Can Your Book Help Readers (and You) Feel Better? Yes. It. Can.

Photo by Possessed Photography on Unsplash

The world is asking only one question. `Can you help me where I hurt? – Pastor Orville Butcher.

I’ve read a lot of self-help nonfiction and I’ve been doing it since I was in my teens, before I wrote or edited books or was a book coach. I read these books because like everyone else I was looking for answers to my problems. Depending on what was happening in my life I chose books to learn how to:

• Be Less Stressed

• Be Healthier

• Deal with Family Problems

• Handle Life’s Uncertainties

• Create a More Fulfilling Life

Classic Best-Selling Self-Help Books Like These Help to Heal the Hurt:

• You Can Heal Your Life by Louise Hay

• Your Erroneous Zones: Step-by-Step Advice for Escaping the Trap of Negative Thinking and Taking Control of Your Life by Wayne W. Dyer

• The Power of Positive Thinking: A Practical Guide to Mastering the Problems of Everyday Living by Norman Vincent Peal

• And newer books like Atomic Habits by James Clear and The Let Them Theory: A Life-Changing Tool That Millions of People Can't Stop Talking About by Mel Robbins

Each of these books helps readers feel better. Your book can too.

Why Do You Want to Write a Book?

People are motivated by different things when it comes to writing a book. I wanted to:

• Move from journalism into books and reach more people.

• Share what I knew and the experts that I worked with to help people transform their lives.

• Make more money, advances and royalties (than $1-2 a word for magazine articles).

• Achieve the legitimacy of being a published author. It made me feel good to get published. When that box of books comes in the mail, believe me, it’s a thrill.

For you it might be:

• To share what you know

• Create a resource for clients, patients and readers

• Build your brand

• Become a Thought Leader and do a Ted Talk

• Hang out with Oprah on Super Soul Sunday

And maybe most importantly:

• Feel good by empowering yourself to tackle a project you know deep down in your heart you really want to do – write your book -- and actually do it!

Your Book Can Heal the Hurt

If you want to write a book that resonates with readers a good place to start is to ask: How can this book help them improve the quality of their lives? To heal their hurt?

Right now, as you’re reading this, readers are asking for help in healing the hurt, whether it’s a problem with finances, relationships, health or outlook and more.

Your book can be the answer. Books can make readers feel better, help them find solutions to their problems, feel less alone, comforted or empowered to move through tough stuff and give them hope that things can get better.

Write About What You Know and How You Can Help

This is why I really believe that if you’re working in a field or practicing a specialty that is helping people to heal the hurt, whatever it might be that it’s worth writing about. Books spread knowledge and they give readers tools they can use to change their lives for the better.

And that’s not all. Writing your book will make YOU feel better. Starting and finishing a book is a big deal. It’s a complicated endeavor and demands grit, creativity and stick-to-it-iveness. But if it’s something that matters to you, your career, your trajectory, your life, it’s worth doing!

What books have made a difference in your life? Please leave an answer in the comments. I’d love to hear about what books have been meaningful to you.

NEW Resources to Help You Write Your Best Non-Fiction Book

Jumpstart your publication journey with the Is it a Book? 1:1 Idea Strategy Session to help you define your book idea and why you’re the best person to write it and Is it a Book? The 3-Step Plan to Write Your Nonfiction Book, a deeper dive that will help you define your idea, approach, method or plan and structure (Table of Contents). Both programs will help you move forward and write your book faster and with more clarity, confidence and ease. For more information click here: https://www.chrystlefiedlerbookcoaching.com.

Until Next Time!

Contact me when you’re ready if you need:

1. A book coach to be your editorial guide, support and project manager as you write or re-write your book and/or book proposal.

2. A manuscript evaluation for a big picture, smallest detail overview.

3. A developmental editor to structure your book, and make the text clear, concise, and reader friendly.

4. If you’d like a free copy of my PDF: Is it a Book? The Ten Step Roadmap to Writing Your Best Book sign up for my e-mail list at www.chrystlefiedlerbookcoaching.com.