I was going to write about ‘how to write authentically’ in this issue. But I don’t have a set in stone list of ideas that I’m going to write about for Practicing The Write Stuff. Sometimes an idea will grab me and metaphorically shake my by the shoulders and tell me I need to get this idea down.
So here’s a teaser question to get started. What do these five books have in common?
Outlive: The Science And Art of Longevity by Peter Attia
The Princess Bride by William Goldman
The War Of Art by Steven Pressfield
Dune (Hard Back Version) by Frank Herbert
Accidental Magic by Roy H Williams (a “not yet given” mention)
There might be a connection that I’ve not thought of that you can think of. In which case, post it in the comments.
But the connection between these five books is that I’ve bought copies of the first four of these books in the list and sent them to a specific person for a specific reason. And the fifth book is on the ‘To-Do’ list and hasn’t yet been sent for geographic reasons.
It’s something I think every writer should purposefully do. Let’s dive in and find out why.
#1 First: Who Each Book Went To….And Why
1.1 Outlive: The Science And Art of Longevity by Peter Attia/Matt
On Friday I was talking over drinks with Matt, who is the husband of one of my best friends. Matt is a CEO of a high level IT firm and he was talking about the health issues his 75 year old father was facing…and how he was researching how to make sure that by the time he gets to 75 similar issues don’t affect him.
This is the only book in the list I’ve not (yet) read. But it was obliquely recommended by my friend Andre. And I knew of it. So he should get this book in the post today as a belated birthday present so he’s got more info for his research.
1.2 The Princess Bride by William Goldman/Andre
This one went to my buddy Andre. Andre is someone who has come late to reading fiction. I sent him a copy of The Princess Bride because:
It’s William Goldman. One of my favourite writers.
The Princess Bride is a marmite book. You either love it (like, really really love it) or you don’t.
If he loves it, the sooner he reads it the better.
If he doesn’t….there’s tons to learn from Goldman’s writing.
Goldman’s non-fiction writing is always interesting too. Adventures In The Screen Trade would be another recommendation.
1.3 The War Of Art by Steven Pressfield/Mark
Although my favourite Steven Pressfield book is Nobody Wants To Read Your Sh*t, more people prefer The War Of Art. (28,000 Amazon reviews for this versus 1200 for Nobody).
Also: The War Of Art can be read by anyone struggling with creative blocks whereas Nobody is for writers.
Mark got a copy of The War Of Art because he’s got a creative task ahead of him and he needs to understand what resistance is and how to beat it. This book is the bible for that. The hard part is getting him to sit down and read it.
1.4 Dune (Hardback Version) by Frank Herbert/Freddie
Freddie is my eldest son. Dune is one of my favourite books. We went to see both of the Dune movies together. Which was great for me as I got to spend time with him and got to see movies I wanted to see without having to go on my own.
I’ve been trying to persuade him to read the book for a couple of years as I think he’ll enjoy the nuances that the film missed. (No criticism of the film, Dune’s a complex book.) After we saw the second film he said he was going to treat himself to a hardback copy of the book and read it after he finished University.
He finished University a couple of weeks ago and is coming home next weekend. There’s a brand new hardback copy of Dune waiting for him in his room.
1.5 Accidental Magic by Roy H Williams/Sean
This one I’ve not yet sent to Sean. That’s because it’s a thick, chunky book and he’s been travelling around the world recently. Now he’s got home…I’ll see about getting him a copy. Sean is a writer and also takes thousands of black and white photographs….this book is a collection of 160 black and white photographs combined with short essays from students of Roy Williams’s advertising academy.
A unique kind of book for a unique writer and teacher.
#2 Why Writers Should Purposefully (Not Randomly) Gift Books
Randomly sending books to people isn’t the idea here. The idea is to connect people you know with specific books to enrich their lives.
Plus, done correctly, the value of the gift far outweighs the book’s nominal purchase value. Especially if you add the two page ‘consumption letter’ I talk about in the next section.
From now on, I’m going to be much more proactive about sending books to people. Giving someone a book though isn’t the end goal.
The end goal when you gift a book is the same as the author’s end goal when someone buys his or her book: to get them to read the book and, if it’s non-fiction, implement what’s contained in the book.
There’s a well known philosophical saying:
"If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?"
From an author’s perspective, if someone buys their book and lets it collect real or virtual dust it’s almost as if it were never written.
So….
#3 …How To Get Someone To Read A Book You Gift Them
Most people you know have busy lives.
The primary competition all books have isn’t other books. It’s films and TV. Social media. All the other demands of modern life.
Reading is well down the priority list for most people.
