Well to sum it up in just one sentence, you should write and publish a book because doing so falls squarely in line with the very fundamental principles of this blog, that being finding a way to pacify your income streams.
If I’m to get into more detail about it though, there are so many reasons why you should consider writing and publishing a book of your own, particularly one which focuses on the field in which you are working to establish yourself as an authority.
You Won’t Have to Repeat Yourself
The so-called elevator pitch gets tired really quickly, especially if recited outside of its primarily intended sphere of pitching something to someone who has the financial muscle to invest, maybe, but rather when used in a setting such as a networking session. That’s what business cards are for, particularly with regards to the contact information they contain, like your website and this is so that you don’t have to keep repeating yourself. If you have a book published the effects of making use of something like a business card to save time are multiplied in that you can explain so much in your book and not have to repeat yourself when engaging with people about the topic on which you’re establishing yourself as an expert.
Write Once, Get Paid Over and Over Again
I love to make the analogy of someone who goes to work every day compared to someone who writes a book in their field of expertise. The guy who goes to work every day is trading their skills and knowledge for their money as a factor of time, while the guy who writes and publishes a book takes time out of the equation or rather makes the time factor work in his favour. If you write a book discussing your field of expertise, you only really work once and then get paid over and over again each time that book is bought or some of the content is licensed.
It’s More about Content-Organisation than Expertise
I’ve been emphasising your field of expertise as the topic you should explore to write and publish a book about, but that’s only because people are mostly confident with the knowledge of something they studied for more than anything else. Ask an accountant any accounting question and they’ll have some deep-running insight to discuss in addition to the textbook stuff they’ve been made to study. The truth is though that these days it’s about how we consume information as opposed to what that information actually is.
If you take the time to learn the ins and outs of horse racing betting for instance, beyond the statistical knowledge you might need to come up with some valuable content (which you can acquire by perhaps downloading a free stats textbook), what would make any book about the topic you write valuable would be the time you took to put the information together. Someone who then wants that same information could otherwise do their own research and assemble it themselves, but if they can spend a few pounds to buy a ready-made publication containing that info they very likely will.