So You Want to Write a Book?

Here's what I've learned as a first-time author.

If a friend told you they wanted to write a book, what would you say?

This happens to me quite often actually. From a friend who says, “I’ve always thought I’d like to write about [a topic I’ve never heard them mention before]” to a college acquaintance on Facebook asking, “Anyone have connections to a Christian publisher?”, people want to write books. Eighty-one percent of people say that writing a book is a dream of theirs, yet only three percent of them actually do.¹

Why is that? There are many reasons, both individual and structural, and a lot I didn’t know when I first started thinking about writing a book.

So here is what I would say to that friend, based on what I have learned as a first-time author.

A caveat: I am not speaking as a writing and publishing expert here, just a first-time author who has been learning about this industry since 2020. I defer to other experts like my friend, writer, editor, and book coach

Ariel Curry

and my own editor and writer

Stephanie Duncan Smith

, for the expert perspective.

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1. Do you have a platform? 

When I first got interested in writing a book, I (naively and perhaps arrogantly) assumed that because I have a doctorate and am a psychologist, I could easily get a book deal. After all, most of my grad school professors and some of my college ones had published books! What I didn’t understand at the time was those were academic books, typically read by a niche audience and used as course texts or for professional reference. Instead, I learned that I would need this elusive thing called a “platform.” (You mean, it’s not enough that I spent nine years in school, now I have to dance on Tik-Tok?)

Sometimes, platform is narrowly defined as social media numbers. In fact, that, along with email subscribers, was what was most emphasized to me when I joined Hope Writers and then later signed with my agent. My agent would not pitch my proposal until I hit certain numbers on social media and email, so I spent about three years building my platform and refining my proposal before we pitched. But then I see authors with much smaller “numbers” than me also get book deals–it’s a mystery! 

I’ve also learned that platform is more than those numbers. It’s essentially the people who want to hear from you–clients, speaking attendees, podcast listeners, blog readers, and online and IRL connections. And it’s also the expertise you bring to the topic–the education, training, years of experience, or unique personal story. So, while my doctorate didn’t automatically get me a book deal, I do think it helped. (And I still have yet to dance in Tik-Tok.)

To my friend who wants to write a book, I would say, be sure you understand the importance of platform and are prepared to put the work into building one. Or consider self-publishing², if all the hoop-jumping that traditional publishing requires is not for you.

2. Do you have connections? 

A part of your platform is connections–if you are a part of a ministry, non-profit, college, groups, and organizations, or if you have close relationships to more high-profile authors and leaders. Do you have people who want to hear your words (platform) or people or ways to share your words (connections)?

Because I spent those three or so years building my platform and connections before pitching, I think that positioned me to have multiple book offers. Every one of the publishers I met with asked or was pleased with all of the podcasts I had spoken on and my potential endorsers list. In fact, I had listed Sheila Wray Gregoire as a potential foreword author and she did indeed write the foreword!

So, my advice is to spend some time putting yourself out there, getting to know and collaborate with other writers, speakers, and thought leaders on your topic, and nurturing those connections so you have not only people who are hungry for your story, but people who will help you share that story.

3. What is your story? 

To get a traditional book contract, they say you have to have the three-legged stool of great writing, a platform, and a great idea. Most of the time you need all three, but some people get by with one or two (cough, influencers and celebrities, cough). Your story is your idea, and I’ve learned that idea has to be unique and timely. Celebrities can get away with memoirs—and sell millions. But people typically don’t want to read your life story unless there’s something in it for them.³ That’s why I think we have so many memoir-slash-prescriptive non-fiction books being published; it can’t just be your life story as a memoir, it also has to give advice or insight for the reader.⁴ 

I would encourage my friend to write their story for the therapeutic benefit. Yes, please, write about your eating disorder as a teen, growing up with siblings from foster care, your struggle with infertility, your divorce. But maybe that story is just for you and your growth and healing, and not for public consumption.

The both/and here is that while “nothing is new under the sun” and it can feel like all the good stuff has already been said, no one has your unique voice or perspective. That brings us to the next point.

4. What is your voice?

Lore Wilbert

says there are two types of writers: the expert and the explorer (and I imagine there can be a bit of a hybrid one too). Experts teach you everything they know, while explorers bring you along with them as they learn. Knowing which one you are may help you distinguish that elusive and ineffable quality known as voice.

