Why Re-Read Some Books

  

By Terry Whalin @terrywhalin

Do you have some books on your shelf that you re-read from time to time or maybe even once a year? One of my friends re-reads The Lord of the Rings every year. Through each reading experience, she sees something new about the story.

For many years, I have been reading and re-reading a single book, The Bible. Reading The Bible is how I begin my day. Each year I choose a different version and this year, I’m reading The Daily Bible NLT. With each reading, I learn something different.

There are merits to re-reading and that’s what I want to examine in this article and give you a couple of resources to read and then re-read. If you follow me on one of my social media platforms like X/Twitter, you know I am a follower and fan of Darren Hardy and his Darren Daily. For years, I have posted them five days a week, because I watch them each time and believe in his encouragement to become “better every day.” 

As I’ve written in these articles, new books for my limited reading pour into my office several times a week. I rarely re-read a book but recently I re-read

The Entrepreneur Roller Coaster by Darren Hardy.  I got this bestselling book directly from the author--and you can too if you follow the link. For the postage of $6.95, you will receive the book but also the audio version. As I read through the book again, at the same time, I listened to the words. Each time I go through the book, I have different insights about how to apply the information to my writing life. I hope it will be a resource for your writing life. 

With personal stories and insights, Darren Hardy gives the honest truth about how to survive and thrive in the middle of the ups and downs of life as an entrepreneur--and every writer is an entrepreneur (whether you call it that or not). Hardy compares it to the thrill of riding a roller coaster. The book also includes worksheets and other resources for you to apply the information to your life.

After re-reading The Entrepreneur Roller Coaster, I returned to Darren Hardy's first book, The Compound Effect. If you follow the link, you can also get the hardcover version and the audio book of The Compound Effect for only the postage of $6.95. As I re-read the book, I’m listening to the audio of each chapter. I’ve learned to download them to my phone and can listen to them anywhere. I love the flexibility and the insights for my writing life from listening and reading this information.  

The essence of the compound effect is how making small incremental changes in your life, can give you the edge you need to find success. The book is aligned with Darren Hardy's hashtag for Darren Daily #BetterEveryDay. If you make small changes in an area of your life, it can have big results. For example, no one sits at their desk and writes a complete 50,000 or 100,000 word book. Instead you write a page, then a chapter, then another chapter over a series of days and weeks until you complete the manuscript. The writing process is a mirror of what Hardy is discussing throughout The Compound Effect. 

Do you re-read books on a regular basis? Which books and why? Let me know in the comments below. 

Tweetable:

Some books are worth re-reading. This prolific author and editor gives a couple of examples and some resources for every writer. Read the details here.  (ClickToTweet)

Much of the publishing process is outside of the writer’s control. 10 Publishing Myths helps writers have a realistic perspective and take action. Get 10 Publishing Myths for only $10 +FREE shipping + over $200 of free bonuses.

The Work Behind A New Path

By Terry Whalin @terrywhalin

It begins with a dream and a goal. Since 2004, I’ve been blogging each week in these articles about The Writing Life. It’s grown into a large body of work and I’ve been recognized as one of the top 27 content writers with millions of blogs. About 400 people get these articles on their email and many others read it online. Yet I want to reach more people. How can that happen?

The first step is to create a plan, and then execute your plan, test it and keep telling others. I began to look for new places and ways to tell others about how to subscribe to my blog.

For example, I am active on Facebook and I’ve joined a number of private groups. Overall I do not actively post in any of these groups. I read their posts but do not issue any of my own. Some of these groups are small and others have thousands of members. I crafted some words and worked on refining them off and on for several weeks. Finally I settled on these words:

“Since 2004, I have blogged about The Writing Life over 1,700 entries and one of the top 27 content writers. With this simple form, each week you can get my new articles, encouragement and insights at: https://t.co/W6uU64u6aA”

Notice my straight-forward explanation and I send the reader to a single place. Also each time I used an image to draw the reader’s attention to my words. 

Some of my posts to these groups posted immediately. Others required an administrator to approve them. For some of these groups with administrators, my post got rejected because they saw it as an ad or spam or overly self-promotional. A couple of administrators rejected my post but pointed out a different place I could post my words. The rules are different for each group but overall my words have gone out to many different writing groups and I will see if my campaign or effort increases my number of blog subscribers (my goal). 

Also my campaign is not limited to this one strategy, I’ve written a short email that I will be sending out to my newsletter list as another tool to use in my campaign. 

Some of these efforts will work and some will fail. From my years in publishing I have learned this simple truth which is pointed out in this quotation from P.T. Barnum: “Without promotion, something terrible happens. Nothing.”

If you don’t try, then it will not fly. What area of your writing do you want to grow? Your newsletter list? Your speaking engagements? Your radio interviews and podcast interviews? Or maybe it writing articles for print magazines or your next book with a publisher? 

The key is to create the goal, then plan how to reach a new audience. I hope the details of how I’m trying to grow my blog subscribers is helpful information to stir your own action and application to your writing life. It’s not easy and takes planning, execution, failure then adjustment. It does not happen without your actions. What area do you need to do this type of work and follow a new path for your own growth? Let me know in the comments below. 

Tweetable:

How can you reach a new audience and new readers? This prolific author and editor writes about the work behind a new path in this article. Read these details. (ClickToTweet)

Much of the publishing process is outside of the writer’s control. 10 Publishing Myths helps writers have a realistic perspective and take action. Get 10 Publishing Myths for only $10 +FREE shipping + over $200 of free bonuses.