asked for it. You just can’t hear certain problems without trying to get in there and help solve them.

Business books are about helping people, and you may have a book in you.

5. You want to speak, consult, or teach

It could be the case that you already know that you have something to share, and you’d like to move into a phase of public speaking, industry consulting, or even teaching. It might be a career pivot, or it may just be something you add to what you’re doing now that you’ve hired good people to run day to day operations of your successful business.

Even in our digital age, a book is still a symbol of authority. Even if it’s “easy” to self-publish, you still have to do the work of writing the thing, and if you show up on Amazon or another online store, well, it tells people you’re serious and established.

For people in your shoes, having a book is like an instant ticket into a club of people who are experts in something and who have something to say that may interest those who plan speaker series for libraries, universities, corporate retreats, nonprofits, clubs, and trade associations.

6. You want to hand a legacy down to the next generation

Many business books target a single main topic: starting a business, entrepreneurship, leadership, time management, etc. But sometimes they simply tell the story of a company and its founder or founders. They bring readers into the company’s history while leaving a legacy for those who follow in their footsteps.

In the beer world, Greg Koch of Stone and Tony Magee of Lagunitas both have legacy books of this sort.

Now, you might think, “Oh, well Tony Magee already wrote a book about starting a brewery,” but the fact of the matter is that each startup story is a little different. There are different visions, different hard choices, different coincidences, different challenges.

The world has room for lots of stories, and your story is unique because it is yours.

And it could be lost to posterity if you don’t do something to at least tell your side of it. For your sake. For your children’s sake. For your business’s sake.

7. You’ve had experiences no one else has had

Maybe you don’t have a business or a hobby or whatever, and maybe you’re not concerned about your legacy, but you have had a unique experience that inspires, comforts, encourages, or challenges people when they hear it.

Maybe something particularly dramatic happened to you, like a crime or a risky escape from persecution.

Maybe you have had adventures that taught you about people and the world.

Maybe your passions have taken you into places other people don’t normally get a chance to see.

People love to read these kinds of stories. Consider Grizzly Man, Wild, or Eat, Pray, Love. These stories broaden our world by showing us the sides of it that we don’t always know to look for.

There could be a book there.

 

If you can answer “Yes” to one or more of these questions, you may have a book in you. Now the big question is, what will you do about it?

Writing a book doesn’t have to be a solitary process. Minimally, you’ll want a good editor to partner with you. You may also choose to hire a ghost to do the actual writing. In either case, the journey begins by reaching out to someone who can help you along the way.

If you’d like to see whether I’m the right editor or ghost writer for you, let’s talk.

 

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