Episode 200: 15 Reasons to Write a Book

Business For Superheroes Podcast Transcription: Episode Two Hundred: 15 Reasons To Write A Book

Click here to download the PDF...

*In an industry stuffed with marketing bullshit, empty promises and shiny-suited liars, one woman’s had enough. She knows what it’s like to have the wrong clients, no money and no time for fun, but she also knows how to fix it, and, on the Business For Superheroes Show, she promises to tell the down and dirty truth about business, sales and running away with the circus! Here’s your host: Vicky Fraser…*  

Vicky:  Hello, and welcome to the 1,000 Authors show! I'm Vicky Fraser, and this is my husband Joe.

Joe: Hello!

Vicky: Hello. Today we are recording this in daylight, there's sunshine.

Joe: Daylight. Very strange.

Vicky: Yeah. And I am looking a little bit glammed up because I've spent the day having a photo shoot. For my business. A professional photo shoot. And I feel like--

Joe: Very nice. You look lovely.

Vicky:Thanks. I did my face myself. I did my hair myself. I've dressed myself. It's all good. And then, for a change, you had a bad hair day, didn't you? For the photo shoot.

Joe: Yeah, look at this. Look at this thing. I don't know what the hell's going on here. This is like, a lot of good lumpy bits going on. Nice.

Vicky: It's amazing. So there was lots of panicking and worry about Joe's hair earlier, which is amazing.

Joe: Disaster. Disaster.

Vicky: Because we had podcast photo shoots as well. It was cool. Right then, what are we drinking?

Joe: We are drinking Seedlip fake gin and tonic.

Vicky: Yeah, it kind of does taste a bit like gin and tonic, doesn't it?

Joe: Tastes a bit like gin and tonic. I would prefer it, it's like vegetarian sausages. When I prefer a vegetarian sausage to be a vegetarian sausage, not a fake meaty sausage.

Vicky: Oh really?

Joe: Yeah. And a spicy bean burger is a good thing. And they're generally much better than vegetarian fake beef burgers.

Vicky: But good ones are really good.

Joe: And I feel a little bit like this with Seedlip. I quite like the Seedlip, but I don't think it's very gin.

Vicky: OK, well to me it tastes quite a lot like gin.

Joe: Does it?

Vicky: Yeah.

Joe: I think it's just an adult drink.

Vicky: Yeah, which is cool.

Joe: Could be just it's own thing. And we're not drinking booze because it's like 2:00 in the afternoon or something.

Vicky: And we're both going training later. Booze and training does not mix.

Joe: Not good.

Vicky: Also, I don't really drink booze anymore. Anyway, today, oh my God, this is our 200th episode.

Joe: Oh good lord.

Vicky: I know, right?

Joe: If only we had party poppers and balloons.

Vicky: Do you know what, I was gonna do all that stuff and I was like, ugh. But you see, in the background of the video, if you're watching the video, there's my giant finger, hang on, there, is a candle.

Joe: It's not a massive celebration, is it really?

Vicky: It's my Sarah Miller super posh candle. It smells very nice, it's a scented candle. Anyway, happy 200th episode.

Joe: Happy 200th episode.

Vicky: Happy birthday to us.

Joe: 200 episodes.

Vicky:Yeah, I can you believe it?

Joe: Mental.

Vicky: I know, right? So yes, it's our 200th episode this week, and we are doing nothing special to mark it. Except for singing a little bit just now.

Joe: Not so much.

Vicky:  Right, what are you reading, Joe?

Joe: Well, I've successfully read all of the things that you've put in front of me to distract me from reading "The Wheel Of Time." So now I'm back reading "The Wheel Of Time."

Vicky:  By Robert Jordan.

Joe: By Robert Jordan, which one day I will finish and never have to read again, because I'm now on, like, book 53 and I am actually getting a bit bored of it.

Vicky: Are you? Well this is why I was putting other books in front of you because I thought you needed to break it up a little bit.

Joe: The problem is, now it's all so convoluted and complicated and I've read half a dozen books, half way through reading this thing, that I'm now a little bit lost.

