It’s Good to Be Disruptive

By Nettie Hartsock - Feb 15 , 2008

If you’re an author, one of the things to remember is that it’s good at times to be disruptive in terms of the chatter around your particular subject. It doesn’t mean, be disruptive to the point that you are a downer and critical of everyone else who is writing on the same topic you are. When I say disruptive, I mean it in terms of shaking things up and saying something new!

Everything has been written or said before, as they say, and so it’s your job to consistently and congruently establish the reason why your book is important and how it differs from other books on the same subject out there.

If you cannot identify the differences for your readers or a journalist writing a story about you, then you’re not going to engage them to be interested in reading the book.

Take for example Jim Collin’s bestselling book, Good To Great. That book is on almost every shelf in every company worldwide, it’s in most university business libraries, and MBA programs use it extensively, as well. If you’re promoting a book on leadership, business management, productivity, or employee relations, then one of the things you want to do is identify the bestselling books in your subject niche that people take for granted have the best ideas, and add your ideas in the mix.

If a journalist asks you about your book, you might even mention, for instance, the Collins book because if you’re linked with that book in a journalist’s story, all the better! Remember, too, that journalists oftentimes won’t have the time to read the nitty gritty of your book, so it’s your job to give them the talking points about your book to empower their story about your book and your point of view.

This is where being a little disruptive is valuable. You can take what’s in your book and highlight why it’s different and more up-to-date than last year’s bestselling business book, or you can underline why it’s a good companion to another book in the same subject niche.

Just make your book stand out. The other key piece in talking about your book with journalists is to really have familiarized yourself with what the journalist writes about and how they create stories. I always recommend that, before you interview with a specific journalist, you take time out to read two or three of their author interviews so you get a feel for what they will ask and how you can pro-actively get the best out of their interviewing style!

Now—go and disrupt!