While the most cynical observe that “books are where words go to die,” the fact is we’re publishing (and buying) more books than at any time in history. If you’re involved in the chiropractic profession and considering writing a chiropractic um curso em milagres videos, here are some tips from someone who has written ten chiropractic books. So far. The chiropractic profession has a history of book writing. D.D. Palmer himself started things off with his 1910 The Chiropractic Adjuster. His son, B.J. Palmer, pecked away at the typewriter throughout his career and wrote 41 books about chiropractic (‘Tic) and the chiropractor (‘Tor) that have become known as the “green books,” because the hardcover books featured dark green bindings. My favorite is The Bigness of the Fellow Within.
With the advent of word processing programs, desktop publishing resources, digital printing technologies and electronic “eBooks,” expressing yourself with the printed word has never been easier. Which, like many opportunities has an upside and a downside. Consider these suggestions as you write and publish your chiropractic book. If your chiropractic book is going to be anything more than a private expression, it’s important that you have clarity about what happens when your book is written, edited and proofed. Now what? Start there. Otherwise you’ll join the ranks of countless others who have slaved over their manuscript, sometimes for years, but never see it published.
When it comes to publishing your book, you have several choices: securing an independent publisher or self-publishing. Both have their pros and cons and the better choice depends upon your resources and your motives for publishing your chiropractic book. Getting a publisher can be difficult and in the process you surrender most of the profits. If there are any. Self publishing is easier and in some ways more profitable, but you need to have a clear marketing strategy to sell your book when it’s ready for market. Otherwise your car will sit in the driveway as your garage is used to store your inventory of books.
I’m reminded of the old adage, ‘How do you eat a whale? One bite at a time.” When writing as something as large as a book, it helps to break it up into parts. Many call them chapters. Write enough chapters and you have a book!
When I started writing about chiropractic in 1987, I was given the opportunity of contributing to a chiropractic newsletter published by Renaissance International. The assignment? A 1200-1300 word essay about some aspect of chiropractic from a patient’s point of view. Those who bristle at the thought of such a restriction of 1200 words overlook the fact that having a constraint can help bring order, discipline and precision to writing. Or at least it did for me. Write one such essay a week, and in about a year, you have the makings of a respectable-sized book.
If you’re going to make it for the long haul, you’re going to need to be passionate about some aspect of chiropractic. Wanting to see your name on a physical book probably won’t be enough to sustain you. An irrational passion; a cause greater than yourself can be helpful in giving you the motivation to write when no one is watching or cheering you on. You’ve got to want to right a wrong, expose the truth, save lives or have some other cause bigger than just surviving to make the solitary sacrifice of getting your thoughts down. Without this essential ingredient, few will be interested. With so many competing demands on our time, your writing has to be crisp, focused and purposeful-something only possible when you are passionate and have a cause to advance.
Write short declarative sentences. Avoid political correctness. Be bold. And reveal your most intimate, vulnerable and idealistic notions. Risk everything to speak that which is on your heart and expose your most fervent beliefs. Only then can you begin to compete with the mediocre and the average that surround us and attract a readership worth writing for.
To hit the target, you need something to aim at. Who are you writing for? Who is your audience? Who is going to buy your book? Chiropractors. They are a relatively small group. Some suggest there are only about 50,000 practicing chiropractors up to something. Plus, it’s a very fragmented group with many different “tribes,” philosophies, techniques and ways of practicing.
Chiropractic Assistants. Sure, there are probably more chiropractic assistants and paraprofessionals than chiropractors, but how will you reach them? How many will buy a book about chiropractic, which for many, is rarely a career path? Chiropractic Patients. There’s little question that the number and quality of books about chiropractic written for the lay public is limited. These days most prospective chiropractic patients use the Internet to learn about chiropractic.
Chiropractic Students. Each year thousands graduate from chiropractic colleges. They enter the workforce after learning what’s needed to pass board examinations, but know little about actual practice. Most chiropractic students read little else other than the required texts. There are only a handful of authors who are successful enough to make a living by writing books. None are in the chiropractic field. Yet, there is a critical need for quality chiropractic content, either for brochures, websites, patient handouts or other media. As you write your chiropractic book, consider ways you can leverage the content you’ve created for use in other media.
