I often tell my clients that if they want to write a book in order to become rich and famous, they should probably think of another way of getting rich and famous. Being a published author has not brought me fame or pots of money, although it does help to pay the mortgage. Mostly, it has brought me a great deal of pride and satisfaction. If 100 years from now, my great-great-great grandchild is reading something I wrote, it might even have brought me a measure of immortality.

The most practical benefit I got from being a published author is that it opened doors in helping me to establish my business and my reputation as a ghostwriter. When I was writing my own “stuff,” I couldn’t make enough money to quit my day job and be a writer full time. It wasn’t until I started writing for other people that I was able to go out on my own. There’s a lesson in there somewhere – I think it is this: “It’s not about you.”

Even when you write your own stuff, it still isn’t about you — it’s always about your readers. If there weren’t any readers, there’d be no point in writing. Writing is just another way of communicating; but writing allows you to communicate without the restrictions of time and space. I think if you keep “it’s not about you” in front of you all the time, you can’t go far wrong.