What You Read Shows Where You Are Going

We would steal this introduction from the previous editorial article: Your ideas and thoughts are parts and pieces of what you occupy your mind with. Indeed the content of the book or article you read would either make or mar you as we unconsciously play out our thoughts which are formed from what we read and experience.

Your personal library tells the kind of person you are as it is made up of books which speak your profession, passion and personality. As we read authoritative books like textbooks which teach, we become better informed for teaching in turn or practising. If you do not read books on your profession it tells your potential for a promotion as oftentimes we speak based on what we know and how we know it.

As a writing coach, I advise that you diversify. You don’t only get promoted based on professional knowledge but based on your relationship knowledge, how? Books tell you how to relate better with people. Improving your knowledge on how to relate with people helps you increase your work-life balance. The kind of self-help books you read gives an inkling to how far you’ll go in understanding and relating with others.

It’s not hard to detect a person’s personality by what he reads because books tell what you are fascinated about. Everyone is fascinated about knowledge. “Knowledge on what?” is the problem. The last episode on reading covered how to read the right content. Having an idea of what the content is about tells where you are going.

So basically before you read, knowing how books impact your way of life, take time to ask:

How credible is the author? This might seem challenging for first time authors but this is why it is also good for first time authors to be published under a publishing firm and not self-publish their books.

For first time authors having quite an interesting topic, what are the core values of the publisher? Can you get more information about the publisher? (that is, if you want to go a step further)

What tools do the book offer? This is to both readers and authors. Good books are practical, they enforce such an authority that you practice what is taught or preached as the saying goes. Tools in this case may mean a guide for self-help books, steps and diagrams for more clarification of the subject etc, so dear author make sure these are included in your book.

How relevant is the book to you?

This is dependent solely on you. As an editor, I get to read and re-read books and I find that, I always have an aim. Don’t just read aimlessly, there’s reading for leisure, yes but that’s a reason—to relax. This should in turn tell you what kind of book to pick up. it’s also a good idea to write your aim down as you read the book, that way you know if you are in line with the direction you’re heading to.

Asking yourself these questions would give you a clear definition of what your book is going to do for you be it a professional or leisure book.