A Rant: You Don’t Have to be a Writer to Author a Book?

One of the ways that I unclutter my brain is to download my thoughts on “paper”.  And I’m confident that there are a few individuals and organizations who will not agree with my thoughts.

I don’t have an official “bucket list”, but if I did, one of the items on that list would be to write a book.  After several decades working with the brightest and the best our business community has to offer, and dozens of journals kept on each client experience, I think I might have something to share.  Maybe a few things that could make a lasting and meaningful difference for someone or some organization.  It’s not uncommon for those who spend some time with me to say, “you should write a book”.

After mulling this around for a few years, making notes and creating a handful of book premises, I started to seriously consider taking this on this year. Even officially added the idea to my “goals” for the year.  I’ve met and chatted with a few authors who shared their writing journey with me and in most cases the journey was long, a bit bumpy and kind of messy but worth every scrape along the way.  And when their work was published, their effort was worth it.  Of course, being a junkie for learning, I read all I could on how to write a book, the process, the challenges to expect and I started following others who have spent decades in this space.

I learned that many authors have “ghost writers”, who actually put the words to paper after working closely with an individual. 

Then most recently I learned that you can be an author without writing any of the actual words.  Obviously, robots are involved in some manner. And perhaps my “age” is showing as I ponder the work of these robots.  Some of these organizations proudly stated that you don’t have to be a writer to author a book. That you can be a “publisher” of books and not be a writer.  When I look up the word “author” in the dictionary defines the word as “a writer of a book, article, or report”.  Hmmmmm.

I suppose if you have something of value to share it might not matter “how” a book finally hits the shelves (real or virtual).  My dream of being an author is feeling a bit dented and less inspired today.