Many of my authors began as public speakers. Whether they publish independently or through a traditional publishing house, they first developed a following as speakers and are in their sweet zone addressing anything from small groups to large audiences. These people are stellar presenters, and they reached a point where writing a book became a logical, even essential, next step for them in their vocation.
But writing is different from public speaking. The subject came up recently during lunch with a good friend who’s a managing editor at a well-known Christian publishing house. We agreed that many compelling and accomplished speakers face challenges when it comes to writing a book. I’ve had that conversation with other editors too. The same concerns surface consistently when men and women who are primarily speakers set about to become writers as well.
Maybe you’re in that club. You’re thoroughly at home before a crowd with a microphone in your hand, and you’ve built a ministry or vocation that spotlights you as a speaker. Now you’re ready to write a book. These next few posts in my CopyFox blog, Fox’s World, will give you tips to help you start off right.
Tip #1: Have Coffee with Your Reader
Put the microphone down. You’re not onstage speaking to an audience; you’re talking to one person, and that is your reader. I hope you’ll have lots of readers, but every one of them will read your book by himself or herself. Reading a book is a private affair, not a group experience.
So write the way you’d talk to a friend you’re having coffee with. Just you and that person, one on one. Weed out collective language like “Some of you men need to . . .” or “A lot of you gals right now are thinking. . . .” There is no “some of you” or “a lot of you”; there is just that single person sitting across the table from you. That solitary reader. Talk to him or her personally and you’ll reach all your readers effectively.