Vicky: OK. Well I'm reading, so I think in the last episode I said I was about to start reading "How Long 'til Black Future Month" by N. K. Jemisin. I'm almost finished "How Long 'til Black Future Month" by N. K. Jemisin, and it is brill. It's a book of short stories, and they're all fantasy or sci-fi stories and they're fab. So, they're really thought-provoking as well. So, for instance, one of them is a short story based in the stone, obelisk, stone-eater world. It was about Iker and somebody else. But, the one that I've just read, for example, was all about what would happen if there was a quantum proliferation and we all ended up in little pocket universes.

Joe: Nice.

Vicky: And so, it would reset every so many hours. And it was creepy and thought provoking, and it's given me a whole bunch of ideas for short stories as well, that I could perhaps write. So that was good. But part of the reason I was reading it is because I want to write fiction and I wanted to start with short stories, and I thought, "I don't actually read that many short stories. "I should probably read some." Plus, I love N. K. Jemisin. So, that was a really good one. There's been one about, there's just loads, like, gods and goddesses, there was one about death. And I think all the humans in the world had died, but all of the gods from every culture everywhere were still alive and living in New York for some reason. But that was quite cool, 'cause it was from the point of view of death, as in the anthropomorphic. Skellington with scythe kind of thing. And just some thought-provoking stuff about technology as well and how technology might be used or abused or changed. That's cool. And a couple of them made me think about the short story that Stephen King wrote about Kindles. When the Kindle first came out. You would have your Kindle, but you could access any work of fiction from any time or place or anywhere in the Universe. Even stuff that hasn't been written. I think. It's been a while since I've read it. But I really liked that as well. That was the kind of short story I read and thought, "Damn, I wish I'd written that." 'Cause it was just such a good idea. So that's the fiction I'm reading. And the non-fiction I'm reading is, "The Happiness Project" by Gretchen Rubin.

Joe: Nice.

Vicky: And I am about, 2/3 of the way through that. I don't know. I'm not really sure how I feel about it. It really is good. I like it. But I have to kind of take note that I am from a very different world from her. So, she is an extremely wealthy New Yorker living in Manhattan with her husband and two kids. She's not, I don't want to say she's super privileged, she is super privileged, obviously she is, but she doesn't come across as obnoxious or anything. But you do have to read it with that in mind, that she's writing from that place and that situation. But, a lot of the stuff that she's writing about is perfectly applicable to anybody from any background and any situation. It's good. It's full of good ideas about how you can be happier. Like, we do our photo book. That was an idea that came from that.

Joe: OK. Cool.

Vicky:So, that's cool. Right then, 15 reasons to write a book. That's what we're talking about this week.

Joe: Really?

Vicky:Yeah.

Joe: OK, go.

Vicky: Go. You go. I've lost my notes.

Joe: You've lost the notes. Where are the notes?

Vicky: Here they are. OK, so, if you have ever thought about writing a book, and if you're listening to this podcast and you haven't ever thought about writing a book, then I'm surprised because I bang on about it a lot.

Joe: Banging on.

Vicky: But you never quite got started, then you're not alone, 'cause I think that happens to a lot of people. So we thought we would give you 15 reasons why we think you should write a book in 2020. 'Cause 2020 can be the year you write your book, I reckon. Joe, what's the first reason?

Joe: To become a better writer and communicator.

Vicky: Yes.

Joe: If you're a business owner, a human being, which you probably are, I guess...

Vicky: I, for one, welcome our robot overlord.

Joe: Great written communication skills are a good thing and will last you forever.

Vicky: I love how Joe is trying really hard not to read the notes.

Joe: I know. Trying not to read the notes.

Vicky:  And sound a lot like you're reading the notes. But, it is true. 'Cause we all have to write to everybody all the time. In one way or another. Emails, texts, just general notes that you scroll to your partners, kids, whatever. Pick up the fucking towels.

Joe: If you're writing things down--

Vicky:  Passive-aggressive notes to your flatmates.

Joe: Yeah, if you're writing things down without an eye to communicating, then why are you writing them down?

Vicky: Yes. But yeah, if you write a book, if you go through the process of writing a book, you will become a better writer just by...

Joe: Just by doing it.

Vicky: Doing it. And it will serve you elsewhere in life as well. So, whether you want to sell your products and services, whether you want to go on a date with somebody, whether you want to persuade your kids to clean their room, writing a book helps you to get your thoughts clear and your vocabulary clear. And it helps you to present your ideas coherently. You will talk better if you write better.

