How Publishing a Book Helps Build a Legacy

One of my personal core values is legacy. I value creating things that last, which is why I believe it is important to consider publishing a book if creating a legacy is also a goal of yours.  

We're in an era where our access to so many different platforms allows us to create and publish content daily, or even multiple times per day if you choose. The upside is that you can constantly be creating and publishing; the downside is that most things that we're publishing are temporary.

Ten years from now, how many people will be watching your Instastory? In 2031, who will be watching your Reel (if either of those things either exists)? The posts you put on social media are here today and gone tomorrow, and in a world where everything is temporary, we're constantly feeding the content beast. Everything you're working hard to put out there and all of the content you're using to fill your feeds will be a memory, five, ten, or even one year from now.  

On the flip side, a book is a complete, finished work that exists regardless of changing platforms. In this way, it ends up being a legacy builder for you and your business.

For instance, I wrote my first non-fiction book, Making Love in the Microwave, almost ten years ago. Now, my life is entirely different than it was when I wrote that book. If you've been following me for that long, you'll remember that the book started as a blog. The blog isn't there anymore; the social media that I posted associated with that blog isn't active anymore, but I still have that book.

The book now almost serves as a time capsule for that period in my life. And it still sells on a regular basis, even if it's just a handful of copies a month. There are people all year long who are reading something that I wrote ten years ago that there's really no other evidence of than the book. People all over are reading my words and hopefully learning from the things that I had to share at that time.

Few things are going to give you that level of permanence at this point in our history. A lot of these little things that you're constantly doing and constantly working toward, while they're important, aren't necessarily building the legacy for you that you want to have.

One of my favorite books is the Science of Getting Rich. That book was published in 1910. Another is The Autobiography of Malcolm X,  which was published more than 50 years ago. The authors are long gone, but the ideals and stories they shared live on and still have a profound effect on people's lives all over the world to this day.  

All of this might sound pretty lofty at this point. But when you talk about what you are doing and what you're putting your time and your energy and effort into, it should go beyond just making money in the moment and instead focus on building something that might even outlast you. Where are those things that are going to outlast us when we're long gone from here?

If you're interested, I encourage it. Make sure you download my self-publisher's budget and timeline quick guide below to start getting an idea of what it entails.