AI written books are not going away.

Slop will still be out there, but that doesn't have to be your problem as an author.

Apply these three strategies and your book will stand out as undeniably human, and you will stand out as a true expert.

Hey there, and welcome to Nothing with the Words.

I am your book coach and peak performance coach to creatives, Candice L. Davis.

In this episode, I wanna share with you three strategies that will separate your book from the AI slop, the sea of AI slop that has taken over much of the book-buying world, in particular Amazon, in particular e-books.

So there are hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of AI-written e-books on Amazon right now, and there's no way to really track how many there are.

Amazon has put in some rules to prevent people from publishing too quickly, which makes it obvious that they're writing the books with AI.

But people are still doing it at maximum capacity, as much as the system will allow.

And so while the bookshelves, virtual or real, are getting overwhelmed by AI slop, you have an opportunity as an author, and especially as an author expert, to really make your book stand out in what is becoming a, a crowded and not very good marketplace, right?

So let's talk about how you do that.

Now, many of my coaching clients are writing their books because they want to share an important message.

They want to build or expand their speaking career.

They want to be on bigger stages.

They want to get paid more.

They want to speak in front of people where they can really make a difference, make an impact.

They want to attract more clients or customers with their books.

They want to increase their reputation as an authority, as an expert in their field.

So they're writing sometimes personal or professional memoirs, personal development, self-help, narrative nonfiction books in those fields so that they can grow their platform, their business, their reputation in some way.

If any of those goals resonate with you, fantastic.

However, I am always going to encourage you to write your own book.

Don't rely on AI to write your book.

You have a brain, you have experiences, you have ideas and philosophies that you've honed over the years.

I want you to write your own book, and we'll talk about why in another episode.

There are lots and lots of reasons.

For now, though, I want to let you know that it's still worth the effort to write your own book because it can stand out in this era of AI slop, right?

So let's jump into three specific strategies that will help you do that, three specific strategies that will really give you the best opportunity to make your book shine in this crowded marketplace.

So strategy number one, this is super important, and if you want to do it right, it really starts at the beginning of the process of writing your book.

It starts with the planning part of writing your book.

And strategy number one is to position your expertise.

You wanna make sure that when someone has read a part of your book or all of your book, when they're done, they see you as the expert that you actually are.

Now, if you're writing a memoir, obviously, you are the expert on your own story, and you're probably not claiming to be an expert on anything else, unless you're writing a professional memoir, in which case you may be sharing your story of how you built your business, how you created the strategies that you use, how you've helped your clients in a way that sets you up as the expert.

That is pretty well done with a memoir in ways that we can't change because you're telling a story.

But if you're writing self-help, personal development, professional development, um, investigative nonfiction, you need to give your readers reasons why they should trust you.

You need to give them reasons why they should believe you.

What makes you any different from the person who just used AI to write their book, or the person who just kind of came up with some stuff that they've pulled together from the internet and from other people's ideas, but really don't know what they're talking about?

So you need to be super clear in order to position yourself as the expert with your book.

You need to be super clear about what problem this book is going to solve and who it's going to solve that problem for.

What problem is your book solving, and who is it serving?

So that's actually the third step in my Spark Writing method.

If you haven't gotten that yet, it's a framework most of my clients use.

I use for myself to write over 30 books for my clients in my ghostwriting days, and it's been successful for over two decades.

It still works.

If you want that framework, you can get it in my private podcast from Best Kept Secret to Center Stage, which you can find at www.candiceldavis.com/secret, or at the link in the show notes.

So strategy number one, though, is giving readers a reason to trust you by positioning your expertise, and here are some ways you can do that.

You want to weave your credentials into the book.

I know everybody doesn't want to stand around shouting about, "Oh, I got these degrees and I got these relevant certifications," or, "I've had these professional experiences."

You may not want to, but you need to, and there are ways you can do it elegantly without just listing your resume in your book.

So you need to give readers a sense of what you know and how you came to know it.

You also want to include your accomplishments in your book.

You want to share your measurable achievements for the people who are more numbers oriented.

You want to share client case studies, how you've helped people who are just like your readers, and you want to own your successes and the obstacles you've overcome, right?

You want to show that it hasn't all just been smooth sailing.

You actually did some work to get to where you are.

So show that to your readers, and they will start to understand that you are an expert and see the reason why you are.

Position yourself as an expert in their minds.

Strategy number two is to tell stories.

Now, of course, it's important that these are relevant stories, right?

So again, memoir has this covered.

It's mostly storytelling.

But even with memoir, you want to make sure you're telling the stories that support the theme of your book, not just putting things in there because they happened.

If you're writing a book that's meant to, like, teach a system or a framework or a process, you still need stories.

You still need stories.

Now, no, your readers don't need stories in order to understand the process step by step.

But if you're writing a book, they do need those stories.

They need those stories so that they can understand that that framework is possible for them, too.

The success you created with your process is possible for them, too.

So the stories serve you as an author by sharing an experience that is unique to you.

Anything that has happened to you in your life has only happened to you in the way that it happened.

Yes, people have had similar experiences.

People have shared experiences, and that's what your readers will connect to.

They will connect to what you have experienced that resonates with them.

They may not connect with the story in chapter one, but the story in chapter three resonates with them completely.

So you wanna share stories throughout your book.

This is part of how you stand out in the marketplace.

Storytelling will also humanize you.

Yes, you are an expert, but you're also a person and people wanna work with people.

So if you are hoping that the people who read your book will hire you to speak on a stage, or if you're hoping that your readers will become your clients or some percentage of your readers will become your clients, you really need to give them a sense of who you are as a human being.

