You can finish writing a business book you’ve been thinking about for years, even if your calendar looks impossible and your drafts feel messy. I facilitated the workshop That Book You’ve Been Meaning to Write, hosted by Clark Business Strategies. broke writing your business book down into something much more doable, starting with your motivation, your existing content, and a realistic plan you can stick to.
If you’re a speaker, consultant, nonprofit leader, or business owner who wants to share your knowledge through thought leadership, you’ll recognize the real issue fast. It’s not that you don’t have a book in you. It’s that you need a clear purpose and a process that fits real life.
Three key takeaways that make book writing feel possible.
This session started with a quick reminder that Clark Business Strategies has been running monthly tool trainings since around 2022, covering everything from TikTok and video to spreadsheets and Google Business. From there, I shared three expert (and simple) insights for writing your book, including how they change your approach to the project.
- Your book might already be 60% written. If you’ve published blogs, recorded podcasts, taught workshops, created client materials, or even kept journals, you may already have the raw material for chapters.
- You don’t need to write every day to finish a book. Daily writing works for some people, but it also makes many busy professionals quit. A smaller, repeatable schedule tends to win.
- Your “why” matters more than your outline. When writing gets hard (and it will), your reason is what keeps you going. “I should write a book” won’t carry you. A clear target audience and a clear outcome will.
Anne kept coming back to a line that sums up the whole workshop:
“Everybody has a story. Yours just needs to be told.”
That mindset matters, especially in thought leadership. Your story is not “extra.” It’s the part that helps people trust you, remember you, and share what you’ve written.
Meet Anne McAuley Lopez: writer, ghostwriter, and book coach (now in Charlotte, NC)
Anne and the host, Cheryl, go back to the early days of online business building, when Facebook business pages were important, and you still emailed before sunrise because texting was not the norm. They first connected around 2011 or 2012, when Anne had just left corporate work and was fully committed to entrepreneurship as a writer.
Over time, she kept doing what good writers do: she stayed close to real stories. She started as a blogger, wrote for businesses, and eventually decided she wanted to write longer work, such as a business book that could help people more deeply.
Her path also includes what Cheryl described plainly: Anne was diagnosed with leukemia, and she wrote a book about it. She later got married and moved from Arizona to the Carolinas, and she now works with clients on book development in Charlotte, NC, sharing expert insights from her professional background, including both coaching and ghostwriting.
Connect with me via my website Agency Content Writer where you can schedule a consultation about your book project. We can determine if you’re ready and whether you’d like me to act as your book coach or ghostwriter. I offer tips and tricks for writing, restarted writing, and share my experiences, join me:
In the training, her services were described in three clear lanes:
- Book coaching (structure, flow, accountability, and guidance to the finish line)
- Ghostwriting (you tell the stories; she writes the manuscript)
- Content audits (review what you already have and turn it into a plan)
That “process-first” approach shows up in her work beyond books, too. When she works with agencies or professional teams, she builds clarity early (audience, voice, workflow, deadlines), then writes to match the client’s message rather than forcing a one-size-fits-all template.
Anne’s leukemia book: part memoir, part resource
Anne’s book, We Don’t Get to Ring the Bell, started with a very specific WHY. She wanted to help people living with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) and their families by answering the questions that come up repeatedly. It’s both a memoir and a practical resource, with roughly 10 chapters and about 100 pages, and includes helpful references.
She also shared why second editions matter. New information changes what readers need. In her case, she plans to update the book to include Mark Cuban’s Cost Plus Drugs pharmacy, which she said reduced the monthly cash price of her life-saving medication from around $10,000 to $35 (with a prescription, shipped directly). For US patients dealing with confusing insurance systems, that kind of update is not trivial. It’s access.
Just as important, she pointed out what no tool can fake: the personal details that connect the reader to the writer, like what it felt like to get diagnosed, and how grief and fear can show up in private moments.
Your WHY is the foundation because it decides everything else.
