‘What do you think my book should be about?’

I was meeting an author who had been advised to write a book to raise his profile as a go-to expert. I’d never spoken to him before and I didn’t know what industry he was in. I had no idea what he wanted to write about.

After we talked a little, he said, ‘I think I should write about my business philosophy.’

Now we were getting somewhere. I said, ‘OK. What is it?’ He thought for a beat then said, ‘I think you should treat everyone with respect.’

‘Great. What else?’ ‘That’s it, really.’ And that was it. I told him, ‘So far, we’re about halfway down the first page. We’ve got at least 119 pages to go.’

Six months later we finished the first draft of a book of 35,000 words. It’s got nothing but five-star reviews on Amazon and it’s succeeded in the author’s ambition of making him stand out in his business. He wanted a step change from his role as a CEO – and thanks to the book, he’s getting invitations to talk to businesses about joining their boards.

Even if you think you don’t have much to say, the chances are you’re wrong. Everyone has a book worth writing inside them. You just need to talk to someone with the skill of finding out what your book is.