One Book

BY ERIN ALBERT

As a writer/editor of 6 books, one of the most frequently asked questions I receive as a writer is: “Where do you get the ideas to write your books?” For me, a couple of answers come to mind. First, the old adage really is true—everyone has at least one book in him or her—at least in this humble author’s opinion. Second, you just have to pick up the phone when the Universe calls.

Here’s more detail:

First, everyone has at least one awesome story within their lives and their experiences, and probably more than one. A lot of people I run into have this “idea” that they want to turn in to a book. Awesome! Great! Fantastic! Trouble is, where people often disconnect is not necessarily from the idea or concept of the book, but actually sitting down and pounding the book out. And ladies and gentlemen, there really isn’t any sexy, fast or easy answer when it comes to writing the manuscript—you just have to sit down and do it. Talking about an idea helps, but implementing it by writing separates the writers from those who only think about writing.

A lot of people who want to write, or even write, also worry about finding the right agent or publisher. I ask, why? If your book is really meant to be out in the public domain, you’ll truly find a way to publish it. Self publishing, or even a lot of small publishers, will still consider books. With digital media, it is now more easy than ever to ePublish your own book. Implementation of creativity and idea development are always in demand. I say, don’t worry about the publishing end, just worry about getting the writing down right. The rest will take care of itself.

Second, the other place where I get my ideas for books simply comes from being a careful observer of the Universe around me. The space we exist in really does give us signals on what we should be doing—in terms of our work and writing. For example, if an idea pops into my head after the muse strikes me and I do an Amazon.com search to read about a book or idea and I can’t find it, guess what, that is the phone call from the universe that the book needs to be written. My most recent book, Single. Women. Entrepreneurs., came to me in part from wanting to read about other single women entrepreneurs, but never really finding a book dedicated especially to their challenges, frustrations and definitions of success.

When the universe phones, take the call! Toni Morrison, a much more successful writer than me, also says this: If you want to read a book and can’t find it, you need to write it yourself!

There really isn’t a lot of magic or mystery to writing books. Everyone has at least one book in them. Ideas are usually pretty easy to come by as well. The hard part is picking up the call from the Universe, writing down the idea, and relentlessly chasing it until it becomes reality. Thoughts do really become things, books included!

Erin Albert is an author/asst. professor/pharmacist/entrepreneur and law student. Her most recent publication, Single. Women. Entrepreneurs., was published by IBJ Book Publishing. For more on her writing, visit www.erinalbert.com.