The cathartic memoir or the self help book?

What to write?

Let me help you clarify as you make this big decision as an author.

If you want to entertain and move people about a time in your life, then write the cathartic memoir. You will also have just that.... a personal catharsis which is gold for many people.

If you want to build a platform as an expert, then do the self help book, which while it will contain your story, it ultimately is about lessons for the reader.

The memoir can still teach and evolve the reader, but that is not its direct intention.

I am currently in the midst of preparing to shop two books: a cathartic memoir and a self help book. The memoir House I wrote because of the incredible process I went through in buying and selling a home. The experience was spiritual and dynamic, and I have lots of stories funny and poignant to tell. The self-help book I Give You Permission to be Happy and Wealthy I wrote so I can teach others how to do just that.

I didn't intend to write two books, but they both came out and both deserve their time in the sun. That said, they will serve different purposes. While the memoir may make me known better as a book coach due to my prowess as an author, it won't necessarily make me an expert. The self help book will show my ability to write that genre successfully, but my clients already know I am excellent at my job because I have helped so many people publish to their goals.

Therefore, the self help book would be an author/expert platform that won't necessarily support being a book coach, but will help me be a speaker on the topic of permission through which I would meet more clients.

How can you apply this framework to yourself?

Look carefully at your goals with writing a book. If you want to tell your story and purge because you feel it is time and won't stop nagging you, write the memoir. If you don't particularly need your story out but have a burning idea you want to share, then write the self help book.

Then let go of too many of the results in the writing process. There is plenty of time to plan marketing when the ink is dry!

I hope this helped bring some clarity. If you would like to know more about me as a book coach, please sign up for a free 15 minute call on my web site at kimohara.com or if you know you are ready to write, book a 30 minute consultation so we can get your goals aligned.