Many professionals decide to write a book when they are preparing for a career pivot.

Perhaps they want to move from corporate into consulting. Perhaps they want to start coaching. Perhaps they want to build a business around their expertise.

A book can become the foundation of that next chapter.

But there is one decision that will determine whether your book actually works.

Choosing the right audience.

The mistake most aspiring authors make

Most first-time authors make the same mistake.

They try to write for everyone. They believe that a broad book will reach more people and therefore create more opportunities.

On the surface, this seems logical. But in practice, the opposite usually happens.

Broad books often feel vague.

They struggle to capture attention because no one feels that the book is written specifically for them.

A reader may think:

“This sounds interesting.”

But that reaction is rarely strong enough to make someone buy the book, recommend it, or hire the author.

Why narrow books work better

Narrow books tend to perform much better.

When a book speaks directly to a specific group of people, something powerful happens.

The right readers immediately recognise themselves in the message.

They feel understood.

They feel seen.

And they feel that the book was written exactly for them.

That kind of clarity attracts attention much more effectively than a broad message.

Instead of trying to reach everyone, the book becomes a magnet for the right people.

Deciding who you want to serve

Before writing your book, it is important to make a clear decision.

Who exactly do you want to serve? Ask yourself a few practical questions.

• Can this audience afford your services?
• Are these people you genuinely want to work with?
• Do they value the kind of expertise you bring?

Your book will shape the kind of clients and opportunities that come your way. So it is important to choose carefully. Do not choose an audience simply because it feels like the easier path.

Choose the audience that offers the best long-term opportunity and the greatest appreciation for your work.

Your Book Should Signal This Clearly

Once you know your audience, your book should communicate that decision very clearly.

Your title, subtitle, and table of contents should immediately show:

• Who the book is for
• What problem it solves
• What pain your audience is experiencing
• What transformation you help them achieve

When the right reader encounters your book, there should be no confusion.

They should instantly recognise that the book is speaking to them.

The reaction you want

Your ideal reader should not say:

“That sounds interesting.”

They should think something much stronger.

“This is exactly what I need.”

That moment of recognition is when a book becomes powerful.

It stops being just a book.

It becomes a signal to the market about who you help, how you help them, and why your expertise matters.

And for anyone writing a pivot book, that clarity is what turns a book into the starting point of an entirely new career.

In a coaching call this week, one of my students shared something interesting.

She teaches yoga.
Not the “stretch and relax” kind.
Her style is very precise — alignment-based yoga.

When she teaches a pose, she explains exactly why the body should move a certain way.

The anatomy.
The mechanics.
The logic behind the movement.

Her students love it.
They keep coming back to her classes.
So naturally she thought:

“My book should teach the anatomical principles behind alignment-based yoga.”
Makes sense, right?
But then she asked her students something simple:

“What would help you most?”
The answer surprised her.

Not anatomy.
Not technique.
Not deeper theory.

Instead, they said:
“I can’t make myself practice at home.”
“I don’t have the motivation.”
“I don’t have the time.”

They didn’t need more information.
They needed help getting over the first hurdle.

That’s when I told her something I’ve learned after working with many authors:
Before you teach the solution, remove the objections.

Every audience has them.

Writers say:
“I don’t have time to write.”

Entrepreneurs say:
“I’m not ready to launch.”

Course creators say:
“I’ll start next week.”

Your book, your course, your idea may be brilliant.
But if people believe they can’t start, they never reach your solution.

So the structure becomes simple:
– Acknowledge the obstacles.
– Show people how to get past them.
– Then teach your method.

Her book didn’t need a complete pivot.
It only needed a bridge.

Help people practice yoga consistently…
…and then teach them the deeper alignment principles.

The truth is:
Most experts think their job is to teach the answer.

But often the real job is to remove the excuses standing in the way of the answer.

Once those disappear, people are ready to learn.

Many professionals reach a point in their careers when a quiet but powerful question begins to surface:

“What’s next for me?”

You may have spent 20 or even 30 years in the corporate world.

During that time you have built valuable skills. You have solved complex problems. You have led teams, managed crises, and delivered results.

You have accumulated something very valuable over the years:

Experience.

But now you may feel ready for a shift.

You may want to step away from the corporate structure and move into consulting, coaching, or building a business of your own.

Or perhaps you want to reposition yourself and serve a different audience.

