Writers, What Is Your Why?

Leadership expert, inspirational speaker, and author Simon Sinek’s seminal book Start with Why explains that people don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it. With online bookstores, authors must convey their “why” in their author profile. If readers don’t take the time to look at that, then the “what”—the book jacket teaser, blurbs from other authors, and reviews from readers—bears the full burden of convincing would-be purchasers to take a chance on our work. Social media outlets give us a better opportunity to talk about why we write and specifically wrote the book(s) we did. However, there’s a tenuous link between engaging viewers on social media platforms or via email newsletters and prompting them to take the next step on their own to purchase one’s book.

Doing in-person book sales gives the author much more of an opportunity to engage potential buyers and allow them to get to know us as people who are passionate about the books we’ve written and can explain exactly why we did so. When readers talk to us in a shop or market, they want to make a personal connection. If they don’t like the author, there’s little chance they’ll spend money on the book.

How do you present yourself in the best possible way, so readers will get to know—and like—the real you? Start with why. Why did you spend hundreds or perhaps thousands of hours on that brick of paper, ink, and glue we call a book? What compelled you to sit or stand in place for all that time while you connected one word after another like a seemingly endless string of pearls? Why did you put yourself through rewrites, edits, the whole publishing process with cover reviews and final proofs—knowing there are mistakes you won’t spot but others will sometimes gleefully tell you about—and then marketing this creation to a culture that is already swimming in books from authors all better-known than you? Why didn’t you spend that time watching TV or playing videogames or gardening or engaging in any of the other myriad activities most people do every day instead of completing a book, something relatively few ever do?

Don’t be flippant with your answer. Take care to spell it out for yourself before you explain it to others. The more sincere and vulnerable you are, the more likely you will connect with readers on an emotional level. If you hide behind humorous deflection or guarded evasiveness, people will sense your unwillingness to open up and be less likely to open up their wallets in kind.

This is not something you can fake your way through. Most people engage in shopping experiences in actual stores and at markets because they want to interact with others. Yes, there will be some who are just killing time or distracting themselves with browsing, and they’ll make it clear they don’t care about your why. Don’t take it personally—they’re not going to buy anyone’s book that day. The people who are willing to talk to you, though, are seeking contact and connections with others; they’re the ones you want to engage with. They might become your fans or even your friends. They certainly will remember you and your story—your why—when they start your book and after they finish it. They might recommend it to others and pass along your why as a means of persuasion so that person will also take a chance on your work.

What’s my why? That depends on the book. I wrote Hardscrabble Road and Return to Hardscrabble Road to honor my first wife’s father and his brothers, all of whom I loved and admired. They survived a childhood that would’ve killed most of us, and they got through it with hope, heart, and humor, along with a huge helping of grit. The Five Destinies of Carlos Moreno was inspired by my love of history—especially untold or forgotten history—and my desire to inspire readers with a story of survival against injustice. The photo accompanying this blogpost shows me with a customer named, of all things, Carlos Moreno! I hope he enjoyed his namesake’s adventures trying to avoid the Great Repatriation of 1928 to 1941. Aftermath and Watch What You Say were inspired by my love of mysteries and thrillers and the depiction of strong female protagonists overcoming long odds. Similarly, I wrote The Caretaker because I enjoy stories about reinvention in the face of big challenges.

Connecting with readers and creating a fanbase requires you to first write a good book—all the reasons for doing so won’t mean a thing if you don’t accomplish this task. After that, though, when you want people to give your creation a try, remember to tell them why you went to all that effort. Get to the heart of it!