Joe: Talking better, isn't it?

Vicky: Talking betterer. Yeah, you will improve your speaking skills as well. 'Cause writing things down means that you have to clarify. If you'd looked at the transcript of this podcast there would be a lot of pauses, like that one while I searched for a word, there would be a lot of um's and er's, as we use filler words and things.

Joe: You know.

Vicky: There would be way too many you know's, which is my least favorite thing about myself, and so's as well. And that's the kind of thing that you will get rid of when you write. And it improves your speaking as well. Not that you would know that form listening to me. Second reason that we think you should write a book in 2020, is that it's really hard.

Joe: So just doing something for the sake of it being difficult.

Vicky: Yeah. I kind of write a lot about how hard it is to write a book, which I think, sets me apart a little bit, from other people who are selling you book related products and things. I never claim it's easy. It is not easy. And nor should it be, I don't think. It's a big thing to do. And also, I think it's really important to do hard things. Really important. You will discover you are capable of so much more than you think you are. I learned a new word the other day, by the way, called misogi. I've utterly mangled the pronunciation of that, I'm sure. It's Japanese.

Joe: It's probably not an "oh," it's probably an "ah." Mi-sah-gee.

Vicky: Misogi, oh yeah. Oh yeah, that would make sense, yeah. Misogi. I'm now relying on Rob and Julian to get in touch and be like, "For fuck sake, you totally mangled that word." It dates back to eighth century Japan, and it originally described a mythical taboo journey to the underworld. Which also, I found really fascinating, because it shows you how much all of our myths and legends are related.

Joe: It's all a bit Orpheus, isn't it?

Vicky: It's all a bit Orpheus and Styx. But it came to mean, a bit later, it came to mean the Ascetic's painful, but purifying deeds. They would stand under waterfalls and chant for hours, apparently. That sounds horrific. Don't want to do that. But these days, apparently some people do a bit of a modern version. So, once a year you do something you're really not sure you can do. And before they start, most people aren't sure they can write a book, but they absolutely can. Whether you will or not is up to you. I think it's cool. It's good to do hard things, because it shows you what you're capable of.

Joe: I quite like the idea of standing under waterfalls.

Vicky: You go for it.

Joe: We should do that.

Vicky: You should do it. I'm not doing that. You know how much I hate being cold. I really hate being cold. Reason number three.

Joe: You have a story to tell and it is worth telling.

Vicky: Yes, it is.

Joe: It should be told. Most people--

Vicky: You could just say, "Most people think "their stories are boring." 'Cause they do. Drayton Bird was writing his autobiography and I was helping him. Name drop, name drop! And he was convinced that nobody would find his story interesting. And I'm like, dude, you've had the most incredibly random and chaotic and fascinating and naughty life.

Joe: Available on Amazon.

Vicky: It is available on Amazon. "You Did What?" by Drayton Bird, go buy it. I was just like, apart from anything else, how can you possibly think that anybody would find that boring? They might not like parts of it, and they might think parts of it are totally scandalous. There is one woman on Amazon who was utterly horrified by the whole thing.

Joe: Really?

Vicky: Yeah.

Joe: Outraged.

Vicky: Sleaze. But she's a professional one-starer. I went and had a look at her. Anyway, that's neither here nor there. Neither here nor there.

Joe: Everyone's got to have a hobby.

Vicky: They do. Seriously though, some people's hobby is giving bad reviews. So, your story is familiar to you. Just because it's familiar to you and boring to you, doesn't mean it's familiar to everybody else. My life is really normal to me, but when I tell other people about it, I'm like a trapeze person and stuff. They're like, "What? you've got three sheep? What?" You know what I mean, and I'm like, "It's just my life."

Joe: Sheep, chickens, circus--

Vicky: Snake.

Joe: Snake. Book writing.

Vicky: Book writing, yeah. So, you don't get to decide what other people find interesting. You don't get to decide what value people get from your stories or what you write or what you sell, in fact. You don't get to decide that. Other people get to decide that. Which, by the way, is a big mindset shift, so if you struggle with your self-worth, just remember, you don't get to decide how much the stuff you put out into the world is worth. That's not up to you. It's up to the people who use it and buy it and read it and watch it. It's up to them. And that's quite a fun thing to remind yourself of. What if your story, the story that you are reluctant to tell, what if your story could help somebody massively improve their life? Is it not selfish to withhold it from them? I think so. So, tell your story.

