Writing has the potential to effect change. One look at the world makes it clear that creating change is more critical now than ever. Yet, writers face a roadblock: lack of guidance through the process. Change the World One Book at a Time: Make a Positive and Meaningful Difference with Your Words provides a handbook to help them achieve their mission.
In Change the World One Book at a Time, Nina Amir details how to produce books that serve as potent tools for transformation. A variety of books have been published about how to become an author, however, none have focused on providing strategies specifically geared toward writers who want to inspire and motivate change. These writers need a better-than-average manual on how to write and publish. This nonfiction reference book will provide activists, coaches, healers, clergy, speakers, leaders, writers, and anyone who wants to write a book that makes a difference with a comprehensive guide to understanding the change process, building engaged communities around their missions, and writing books that move readers to action.
Excerpt
Seven Roles Every Author of Change Must Play
Excerpt from Change the World One Book at a Time: Make a Positive and Meaningful Difference with Your Words by Nina Amir and published by Books that Save Lives.
While you are always at choice about what you do or don’t do, seven roles are indispensable. You must be a writer, or at a minimum, work with a ghostwriter to produce a manuscript. Plus, you need to become a businessperson, marketer, expert, influencer, and leader. I have not included change agent in this list of the essential roles because for someone who wants to write a change-inspiring book, that’s a given.
Let’s look at all seven roles more carefully, starting with the most basic one—that of writer.
1. Writer
Writers write. To be a writer, you must develop a consistent—even daily—writing habit. You can choose to write many types of content to help you advance your cause and your book’s success. You can produce emails, blog posts, press releases, and articles, for instance. You can write ebooks and print books, short and long books, but you must write.
If you don’t consider yourself a writer, this is the first role to tackle. Set aside time daily to write. Begin work on your manuscript (more on how to structure and develop a content plan for your book in Chapter 10). You also might practice your writing craft in any of the ways mentioned above, such as producing a daily or weekly blog post.
Even if you choose to work solely on your book manuscript, do so unfailingly. Block out daily writing time on your calendar. Many writers find it most conducive to write first thing in the morning before people and tasks demand your attention. Write for an hour or two (or more), if you can. If you find that amount of time difficult to fit into your schedule, set aside time for at least a fifteen to thirty minute session each day, but write consistently.
The more you write, the more you develop the identity of a writer. I had a client who called to say, “I finally get it! I’m a writer.”
“What changed?” I asked.
“I write daily.”
If you’ve never considered yourself a writer, now is the time to take on that identity. And if you have always been a writer, step it up! Write more or for new audiences, such as on Facebook, Bluesky, LinkedIn, or even Instagram. Write for publications and blogs.
If you feel uncertain about your writing ability, keep this in mind: You can hire an editor. Many books are written by less-than-talented writers; you’d never know it because the author hired a fabulous editor who cleaned up their manuscript.
Other books aren’t even written by the so-called author. Many times, non-writers have a good book idea and hire ghostwriters to produce the manuscript. Some change agents are speakers—not writers; if that describes you, speak your book and then have the transcript of the recording edited into a book by an editor or a ghostwriter.
Don’t let your negative self-talk—“I’m not a writer” or “I’m not a good writer”—keep you stuck. You can become an Author of Change, and a successful one at that.
2. Businessperson
Many writers and change agents don’t consider themselves businesspeople, yet filling this role leads to the greatest degree of publishing success. Becoming an authorpreneur—or even a changepreneur— supports your efforts from the moment you decide to publish a book until it gets into the hands of readers and beyond. Plan your book’s content with an eye toward marketability by putting together a business plan that includes market research, a competitive analysis, and a marketing plan for the period before and after publication. Additionally, you can create a strategy to monetize your book with courses, coaching, speaking, and membership sites. An entrepreneurial approach allows you to create income to sustain your movement and reach more people with your message.
Before publishing your book, it’s crucial to determine how you will bring your book to market. To make that decision, you must know if you would make a good publishing partner or a savvy publisher. Traditional publishers want to work with good writers who have great ideas and have created an engaged community of potential readers or an author platform. These are people in your target market ready and waiting to purchase the book upon its release. (For ways to build an author platform, read Chapters 6, 7, and 8.)
If you choose to take the self-publishing route, it’s imperative that you become business minded. After all, you’ll be stepping into the role of “publisher” and running a publishing company that produces, distributes, and markets your books. You must know how to manufacture high-quality books like those brought to market by traditional publishers, which means gathering and working with a team of professionals, including editors and designers. Plus, you must have an author platform and understand book marketing. (Learn more about both traditional publishing and self-publishing in this book’s conclusion.)
3. Marketer
Marketing falls into the realm of business. However, it’s a specific function all writers must perform (or hire someone to perform for them). No matter how you publish, you need to understand the different ways to market your book to your target audience, and you must be willing and able to take these strategic actions or hire an expert to assist in these tasks.
Marketing involves a wide range of activities that continuously give your audience value. Done well, the result is simple: Your audience purchases your book and joins your movement. Each book you publish needs a separate marketing plan.
Marketing activities include market research, competitive analysis, book and product positioning, pricing, and any efforts to keep your book in the minds of potential readers and stimulate demand. Used as an umbrella term, marketing includes advertising, which is a “paid” effort (such as running a Facebook ad), and publicity, which is a “free” effort, including activities like getting media mentions or making a radio appearance.
