In a world of social media, who is even reading books?

1. I have shared a lot of my success stories on the internet. But trust me, each time I have gone ahead and clicked “Post”, a part of me laughs at the delusionland I am taking my audience on to. Not because I am lying. I’m not. Rather because I know that the true ingredients to those milestones of life are the pains I endured on the journey.

Some were bearable, others were excruciating from within.

You know what’s the best part? Those pains are not just mine. Every single person I know has been through so much pain that if they care to share what they endured to where they have enamoured to be, they could write their own book. The best part is that the book is going to be not just for themselves, rather it would help so many people feel seen.

So, my friend, write a book about the journey of your pain. As much as you think it is oversharing, it gives so many people a voice who silently and quietly are feeling hollow within, for disregarding their own pain.

Say hello through your book to those feeling hollow to allow them to feel their own halo.

Your book is going to be their voice.

2. Bahrisons Booksellers is one of the top bookstores of Delhi. In 2020, when the entire world was shut down, they opened a new outlet in Vasant Kunj, that too in one of the top 5 malls of the capital. How did they manage to pay rent of such an expensive mall? How did they break even and eventually become profitable? Why did they not reconsider this decision?

I may not have concrete answers to any of these questions, however, here is my hypothesis:

All their outlets are in elite areas of Delhi NCR. They aren’t everywhere, which is by design, as I have come to know through my conversations with their staff at their outlets. Translated: They are located where people can afford things beyond the basic needs of life. I’d rather conjure books also as basic needs of life, however, people who don’t read books don’t consider that.

Statistically enough, look at people around you, and the ones who do read books are wiser, understand themselves better, and undoubtedly are richer.

They are also the ones who aren’t satisfied with just one book, limiting the number of visits to the bookstore, or consider spending their money on books as an “expense”.

Write for that audience.

3. I follow a lot of techies with tiny to medium sized kids. (Yes bro, that is not the word you use for “kids”, but because this is a holiday week, we are having fun :))

Anyhow, all the techies, VCs, entrepreneurs that I follow on social media and that choose to talk about their kids—most of them make sure their kid develops a habit of reading books. The best part is kids don’t listen to their parents, they copy their parents. So if the kid has a habit of writing books, invariably either or both of their parents are voracious readers.

What you ought to do, my friend, is to go write your book in the most authentic, non ChatGPT manner. It is hard work. No wonder. But the only things easy in life are mundane, lifeless, content-less, emotionless, context-less content generated from Generative AI and calling it a book.

You and your life and career experiences deserve better. We all deserve to know what you felt and went through. Because that is exactly hundreds of thousands of people in the world need to know.

Who knows, a tech entrepreneur and their wise, curious kid may one day be sitting in one corner of their balcony and pondering over what you shared that according to you was an “obvious” observation.

The problem with smart human beings is that they look at 4 people on their social media feed and mistake it for their ideal audience. If we open our eyes and offer with all our heart, there is always an audience. The right audience.

With a darn good book written with passion (and not subservience to what popped up in a google search) by the right person, more often than not, the author happens to find the right audience.

And always remember what Goethe said about truth (read it in the light of reading it as the truth of your own life):