Why Should I Write a Short Book?

“You should turn this into a book,” said my new boss and pastor. The previous week I handed him my white paper on my approach to small group ministry. He loved it and encouraged me to write a book. It’s no secret that writing a book is daunting, but having a sure-fire blueprint certainly helps make it easier than I thought possible.

How do you approach writing a book? Do you spend hours, days, even weeks contemplating what you’re going to write about? Maybe you try your hand at a topic only to discover that you’re not sure if you’re even on the right track. So, I took his advice, sat down and wrote a book. That book is FOCUS: Up, In, and Out: 3 Powerful Strategies to Running an Effective Small Group.

There is no right way to write a book. They can be long. They can be short. I’ve even seen them as small as pamphlet books of only 24 pages. The fact remains, writing a book is about connecting with your message and getting that message out onto paper.

I have found there’s nothing more powerful than seeing lives changed by the words I’ve written. Writer’s must prioritize this when they write. It doesn’t matter if it’s through fiction or non-fiction, connecting deep with someone’s heart, this is what writing is all about.

What does this have to do with writing short books? I’ve identified three things you can do right now that will help you generate more books in a shorter amount of time.

1. Greater impact in a shorter time.

When I wrote my short 5 page white paper, I made it available on my website for free. After several downloads, people started asking me how much they could pay for this document I made available. Crazy, I know. So, I put it up for sale on my website for just $5. I still gave away more than I sold, but I was happy.

When my pastor encouraged me to write this as a book, I didn’t know where to begin or how to even attempt doing such a feat. Then I remembered what I teach on this blog: make an outline, then expound upon that outline. Good news, my white paper was my outline.

By taking time to dissect my paper into an outline, it gave me room to expand my original thoughts. I knew it would have greater impact as a book than as a white paper. Because I turned it into a short book, the writing, editing, and design time shortened to just 5 weeks.

5 weeks! Take that James Patterson! Getting a book out sooner and faster, launches your message into the world to change hearts, minds and souls. A lesson I’m learning from my pastor and his wife, who, together, have written nearly 30 books!

2. Short books are easier to write.

I know what you’re thinking. Writing is hard and should never be easy. Right? Wrong! When you sit down to write, what is your end goal: to fill 150 pages with words that go on and on, or to write 60 pages of hard-hitting words that get the same message across?

I found while writing “Focus: Up, In, and Out“ “what would normally take me nearly a year of writing and rewriting, took me 5 weeks from first draft to published book. Truth to tell, I shocked myself and didn’t think it was possible.

The shortest distance between where you are and where you want to be is writing books. The quicker you write a book, the sooner people can experience a changed life. Short books give you that power.

[Tweet “Should I fill 150 pages with words that go on and on, or to write 60 pages of hard-hitting words that get the same message across?”]

3. Short books make a great challenge.

When challenged, people will either rise to the occasion or flounder and fail. Michael Hyatt said in his recent blog post, “When you challenge people, you communicate a subtle sort of respect that says, ‘You’re capable.’ Your team will not rise to the challenge until they are given the opportunity.”

The same is true for writing. When you challenge yourself to write something short and poignant, you’re telling your inner self that you’re capable. You will not rise to the challenge unless you’re given the opportunity. My pastor gave me the challenge and opportunity to take my white paper and write a book. This book is only 56 pages. But I’m darn proud of it!

Motivation to see results by rising to the challenge will help ease fear that may rise in accomplishing a finished manuscript. But by taking that motivation, turning it into a challenge of writing a short book, will give you something to be proud of.

I know that “FOCUS “will not be my last short book. I’ve got the bug. I’m ready to rise to the challenge and write more books to help people take their message to the next level.