Seven Boons of Writing a Book

This is part of the Claim Your Authority series.
I’m standing in front of a crowd at the Boulder Bookstore. In my hands is my novel, Chasing Sylvia Beach. The heady brew of emotions that swirl in me include joy, wonder and a huge whoosh of gratitude.

The combination prompts a sense of overwhelming joy that makes my knees buckle. Flush with gratitude, I share the story I’ve worked on for more than a decade.
Even in my imagination, this emotional cocktail is potent and unexpected. When publishing a book, you’d imagine a lot of happiness and celebration. What’s surprising to me is the profound amazement and wonder that infuses me.
It makes all the work and sacrifice that I invested in this book worthwhile.

What will writing your book bring you?

When I coach people, I help them cast their sights to the other side of the process, to imagine and see what’s possible after the long, quiet hours alone working on the book.
Bringing a work of art into the world will yield a blend of internal and external rewards. There’s what you gain from bringing the work to fruition and what you will glean from how others receive it.
It will be different for everyone, but here are seven possible boons that await you when you claim your authority.
1 Be a finisher. So many of us suffer at the hands of our inner critic who loves to point out how often you abandon things. Here’s your chance to finally prove to yourself that yes, indeed, you can finish something. This engenders huge reservoirs of confidence that can extend to future projects.
2 Know yourself and your material on a new level. You get to experience your work – whether fiction or non-fiction – in form. Having a tangible expression of what’s meaningful to you reflects you back to yourself in ways that empower deeper explorations and satisfaction.
3 Start global conversations. All art and writing that makes its way into the world initiates dialogue with others. How people respond is a fascinating process that allows what that they feel, think and believe to interact with what you’ve shared in your book.
4 Elevate your status. Having a book means you claim a new position both in the eyes of the world and for yourself. Imagine for a moment that you’ve written your book. How do you perceive yourself differently?
5 Earn money. Most of us don’t get into writing because it’s such a lucrative field. But more money can be earned from a book than from a cluster of ideas that merely perambulate in your head.

6 Invite unforeseen opportunities. This is the best part. An idea for a book niggles at you. Speaking about it to others will likely bore them. But a completed book generates excitement in your audience and prompts opportunities you can’t even imagine. If I show up to do the work to write, publish and promote you book, something absolutely amazing could happen.
7  Give a gift to your readers. All of this is well and good for you, but what about your readers? We have a variety of motivations for writing, but many of us hope for a powerful impact on our readers. My non-fiction books are designed to both inspire and instigate action. I write them with nothing short of the lofty intention of changing people’s lives. And they do.
I can’t predict exactly what awaits you when you claim your AUTHORity. Everyone’s path is different. But I do know that every book we write works us in some way.
Our job is to heed the call to write our book, to get our words and ideas out of our head and onto paper so others can experience it too.
What do you imagine your AUTHORity will do for you? How do you want being an author to change your life?
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