Is writing a book worth it? Yes, For Plenty of Good Reasons!

Millions of people every year try their hand at writing a book. Most never start their book, some manage to finish their project, but very few of them ever see their books in print. Are you trying to figure out if it is worth writing a book? It can be challenging as it is generally a considerable time commitment after all.

If you are thinking of writing a book for financial benefit, low sales mean it is not worth it. If you think it will only take a few weeks, again, no. But if you want to do it for personal satisfaction, recognition, show you are an expert in your field, for example, writing a book may be worth it.

Let’s make it the easiest decision of your life!

Let’s get the two major “No, you shouldn’t” write a book reasons out of the way.

( Good news, there are lots of great reasons below! )

Financial Expectations

If you see many writers with bestsellers to their name, likely making lots of money, you may think it will happen for you. But, the fact is that most authors never make a profit from their books.

Let’s look at some numbers:

If you take a quick look at the math and statistics behind writing a book, you will soon realize that the average new author is not likely to get rich from writing a book, much less make any money.

You are more likely to make a loss. You need to sell 1,000-2,000 books just to break even if you self-publish. Most newer writers don’t sell that many, and therefore, most writers lose money with their book.

You can make money, but it takes a lot of time marketing and promoting your book to make sales. It could take a few books to build an audience enough to begin making a profit.

Just understand this in advance.

Time Commitment

Lots of new authors do not realize the time commitment required to write a book. The first thing is that you need to set aside most of your time for the project daily. Having a consistent, regular writing schedule is absolutely required

Another common complaint of first-time authors is that they thought their book would only take a few weeks to write and ended up spending many months (or longer) simply working on it.

In fact, if you want your book to be successful, it is a good idea for newer authors to spend 3-6 months before even thinking of starting the publishing process. Rushing will just produce https://www.mightyauthor.com/is-writing-a-book-hard/a low-quality product.

If you write for only an hour a day, it is 160 hours just to write the first draft for a standard book and add lots more for editing and rewriting.

The number of work hours required is hard for most people to accept, even those who really want their book written.

Most authors find that they spend more than 10 hours per week working on their book before the first draft is ever completed!

So, if you do not want to spend too much time working on your book, the truth is that writing a non-fiction book is probably not for you.

So, are you still up for it?

Good Reasons

There are plenty of good reasons for writing a book, even for the newer authors. Most of the reasons are not about making money or being famous so let look at those

Share Your Story

Do you have a personal story that others may find inspiring?  Then, you may want to write a book about living through that experience.

Did you have a special challenge that you overcame? This is great for memoirs, inspirational books and other non-fiction styles of writing.

Do you feel like you have a message that needs to be brought out with your life experiences?  Your experience may provide insights and knowledge that others need.

Writing a book is an excellent way to spread your message and also for you to share how you feel.

Many people are looking to share their life stories and experiences as they become older. They want to record their knowledge and experiences that will not be around forever.

You do not need to be a celebrity or have an incredible experience to share your message, just an inspiring life story.

Personal Reward

Maybe you just love a particular type of story and have a fantastic idea that you want to share with others.

Maybe you like writing and just enjoy doing it, regardless of the chance that you make no money from it.

Maybe you want to write the book for yourself or your family and friends instead of trying to make money with it. 

The personal satisfaction of writing a book is one of the biggest payoffs for most authors.

Finally, you will get to say that you have written a book. It gives meaning to your life and credibility in some circles. It is sometimes just good enough just for you.

So before you write your first novel, maybe look at writing a book as a personal project, not something you have to rush into to make money.

Inspire Others

Another good reason you may want to write a book is so that you can inspire others. It is a great feeling when someone tells you how much they were motivated by your words or stories.

The opportunity to inspire others will often help motivate and encourage you to keep working on your book, even if it would otherwise be hard to finish. It is also possible that your book will inspire other people to write their own book, which can be awesome.

To inspire others who read your book, you must make sure it has a strong message or purpose behind it, so when people read it, they receive something valuable and are inspired somehow.

If you have something you really want to pass on to others, then writing a book can be a great way to share it and potentially inspire others.

Teaching or Helping Others

If you have a lot of experience in a field, whether a career, hobby or whatever, maybe you feel like it can help others. Perhaps there is an area that you are passionate about and want to use your knowledge to help others learn.

Putting your knowledge in a book can be a great way to teach others about the subject.  You can share your story and experiences while passing on knowledge that will help people in some way.

Instead of only being able to teach a few people in a class or only giving personal advice, you can help thousands of people with a book.  In addition, you will be helping people for years to come as they re-read your books and apply what you share in their own lives.

Establishing Authority

If you are an expert in your field, writing a book to help people can also establish your authority in that area.  If you have a lot of knowledge about a topic, people will listen to and follow your advice when it comes to the subject.

This is very valuable because now you can start making money using your expertise in other ways.

For example, it can help you get speaking engagements and other opportunities to make money. You will now have an excellent reason for people to hire you or buy your products, so the book can be a fantastic lead generation tool.

People love experts who are positive and give good advice because they feel confident in what you are saying. It makes them feel good to listen to someone with confidence and expertise behind them.

Think of this as a fantastic sales tool for you. Self yourself, your knowledge and experience.

Cathartic Writing

If you have experienced something difficult, like going through depression or dealing with an intense family situation, sharing those experiences can motivate other people dealing with similar difficulties and provide a way for you to help others.

People have a strong need to connect and share their experiences with like-minded people to relate. They want to know that other people are going through the same challenges and problems.

So, if you can share your experiences with others in a way that helps them, then this will be of great value to you and the people around you.

You’ll also get great satisfaction and rewards from helping or teaching other people through a similar difficult situation. If this is your main reason for writing a book, try to keep it positive and uplifting so that people will have a good experience reading it.

So although there are reasons to not write a book, there are many more reasons you should.

You can still do it just to make money if you want. Just be clear that it is a lot of work over and above the writing.

But there are plenty of excellent reasons you should write a book, so use one of these as inspiration.

Have you decided to write a book? What are your reasons? Let us know in the comments!