I’ve bought and flipped through a couple of memoirs lately from popular recording artists. Tens of millions of people stream their music on Spotify every month. It’s not surprising that traditional publishers would offer them book deals. 

What’s surprising, at least to me, is how boring they are. 

One artist seemed to put little effort into the book; a ghostwriter did the heavy lifting. When the artist does interviews, he seems to be talking about nothing. The book feels the same way.

Another didn’t really tell stories; they were listing out their experiences, almost like an inventory. It made me think about how many people made the same journey. This artist was a celebrity, so the traditional book publishers thought he could sell books—which made his story worth telling—to them. A book doesn’t have to have a good story to sell though.

If you have a story to tell, the infrastructure is all there for you to write and publish it independently. All you need to do is decide your story is worth telling, write it from the heart, and then spend time crafting it. It’s not easy. It is pretty simple though. 

If you can’t do this all in one go, do it one story at a time. If you’re not a writer, find spaces to deliver a speech. If you’re concerned that your story is too boring, put some effort into making it matter. Everybody has a story to tell. You just need to pick the right ones, and to give it some meaning. When I think about who’s done this well, Chenjerai Kumanyika comes to mind.

You may not get paid a book advance to do it, and you might not gain prestige from all the publicity. That’s not part of this arrangement. 

You will get paid when people buy your books, and your readers will connect with you and understand you better. Maybe your story can help us understand their own journeys more, or find a sense of peace. Wouldn’t that be something? 

The possibility is there, if you’re willing to put in the effort.