Your marketing plan includes your strategy for reaching potential readers and selling your book over time, not just during a launch. This could mean building a mailing list, running ads on a free video series, or social media posts and ads.
Many writers, coaches, healers, and change agents believe a focus on marketing cheapens their work and goes against their values. In fact, melding this role with writing and a desire to be of service allows you to author change more effectively. Always remember that marketing helps you sell books, which allows you to reach and impact your audience. It enables you to fulfill your purpose and that of your book.
A business approach allows you to see the big picture of your book project. When you have your purpose and the book’s purpose at the forefront of your mind, you are more likely to create a salable book related to a viable cause—and do what is necessary to get it in front of your audience. Ultimately, the role of marketer enables you to determine both your immediate and future needle-moving steps toward achieving your mission and purpose.
4. Expert
Many writers don’t feel like experts, but everyone knows something about something—usually a lot more than someone else. That makes you an expert. There is no need for impostor syndrome—the internal belief that you are faking your own authority—to hold you back, especially not when you know enough about a topic to write a book. You have something important to share, and your message can make a difference.
Plus, expert status is not only about credentials. You don’t have to have a diploma, certification, or even a lot of experience to be seen as an expert. You do, however, need a strong, unique, and powerful strategy for change. Then, it’s your job to share that strategy and demonstrate how it leads to transformation. Do that often, and people see you as an expert.
I was not considered a blogging expert until I started a blog about blogging books. The more often I wrote and published on this topic, the greater my status became as an authority on blogging, blogging books, landing traditional book publishing deals, and book marketing. The same is true of my status as a nonfiction writing expert. I was given that title after blogging on the topic on my Write Nonfiction Now! blog site for many years and running the Write Nonfiction in November (WNFIN) Challenge, also known as National Nonfiction Writing Month (NaNonFiWriMo). My expert status provided opportunities to speak at writing and blogging conferences, write for major websites and magazines, and earn a living as a nonfiction editor and a blogging and writing coach. It also helped me to land my first traditional publishing book deal, as well as others that followed, and to sell copies of those books. A book written by an expert is more likely to be purchased by someone seeking an authority to teach them how to do something.
Additionally, expert status helps you gain influence with your audience because you have the “know-like-trust” factor: If you market yourself well, you provide potential readers the chance to know you. If they like you and the information you share, they are more likely to trust you. And if they trust you, they will buy your book and take up your cause.
5. Influencer
You motivate people to change when they see you as a trusted authority. Who are the influencers in your life? Do you listen to what they say and act on their recommendations? I bet you do because you see them as wise or distinguished in their field.
Strive to be the influencer in your readers lives; then they’ll take up your brand of change and become part of your movement. Imagine your audience reading your book and then taking action, thereby becoming your army of change agents. For that to happen, they must pay attention when you tell them your book is available for purchase and buy it—because you are influential in their lives. These readers also need to act on the recommendations in your book.
Consider once more the influencers in your life, such as your parents. Perhaps you still hear your mother or father’s voice in your head. It could be that your spouse, your sister, or a friend influences how you think or behave. Maybe it’s a teacher, coach, or politician that impacts what you do or don’t do.
I recall Jake Hubbard, my college magazine journalism professor, telling me to “figure it out.” I couldn’t get an editor at a major magazine to talk to me for a class project. He explained, “In the real world, your editor would expect you to find a solution. So, find one.” To this day, I figure things out! If there’s a problem, I look for a solution. My mother also had a solution orientation. These two influencers in my life helped me become a problem solver.
Obviously, you can influence others in positive or negative ways. Work to focus on positive change. One of my longtime clients once told me, “When I’m seeking an answer related to my book project, my husband asks me, ‘What would Nina say?’” You want your readers to think of you as the kind of person who influences others positively and has the answers. When they do, you will impact their lives in powerful ways;
in fact, they’ll not only take on your change strategies but will also share them with others. As a result, additional people will be introduced to you and your work, which means your reach and authority will grow.
6. Leader
Your level of influence directly impacts your ability to lead your movement. Whatever your cause, you need to be its biggest advocate and march at the front of the pack to guide those who follow.
Every movement has a leader at the helm. Change agents typically understand this and step up to guide the ship even if somewhat reluctant. However, many writers don’t see themselves as leaders, which causes them to avoid risks and limit themselves. For your book to have the impact you desire, step into a leadership role. Enlist those who desire change, and once they have signed on, lead them. And even if you don’t yet have anyone to lead…so far, lead anyway. Be a leader.
Writers are leaders. Words have impact. Books make a difference. Own your leadership role and use it to do good in the world.
7. Change Agent
A change agent is someone who promotes, champions, supports, and enables change to happen within a group or organization. Change agents are responsible citizens who win the respect and acceptance of other citizens, and as a result, create successful movements. Sometimes they are activists who protest social conditions and institutional practices that violate core societal values and principles. They also educate, organize, and involve the public to actively change present policies and seek positive, constructive solutions. Finally, agents of change can be reformers who work with political and judicial structures to incorporate solutions into new laws and the practices of public and private institutions.
Beyond these commonly held definitions, change agents are those who actively try to create positive change on any level. They might work to bring about personal, organizational, or community transformation in areas that have little to do with global or governmental issues. They inspire and motivate people from all walks of life to think and behave in new ways.
Obviously, if you plan to write a book that makes a difference—that inspires and motivates people to change—you must be a change agent. You don’t have to be an activist or reformer, although you might want to take on these identities.
Buy on Amazon | Bookshop.org
