4 Fresh Insights That Changed How I Think About Writing Books
22 Jul 2025 #writingI’ve decided to start a new writing adventure: writing a book.
I’ve had to debunk lots of limiting beliefs.
- “I need a publisher”
- “I need 100% new material”
- “Writing a book is hard.”
Wrong!
After going down the rabbit-hole of searching how to write and self-publish a book, here’s what I’ve learned:
1. A hit book creates demand for more books.
After Atomic Habits, there was an audience interested in habit creation. Then, more books about the same topic came out.
A hit book isn’t necessarily competence. It’s signal of market interest.
2. You can plagiarize yourself.
We can remix our own ideas. Credits to James Altucher’s podcast.
A good post can become part of a book chapter. A series of posts can become a short book. A personal story can become an intro.
That’s the strategy Yuval Noah Harari used to write 21 Lessons for the 21st Century. He compiled lots of disperse ideas into a book.
More examples? The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck was a blog post. The Psychology of Money, a series of posts.
You see? We can repurpose our posts into books.
3. A book’s job is to tell stories.
(Another lesson from James Altucher’s podcast.)
Always be storytelling. Stories are the best way to make a message memorable.
Our job is to tell stories, not to present facts - unless we’re writing a textbook or something.
4. A book lives forever.
Your book doesn’t need to be a best-seller at launch. It can succeed anytime. And there’s plenty of time for that.