Joe: Tell your story.

Vicky: Yeah, it's worth telling. Reason number four.

Joe: The kind of people you want to work will gravitate towards you.

Vicky: I've missed a word out.

Joe: You've missed a word out. I'm like a news reader, you put the words up, I--

Vicky: Wait there, listener. Go again.

Joe: The kind of people you want to work with, will gravitate towards you.

Vicky: I'm fairly sure you could've figured that out.

Joe: I could've done. I just thought I would interject a little comedy moment of ineptitude.

Vicky: Good. My ineptitude, thanks. Yeah. If you put your book in the type of people's hands who are your ideal customers, If they enjoy your book, if they enjoy what you're giving them, they are gonna want to work with you. They're gonna want to be in your world. They're gonna want to get to know you, be closer to you, and they will love you for the fact that you're putting a story out into the world and that you're wanting to help them.

Joe: Yes. And this has totally worked for you, hasn't it?

Vicky: Yeah.

Joe: The people who come to you, having read one of your books, are usually well prepared, they know how it's all gonna work, they like your style, they feel like they know you, and--

Vicky: They stick around.

Joe: The relationship goes really well.

Vicky: They are incredibly valuable to me. Not just in terms of they're long-term customers, and lifetime customer value and all that stuff, but because they're people that I like. I want to know them. I want to work with them. Like the people in my Superheroes group, who have been with me for years. And people who have left and stayed in touch with me. I love those people. They're fantastic. We get on really, really well. We talk about interesting things. They teach me stuff all the time. And it's just brilliant.

Joe: It's a filter, isn't it?

Vicky: Yeah. It's also a filter, yeah.

Joe: Like, the people who are not going to get on with you, that you don't want to work with, are probably going to ready your book and go--

Vicky: Don't like her.

Joe: Don't like her. And that's that, you know? Nobody wastes any more time.

Vicky: No. And that's probably the last I'll hear about it as well, so, they won't have to be bugged by me, any further than they already have been, and I won't have to hear them say stuff that might upset me. It's great. It acts as both a barrier, and not a barrier.

Joe: It polarizes, doesn't it. It's a filter.

Vicky: Yeah, it polarizes without being obnoxious. I'm not a big fan of deliberately being obnoxious to push people away. Some people that works really well for.

Joe: Hi, John.

Vicky: And that's fine. But for me, I'm not a fan, that's not me. I'm not somebody who goes out of their way to be obnoxious.

Joe: You just want to work with people whose company you enjoy.

Vicky: Yeah, and just telling a story just being yourself will do that for you without upsetting anyone. Without pissing people off massively. You can piss people off in a quiet way so that they just go away rather than send you hate mail. I like that. Reason number five to write a book is experts write books. So if you look at all the most successful persons, peoples, in various industries, I don't know what happened there, I'm tired, you will find most of them have written a book. It's a really great way to position yourself as an expert. It's a really great way. If you think about the phrase, "They wrote the book on it."

Joe: Yep. They know their stuff.

Vicky: They do. Reason number six.

Joe: I think we just mentioned this, really. A book can be a shortcut to intimacy. Your book is a brilliant way to bring people into your world. And, yes, of course you want to keep building relationships with all of the other stuff that you do, the articles, the emails, the videos, the podcasts, but when someone sits down to read your book, they really get into your brain. They really understand you at the end of that book.

Vicky: And especially if you do audio stuff as well. Like if you do podcasts or video, they will read your book in your voice. They'll hear your voice while they're reading it. And if you do an audiobook that's even better.

Joe: Because then they can hear it in your voice.

Vicky: Then they can hear it in your voice. And if you also think about where people read books as well. I read books in the bath and in bed. Some people read books on the toilet. You don't get much more intimate than that. It sounds like I'm being funny, but I'm not. Because that does build intimacy. If you take a book to bed with you and you read it there's that, I'm taking somebody into my safe space. You know? Your bed is the place where you're supposed to be safe and cocooned and all this. Reason number seven. You will become more of an expert than you already are. In writing your book you will discover holes in your knowledge and you will work to fill them. You will become better at what you do because you will find that, "Oh, I'm not quite sure if I'm right about this." Or, "Ooh, it looks like that's changed "since the last time I"--

Joe: You will do some research. You will learn some more.

