Hey there. Welcome to Nothing but the Words. I’m your Author Coach, Candice L Davis.

Yesterday, I spent six hours on Zoom calls coaching clients who are probably a lot like you. They’re writing books to grow their business.

They’re writing books to get more visibility and earn more money.

And they’re writing books to reach people and give them knowledge, inspiration, transformation, entertainment, or some combination of those things.

I’ve been really inspired by their progress in recent weeks. Selfishly, it makes me feel like I’m achieving my goal of creating more value this year than ever before. But I’m also inspired by the transformation I know their books will help people achieve. I’m super excited about bringing some of them on to talk about their books on future episodes. I would have had some of them on already, but 

I’ve also had a lot of consultation calls with people who are thinking about writing books. Many of them have great ideas. All of them, I believe, can develop great ideas.

But some of them are thinking too small. 

If you want to write a book that

Connect to historical events

My friend and colleague and writing partner Mae Respicio recently published her second middle-grades novel. Stay with me because this applies to any genre not just fiction.

In “Any Day with You” the protagonist, Kaia wants to spend her summer vacation doing something that will impress her grandfather.

Kaia’s grandfather immigrated to the US from the Philippines as a young man. Through the story, we learn about the history of Filipino soldiers who fought alongside US soldiers in WW2. Those more than 250,000 soldiers were robbed of any recognition for their sacrifice. None of the benefits promised to them as veterans were actually given to them.

It’s an ugly fact, but it’s an important part of history that few people know about, and it’s important and relevant in in putting so many things, immigration, Filipino-US relations, our role in WW2—into perspective.

Now Mae, the author, could have just told her story. But without becoming preachy or teachy, she connected her book to larger issues by positioning the fictional story as a part of our real history.

She wrote this book for children and trusted that they would be able to process that information and understand how it affected not just the characters in the book but also so many people in the real world.

You can easily connect your memoir to historical events. One of my clients writes about Hurricane Katrina. Even though she didn’t live or work in the gulf region. 

There’s no topic you can’t connect to history in a meaningful way.

A marriage book can look at the changing view of marriage in society.

A book on technology can show the roots of that technology and how it has, over time, made a difference in people’s lives.

A book about leadership principles can look at great leaders in history, flawed leaders in history, or forgotten leaders. It can evaluate the way our view of leadership has changed.

I could go on and on. And I’m sure you could add to the list of possibilities.

You don’t have to be documenting a historical event to utilize history to make your book more significant.

Almost any book you want to write can be made bigger and more significant by connecting your content with historical event.

Connect to social, political, or cultural issues.

When I coached Brandi Harvey while she was writing “Breakthrough Sold Separately,” she did this naturally. Brandi is a gifted writer and a brilliant thinker so this was instinctual for her.

Brandi connected to a social or cultural issue in nearly every chapter of her book. One example: when she talks about the value of mental health therapy, she doesn’t just say go get therapy. She dives into the cultural reasons many African Americans, and especially black women, don’t get therapy. And she addresses those reasons and makes her argument for changing the culture.

Even if it’s not instinctual for you, you can connect your topic to related social, political, or cultural issues. 

This will give your book more depth and breadth, value, and staying power.

What kind of social, political, or cultural issues can you connect to?

Anything that’s relevant and which will resonate with your readers.

I can’t tell you what it is for your book.

A book on screenwriting could follow the portrayal of so-called ethnic characters in movies.

A book on dance could bring in the lack of access many children have to classical ballet training because of the cost. Or it could include references to the many cultures that have influenced American dance styles. Or it could include the ways dance has influenced our fashion and beauty culture.

An Italian cookbook could document the way immigration to the US caused classical Italian cooking to evolve into American Italian cuisine.

The connections are endless. 

Your unique interests, beliefs, and experiences will determine which ones you make.

Let me say this. If you’re writing a straight how-to book, you don’t necessarily need to write bigger. You can give people the information they want, illustrate the steps with stories that position you as the expert, and wrap it up.

There’s nothing wrong with that kind of book. In fact, it can be very valuable for the person who wants to get the info and get busy implementing.

I have a client who writes how-to books his clients can read on a plane ride. He couldn’t do that if he was trying to write about the bigger ideas. It’s what his readers want, and he does it masterfully. There’s a beauty in that to.

However, if your book isn’t straight-forward how-to, if you want it to position you as not just an expert but a big thinker, if you want to create the most value you can for you readers and readers of the future, think bigger.

Maybe you have an inkling that the Great Migration is somehow connected to your book on leadership.

Maybe the Civil Rights Act opened the door for what you want to write about to happen at all.

Maybe the race to space is relevant to your book on technology.

Be willing to take the time and do the necessary research. With so much information at our fingertips, you have no excuse. In most cases, you won’t need to go to the library or visit a historical society. 

Even if you do, if it makes your book intensely better, it will be worth the time and effort.

That’s it for this week’s episode. I’m getting off my ‘Think Bigger” soapbox and going off to do some writing of my own.

If you found this episode helpful, I’d really appreciate a fantastic review from you on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Reviews make a huge difference in helping people find the show.

Thanks for listening to Nothing but the Words. I’m your author coach, Candice L Davis, and I’ll see you next time.