For me, I am solidly one who writes as an expert. There is a time and a place for each type of writer, and I do include parts of my own personal story as a purity culture survivor in my book. I sometimes read books by “explorers”, but for the most part, I read to be taught something, and that primarily comes from reading experts. My voice as an expert, then, is a bit more formal, a bit more authoritative perhaps, than your typical explorer. At times, my editor softened my writing and made it more personable, which was one of the reasons I chose her and am grateful for her! (Oh, you mean it’s ok to ask a rhetorical question or end a sentence with a preposition? Please tell me high school AP English teacher that.)

I’m still discovering my voice as a writer, and that was part of my reason for moving to Substack, so I could explore a less formal, more personable form of writing. But to my friend who wants to write a book, I would ask, do you have a writing voice? Do you know that voice? Do other people listen to and want to hear more from that voice (see #1)? And I think voice can only be uncovered, honed, and refined through writing. So a book should not be the first thing you ever write.

5. Can you write? 

And by this, I don’t mean you can write in complete sentences and know the difference between active and passive voice (though hopefully you do). Editors can fix those things. I’ve always considered myself a good writer; English was always my best subject, I enjoyed writing papers, I wrote a 175-page dissertation, and I even taught a research and writing class as a psychology professor. But writing a book takes a very different skill set than knowing APA style and subject-verb agreement. 

For me, the difference between other forms of writing and writing a book were 1) voice, which I addressed in #4, and 2) organization. The hardest part for me was taking my 210 post-it notes of the stories, main ideas, examples, research, and tools I wanted to include in the book and then deciding how to organize it all.

Thankfully, I took a book mapping class by Hungry Authors (co-taught by my friend Ariel Curry) which helped tremendously to structure my book as a whole and then each individual chapter⁵.

During writing days, I would take breaks to go on walks with my husband (he works from home) and share all my racing thoughts with him.

 “They need to know the difference between responsive and spontaneous desire.” 

“My clients feel disconnected from their bodies.”

“What do we teach our kids?”

“Purity culture taught us that premarital sex was the unforgiveable sin.”

Like scattered rose petals, I tried to gather and organize all these thoughts so they made a fully formed chapter, and then a fully formed, intact book (no damaged roses here!). The art of writing a book, then, as opposed to an IG post, blog, article, journal, or even a dissertation, is that we are taking the reader on a journey from pain and problems to transformation. In my case, I am taking the reader from shame, confusion in her faith and beliefs, and problems in her sexuality and relationships, to freedom and healing. 

You can order my book wherever books are sold!

So, when my friend says she wants to write a book, my question might be, is this a book? Or is it a social media post, a podcast episode, a Substack, a blog article, or even a series of articles? Or an online course, webinar, in-person seminar, or pdf guide? Those don’t require the same level of organization and step-by-step transformation that a book does. As Beth Moore says, perhaps a book is the last resort.

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After asking yourself those five questions and hearing what I’ve learned as a first-time author, do you still want to write a book?

I didn’t even explore questions like these: Do you have the stamina and the stomach to write and talk about the same topic for 2+ years? Do you want to put your story out there and open yourself up to criticism, offering up your baby that you’ve been pregnant with for 18+ months to a one-star GoodReads review from someone who “didn’t even finish it”? Do you want to market yourself, which involves an entirely different skill set than anything I was taught in my nine years of higher education?

Writing a book is not for the faint of heart. And it is sacred work. (There’s our both/and!) To my friend who wants to write a book, it is always worth it to write for yourself, to put your experience to words. If you have a story in you that is bursting out, by all means, write it down, compose a song, make art, speak out, share your heart. Just ask yourself these five questions before deciding to write a book.

Any questions I didn’t cover about writing a book? Leave them in the comments!

Warmly, Dr. Camden

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1. This post I found said 81% of people say they want to write a book, 15% actually start writing their book, 6% make it to the halfway mark, 3% finish their books, and only 0.6% publish.

2. Of course, self-publishing involves platform building and networking too, if you want to sell your book to an audience.

3. There are exceptions to this, of course, and some non-celebrity memoirs I’ve enjoyed include Rift by Cait West, A Well-Trained Wife by Tia Levings, and Educated by Tara Westover.

4. Examples of this that I have read include The Exvangelicals by Sarah McCammon,  #churchtoo by Emily Joy Allison, and No Cure for Being Human by Kate Bowler.

5. If you want to learn this process, check out their online course or buy their new book, Hungry Authors.