Vicky: Yes, exactly.

Joe: For sure.

Vicky: Reason number eight.

Joe: It's a huge confidence boost. You've got a book in you hand. It's the mark of your legitimacy. It's a big endorsement that you're an expert. Other people can take it and go, "Ooh, he wrote a book." It does elevate you from someone who hasn't written a book, to someone who has.

Vicky: Someone who has written a book. Funny that.

Joe: It's weird. Weird but true.

Vicky: A lot of people say to me when I suggest that they might want to write a book, "I don't know enough." And, one of my mentors, Peter, always used to say, "If you can talk on a subject for an hour, "you can absolutely write a book on it." And he's right. You can. Reason number nine.

Joe: It opens doors you might not otherwise encounter.

Vicky: So event organizers love authors, you'll be more likely to be invited to speak or interviewed in the media if you have a book you can send to people. And it gives you something to pitch people with other than just an email or phone call. Reason number 10.

Joe: It makes you memorable. In a room full of people handing out business cards, you've got your book. People will recognize that. They will notice that. And you are differentiating yourself.

Vicky: It actually gets you a really cool reaction, because, I don't really go to networking events very much, but, when I have done, and I've taken my book with me people are like, "What, wow. You're giving me a book, really?" And I'm like, "Yeah, take it." They're like, "Wow, thank you." And it's really cool. And they don't forget you. I might not always work with them, but they will tell other people about me. Hopefully for the right reasons. Reason number 11. A book makes you immortal.

Joe: Right. Not really.

Vicky: No, really.

Joe:  It will be around long after you shuffle off. It will be accessible, it will exist. If your book moves and helps people, changes their lives, then, you've got a legacy, haven't you?

Vicky: And in case you are wondering, "Well my book won't because, "what if I don't sell a bazillion copies" You don't need to. If your book has an ISBN, which it absolutely should if you're doing it properly, you will end up having a copy sent to the British Library. Because every single book that is ever written--

Joe: With an ISBN.

Vicky: With an ISBN, the British Library has a copy of.

Joe:  Does it?

Vicky: Yeah.

Joe: That's cool.

Vicky: It is cool, isn't it? The British Library is a depository of human-- I say ever written, I think in the UK. So, UK based books. But I love that about the British Library. I think it's super cool.

Joe: They just have one of everything.

Vicky: Yeah. Which is great. I think it goes to some of the storage cache. I've forgotten the words. Depositories is the word I was looking for.

Joe: Book depository.

Vicky: Yeah, that kind of thing. Not the book depository that sells books. Anyway, reason number 12.

Joe: You'll discover more about who you are, who you want to be, what you really want to do in life. Writing a book is a big process. You will sit and you will think and you will learn. And a lot of that thinking and learning and developing will be on your own opinion of yourself and what you want and how you want the future to be.

Vicky: Yeah. And you know, you might start writing an outline and think, "I really don't want to do this." And you might figure out that the reason you don't want to do it is because you're actually doing the wrong thing. So it can help you figure out what you want to do and how you want to do it. Reason number 13.

Joe: Pretty clearly, this is one of the ones that people are most interested in, I guess. You'll make more money.

Vicky: Yes, you will.

Joe: It's very nice to have growth and development and morality and memorability and legacy and all that kind of good stuff, but, hopefully you're listening to this podcast because you run a business and you want to make money. You need to pay the bills.

Vicky: You need to be profitable. And if you write and publish a book, it will give you, not just the confidence to charge more, but the proof behind you to help you reach the kind of customers who are willing to pay more for what you offer. And they will get better results from what you do as well. 'Cause there is a lot of research to show that if people pay more they are more likely to do what's needed and get value from it. This doesn't always hold true, but it does often. Reason number 14. A book is absolutely by far, in my humble but correct opinion, the best way to share a story or idea that matters. 'Casuse TV and radio and film and the Internet are all great, they're fantastic things, but, I think that books still endure longer. I feel like they have longevity. Because they're real. They're a thing that you can touch and hold. And whilst TV, certainly film, I think, Hollywood and all the rest of it, the big films, yeah, they're always probably going to be around. But again, they're kind of dependent on technology. Books are not dependent on technology. If, in the event of the zombie apocalypse--

Joe: We're gonna be back to relying on books.

