Authors: Do You Have The Passion Factor?

I’m lucky. I’m passionate about what I do when working with authors and their books and about the books that I write. When authors attend my various Publishing and Speaking Salons, they know what they are writing or want to speak about. They come with enthusiasm … and passion. And many show up a bit overwhelmed with the whole process.

It’s their passion that fuels their engines and enables them to work one more hour, take one more step to write their “baby” and get it to lay-out and design and on to the printer. It’s their passion that allows them to roll up their sleeves and create a marketing and promo plan and even speak about it.

If you want to write a book, you’ve got to love the topic/cause. If it’s just something to do, my question to you is this: “Why do it?” 

Contrary to popular belief, not everyone should write a book, attempt to create a small press, or become an independent publisher. Maybe someone said “you should,” but the real question is “should you?”  Does a deep internal drive say, “Yes, your thoughts, your words need to be read, seen, or heard”? 

If so, go for it. Embrace and wallow in it. Commit to it with your time, your talent, your energy, and yes, your money. This is an investment that can change the lives of others as well as yours.

I write primarily in the business genre with an emphasis on professional development in the workplace. For the past two decades, 90 percent of my speaking engagements were within the healthcare sector. It’s a niche I developed a passion for but, truth be told, one that I fell into—not be design. It happened when I spoke in upper state New York, and a group of hospital executives heard me. A domino effect ensued that took my words and work to other hospitals. It led to the creation of three books specifically for that industry.

Now, I’m morphing once again. Twenty-eight books later (who would have thought!), I’m leaving health care, an industry that has delivered revenues that most authors and speakers would envy, and directing my energies to authoring and publishing, a field I know a great deal about. I’m one of those rare birds who has successfully (and sometimes not so successfully) published with New York. I’ve also led publishing associations, crafted and chaired several publishing conferences, created a successful imprint, founded a consulting and project management practice for authors, and developed long-term partnering relationships with most of the experts in the independent publishing market—friendships that were seeded in the 80s.

I know publishing … and it is a passion. I wouldn’t be pouring in the hours to develop Author U the way I am without passion. Sometimes, I work odd-ball hours seven days a week to complete a book about publishing that will go to press this year and to present with Brian Jud and Dan Poynter in Advanced Book Marketing workshops throughout the country—a passionate commitment to our joint vision. With that same passion, I have teamed up with John Kremer and Rick Frishman to create the Show Me About book series—Show Me About Book Publishing, an idea that came from a breakfast meeting where we said, “What if … what if we created a book together …”

We nailed the series title that morning and came up with a dozen different book ideas between sips of coffee and tea, each building on the other as ideas bounced around the table. And we decided that my book would be the lead, but all of us would be on each book as the trio of authors. We are excited about Show Me About Book Publishing—not the normal tome of 500 pages that many publishing books birth at—but key concepts, practical tools and solutions … all in a 200-page format.

Next up are Show Me About Book Publicity and Social Media, Show Me About Book Marketing, and Show Me About Book Special Sales and Niche Marketing. Other titles are being considered. We have a vision, a commitment, and a passion for the project.

What topics, areas do you know about—either by schooling, life experiences, the school of hard knocks? Are there subjects you gyrate toward or that others tell you that you are a whiz at?  Do you have a deep, burning desire to advocate a cause or reach out to help others? Is this what you write about? Publish about? Is this what you are willing to commit the time, energy, and money to support?

Guaranteed … it’s the passion factor that will drive your work, your book, to completion and success. It has mine.

Judith Briles is known as The Book Shepherd (www.TheBookShepherd.com) and the Founder of Author U (niversity (www.AuthorU.org), a membership organization created for the serious author who wants to be seriously successful. She’s been writing about and conducting workshops on publishing since the 80s. She’s the author of 28 books including Show Me About Book Publishing, co-written with John Kremer and Rick Frishman and a speaker at publishing conferences. Join Judith live on Thursdays at 6 p.m. EST for Your Guide to Book Publishing on Toginet.com.  Follow @AuthorU and @MyBookShepherd on Twitter and do a “Like” AuthorU and TheBookShepherd on Facebook. If you want to create a book that has no regrets, contact her at Judith@Briles.com.