The World Doesn't Need Another Bad Book

Despite my science and engineering background, I've never been a devotee of Star Wars, Star Trek or much other science fiction. However, as a teenager I do remember being a big fan of Doctor Who (Yes, I know that's showing my age ).

I've just finished reading Michael White's book "A Teaspoon and an Open Mind: The Science of Doctor Who", which talks about the science behind time travel, alien life, interplanetary voyages, robots, and the like.

It's a science book for the layperson, with only a few passing references to Doctor Who. But it's those links - tenuous though they might be - that make the book unique. And that made it worth reading for me. If not for this quirky angle, it's doubtful I would have picked up a book about cosmology.

What makes YOUR book different?

The traditional publishing model has its drawbacks, but it has one benefit as well: An in-built quality control process. You can argue about the quality of some of the books that have published, but there's no denying that a publisher adds several extra layers - such as market testing, editing, proofreading and layout - that generally improve the final product.

But that's no longer the case.

The good news is that now anybody can publish a book.
The bad news is that now anybody can publish a book!

It's now fast, cheap and easy to be a published author (Want proof? Write something, upload it to Lulu.com, pay a few dollars, and you'll have a hard copy of Your Book in your hands within a week). As a result, the book market is cluttered with thousands of useless, low-quality, "me too" books.

The world doesn't need another bad book.

If you've got nothing new to say, say nothing.

Don't write a bad book. Don't even write a good book. If you're going to write a book, write a great book.

But that doesn't mean you shouldn't write at all!

Don't just sit there twiddling your thumbs while you're waiting until you're ready to write A Great Book. You can still write; just do it in other ways:

Write a regular e-mail newsletter.
Write articles and send them to your top clients.
Share your thoughts in a blog.
Write articles for your clients' newsletters.
Write a special report that highlights your clients' top problems.
... and so on ...

In fact, these are the things that will help you express your half-formed ideas, test them in real life, and polish them to make them better. Do these things first, and you'll earn the right to write that great book.

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Gihan Perera is an Internet coach who helps business professionals with e-marketing and e-learning. He's the author of "Web Sites for Speakers, Trainers, Coaches and Consultants" and "Fast, Flat and Free: How the Internet Has Changed Your Business". Visit http://GihanPerera.com and get your complimentary special reports.

I would also appreciate receiving a copy of the issue in which it appears, if that is convenient.