Vicky: We're gonna be back to relying on books again. And, all slight silliness aside, we do tend to still think of books as something a little bit special. And they are, I think. And, reason number 15.

Joe: You will become a better thinker. Writing things down helps you figure out what you really think of things. To write clearly you have to think clearly, and writing is a vehicle that will help you do that.

Vicky: You've just said that today, haven't you? Because you left your laptop at work and you're working from home today.

Joe: I'm working from home, but my laptop is in the office. And I'm like, "Oh, that was a mistake." So what I've been doing is, I've been having calls, I've been talking to people, I've done planning, I've used paper and drawn pictures, and network diagrams and things.

Vicky: And have you found it's made a difference to how you've thought about things.

Joe: I've actually spent more time thinking about things and less time, sort of, crashing around in technology. However, having said that, there have been times where I've been like, "I don't have access to this data." So I need to assess how I manage my data, I think.

Vicky: But does that make you think, "Maybe I should put aside a little bit more time "to plan stuff on paper."

Joe: Blank pieces of paper, yeah.

Vicky: That's cool. So, sometimes, slight tangent, when the fuckening occurs, I love that word. I found a meme the other day, the fuckening. When everything is going really great, and then something goes wrong, there it is, that's the fuckening. Which happened to you today when you were like, "Oh, I guess it was gonna be great, "gonna be working from home, but I haven't got my laptop." So when that happens, it's actually kind of a good thing. Because it's giving you an insight into how you can work and how you can work differently and better. So, cool. Right, then. I could come up with 1,000 good reasons to write a book, I guess, and there's 15 really good reasons there. But the most important reason, I think, for you to write a book, is because you want to. So, if you want to write a book, please don't let fear or doubts or any of that stuff stop you. Because there is loads of stuff that you can grab to help you. If you go to my website, http://www.moxiebooks.co.uk/blog I've got tons of articles on there about how to get started, how to come up with ideas, creativity and mindset stuff, writer's block, the blank page of doom, all that kind of thing. There's shed loads of stuff on there for free. There's loads of podcasts here.

Joe: Many podcasts.

Vicky: Many podcasts. There's also lots of other good podcasts available. And I've written a book. This one, in fact, called, "How The Hell Do You Write A Book?" This book, I'm really, really pleased with. This book will walk you through how to write and self-publish your own book. And it is being launched this week, in fact, it will have just been launched and the launch period is for the whole of February. So if you haven't bought a copy yet, grab yourself a copy, either from my website, you can go to http://www.howthehelldoyouwriteabook.com and that will take you to the right place, or you can go to Amazon and grab yourself a copy. But then you need to go to the URL, well you need to go to the http://www.howthehelldoyouwriteabook.com URL, because that will tell you exactly what you have to do to claim your launch bonuses. There's some cool swag available for people who buy the book in the next month. Anybody who has already bought the book will get some cool swag as well, because I'm not punishing people for being cool and buying the book before it was officially launched. Go buy the book. Http://www.howthehelldoyouwriteabook.com

Joe: Nice.

Vicky:Go and have a look at my blog if you want loads of cool free stuff to help you write your book. And next week, I have no idea what we're talking about.

Joe: I reckon we'll just make it up.

Vicky: Probably. We'll be talking about writing books. Don't know exactly what yet.

Joe: Something. We'll think of something.

Vicky: We'll think of something, yeah. If you like this podcast, please go and give us a good rating on iTunes.

Joe: Five starts.

Vicky: Five stars. And subscribe on iTunes as well. It helps other people find us. And it makes us smile. And if you've listened to every episode, you total lunatic, drop me an email at vickyfraser@vickeyfraser.com and send me your postal address and I will send you a silly gift.

Joe: Nice.

Vicky: Yeah. We'll be back, same time next week. Thanks, Joe.

Joe: No worries.

Vicky: Thank you Popfly, thank you Harriet. Harriet has been amazing this past couple of weeks helping me with the book launch.

Joe: Thanks, Harriet.

Vicky: Harriet, you're amazing. Right. Off. Let's go.

Joe: We're done.

Vicky: Bye.

Joe: Bye.

*Like what you’ve just heard? Tell your colleagues, tell your friends. Send them to http://www.businessforsuperheroes.com/podcast/