If you only take one idea from the training, take this one: your book needs a specific reader, and a clear reason to exist.
Anne gave an example that sticks. She once heard a business owner describe their product as “for anyone with skin.” That sounds inclusive, but it’s not helpful because it doesn’t guide the message. A book works the same way. If your target audience is everyone, your content will stay fuzzy, and your marketing will feel like shouting into the void.
Instead, define your target audience the way you would define an ideal client. Be specific enough that you can picture one person holding your book.
The session also made room for a real tension many authors feel: some people write for healing, and others write to serve an audience or establish thought leadership as part of their professional goals. The truth is those can overlap. A book can start as healing and still become useful once you shape it around what the reader needs, using your proprietary framework, and what you want them to do next.
A strong “why” answers three things: who it’s for, what changes for them, and what you want them to feel when they finish.
Your book might already be 60% written.
Once you know your why, the next question is practical. Do you already have content that you can use to start building the pieces of your book?
Anne’s answer was refreshing. Many business authors already have a manuscript hiding in plain sight. It’s scattered across blog posts, workshop slides, client FAQs, podcast interviews, journal entries, and stories you tell from the stage. When you collect it, patterns show up.
She described a “60/40” idea. If your business book sits at the intersection of business experience and personal experience, you may already have 40% to 60% of the content; you just haven’t organized it into a book outline yet.
A big part of this stage is what she called information gathering. It’s still work, but it isn’t staring at a blank page. It’s pulling pieces together, sorting, and naming themes.
Here are the questions she recommended using to shape that pile of content into a book outline:
- What themes keep repeating across your work?
- Is there a natural beginning, middle, and end (problem, solution, outcome)?
- What questions do people ask you most often?
- What’s missing, and what do you still need to say?
She also shared a real example of adjusting the plan mid-project. One client got busy and stalled out. When she reviewed what they already had (including transcripts of conversations), she found substantial chapter content inside the material. At that point, the project shifted from coaching to ghostwriting, so the client could keep momentum without needing to produce every page alone.
For more on this topic, check out the article Turn Existing Content Into a Book.
How to spot structure when your content feels like a mess
When you’re close to your own work, everything can feel equally important. That’s normal.
A simple way to find a shape is to look for a repeatable arc. For example, a parenting book may naturally follow the problem, tools, practice, and change model. A memoir-style business book may follow early life, turning points, and what you built after.
Also, pay attention to gaps. Anne explained that her own upcoming second edition needs to include new access options for medication, because readers need current resources, not just a story frozen in time.
Structure is not about perfection. It’s about making the book usable.
You don’t have to write every day; you need a writing schedule you’ll keep.
The training tackled a myth that many professionals quit over: the idea that serious writers write daily, no matter what.
Anne’s take was direct. Most people do write something every day (emails, notes, posts), but focused business book writing is different. It needs protected time and to be realistic.
She used a simple comparison to fitness. Going to the gym every day can be unrealistic but going three times a week is doable. Writing works the same way.
A writing schedule she recommended is 30 minutes, three times a week, booked on your calendar like a client appointment. If you wouldn’t skip a paid call, don’t skip your own writing block.
She also shared a planning rhythm that has worked for her in both life and business: 90-day sprints with a monthly check-in. That approach keeps the book moving without needing daily intensity, and it makes it easier to adjust when life changes (because it will).
This connects with another theme she shares often in her writing life: resetting after time away. If you’ve stopped writing for months, the answer usually isn’t guilt. The answer is a small restart, a flexible plan, and enough structure that you don’t have to “feel inspired” to begin.
If “I’m too busy” is the block you keep hitting, start here: easy ways to start writing your book.
The point is not to add pressure. It’s to find the shortest path to progress.
Personal stories are the bridge that helps readers trust you.
One of the best moments in the Q&A came from Susan, who realized her draft might be too “how-to” and not personal enough for a business book. She asked if she should weave her own background into the book, including why she became a behavior analyst and what she experienced growing up.
