What's In It For Your Reader?

A newspaper reporter called me. “He’s one of the richest men in the world. Only one person in the United States owns more land than he does. He wants to meet with you.”

The reporter met Bob at Wilson General Aviation in Memphis. Bob came to town in one of his Lear jets. We met at a local restaurant called Paulettes. After sitting down and saying hello, Bob said, “Thank you for meeting me.” He paused and looked out the window. Then back at me. “A year from now I’ll be dead. But before I’m gone, I want to write a book.”

 He said he received a heart transplant a few years ago. And now, he was having a number of rejection issues. The clock was ticking. But not for much longer.

 He wanted me to help him write a book. I asked him what he wanted to write about. He said he wasn’t sure. Maybe his life. So, I asked him about his life.

 Although he had some unusual experiences, they wouldn’t cause someone to buy his book. I told him he needed something that would cause someone to buy the book – an application, a What’s In It For Me element for the reader. He promised to think about it. A few weeks later, I went to see him at his home on the ocean. We talked for two days.

 He suggested a chronology of his life. But I could find nothing in it for the reader. All he knew was that time was running out and he wanted a book.   I worked hard to find a way. I looked at many angles for a storyline:   How to face death by someone facing death; Making your life count by someone at the end of life; If I had my life to do over, here’s what I’d change and what you should learn; Lessons from the heart – my new one.

 He wasn’t interested in any of my ideas. He just wanted to tell his business story. I couldn’t be a party to that.   I told him no would care. No one would read it. I urged him to write from a feeling level, and offer practical advice for the reader.

 Again, he wasn’t interested in that. So, I told him I wouldn’t write the book.

 I saw Bob once more. We met on an island he owned. He still had not changed his mind. He died with no book.

 The maxim is true for anyone thinking about writing a book. What’s in it for your reader? If you can’t put that into a sentence, don’t write the book.

 I love to help clients create meaningful books. To be meaningful, it has to be loaded with rich content and plenty of practical help.

 Film stars, musicians, politicians, and war heroes have found out the hard way that unless your book has worthy content, it will not sell for long.

 It all comes back to whether you can answer these questions:

• Why would anyone want to buy your book?

If you answered “I don’t know,” or “They just will,” or “Because it’s something they will like,” I’ll pray for you.

• How will your book help others?

There must be an action step for the reader. Yes, there are exceptions. Shelby Foote was a master in recounting the Civil War. His books continue to sell well. But your narrative has to be extremely compelling for someone to pick up the book simply for the sake of information.

• How will you sell the book?

It’s up to you. Bookstore sales are rare these days. They only result when you drive the readers to the bookstores. Outside of your hometown, very few bookstores will carry your book. So, how will you create sales? Your plan must be extremely good. Otherwise, no sales.

Let me just share some thoughts before I leave.

Have you ever been around someone who will not shut up???? They go on and on and on. About what? Themselves. Their favorite subject is ME. They never ask you a question. They just drone on about their favorite subject. It never enters their feeble mind that you just DO NOT CARE about every single thing that happened to them today or yesterday or last year.

 Through the years, several wealthy and some famous people have asked me to help them with a book. (I’m not sure if it’s because I’m that good or that old.) I tell them that biographies usually don’t sell well. A book about what you did in the fourth grade is not interesting to the reader and does not cause word-of-mouth sales. There has to be a reason to write a book! Some of them look at me like I’m speaking Chinese. They don’t believe that readers would not find the events of their life fascinating.   Until they get someone to write and publish their story. Royalties are a rude perception check.

 So, what kind of books sell?

• An agent asked if I would meet with Dave Longaberger. I asked why. The agent responded that he made baskets. I was not interested. The agent persisted, so I went to Zanesville, Ohio, to meet the basket maker.

 Turned out that Dave had a very impressive operation that was generating about one hundred million dollars annually. It would grow to be much larger.

 Dave repeated the first grade three times; the fifth grade twice. He stuttered so badly in his youth that folks couldn’t understand him. And he not only succeeded by becoming a major employer in that area, but also was very creative in many areas of life.

 On top of that, millions of customers loved and bought his baskets. A few thousand made them and several thousand in the sales field sold them through home parties. Put all that together, and I was in. We wrote about how the baskets were made and included personable and humorous stories about Dave. Finally, we shared his advice for achieving your dream.  That's Dave standing in front of me in the photo.

 The book sold hundreds of thousands of copies.  It added value to the baskets and the company.  

• I sat down last week with Cindy Putnam McMillion. She has a unique website, Connecting Memphis. In it, she profiles the diverse lives of Memphians. The profile of each interview includes a photo. She has over 5,000 followers. Her introduction reads:

Memphis is the home of the blues, of Elvis Presley and W.C. Handy, and of the most mouth-watering BBQ you've ever tasted.  It is jazz, soul, rock & roll, country, gospel, and bluegrass.  It is universities, theaters, art galleries, museums, churches, synagogues, and sports arenas. It is shotgun shacks, mansions, and Old Man River.  It is hope and heartbreak; it is darkness and light. In these interviews, you will meet some of the people who make up this warm and colorful city we call home.

I think Cindy can answer the questions above and can sell the book through her website, speaking engagements and local bookstores. The key is 5,000 people as a base. She won’t sell as many as Dave, but her book will sell.

 Well, if you’ve hung in there this long, congratulations – your trophy will be in the mail.

 In the meantime, I encourage you to ask how the book you are working will benefit your reader.

Stephen Douglas Williford’s books have sold millions of copies. His latest book is Show and Tell; Lessons From a Speech Coach. His favorite is When You REALLY Embarrass Yourself Nobody EVER Forgets.