Why Books Are Best

There’s an Amy Poehler ad for something or other where she introduces herself by saying, “I’m standing in front of a bunch of books, which means I'm smart and you have something to learn from me.”

It’s funny because it's true. We're hardwired to see books as important vehicles for conveying knowledge. That's why the expert in any field is described as “the person who wrote the book” – even if it’s not literally true.

Most of the earliest books were nonfiction (discounting myths, the first “novel” was written in 11th-century Japan). They were maths treatises or descriptions of the medical prophecies of plants and animals. Books became established as a conduit for passing on ideas, and as the number of books grew exponentially with the coming of the printing press in the 1430s, so the world’s store of knowledge expanded exponentially. Books allowed knowledge to spread far more widely than the person who has it could travel, and they meant knowledge wasn’t lost when the person died.

Books became privileged and revered – or feared, which is which why dictators burn books.

Today a book is still seen as *the* most reliable source of knowledge. It’s shorthand for “I know my sh*t.”

It makes you the person “who wrote the book.” Literally, this time.

That phrase makes you top of mind among the people who can give you leads, buy your services, promote your name, or help grow your business. And once you’re established, it’s very difficult for competitors to change that unless they’re going to write *their* own book.

And surprisingly few people are prepared to invest the time to do that. So take that as a win.