The Most Powerful Question You Can Ask A Writer

Michael J. Maher built a career on one radical idea. Stop selling. Start asking.

In his book The Seven Levels of Communication, Maher lays out seven questions designed to generate referrals. Not through pressure. Not through clever pitches. Through genuine curiosity about another human being.

I read his approach and recognized something familiar. It sounded like what we do at Publication Consultants every time a writer walks through our door.

We don’t start with word counts or page layouts. We start with a question. Why are you writing this book?

Maher’s first question is simple. What’s your biggest challenge right now?

For authors, the answer is rarely about grammar or formatting. It’s deeper. It’s the fear no one will care. It’s the doubt creeping in at two in the morning whispering the story doesn’t matter. It’s the weight of carrying a message for years without knowing how to release it into the world.

The instinct is to jump in with solutions. Maher says resist it. Just listen. I agree. The listening is where trust begins.

His second question follows naturally. What have you tried so far?

Most writers I meet have tried plenty. They’ve attended workshops. They’ve started and stopped manuscripts. They’ve read books about writing books. Some have folders full of drafts going back decades. The effort was never the problem. The direction was.

What are you going to do next? Maher asks third. And then, What is the first next step?

This is where something shifts. The writer stops looking backward and starts looking forward. The story isn’t abandoned. It’s waiting. The whole journey isn’t required. Just one step. One step is manageable. One step doesn’t require perfection. One step can happen today.

Then comes question five. Who can help you with your first next step?

No writer succeeds alone. I think about Marc Cameron. Years ago, before the bestseller lists and the Tom Clancy franchise, he was Marc Otte — a man with a dream of becoming a writer. He brought me two novels, Pray for Justice and Hide and Seek. His characters weren’t invented to launch a franchise. They were drawn from real life, etched with the weight of service, faith, and brotherhood. I believed in him. I published those early novels and stood beside him, knowing his voice was one worth hearing.

Every time I see Marc’s name on a bestseller list now, I don’t just see success. I see what happens when a writer finds the right person at the right moment. Someone willing to listen. Someone willing to say, “Yes, your story matters. Let’s go.”

Marc didn’t need a sales pitch. He needed someone to help him take his first next step.

Question six is the one Maher calls the most powerful of all. By when?

Dreams without deadlines stay dreams. I’ve watched manuscripts sit in desk drawers for years because the author kept waiting for the right time. The right time is the time you choose.

And finally — How would you like me to follow up?

This one matters more than it seems. It says I’m not disappearing. It says your story matters enough for me to come back and ask how it’s going.

Seven questions. No selling. No convincing. Just one person caring enough about another person’s story to ask.

I’ve seen what happens when someone does.

A group of teachers in the Matanuska Valley came to me once with a quiet request. A beloved colleague was dying of a terminal illness. They had written stories — personal memories, reflections, moments capturing the heart of a classroom and the strength of a life well lived. They wanted one copy of the book, bound and finished, to give their friend before it was too late.

I agreed without hesitation. When the printer heard what the book was for, they waived the costs and made extra copies. I charged nothing for my part. It wasn’t about money. It was about meaning.

No one asked those teachers the seven questions. But somewhere along the way, someone must have asked something close. What’s your biggest challenge right now? Saying goodbye. Who can help you? A publisher willing to listen. By when? Before it’s too late.

In The Power of Authors, Lois and I wrote about the extraordinary things happening when ordinary people put words on paper. Books heal families. Books preserve history. Books change the minds of legislators and the hearts of strangers. None of it happens if the writer never gets asked the right questions.

Here’s my challenge to you. Find a writer this week. Someone you know is carrying a story. Don’t give them advice. Don’t hand them a business card. Just ask them — What’s your biggest challenge right now?

Then listen.

You might be the reason their book finally gets written.

Evan Swensen has been publishing books since 1978 and is the founder of Publication Consultants in Anchorage, Alaska. Michael J. Maher is the author of (7L) The Seven Levels of Communication and founder of ReferCo. His seven referral-generating questions inspired this piece.

The Power of Authors by Evan and Lois Swensen explores what it means to write with purpose—and why the world needs your voice now more than ever.

The book is available on Amazon: http://bit.ly/3K6o8AM. If you’d like an autographed copy, you can order it here: http://bit.ly/4pgmzjM.

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