Books are a platform upon which to convey creative ideas and your own value as a leader.

This is something you might have difficulty doing in other work-related spaces. Especially if your industry is one that is traditionally dominated by men. 

Often it’s a struggle to be taken seriously, and to have your voice and ideas heard. But when you write a book, the floor is all yours. 

Women can have difficulty with promoting themselves and their work. No matter how passionate and proud they feel about their business, they’re conditioned not to brag.  

But research  by Women of Influence and Thomas Reuters shows that this deep discomfort of self-promotion can often stop them from advancing in our businesses and careers. 

Being featured in and participating in a book helps you to own your accomplishments. 

As you are interviewed about your chosen topic you can’t avoid expressing your talents and expertize.

You may not be confident in promoting yourself vocally in a room full of peers, but a book can be a stepping stone towards developing that confidence. After all, it does a lot of the talking for you. 

The dominant entrepreneurial culture is oriented towards men.

Negative behaviors towards female entrepreneurs can be seen in everything from work-life imbalances to start-up funding decisions. 

Preferred leadership styles and workplace traits such as assertiveness, aggressiveness and risk-taking that are traditionally viewed as masculine, can force women into working in a way that feels inauthentic and uncomfortable. 

So when female entrepreneurs start writing about their own businesses and ideas, they’re often presenting new business models that support the specific needs of women.  

This can strengthen their appeal to more women-focused communities.

It can be a battle for first-time female writers to be taken seriously by readers, let alone publishers. But the more women write, the more women write. 

Representation on our bookshelves and across writing genres, including business and career books, matters. 

Male writers are still published and reviewed more than female writers. 

Their voices are heard more. Their concerns gain greater credibility. 

Seeing more women writing beyond traditional themes in areas such as business and entrepreneurship develops the narrative around women’s contribution to entrepreneurship.

And it might just encourage other women innovators to add their own voice. 

As a woman you have particular perspectives and experiences. However, you may have learned to downplay or even hide them when discussing business practices with your mainly male peers.

But within the pages of a book, it can be this specific outlook that resonates with your target reader. Especially if they’re other women. 

Women across the country could easily recognize themselves in Hartley’s description of the exhausted mom-partner-business professional organizing birthday parties and family trips alongside presentations and work meetings.

Such perspectives may seem irrelevant because you’re coping with them daily. But they offer huge value to other women trying to build businesses against previously ignored odds.