The Dirty Little Secrets of Published Authors – Part I

Why is it that some authors just seem to crank out the books like writing machines? Not only do they publish their first book, but after that they publish a second, third and more.

I’ve been studying non-fiction authors and their habits for a while now. Ever since my partner Denise Wakeman and I started our Blog to Book Project, we’ve been learning about the challenges of consultants, speakers, and other professionals who want to publish non-fiction books to build their businesses.

Common Excuses ad nauseum

And we’ve heard all the excuses. And they’re not just excuses, because every writer we talk to has valid reasons they haven’t finished their book (or in some cases, haven’t even been working on their book). They go something like this:

- Lack of time
- Busy working at day job
- Distracted by work and family responsibilities
- No uninterrupted time to concentrate
- Not sure the time required would be worth the results it would bring
- Looking for ideal title, or a unique message
- Need to narrow scope
- Need to complete more research

The list goes on and on. Yet when we provide solutions to these problems, more excuses pop up.

It seems that the common denominator of unpublished authors is procrastination. The reasons aren’t unique; they are ubiquitous. The result is the same: another would-be author with plenty of talent and no book to show for it.

We are stumped and confounded. We are sincere in our efforts to want to help people succeed at getting a book published. Yet some people do succeed at getting their books out. What is the defining difference that turns them into published authors?

In Part II of this article I'll look at what behaviors make up the profile of a successful author and the defining edge required to turn procrastination into implementation.