A short YouTube talk (by Julie Broad of Book Launchers) arguing that personal struggles, rejections, and ‘bad days’ are fertile material for non-fiction books because stories gain emotional energy from negative experiences. Julie contrasts authors who lack hard-earned lessons (and therefore hooks and authority) with those whose defining moments provide a compelling book hook, offers an exercise to find a core message, and finishes with calls-to-action promoting her books, channel, and giveaways.
Chapters
If you've hit bumps in the road, you've had life smack you down, or you've encountered nothing but naysayers and nos on your way to becoming who you are today and doing what you do so well, then I have some really amazing news for you. That is the exact kind of material that makes for the foundation of a great book that will have a massive impact on the right reader. So if you're looking for a new perspective on days that suck and some ideas to help you take those bad days and make them into a really good book, then this video is for you. Hey there, I'm Julie, the book broad from Book Launchers, where your professional self publishing team helping you write, publish and promote a nonfiction book that will help you have a huge impact on your readers and done right will help you grow your brand, build your business, and make you money. The best part? You yes, you keep all rights and royalties. When you haven't experienced struggle and pain, fear or deep hurt, it's actually difficult to write a book if you haven't tried and failed. You don't really have lessons to share. Learning doesn't come from success. Learning comes from making mistakes and things going wrong. One of the few clients I've had to let go in the middle of a book project was someone who struggled from day one to find a hook for his book. Even after some editing, the book fell flat and didn't feel real. The only good advice he offered came from things he'd read or courses he'd taken. The author didn't he didn't have a voice or hadn't established his authority, and nothing about the book made it feel like a must read. The biggest source of his problem? He grew up in a good home with means. He had a great social circle. He married the girl of his dreams. He worked in a business that was an easy win for him and started making money early on. Nothing had gone wrong. I basically had to tell him we weren't going to be able to continue working with him on the book. And I kind of said, you know what? The bad news is? We haven't been able to find a way to make this book connect with the audience you want to reach because you haven't had a lot of hard lessons in life. The good news is you've had a really blessed life. I was relieved and surprised that he agreed and decided to abandon the project. Before you kind of stop there and go, what happened? The author could have saved his book by interviewing people with stories about his subject. He could have done deep research into books covering the subject and ultimately doing that, he could have developed a unique perspective with examples based on all that work. So all is not lost. If you actually have had a blessed life, you can still write a book. There's still book possibilities, but none of that was something he wanted to do. But take heart, if you had a lot of challenges in your life, you likely have a great book in you because the best source of your hook is likely related to a defining moment in your life. Here's a really important thing I Learned from Robert McKee, regarded by many in Hollywood as the teacher of story structure, and I learned it during a three day seminar I took on Story Stories get energy from the negative. So next time you're watching a really good movie, notice the best scenes are those that have a change in emotional value. For example, a happy couple having coffee together. Everything's going well until the woman receives a text message from an ex boyfriend. The new boyfriend gets jealous and mad and he accuses her of leading on her ex. She gets up and leaves. Tell me more, more, more. When I tell the story of writing my first book, More than Cash Flow, people don't relate to the fact that my book sold thousands and thousands copies in the first week and went to number one overall on Amazon. They relate to the deep personal rejection I felt when the publisher said they didn't think my platform was good enough to sell books. Many relate to the that I had that propelled me to make my book better than if they had published my book for me. Even if you've never wanted to be published, you've been rejected. You've felt that sting of I will do that thing you're telling me I can't do. That is an emotion we almost all can relate to. It's one of those universal emotions and if I left that part out of the story, it would be fluffy and not that interesting. Bad things happen in business. There are challenges. Your story gets energy from the negative, so you must include it in the stories you tell. Especially in business settings, you may prefer to focus on your successes and the good things in your life. But that's boring. We're all about no boring books, right? It's just not easy to relate to because we've all had tough days. In fact, for many people, more things are usually going wrong than they are going right. So regardless of your ultimate message and promised outcome for the reader, be real about your journey to get there. This is good news. It means that those really tough days paid off. Yes, when you get through a difficult time. You learn lessons and you have an incredible story to tell, and it might just be part of the hook of your book. Coming up with a hook can be challenging. You may know what you want to write a book, but you're not sure what it should be about. So here's one way to narrow down your focus. Imagine you were going to die tomorrow. Dark thought, but please play along. It's an important exercise. Just take a moment to think about what's your important message? What do you have to say that will benefit others? Or what have you learned that will change someone's life? The hook of your book could be in your answers to those questions. Thinking about what makes you unique also leads beautifully into the next topic we need to cover. Who do you think you are to write a book? And that's just what we cover next in my new book, Self Publish and Succeed. The hashtag noboringbooks. Way to write a nonfiction book that sells. If you like this video, you will love the book. So please head over to juliebrod.com to get your copy. If you have a new perspective on days that suck, go ahead and smash that thumbs up button. Go ahead, try it. It feels so good. It's a pick me up for any blah. And after you do that, let's chat about how you use your bad days in your books below. And when you comment the day a video is released, you'll be entered to win some sweet noboringbooks swag like this mug and ta da this journal. And probably we'll be giving away books, hoodies and backpacks too. We have new videos every Tuesday and Friday. Make sure you catch everyone by subscribing to the channel and turning those notifications on on. I think you're rather fun. Would you like to spend some more time together? This video right here is the latest and greatest from the channel. And this one right here is all about three mistakes memoir writers often make. Your bad days are potentially part of a great book, but not if you make these mistakes. If you're writing a memoir. These are both pretty awesome videos, so choose the one you want to see and I'll be waiting for you there.