You really need to allow them to feel like they've gotten to know you as more than just the accumulation of facts and figures and knowledge and information.

Yes, you're bringing those things to your book, but your stories will help communicate who you are as a person and that you are a person, right? So strategy number one was to position your expertise.

Strategy number two is to tell stories.

This will really help your book stand out from the, the AI slop that's doing its best to take over the book world.

Strategy number three, and this is one of my favorites and I probably don't talk about it enough.

I feel like some of my clients do this so well in their work that they bring it naturally to their books, but it's super important.

And strategy number three is to incorporate your values.

You want your book to be a display of your values to some extent.

So if you want readers to follow you beyond your book, you want them to do more than just buy that one book from you.

Maybe you want them to become a part of your online community.

Maybe you want them to hire you or to ask you to come and speak at an event or invite you onto their podcast.

You have to show them what you care about.

This can be scary, right?

Because it will run off some of the people whose values don't align with yours. It will send them running.

But in the long run, that's fantastic for you.

You wanna attract clients, customers, potential strategic partners who have values that align with your own.

So this might mean your business book draws a relevant lesson from your years of volunteering at the local animal shelter, or it could mean that your history, the book you're writing about the history of a violent storm and how it affected a small town actually turns the spotlight on the marginalized communities who are usually overlooked in the history books.

You get to choose how you put your values on display in your book.

You don't have to say, "This is what I care about."

You don't have to write those words in your book, although you might.

But it is much more effective when you show readers that your care is more than just words and thoughts.

It's actually carried out through your actions and the way you live your life and conduct your business.

So your values, sharing them in that way, beautiful stories that you can tell, will also create a bond with readers who share those same values.

It'll repel the people who totally disagree with you and think you're completely crazy for caring about marginalized communities or animals, but it will attract the people who also care about those things.

I don't care how valuable the information is inside of a book, right?

The information can be super valuable, but if the author also has racist or xenophobic views, I'm not interested in following them.

I'm not interested in participating in their communities or hiring them.

I'm not interested.

So if they feel that way, if they have racist or xenophobic views, I would love for them to include them in their book so I don't get confused and end up working with someone I shouldn't be working with.

Share your values.

Some of my personal highest values are freedom of expression, not surprising I'm sure, integrity, excellence, community wellbeing.

So those should come through in whatever I create so that they attract people who share those same values.

Readers who just want information, they don't want to hire anyone.

They don't wanna be a part of a community.

They're just looking to know how to install their dishwasher.

They just want information.

They're not the people that you're talking to.

They're probably not your readers because they're not going to ever see you as an author expert.

These are people who can get what they need for f- for whatever it is they're trying to accomplish from, say, one of the Dummies books.

You might remember the XYZ For Dummies that were just really specific and comprehensive books that taught skills or books that taught you how to do something, but really didn't position any author as an expert.

Those are not the kinds of books you wanna write if you want to be seen as an authority in your niche.

So you need to do more than that.

You need to go ahead and share what the people who might wanna hire you actually care about, and part of that is definitely your values.

So the people who are looking to put speakers on stage, the people who are looking to bring speakers on their podcast, the, on their television shows, the people who are looking for an expert they can hire to come in and serve their company or help them as an individual to accomplish a goal will care about your values.

So weave those into your book, and it'll be another incredibly great way to stand out in the sea of books that are hitting the internet every single day, hitting Amazon every single day.

Now, AI-written books are not going away.

They're not gonna go away.

Slop will still be out there.

But that doesn't have to be your problem.

Apply these strategies, these three strategies, and your book will stand out.

So strategy number one, position your expertise.

Make sure you show them why they can trust you as an expert.

Strategy number two, tell your true stories, stories that are true for you, not necessarily for someone else, but stories that are relevant so your readers can resonate with them.

And strategy number three, share your values in your book.

Let your values shine right through.

When you do these three things, you become a person, a real person, and a true authority in your readers' minds.

You're no longer just a book that they picked up somewhere.

You are a real person and a true authority to them, and you will attract the right people to your business, to your products and services, to be in partnership with you.

Now, if you have gotten value from this episode, please do me the huge favor of leaving a review and sharing this podcast with a friend.

The more people who listen to the podcast, the more I'm able to invest in making it valuable for you.

And if you're serious about writing a book that really shines the spotlight on your message and your expertise, I wanna invite you to get free access to my private podcast, From Best Kept Secret to Center Stage.

It's just three episodes plus a fourth bonus episode, and it shows you how I coach my clients to write an impactful authority book that amplifies your brand, allows you to command higher fees, and moves you out of the background in your industry and into the spotlight where your ideas deserve to be so they can have the impact you want them to have. Now, in episode number one, you will learn exactly why author experts are securing the kinds of opportunities and clients and contracts that you desire, and how you can do that also when you write the right book.

In episode number two, I break down my Spark Writing method.

This is the framework that I have used over two decades and used to help my clients as well to write a book that actually gets results for your readers and for you.

Then in episode number three, you will get the essential elements you need to go from just thinking about writing a book, to actually writing a powerfully impactful book, to actually getting it done.

And finally, episode number four, which is a bonus episode, lifts the curtain and gives you an inside look at how you can kind of get the support that you need, the kind of support that many of your favorite author experts have had to write a powerful book.

You can get immediate access to the private podcast at candiceldavis.com/secret, and the link is in the show notes.

Thank you so much as always for listening to Nothing but the Words.

I'm so glad to have you here and so glad to be supporting you on your journey to become a successful author. I'm book coach and peak performance coach for creatives, Candace L. Davis, and I'll see you next time.