Why Writing a Book Opens Up the Door of Opportunity

For many aspiring authors, writing a book is the conclusion of a life-long dream. Many of us first dreamed of becoming writers when we were children, because we wanted to emulate our heroes – Enid Blyton in my case, perhaps JK Rowling for the younger generation. And when we finally find the time, the place, the space and the topic to write about, holding that book in our hands feels like the successful end of a long journey.

In fact, for many people it’s only the start of a whole new journey that is unlocked the minute you become a published author.

You see, writing a book puts you in a special category – the category of “expert”. And while you may not feel like an expert – after all, you’re just a parent/accountant/life coach who wrote a book – you can’t get away from the fact that people will view you differently now. Somehow the act of taking all that “stuff” from your head and committing it to paper – and then sending it out into the big wide world through the medium of a book – means people think you’re an expert in your topic. The reality, of course, is that you quite likely don’t know a huge amount more than anyone else, but because you wrote a book about it …. ah well, that’s different!

So what exactly does being an expert mean? And what difference does it make anyway?

Loads!

Because experts are always in demand – even more so if your specialist subject is something in the news, or a niche area. And once organisations hear there’s a new expert on the block the opportunities will flow in.

Becoming an expert can lead to:

Commissions for articles for websites, blogs and magazines
Speaking gigs
Invites to events, including literary festivals and charity dos
Media appearances
Requests for more of YOU … be it personal appearances, more books, workshops, seminars, signings, online training programmes etc.

Of course you don’t have to accept any of the opportunities. You might be happy with just having that book in your hand. But if you allow it to, writing a book not only opens up external opportunities but encourages you to examine yourself more deeply too.

What do you really want from life?

Are you happy with what you’re doing or do you want to use your new-found expert status to make big changes?

Perhaps you discover new passions, new dreams or new goals ….

As an example, I published my book on raising a child with ADHD earlier this year. I wanted to get a few “expert” reviews so I sent it to some ADHD charities, including The ADHD Foundation, who are based in Liverpool. The CEO, Tony Lloyd, kindly endorsed the book and invited me to speak at their conference, which took place at the beginning of October. You can see a snippet of my talk in the video below:

Speaking at an event with 120 medical and educational professionals in attendance was an incredible experience but it also made me realise what I want to do in life. I want to do more speaking, and I want to help teachers, parents and kids work together more successfully, because I know kids with ADHD can reach their potential with the right support – but that support is often missing in schools. So speaking at the conference and coming away with that awareness of what I want to do is now reshaping everything in my life … because I have a new passion, a new dream and a new goal!