Anne’s answer came down to connection.
Readers don’t just want information. They want to know why you care and why they should listen to you. A personal thread can establish thought leadership and build trust without turning the book into a memoir. Sometimes it belongs in the introduction or preface, and then the book moves into tools and steps. Other times, small stories belong throughout, because they show the human side of the framework. Authors often share these stories during speaking engagements from the stage.
She gave another example from outside the workshop: an estate planning attorney who chose her specialty because her family experienced a painful situation after divorce and remarriage. That personal reason didn’t weaken her professional credibility. It made her mission clear.
This also ties back to what AI cannot do well. Tools can outline and organize, but they can’t tell your personal moments the way you can. Those details are often what keep readers turning pages.
Ethical AI use for book writing: assistant, not author
AI came up in the training as a real question for business book authors, not a trend to chase.
Cheryl shared skepticism about AI writing, and Anne responded with a middle path. She uses Claude AI, a closed system, in her work for brainstorming, analysis, and organization, not to replace the author’s voice. It’s like having a writing assistant at the ready.
She also explained what still requires a human brain and a human heart. These expert insights highlight:
- AI doesn’t know the stories that were never published online.
- AI can repeat what exists, but it can’t capture your lived experience with the right tone.
- AI can get details wrong, so you must review and correct the output (she even cited a medical-show example in which AI-created notes led to the wrong specialist being contacted).
Here’s a quick reference based on how she described using it.
| Ethical ways to use AI | Where it goes wrong |
| Organizing transcripts into themes for your manuscript | Writing “in your voice” without your input |
| Suggesting an outline from existing material | Inventing or misreading details |
| Spotting what content already exists per chapter | Replacing emotional truth with generic language |
If you want help building a process that keeps your voice intact while still saving time, that’s often where coaching support makes the difference.
For more on this topic, check out Ethical Ways Writers Can Use AI.
From DIY to done: coaching, ghostwriting, and publishing options.
As the session wrapped, the group talked about the book publishing process after you have content and a why, but you still feel stuck. Anne outlined three paths, and each fits a different type of author.
| Path | Best for | What it looks like |
| DIY | You want to write solo, but need community | Writing groups, accountability partners, and ongoing feedback |
| Book coaching | You have content, but need structure and direction | Outline support, flow help, accountability, revision guidance |
| Ghostwriter | You want the book, but not the drafting load | Interviews, story capture, writing and shaping the manuscript |
If you’re trying to decide whether coaching would help you get across the finish line, this lays out the full process clearly: work with a nonfiction book coach.
Publishing came up, too, including ISBN questions and Amazon. Anne shared her experience self-publishing on Amazon and was honest about the trade-offs. Self-publishing gives you creative control, but it also means you carry the marketing, including book cover design and book distribution. She keeps author copies on hand so she can bring books to meetings, signings, and travel.
The group also discussed independent, hybrid, and traditional publishing. Small publishers may offer more support and connections, although you may give up some control. Traditional publishing can involve long waits and frustrating rejection cycles, often requiring a book proposal and pitching to a literary agent; some authors don’t want to sign away rights or accept major changes.
The big takeaway was simple: no matter which route you choose, you still need a plan for getting the book into readers’ hands.
Conclusion: write the book, then let it do its job
Writing a business book doesn’t start with a perfect outline. It starts when you decide who you’re writing for, and you commit to showing up on a schedule that fits your life. After that, your existing content and your personal stories give you more material than you think. Once drafted, hire a developmental editor or copy editor to ensure quality before publishing, and invest in platform building. Then, execute a solid book launch, book promotion, and marketing strategy to drive reader reviews and aim for the bestseller list.
If you’re ready to write the book and want help choosing the right path (DIY, coaching, or ghostwriting) for your business book, schedule a consultation with Charlotte, NC-based writer Anne McAuley Lopez. Your story doesn’t need to wait for a someday that never arrives.