The Page & Podium Podcast with Dr. Amanda Nell Edgar
Jul 28, 2026 · 32 min · 9 segments
Are you ready to write a book—or are you waiting to feel more qualified, more confident, or more certain first? In this episode, we’re breaking down three concrete questions that can help you decide…
Amanda Nell EdgarHostAs I mentioned in the opening of this video, I find that one of the most difficult questions that authors have to ask themselves is whether they're actually ready to start their book.
Now, one thing that I find, especially among the high achievers that I tend to work with is that there often is a real disconnect between how much we know, how much we have to share with our audience and the world, and how much we really trust that that knowledge is actually valuable to other people.
it can be so so so difficult to give ourselves a real accurate assessment of whether we're actually ready to get started with something like a book something that's not only going to take a pretty large amount of time effort and energy but also something that will be around for probably forever.
And at the same time, I know y'all don't want to wait so long that you miss that window of opportunity when your book could really do the most for you and your audience.
So I wanted to break down today three questions that I really try to get at when I'm chatting with aspiring expert authors.
Now let me start by clarifying what I mean when I use this expert author term, because this is a new term that I'm really workshopping and I really, really like it.
Now, one of the things that I have really grappled with as I have built this podcast, as I have built my company, actually, is really helping people see themselves as someone who could write and publish a book, someone who should write and publish a book.
And one of the things that I have found that I hear so, so often is that the term writer, even the term aspiring writer, can sometimes feel a little bit intimidating.
If we don't feel like we have really enough kind of credibility, we haven't taken enough time working in this field of books to call ourselves a writer, we often feel in this kind of liminal space.
And that matters more than you might think for this issue of being ready to write your book.
The reason we really need to think about what kinds of terminology we're using to describe ourselves is that when we think of our identity, it is very, very closely tied up with our readiness.
As long as we don't feel like our identity is one of expertise or authority or credibility, we will very, very often shy away from writing a book.
we'll just basically assume that we're not ready because we don't yet feel 100% confident that we are often the best at this thing.
And that can mean we wait and wait and wait and wait while other folks pass us by and we miss out on all of the benefits of writing a book.
Now, One of the things that's really a catch 22 here is that one of the benefits of writing a book is gaining that authority and credibility.
We often will end up in this kind of vicious cycle, this idea where we don't think that we're good enough to start the book yet, but actually the book might be the thing that would get us to feel as though we are good enough.
And I want to break down the kind of two components, the two ways that every single day I see books giving people this level of confidence, this feeling that they really are ready.
And I suspect that this is something that if you are kind of itching to write a book, you want that.
When we write a book, oftentimes that signals to others that we are either the authority or at least an authority.
As I mentioned in the opening of this video, I find that one of the most difficult questions that authors have to ask themselves is whether they're actually ready to start their book.
Now, one thing that I find, especially among the high achievers that I tend to work with is that there often is a real disconnect between how much we know, how much we have to share with our audience and the world, and how much we really trust that that knowledge is actually valuable to other people.
it can be so so so difficult to give ourselves a real accurate assessment of whether we're actually ready to get started with something like a book something that's not only going to take a pretty large amount of time effort and energy but also something that will be around for probably forever.
And at the same time, I know y'all don't want to wait so long that you miss that window of opportunity when your book could really do the most for you and your audience.
So I wanted to break down today three questions that I really try to get at when I'm chatting with aspiring expert authors.
Now let me start by clarifying what I mean when I use this expert author term, because this is a new term that I'm really workshopping and I really, really like it.
Now, one of the things that I have really grappled with as I have built this podcast, as I have built my company, actually, is really helping people see themselves as someone who could write and publish a book, someone who should write and publish a book.
And one of the things that I have found that I hear so, so often is that the term writer, even the term aspiring writer, can sometimes feel a little bit intimidating.
If we don't feel like we have really enough kind of credibility, we haven't taken enough time working in this field of books to call ourselves a writer, we often feel in this kind of liminal space.
And that matters more than you might think for this issue of being ready to write your book.
The reason we really need to think about what kinds of terminology we're using to describe ourselves is that when we think of our identity, it is very, very closely tied up with our readiness.
As long as we don't feel like our identity is one of expertise or authority or credibility, we will very, very often shy away from writing a book.
we'll just basically assume that we're not ready because we don't yet feel 100% confident that we are often the best at this thing.
And that can mean we wait and wait and wait and wait while other folks pass us by and we miss out on all of the benefits of writing a book.
Now, One of the things that's really a catch 22 here is that one of the benefits of writing a book is gaining that authority and credibility.
We often will end up in this kind of vicious cycle, this idea where we don't think that we're good enough to start the book yet, but actually the book might be the thing that would get us to feel as though we are good enough.
And I want to break down the kind of two components, the two ways that every single day I see books giving people this level of confidence, this feeling that they really are ready.
And I suspect that this is something that if you are kind of itching to write a book, you want that.
When we write a book, oftentimes that signals to others that we are either the authority or at least an authority.
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