If I had a nickel for every person who has said to me: “People tell me I should write a book,” or, “I want to write my life story.” To be sure, our stories matter. The challenge is to figure out if you are able to tell your story in a way that gets across a lesson - a cohesive message. In other words, just because “this or that” happened to you does not make it a teachable lesson for others.

Most people believe that book-writing is a For-Profit endeavor. With five books under my belt, I can safely state that it’s not about money. Too few authors come out ahead financially; especially once you take into account the research, travel, and time. Earning a living through writing has not gotten easier over time. Amazon continues to gobble up sales from authors and their publishers. And for this, I have nuanced suggestions; such as: buy from a local bookstore, use Bookshop.org, and/or use libro.fm for audiobooks.

I recently taught a writing/publishing class for a community college’s Lifelong Learning department. It’s always nice to be with people who are energized by writing. My job as an instructor is to help students to see that writing a book is not a yellow brick road. There are no wizards to wave a wand and make the journey easier. You must do the heavy lifting, and there are no shortcuts. But with perseverance comes the reward. What is that reward? Getting your story out there. Knowing that it exists in the world.

If writing a book is something you want to do, you should do it. Just know that it’s not a “get rich” plan. You must do it for the love of it.

Melanie Holmes