Only naturally gifted writers can write and self-publish books, right?
Wrong.
Writing and self-publishing books aren’t the privileges of a few people born with extraordinary gifts. Thanks to technology, anyone (including you) can write and self-publish a book that impacts lives, makes money and multiplies their visibility.
I know because I’ve done it and watched others do it too.
In 2017 I felt stuck. It had been five years since I completed my master’s degree and I felt unfulfilled. I was thankful for my job, but I wanted to do something that impacted people outside the walls of my office. Yet I wasn’t sure what to do.
Around that time, I stumbled on a book titled: Create or Hate by Dan Norris. It had some encouraging reviews so I got a copy and read it quickly. Once I finished reading it, I knew what I needed to do. I’d create something I could put out into the world. But then again, I wasn’t sure what to create.
“Should I start a blog? How about a podcast? Or maybe a YouTube channel? But what would be the focus of my blog, podcast or YouTube channel?”
I prayed about it, went to bed and woke up with a book idea.
Had I written a book before? No. Or maybe yes, if we consider a masters dissertation as a book 😉
Did I know everything I needed to do to write and self-publish a book people would gladly buy and excitedly tell others about? No.
But I did it anyway.
I did my research. I applied all I learnt and self-published my book within a year. That book took me from being the best-kept-secret in my office to becoming a speaker at conferences, on the radio and TVC’s WAKE UP Nigeria SHOW. It also boosted my credibility as a writer thus helping me to start my business as a ghostwriter and book coach.
![Ifeoma Nwekwo at WakeUp Nigeria Show TVC](https://ifeomanwekwo.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/TVC-edited.jpg)
My surname is ‘Gbemudu’ because I used my maiden name on the show.
You may be wondering why I shared that story with you and here’s why...
I did it because I’ve learned that many experts don’t write the books they want to because they have one or more wrong ideas about what it takes to become self-published authors.
So, if you’ve been thinking of writing and self-publishing a nonfiction book that establishes your expertise and impacts lives, but you keep putting it off, here are a few mindset blocks that may be holding you back and why they’re wrong:
1.
You think “Self-publishing a book will be hard for me because I’m… not a good writer, too busy, not a techie …(fill in the blanks)”: If you can express yourself clearly by speaking, then you can write. At the very least, you can record yourself talking, transcribe all you’ve said, and hire a good editor.
If you’re too busy, you can hire a ghostwriter or work with a book coach to help you design a writing schedule and keep you accountable. And if you’re not a techie, that’s not a problem. Uploading your manuscript to self-publishing sites doesn’t require any special tech skills.
Everything worth doing requires effort. But when we’re not interested in doing something, we make our excuses seem like mountains we can’t overcome. Please don’t do that.
2.
You think “Only those who want to become professional authors, self-publish books. So I don’t need to bother with that (as a career person or an entrepreneur)”: I wrote and self-published my book ‘Can I be Married Already?!’ while working a full-time job.
Nonfiction books, unlike fiction books, are based on real experiences, events, and knowledge rather than imagination. That’s why the majority of nonfiction authors are professionals in diverse fields who publish books to share their skills, knowledge and experiences with a broader audience.
If you’re an expert in any field, you can write and self-publish a nonfiction book that teaches others what you know. If you’ve overcome a challenging experience, you can self-publish a nonfiction book to inspire more people with your story.
3.
You think “I’m not an expert. Who am I to write a book?”: Please answer this question: Do you come across people in your life and online who don’t know the things you already know?
If you answered ‘yes’, then you can teach those people by writing a book.
Teaching others doesn’t mean that you know everything there is to know about that subject. It simply means that you know enough to teach someone who doesn’t know as much as you do. By thinking this way, you can honestly recognize how the skills, knowledge, and experiences you already have can immediately benefit others, while also striving to expand your expertise.
Listen.
There’ll never come a time when you know all there is to know about any subject. What matters now is that:
- You have proven results in a certain area, and
- You permit yourself to teach others who want to do what (little or not-so-little) you’ve done.
Worth remembering…
- You don’t need to be a professional writer to write a good book.
- You can create time to write and self-publish your brand-building nonfiction whenever you decide it’s a priority.
- Self-publishing doesn’t require any special tech skills. So being a ‘non-techie’ isn’t an excuse.
- Your current level of expertise is enough to teach those who are currently trying to do the things you’ve done.
Before you leave…
Get my FREE Self-published Author Blueprint so you learn my 10-step process for going from ‘book idea’ to ‘self-published expert’ without confusion or overwhelm.