Instead of working inside a company, you want to share your knowledge with others who can benefit from it.

This transition is becoming increasingly common, especially for professionals in mid-career or later stages of their professional journey.

But many people get stuck at exactly this point.

They have the expertise. They have the credibility. But they struggle with one question:

How do I translate decades of experience into a clear market position?

This is where a book can become one of the most powerful assets you will ever create.

A book turns experience into authority

Most professionals carry a lifetime of insights in their heads.

But until those insights are organised into a clear framework, the market cannot easily understand their value.

A book forces you to do exactly that.

It helps you turn your experience into a structured method that others can follow.

Instead of saying:

“I have 25 years of experience in leadership.”

You can say:

“I’ve written a book that explains the leadership framework I developed after leading teams for 25 years.”

That shift is subtle, but powerful.

A book transforms experience into intellectual property.

A book positions you differently

When you are inside an organisation, your credibility is often attached to your job title.

But when you step out into the marketplace, titles lose their power.

What matters then is your ideas.

A book allows you to clearly communicate:

• What you believe • What problems you solve • How you think differently from others in your field

Instead of introducing yourself as a former executive or manager, you become an author with a point of view.

That positioning travels much further.

It opens doors to consulting opportunities, speaking engagements, workshops, and advisory roles.

A book becomes the foundation of your next venture

Many people think of a book as the final product.

In reality, the book is often just the beginning.

A well-positioned book can become the foundation for:

• A consulting practice • A coaching program • Workshops and corporate training • A speaking career • An online course or community

Your book becomes the central idea around which your new venture grows.

In that sense, the book is not simply something you publish.

It becomes the architecture of your next chapter.

The real oower of writing a book

Perhaps the most important shift a book creates is internal.

When you write a book, you move from being someone who has experience to someone who articulates ideas that shape others.

You stop being just a professional with a long career.

You become a thought leader with a body of work.

And that shift changes how others see you.

More importantly, it changes how you see yourself.

A question for you

If you have spent years building expertise in your field and are now thinking about the next phase of your career, consider this question:

What book could you write that captures the most valuable lessons from your professional journey?

Because sometimes the most powerful way to begin your next venture is not by launching a business.

It is by writing the book that defines it.

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If you’re a professional thinking about pivoting into consulting, coaching, or building a business around your expertise, I help people turn their experience into authority-building books that open doors to new opportunities.

P.S.: Write your book in 30 days here.

I lost two jobs in a single day.
It was one of the most humiliating days of my life.
But it also introduced me to something that changed everything.

Back in the day, I was working for a multinational company that had just acquired a small Australian IT company.

The culture was changing.
No one knew what would happen next.
People were quietly worried about their jobs.

In the middle of that uncertainty, I spotted a contract role and applied.

I got it.

Excited, I handed in my resignation.

Soon after, a senior manager invited me for an “exit interview.”
“Why would you leave a permanent role with training and advancement prospects for a short-term contract?”

He wasn’t genuinely concerned.
He was doing his ‘job.’

But his questions made me rethink everything.
Was I being reckless?
Was I throwing away stability?

By the end of the conversation, I convinced myself I had made a mistake.
So I withdrew my resignation.

Then reality hit.

The contract job I had applied for had already been offered to someone else.

In one day, through my own confusion, I had managed to lose two jobs.

The humiliation was unbearable.
I remember sitting there feeling embarrassed, scared, and deeply disturbed.

My mind was racing with every possible worst-case scenario.

To calm myself down, I picked up a pen and a notepad.
And I started writing.

I had never written a diary before.
I didn’t know what journaling was.
I had never heard of stream-of-consciousness writing.

But that day, I poured everything onto the page.

Every fear.
Every regret.
Every chaotic thought.

Five pages later, something strange happened.
I felt calm.
What was done was done.

The next morning brought an unexpected turn.

My hiring agent called.
She had convinced the leadership at the other agency to reconsider my application. They saw my decision as a lapse in judgment rather than a lack of commitment.
They gave me another chance.

I got the job.

But something else had happened too.
That day of chaos introduced me to writing.

What began as a desperate attempt to calm my mind eventually became the tool that shaped the rest of my life.

Sometimes the moments that feel like total failure…
are quietly opening the door to the thing you are meant to do.

The universe works in mysterious ways.

PS: Did writing ever save you?