Why I’m Not Writing a Book

People often tell me that I should write a book. Here’s why I’m not going to do that and what I’m doing instead.

Earlier this week, I spoke to a former coworker, a young research analyst, who told me that I need to write a book. “Frank, you have been in the industry for so many years, you have seen so many changes,” she said. “You have a wealth of knowledge you need to share. You could go around the country giving presentations based on your book.”

Although I appreciate her kind words, I had to tell her that I would not be writing a book.

Why Not Write a Book?

Simply, because a book is not the best way for me to accomplish my professional goals.

In 2002, as one of the first tech bloggers—first on Blogger, now here on Substack—my goal was simply to get my name out there with my views on the industry, and ultimately to pull through demand for my consulting services.

As I wrote recently, I achieved that goal. My firm and I got industry recognition, and this site was a key element in our marketing strategy. Ultimately, this site also led directly to our acquisition of the IT research firm Computer Economics, which ensured the long-term success of our business.

But when I retired from employment in 2024, I no longer needed to generate demand for consulting services. So, my goal evolved. I still want to have an influence, to the extent possible, but in two ways:

• For buyers of information technology: That they may realize business value despite constant tech industry hype and vendor-inflated promises. Buyers are in a constant struggle with tech vendors and service providers over the buyer’s wallet. But buers are outmatched. Vendors and service providers do deals daily. Buyers do might do one major deal every few years. As a result, they don’t always make decisions that are in their best interest. I want to be a voice of sanity.

• For consultants who serve buyers. There are precious few advisors and consultants that are truly independent of vendor and service provider relationships. There is much more money to be made in partnering with vendors and providers. Therefore, as I wrote recently, most consultants have intrinsic conflicts of interest. I want to encourage and edify those consultants who truly want to serve buyers.
  
  But wouldn’t publishing a book be a means to reach that goal? After much consideration, I believe the answer is no, at least for me [1]. Here are my considerations.

• Opportunity cost. Books take a lot of time to write. They also take a lot of effort to promote. If I were to use a traditional publisher, this would be something they would insist I commit to. So, writing and marketing is all time and effort I would not be spending writing online posts that can have an immediate impact on my audience. You can mitigate the promotion effort by self-publishing or using a hybrid publisher, but you’re unlikely to sell many books if you don’t put in the effort. Here’s a good overview of these three publishing models.

• Shelf life. A book on new technology, such as generative AI, is going to be out of date in six months at best. So, by the time I’d write it, it would already be out-of-date. Although you can cut the lead time by self-publishing or using a hybrid publisher, you lose the impact of having the imprint of a traditional publisher. Josh Bernoff has a good post on how risky it is to write books on technology trends.

• Expectations of fame and fortune. Books on more evergreen topics, such as general business advice, best practices, or lessons learned have a wider audience. But, according to one source, the average sales volume for a first-time self-published author is 250 copies. Let’s face it, I’m not going to be the next Guy Kawasaki, Tom Peters, Clayton Christensen, or Malcom Gladwell. If I were to write a book, it wouldn’t be for the money.

• Books as collateral: Some authors do have realistic expectations for book sales. So, they justify their investment of time and money by using their books as collateral for public speaking, giving free copies to audience members. Or they use them as collateral to give them credibility when selling their consulting services. But neither of these uses is relevant to me.

So, no, I’m not going to write a book.

A Better Way for Me

This is why for over 20 years I have focused on online publishing, first as a blog in 2002, and now since 2024 on Substack. This approach has the following advantages.

• Immediacy. When there is breaking news in the industry and I can put out my take in a few hours, or at most, a few days. I can have an immediate impact with my readers. And if they share the post, my audience grows.

• Flexibility: I can cover a number of topics as needed, without worrying about an overall theme that a book would require. I can cover new technologies, such as generative AI, breaking news, such as mergers and acquisitions, or more evergreen topics, such as best practices and lessons learned.

• Relationships: The ability to comment on posts either directly or through social media, has helped me connect with other professionals over the years, and those friendships continue. It’s hard to have the same interaction based on a book.

• Editing: Books in print can only be corrected or edited with new editions [2]. Online publishing allows corrections, edits, or refinements to be made at any time. This is especially needed when covering new technologies.

Well, Maybe I Will Write a Book

Having said all this, I’m not ruling out a book. At some point, I may edit and collate key posts on the lessons learned in my career and publish them as a book for posterity. But it’s too soon for that, as I am still writing those posts.

Technology changes rapidly, most recently in the upheavals around generative AI and especially agentic AI. However, I believe the lessons learned in previous disruptions still apply, especially in how we manage technology and the human side of that.

With apologies to Solomon:

What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun (Ecclesiastes 1:9).

I have no interest being typecast as the old-timer talking about the good old days of punched cards, COBOL, and working with 150 bytes of main memory. As I wrote in the first post about my career, I am more interested in what has NOT changed over the years.

Now, that might be a book worth writing and worth reading.

End Notes

[1] Some of my long-time business associates have published books, and of course I respect that. In some cases, they use their books to give them credibility as consultants or to serve as textbooks with their clients, to present their methodologies. Some use them as the basis of keynotes, where there are real income opportunities. Some also work as ghostwriters, diversifying their income sources. But I have none of these needs.

[2] Although e-books and print-on-demand make it easier to make corrections or small revisions, it’s not as easy as simply updating a website.

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