But: if you’ve had a conversations with them. And talked about a specific issue they are working on. And you purchased a book that will help them and sent it to them.
You’re a long way towards getting them to start reading.
There’s one other thing you can do to help tilt the balance further. That’s to write a one or two page letter that outlines precisely how the book you’ve purchased and sent them will help them.
Two bonuses for you in doing this:
It deepens your learning of the specific book.
It teaches you how to create these kind of short summaries that encourage consumption for your books and writing.
But…
#4 …What If There’s No Suitable Book To Gift To One Of Your Friends
Over the past few weeks I’ve been actively collecting quotes about writing, practicing and the combination of writing and practicing to help build my fluency with dictation by writing short essays based on those quotes.
One of the quotes in my ‘quote bank’ is this one from Toni Morrison:
“If there's a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it.”
If you’re reading Practicing The Write Stuff, then you’re probably a writer. If you have a friend with a problem and no book exists that addresses that problem…then you should write it.
Even if it’s only 20 or 30 pages long. (More on that in this mini-series of articles).
You can either present it as a ‘report’ and print it yourself and get it spiral bound. Or you can get it professionally printed and bound. I got a quote from the company I use for my printing…a 32 page, US Letter sized booklet with black wiro binding, 130 gm paper and a glossy cover will cost just £20 delivered to either my address or the recipients address.
The Dune hardcover I bought for my son was £19.99….so cost is not an issue. Plus there are other benefits of doing it this way:
If you send a friend that you’ve written a 30 page book they can read in 45 minutes that could solve one of their problems, you’ve done as much as you possible can to persuade them that they’ll actually read it. The one or two page letter we talked about in the previous sub-section can be built into the start of the book.
Once they’ve read it, you can ask them what questions they have and can help them actually implement what’s in the short book. That feedback will allow you to make iterative improvements.
If the market area is big enough, that 30 page book could be expanded and self published on Amazon. Wins all round.
Sidebar: A Word On Formats
Some people prefer audio to reading. And some prefer Kindle/eBook to physical book. Personally, I don’t like gifting eBooks. But you have to take the intended recipient’s consumption preferences into account.
#5 One (Possible) Long Term Business Play Of This Strategy
This occurred to me while walking the dog this morning. You could use this strategy - buying a book, adding a two page ‘consumption’ letter - as a loyalty play with your best clients. Or even - though personally I wouldn’t do this one - as a trojan horse for a high ticket offer.
Let’s say the book you’re sending is a hardback and is £20. (Or equivalent in USD). Postage to America - the most expensive destination from the UK - is about £15. So for £35 you get to send some ‘lumpy mail’ that’s guaranteed to stand out.
You could go further: you could ask them if they knew two or three people in your field like them who you could send the same kind of package too. And all you need to do is change to first line of the two page consumption letter to say: ‘Your friend (insert friend’s name) though you’d like this.’
Any leads generated like this - provided you’ve made sure you’ve used the right sort of filtering systems - should be high quality. In some businesses I’ve seen £35 quoted as the cost per click to cold leads via Facebook or Google ads.
Ultimately, it depends on the nature of your business and your business goals. But I think this is a viable lead gen strategy to get high quality leads. So you know….I’ve not done this….and don’t know if I would. But for some people it could be a simple, low time investment method of attracting high quality leads.
The Ride Out
From now on I plan to do this more consciously. Books that I’ve really enjoyed that I’d consider gifting include The Writer’s Journey by Christopher Vogler, the aforementioned Nobody Wants To Read Your Shi*t by Steven Pressfield, Talent Is Overrated by Geoff Colvin (gives me an excuse to get the 2nd Edition myself); The Talent Code by Daniel Coyle, Black Box Thinking by Matthew Syed, Anything You Want by Derek Sivers plus there will be some books I write in the next couple of years - both alone and in partnerships - that I could add to this list.
Here’s the homework for this Issue:
Make a list of five books that you’ve really enjoyed that you would consider gifting in this manner.
Write a sentence or two for each book on why it would be on your list, and what kind of person would enjoy receiving it.
Post that list in the Comments.
Maybe a book suggestion you post might change my life, or the lives of one of the small number of readers I currently have.
That’s a wrap for this week.
Issue 32
In Issue 32 we’re going to look at another 5 books that seem to have nothing in common….and focus on what they do have in common. Those 5 books are:
Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
The Subtle Art of Not Giving A F**k by Mark Manson
The Writer’s Journey by Christopher Vogler
The Brain Audit by Sean D’Souza
Talent Is Overrated by Geoff Colvin
Can you guess the connection?