5 surprising ways to tell if you’re wasting precious time with your business book

You’ve got part way through writing a book for your business. If you were to count the hours you’ve spent on it so far, you’d . . . well, let’s say you’d rather not know.

And like every other part-way-through author before you, there’s that moment when you ask yourself:

‘Is this book any good? Will people love it or will they read the first few pages and go “meh”?’

It’s no wonder you feel unsure – you’re so close to it you can’t see it with your readers’ eyes. You know what you want to say to them, but how do you know if it’s coming across to them in a clear and persuasive way?

The last thing you want is to spend months crafting your book only to find no-one but your partner and your sister will love it. You want it to be a bible for everyone who could be helped by it. Just as importantly, you’d love to be the expert and leader who ‘wrote the book on it’.

I speak to a lot of would-be authors in your shoes, so I feel for you. It’s a horribly insecure feeling when you’re not sure if your book is good enough.

But wonder and worry no longer. This post goes through 5 tell-tale signs your book isn’t on the right track.

You’re aiming for a whole constellation not a single star

You’ll never know if your book is good enough unless you know what ‘good’ looks like to you in the first place.

What main thing do you want your book to achieve?

Is it to help a specific group of people? To raise your credibility in your niche? To attract better quality speaking engagements? To promote your coaching programme? Or what?

Getting clear on your main goal is the first step towards knowing if your book will achieve it.  Too many people write a business book as a vessel for all they know. Your book needs to be more specific in its aims, otherwise you run the risk of spending weeks and months writing something with no solid objective.

You may hit the mark, but then again you may not, and why take the risk with such a huge investment of your time and energy?

So understand what it means to you to write this book before you go any further.

You’ve leapfrogged the question

Every great business book answers a key question for its readers. That’s why we buy these books after all – to help us solve a problem.

What question is your book answering? Can you sum it up in one sentence?

Suppose your readers want to know how to run their business without burning out from stress. That means ‘How do I run a business and stay calm and sane at the same time?’ is their question. Does every chapter and paragraph in your book so far address this need?

If not, you’re likely to be wasting both your and your readers’ time.

If you find it hard to get inspired to stick to your main topic it might be it’s not the right one for you, or possibly you’ll have to simply deploy a little more focus and restraint (how about writing a blog post for each tangential idea that comes up instead?).

As a side benefit, it’s actually a lot easier to write your book when you’ve got that question clear in your mind.

There are boulders blocking your stream

We’ve identified the need for one clear, central question your book must answer. Bearing this in mind, does it do so in a logical sequence? Or does it assume they know more than they do, jump from random point to random point, or repeat itself again and again?

When your points don’t flow smoothly it’s like a stream that has rocks and boulders blocking its path. Your reader will feel continually frustrated because they don’t ‘get’ what you’re telling them. And because it’s a book (rather than a talk or a coaching session) they can’t ask you questions to clear things up.

The result? They give up part way through rather than go to the effort of piecing together the jigsaw by themselves.

This is another way to waste your efforts. Luckily it’s an easy one to fix, as a structural editor can help you get your flow working smoothly and persuasively. Or, why not read this post.

It’s all pain and no gain

People buy books because they want to, not because they have to. When was the last time you picked up a book and thought, ‘You know what, this looks like it’s really important to read. I find the content and tone off putting, but hey, I’ll buy it and plough through it because I know it’s good for my soul’. I think we all know the answer to that one :)

One author whose part finished manuscript I read had a burning passion for her subject: the destruction of the environment due to increased travel. It was based on solid research – she certainly knew her stuff.

The problem was, the book was a lecture. Its tone was angry and accusatory and didn’t give her readers any practical advice on what they could do about the situation. After I finished reading it I was left with a feeling of despair, rather than a desire to take action.

When I talked to her about it I learned this wasn’t what she had wanted at all. She was desperate for people to change their habits, but had got so frustrated and angry about the situation she’d let her emotions get the better of her which meant her book became a rant.

If you don’t write the book your readers choose to read, you’ll be wasting your efforts.

To find out how to put this right, check out my previous post here.

You need to get in a helicopter

We none of us can see our books as others do, we’re just too close to them. Everyone needs help at some point, so give yourself a break and get an objective professional to cast an eye over your manuscript.

It doesn’t matter whether you’ve written one chapter or the whole bang shoot, getting a second opinion will give you the confidence to know you’re carrying on in the right direction.

And it shouldn’t be your best friend or your partner – make sure it’s someone who understands both what makes a good book and what your goals for it are.

A professional manuscript reviewer will identify the key strengths in your work (which is a massive boost to your confidence!) and tell you how to make it work more effectively. That way you ‘ll know all those hours you’ve spent writing it so far aren’t wasted, because by putting their suggestions into practice you’ll end up with a book that makes your readers come back to it again and again.

I offer a manuscript review service. If you’d like to talk to me about the Analysis and Recommendations I can do for your book, click here to find out more about it.