You Probably Won't Get a Book Deal. We Still Need You to Write.

The publishing industry is challenging. Not only do you have to be a great writer, but you need a big platform. In the end, you need a book that will sell.

It's understandable. Publishers aren't charities, and they need to make money from their books. Publishing a book is a massive investment that costs a lot of money and involves significant risk.

For this reason, it's difficult to be published. Unless you have a large following, or catch a break, you may face an uphill battle in getting your book published.

And yet, I would argue, it's still important for you to write for at least a couple of reasons.

First, somebody needs your writing. Just because you won't sell 5,000 or 10,000 books doesn't mean that you don't have a message that can benefit many. You don't need a large audience; a small one will do. Someone will likely benefit from what you’ve learned. Your writing will be a blessing to someone who needs it.

There's also a huge benefit in writing for your own sake. Writing helps us think on paper. It helps us practice and develop your skill. The only way to become a better writer is to write. If writing changes nobody else, it will change you. But as it changes you, I’ll bet that it will also help others at the same time.

Beyond that, it's never been easier to publish. Anyone can start a blog or open their own Substack. If you want to write a book, you can publish and market it yourself. Sure, it’s hard work, but so is publishing the traditional way. Nobody’s standing in your way.

Years ago, someone told me that a well-written article will get more readers than most books. That was before the age of blocking any internet content, but the point still stands.

You can write on the internet, and if you write well, your writing can have just as big an influence as many of the books you see in the bookstore. If your writing is good, or even if it’s becoming good, you will find readers.

I agree with what Barbara Ueland wrote a long time ago: “Everybody is talented, original and has something important to say.” You probably don’t have something new to write—pretty much everything’s been said already—but nobody’s said it quite the same way that you will, from your perspective.

Please write. We need your voice. It's nice to publish a book, and if you want to, you should pursue that goal. If you can’t find a publisher, you can do it yourself.

But you don't need to publish a book for your writing to be worthwhile. In an age where the publishing industry is not going to publish as many of our books as we'd like, we can still write to bless others and develop our craft.

For this reason, please keep writing. And share your writing so we can benefit from it too.