I grew up on a farm before email, before social media, before any Internet existed for the general public. We had phones, of course. We had walkie-talkies. But we didn’t have Instagram or websites.
If you traveled back in time and told young Ann (I was “Annie” back then) that at the click of a button—from the palm of my hand!—I’d be able to write something that would be available to people anywhere in the world, I wouldn’t have believed you.
I would have laughed, thinking you were teasing me. “Come on,” I would have said, “that’s like something out of The Jetsons.”
Publish from the Palm of Your Hand
Yet here we are, with publishing and distribution platforms literally in the palms of our hands. From your phone or a laptop, you can write something, click publish, and it’s live as an update on social media, a blog post on your website, a newsletter via email.
Anyone in the entire world can read it.
That really is like something out of The Jetsons.
Have you stopped to think how fast and easy it is to write and send a message into the world from your computer or phone—how it flies through the ether and into a follower’s feed or a subscriber’s inbox? The immediacy is mind-boggling.
The Power of Publishing Now
If you’re working on a long-form project like a nonfiction book, you’re writing for a reader whose life you hope to impact, whether through a major transformation or a subtle shift in perspective. It takes a long time to complete a polished version of those 50,000+ words, ready for publication. And when you seek traditional publication, you pitch agents in hopes of an offer, so more time passes.
All that work and waiting, and not one word has been read by your intended audience.
Let’s say you finally sign a book contract today. After all that time, your message still won’t reach that reader for another year-and-a-half to two years.
That’s a long time.
Why wait when you have Jetsons-like gadgets on hand? Why not start making a difference in your readers’ lives right away? Your full manuscript may still be in progress, but your message can begin changing lives today:
- Blog posts and newsletters let you do a deep dive into your concepts for readers to ponder
- Social media posts allow you to test ideas and connect directly with your audience
- Podcast appearances help you reach listeners who might never discover your book
- Online publications can feature your expertise to established audiences
That chapter you’re polishing for your book proposal? You probably have several subsections. Pick one and modify it to become a LinkedIn post.
The research you’ve done to support your main argument? Some could become an infographic for Instagram.
The personal story illustrating your message? Share it on your Substack.
Deliver value now while building anticipation for your completed book that will launch later. You even test your ideas to find what resonates most and strengthen your draft.
But the Algorithm…
If you’re thinking social media algorithms will throttle your reach, try to relax and have a little fun. Imagine how your post might reach a few of your ideal readers and make them think, laugh, feel something.
Remember to be social on social media: Like other people’s content. Leave a comment. Share their posts. Worry less about the algorithm and be social with people you care about.
When you focus on creating helpful content and engaging with others, you connect directly with the people who need your message most.
Sure, maybe fewer people interact with your Instagram carousel post than they used to.
Maybe “social media” seems more performative and less “real.”
Maybe the algorithm change really did show your work to fewer people.
But even a few views means you brushed against each other virtually. An interaction in the DMs can be two people chatting and not just an automated system sending out a link (those are handy tools, but I’m suggesting you could simply be real).
Worst case scenario, only a few people see your post. That’s a few people “Annie” never would have reached when sitting in the farm house back in the day.
When Readers Read Your Work, It Changes Them…and You
If you told me then that five or ten people read something I had written and published on a platform called “Instagram,” I would have been astonished. Real people somewhere in the world instantly read my words!
That would have changed my life; I would have thought of myself as a writer years earlier. I would have thought about my writing differently, imagining those readers, hoping my ideas would change them in some way as our lives intersected for those few seconds.
Today, at this moment, that’s our reality.
Your message going out means you’re intersecting with readers and potentially changing lives.
Start Now, Start Small
Someone out there needs exactly what you have to share—and they need it today.
Choose one approach that feels relatively natural and comfortable. It doesn’t have to be social media. Maybe it’s an emailed newsletter, audio on a podcast, video on YouTube, or a blog post on your website.
Extract one idea from your long-form work-in-progress and shape it to fit the medium.
Press publish.
It’s like The Jetsons…but it’s really out there, reaching readers right now.
Resources:
- The interview with award-winning author-editor Janyre Tromp goes deeper on this topic—watch, listen to, or read my conversation HERE.
- Clarissa Moll also brought her own perspective on reaching readers in my interview with her HERE.
You want to become book-ready?
In Book-Ready Writers, you’ll have on-demand trainings (to improve pitch, prose and platform), weekly coaching calls, and weekly co-writing sessions alongside writers serious about building books of their own.
