This word 'expert' comes up a lot when working with memoir or non-fiction books. It comes from the question - am I actually qualified to tell people how to do this? It could be how to make money, control diabetes, train a dog, lose weight, make money, cope with grief. But am I qualified? Good question. Do you actually have to be an expert to write a book? Ask yourself, would you read a book a book on managing your property written by someone who has never done it? No! You want someone who's done it, knows the tricks and tells you how. In fact you want more than that, you want them to bypass all their years of knowledge and just give you the gems. You don’t have to be a professional, but you DO have to have YOUR area of expertise. But this can be as small or big as you make it. I like to categorise non-fiction writers into three types of experts:
Why is it important to know what kind of expert you are?
If you are a lived expert you cannot offer solutions… only YOUR solution. If you are a research expert you cannot offer solutions, only share what other found as a solution. You may want to read How to Write a Smoking Hot Author Blurb |
SARAH BULLENSarah Bullen is a writing coach and literary agent. Love and Above is her journey through shamanism, a three week coma and cancer. |