Last week I wrote about the cachet of a book, and why I think it's commercially smart for thought leaders to write a book.

I also said that writing a book is one of the deliverables of Thought Leaders Business School.

I lied. Sort of.

The lie was the implication that it's one book you are going write.

If you’re in this game, you’re actually going to write several books as you compile a body of work over a decade.

For a thought leadership practice there are three different types of books you can write:

1. A cluster book. This is typically 25,000 words and is designed to sell one cluster – one offering in your practice. Conviction Selling is an example of a cluster book.

2. A practice book. This is more like 50,000-65,000 words, and this is something that positions everything in your practice. My practice book is The New Rules of Management, and is all about implementation.

3. A curriculum book. This can be longer again, and the purpose is to teach as well as to position your practice. This is a bit like a text book for one area of your expertise. The Thought Leaders Practice is a curriculum book.

So by all means get cracking on your first book. But don’t make the mistake of trying to cram everything you know into your first book. Instead see this as the first of half a dozen that are going to be sitting on your book shelf ten years from now.