Author Type #4: Cultural Contributor

You see a gap in the way people understand the world and you intend to fill it. 

You have experienced something that affected you profoundly yet is little appreciated or understood by the larger culture. You want to shine a light on what you know, or to bring a point of view that hasn’t been heard to the larger cultural conversation.

Taylor James was floored by Lyme disease. It destroyed his life, and not just for a little while. TJ’s struggle against Lyme became all-consuming. In response, he turned himself into a human guinea pig. He traveled around the country and even into Mexico to try anything and everything he could to feel better.

Throughout all of this, he was trying to date (pretty much a lost cause because his health was so bad), and to build and run his company, which included motivating a crew of salespeople in a tough, competitive business. Police officers took him to a psych ward (he talked his way out). He gave a motivational speech while tripping on LSD. The stresses were intense as he came to understand he was dealing not only with Lyme but other illnesses, too.

Over time, TJ found things that began to help. Slowly, he improved. He came to me ready to share his story—and what he learned—because so many people suffer from chronic Lyme disease and don’t know where to turn or who can help. His book shines a light on a subculture of suffering that is (as he experienced firsthand) poorly understood, sometimes mocked, often invisible.

“I feel that I now have a friend and confidante in my own, unwanted, rollercoaster journey,” one reviewer wrote. “Within the first 18 pages, I knew that there was something different about this book. I found myself sympathetic and empathic to his story. Despite the dark side of Lyme/coinfections that he brings to light that I did not want to admit or acknowledge for myself, I felt drawn to his story. I felt so alone and misunderstood, and now I know I am not.”

This comment, which is typical of his reviews, is on point. 

Many Cultural Contributor authors say that success, for them, can be that simple. I have lost count of the number of authors who have said to me, “If I hear from just one person that my book made a difference in their lives …”