The WRITE Strategy

Welcome to The WRITE Strategy newsletter for business book writers and self publishers. 

The Write Strategy is a community of business experts and leaders who want to share and leverage their knowledge, build their profile and be recognised as a leading voice in their field.

Many business owners, consultants, entrepreneurs, company CEOs and directors reach that moment when they ask themselves, “What’s next?”

You’ve grown a company, learned a lot, have deep knowledge, practical experience and case studies, insight and foresight. AI doesn’t have access to all you know (and please don’t give it to AI). This is your IP and your unique asset.

Whether you realise it or not, you have a book in you. You might be ready to get stuck in and start writing it now, but that’s the wrong way to start.

To leverage your strongest/deepest asset you need to approach your business book like, well, a business.

The payoff of a business book is not so much about sales (but these are great too), but instead about trust, value, reputation, opportunity, and influence.

Here’s three things to think about.

1. A business book builds your brand in a way money can’t buy.

A book delivers visibility and credibility. You become a published, trusted point of view. In a sea of thought leaders selling similar services, your book becomes your differentiator. It shows people who you are, shares some of your knowledge and insights which is powerful in an AI slop world.

2. Your business book clarifies your message and amplifies it.

Self publishing your book forces clarity. Planned and structured, it challenges you to articulate what you stand for, your unique insight, foresight and deep real/human experience, who you’re here to serve and how your book will help people work through their challenges.

In a world full of AI-generated, generic (and quite frankly flowery corporate speak which I loathe) your book is real, human-written based on decades of work, and most importantly you are deeply attached to it.

3. Your book opens doors

Want to secure new clients, speaking gigs, media features, investor meetings, or strategic partnerships? A book is your backstage pass. According to one study, 72 percent of entrepreneurs said publishing a book led directly to new opportunities.  

Your book isn’t a sales transaction. It’s potentially the start of a relationship. It will lead to conversations with people and companies that you haven’t be able to connect with in the AI/online/email overload world.

Leveraged in the right way, over time through a smart book strategy, your book will open doors and, engage minds.

How cool is that?

And this is something AI can't do because it's about us humans . . . talking to each other.

5 things to do

1. Review your LinkedIn Profile: Your ABOUT section, banner image, projects, skills and more. It’s so easy to set and forget and before you know it, you’re still running a photo of yourself from 10 years ago, your ABOUT section looks like something from another life (and it probably is) and if you have a book, where is it?

2. Read The Underground Empire. How America Weaponized the World Economy by Henry Farrell and Abrahan Newman. I am halfway through it and keep asking myself how come I didn’t ‘see’ this. 

3. Read The Correspondent by Peter Greste. Peter was jailed in Egypt for ‘reporting’ and talks about his experience and the challenges of being a journalist in a world where dictators and fake news drown out the truth. I was fortunate to attend an event where Peter spoke. I am a fan. 

4. Keep trying out AI tools. The only way to know which ones you want to use for what is to spend time working with them. Depending on the task I am working on I mostly use: ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, read.ai, Crayon, Jasper. Here’s one I haven’t used but looks interesting. MapReader

5. Pick up a pen, find some paper and write me a letter. I’ve got to say that I write (and post) letters infrequently, but I still ‘do it’. And I still have a physical newspaper delivered to my door every day and cut out articles for my own research and to share with my clients. 

I love the physical act of writing. There’s a recognised brain connection with this…which is why when I am really struggling with how to write something I revert to pen and paper.

When was the last time you wrote and posted a letter?
When was the last time you received one?

I was reminded about the importance and permeance of the actual written word when I visited the National Library in Canberra over the weekend. There in the Treasures exhibition space was a journal from the First Fleet and one from Banjo Patterson.

In a world so transient, the written word on paper may be the art form that survives long after we’re gone.

5 things from The Book Adviser

1. I survived (and thrived) on an 8-day hike in the Pilbara region of Western Australia at the Karajini National Park, and had two-days snorkelling with whale sharks (they are fish) at Ningaloo Reef.

2. I discussed the world of political correctness in my LinkedIn Post You Can’t Write That. Self censoring is a real issue whether it be because of political correctness, you’ve been commissioned to write something, or you just don’t want to be trolled. CLICK HERE

3. Debra Graves book, To Dementia with Love, is getting some terrific coverage in the media. It’s a tough topic and one of the great things about Debra’s book is that she shares her personal journey with Don. With an ageing population, more and more of us will know and be caring for, in some shape or form, a family member with dementia. Here’s the link to buy her book…and if you want her to speak at an event let me know. CLICK HERE 

4.  I saw this ‘message’ on the online bookshop of Readings (one of my favourite bookshops in Australia). I thought it was a great way to support self publishing but let potential purchasers know about ‘quality’ issues.

