When I was considering buying my first home a few years ago, a stressed homeowner told me:

If you want to buy a house, you should buy a house.

​
But if you don’t want to buy a house, DEFINITELY DON’T buy a house.

He was underscoring the point that while home-ownership can be a wonderful experience and wise investment, it’s also an immersive, take-over-your-life type of project, so if you’re at all on the fence about it, perhaps it’s best to leave it alone.

(I left it alone.)

I’m finding myself giving out similar advice to clients and friends asking about the book-writing process.

As I’ve alluded to a few times here in The Lightbulb, I'm gearing up to launch my first book, The Expert's Privilege, steering into a Q2 self-published release.

I’ve been working on it for quite a while — I had my first exploratory call with a book midwife in Dec 2024, settled on the topic/direction in March 2025, and started actually drafting in October.

No matter how much you hear from others, yes, it’s still more work than you expect, and it’s something you don’t truly appreciate until you go through it yourself.

That said, I thought I’d take the next few days here and share my experience with the process while I’m still actively in it.

This won’t be to persuade you one way or the other about writing a book of your own.

Just to relay what the process actually looks like, in case it’s something you’ve been considering.

What I’ll plan to cover:

• Motivations - why a book?
• Timing - why now?
• Brick-by-brick steps - from inception to drafting to editing to launch
• Book development partners - 'self-published' does not mean DIY
• Resources I’ve found useful along the way

Please send me any specific questions on your mind, and I’ll work them in as we go (anonymously).

I’ll start tomorrow with Motivations. Spoiler: it’s not about book revenue.

💡

-Wes