The Book You May Not Realize You Have Written

By Doyne Phillips, Managing Editor for Southern Writers Magazine

Some of the better books I have read were compositions of essays, short stories, sermons or journal entries. Some were combinations of different topics and some were books based on a theme. All were a collection of individual efforts from varying periods of time. They were well thought out. Existing material was quickly brought together making it easy to do. But how was it done?

One of the most notable of these, the books put together by Pastors. Many were sermons brought over a period of time based on a series on a specific topic such as wisdom, marriage or faith. The congregation showed interest and the sermons were placed in book form. These tend to be very successful. The beauty of this is the Pastor was going about his day to day process of working on his sermons. He also was producing the necessary material for the book which would come later. Many times these individual efforts occur without any thought to a book but is suddenly realized and put together.

Many writers have this same opportunity. Some writers lecture and may want to put their lectures together. This could mean various topics that assist other writers in their craft and promoting their books. I have always liked the idea of those that are successful helping others. I have written about this in this blog and noted the Sin of the Desert or sending the elevator back down for others. You may want to check it out. 

Many writers are active bloggers. If you have written enough blogs, say 10,000 words, you may want to consider putting them together in a book. It can be print or eBook. You could group topics together or have varying topics. The possibilities are endless. This could further your craft, visibility and possibly your income.

So have you written a book but have yet to realize it? If so think on putting it together. If you haven’t written enough for one why not think on these lines as you regularly post your blogs or prepare you lectures. Visualize bringing them together in a collection. If you think this way you can decide if you want a series of blogs or lectures on a certain topic or various topics.

The staff of Southern Writers Magazine will soon be presenting an eBook of their blogs. I hope you will take a look at it when we announce it. Better yet I hope you enjoy it and find it of value to your writing career.