This title is printed to order. This book may have been self-published. If so, we cannot guarantee the quality of the content. In the main, most books will have gone through the editing process however some may not. We therefore suggest that you be aware of this before ordering this book. If in doubt check either the author or publisher’s details as we are unable to accept any returns unless they are faulty. Please contact us if you have any questions.

5. How to make your book stand out in the sea of sameness. Read my latest Article on LinkedIn. CLICK HERE 

5 things to know

1. Protecting your IP in an AI scraping world. Disney and Universal sued an artificial intelligence company on Wednesday, alleging copyright infringement. In their lawsuit, the entertainment giants called Midjourney’s popular AI-powered image generator a “bottomless pit of plagiarism” for its alleged reproductions of the studios’ best-known characters.

The suit, filed in federal court in Los Angeles, claims Midjourney pirated the libraries of the two Hollywood studios, making and distributing without permission “innumerable” copies of their marquee characters such as Darth Vader from Star Wars, Elsa from Frozen, and the Minions from Despicable Me. Midjourney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The suit by Disney and Universal over images and video represents a new frontier in the raging legal wars over the copyright and the creation of generative artificial intelligence. Previous suits have covered copyrighted text and music; Disney and Universal are two of the biggest industry players thus far to sue over images and videos.
CLICK HERE

2.  Audio book options. This came across my feed a few weeks back. I am investigating it and have booked in a demo, so I’ll let you know what I think in the next newsletter https://futuribooks.ai/
Here’s the pitch. 🎧 Got books? Let’s make them talk. FuturiBooks.ai turns your titles into human sounding, AI powered audiobooks—fast, scalable, and global.

3.  Google’s new AI powered search/summaries.
Generative search will become the standard everywhere.

Say goodbye to traditional blue links. They're being replaced by detailed AI-generated answers. You might have seen or used them already. I have and boy are they tempting.

If online search changes, so does online discoverability — for websites, services, and products… including books. 

You know that Amazon search bar (the one readers use every day)? It is bound to become LLM-powered, as are the search bars of Goodreads, TikTok, Twitter, and anywhere else you can think of.

While Google has never been a great place to search for books before, this could very well change now. Try using the “Deep Research” feature, Gemini.

First, play with Gemini’s Deep Research, and run some searches of your own. Think about how your ideal reader could search for a book like yours, run that search, and see what comes up. And there's Google’s AI mode, but unless you have Early Access Apps you won't be able to access it, yet! I'll keep you posted.

You might not have access to these features, but they are coming, so be ready.

4. Geoffrey Hinton, one of the fathers of the AI movement, was asked the advice he would give to his children about a job for the future. He said, “become a plumber.” I completely disagree. The job of the future will be those who are deeply curious, explore and synthesise ideas, perspectives, ways of being from a wide variety of people, places and disciplines…and through this derive insights and foresight. Of course we’ll need plumbers, electricians, care providers, teachers etc….you know the ‘people jobs’. But thinking, creativity, inspiration is a ‘people’ job too. And as parents/grandparents, it’s our job not to accept the AI lobotomisation of the next generations. Get those writing pads and pencils back out.

5. Canadian author Margaret Atwood wins the Freedom to Publish Award.
This award “honors a person who has gone above and beyond in terms of promoting reading and free expression”.

Atwood commented: “I cannot remember a time during my own life, when words themselves felt under such threat.

“Political and religious polarization, which appeared to be on the wane for parts of the 20th century, has increased alarmingly in the past decade. The world feels to me more like the 1930s and ’40s at present than it has in the intervening 80 years. …

“In a free world, publishers and booksellers stand for the many. If free governments and the free human intelligence are to survive, the guardians and transmitters of words in all their multiplicity must be brave. I wish you strength and hope, and the courage to withstand the mobs on one hand and the whims of vengeful potentates on the other.

special eBook offer

is it time to publish your book?

The Book Adviser has helped more than 400 business leaders, owners, consultants and entrepreneurs to successfully self publish and market their business book. 

Find out more about The Book Adviser Program CLICK HERE. 

subscribe to The Book Adviser YouTube channel

Are you curious about:

• How AI is impacting book publishing
• What to do after writing your own book or even
• What makes a good business book. 

Subscribe to The Book Adviser channel.  

CLICK HERE. 

help spread our message

We’re passionate about business books and helping people share their knowledge and insights to a wider audience as we believe each of us can change the world for the better, one book at a time. If you’ve found this newsletter informative, inspiring or want to share some of the books we’ve mentioned, please share it with your colleagues, friends and family.

Your Unique Link

Or share via, LinkedIn, Facebook or Email

get more of The WRITE Strategy

Do you know of someone that would benefit from our services? DM us or email [email protected]

Was this email forwarded to you?  Get your own subscription by clicking SUBSCRIBE and completing our form.

Copyright 2024 - The Book Adviser