You’re expert, experienced and passionate. You know your field inside out, and have the battle scars – and tributes – to prove it. What’s next? The really tough challenge – write a book about it. But not just any book: a book that the next generation actually wants.

“The books I write say something I don’t see anybody else saying – and that, I hope, has a lasting impact,” says Harry Korine, Class of 1980 (1977-80), business professor, consultant and the author of seven books, most recently Leading the Family Business Through Succession: How Different Generations Create Value Together. “Are you willing to open up and share who you really are and what you experience? Most business books, I find, are not personal, and therefore they don’t really add much. But if you can be personal with what you’re doing, then it can be very, very interesting.”

Like most academics in his field, Harry has periods where he teaches intensively, and other blocks of time when he can devote himself to writing. But unlike most of his peers, he finds writing academic papers too restrictive. For him, there is far more freedom to be found in books, and he believes the element of urgency is a prerequisite for success.

“You need to have a strong motivation for saying something, and a conviction that you’re the one to say it,” he suggests. And in a genre that can tend towards the very dry, he thinks writers should not be afraid to experiment. (His latest book incorporates nine short stories, triggers for analysis and discussion.)

Harry Korrine
Class of 1980 (1977-80)

Harry combines expertise in strategy and governance to offer a unique perspective on business. He specialises in corporate governance, global strategy and strategic alliances.

Any businessperson worth their salt will have stories of roadblocks surmounted, curveballs dodged and adversity overcome. And the same is true of writing a book. Every book you hold in your hands was once no more than a spark of inspiration – and the road from A to B doesn’t always run smoothly, or follow the path that you might have expected. Take Richard C Morais, Class of 1977 (1973-77). A celebrated author and journalist, whose novels have made international bestseller lists, Richard does not come from a business background. But as someone with an affinity for compelling characters, he jumped at the chance to work with ZIS parent Mark Haefele, the “brilliant” CIO of UBS Global.

“We first thought we were going to write a biography, because Mark has a very interesting story,” says Richard. “But we realised that an investment book could have more impact. My challenge was, how do you make a book about investments a page-turner? I think we got close to that, because Mark very generously shared a lot of very personal stories that really bring the book to life.” The result was The New Rules of Investing: Essential Wealth Strategies for Turbulent Times, which reveals Mark’s philosophy for protecting and growing your wealth.

On paper, a wealth management playbook may be a long way removed from a novel. But Richard discovered some interesting parallels. “In all my fiction, I take on identities completely unlike myself – I try to put on their skin and channel their voice,” he explains. “With Mark, it was similar – it was just that I was sitting at the feet of one of the greatest investors living today.”

Richard C Morais
Class of 1977 (1973-77)

Richard is an award-winning financial journalist and novelist, best known for the best seller The Hundred Foot Journey, about an Indian chef who conquers the world of French haute cuisine.

Clearly the path to becoming a business author isn’t exactly set in stone. Indeed, Warren Tuttle, Class of 1973 (1968-72), began his career as a retailer in New York City, before an inventor walked into his store one day with a product that became Misto, the best-selling olive oil sprayer. Warren helped take the product to market – and in the process realised he had quite the knack for inventor advocacy.

Since then, he has worked with tens of thousands of inventors – clearing a path to commercialisation or simply managing expectations. “I can count more than a dozen times where I’ve helped make an inventor a millionaire,” he says. But there have been plenty of near misses too, and he points out it’s important to be realistic. “It’s like wannabe rock and roll bands – how many can actually play the guitar?”

Warren is the author of Inventor Confidential: The Honest Guide to Profitable Inventing, a book for anyone who wants to monetise a great idea, but isn’t sure where to start. And despite describing himself as “not a writer”, he spent two years arranging, developing and refining his thoughts, before starting work with his friend and co-writer Jeffrey A Mangus. “I was planting a seed in the ground, letting it grow, watering it every day and not being quite sure what it was going to grow into,” says Warren. “But it became a best-selling how-to book, and it’s gotten great acclaim.”

Richard and Warren agree that writing is one part discipline to several parts passion. Both carved out regular time to work on their books, making incremental progress day by day. At the same time, both were driven by a deep intrinsic motivation.

For Warren, that came down to making a difference in the world. For Richard, it was more about the joy of creativity. “There are long stretches of boredom and frustration, but if you work through it, you will get to a sublime place,” he says.

Writing is a medium of communication that represents language through the inscription of signs and symbols.

Warren Tuttle
Class of 1973 (1968-72)

Warren's co-written book Inventor Confidential, is the inside story of how the inventor advocate has helped hundreds of businesses successfully monetise their great idea or invention.

It’s a sentiment echoed by Ken Davenport, Class of 1981 (1976-77), a San Diego-based entrepreneur. After a long stint in the tech world, Ken found himself seeking something more meaningful. He began working with veterans as they transitioned out of the military, eventually compiling his wisdom in a book called The Stoic Transition: A Guide: How Veterans Can Thrive in their Next Adventure.

Realising that these principles might have broader application, he published another book called The Stoic Edge: How to Overcome Resistance, Build Resilience and Live Your Best Life. “Stoicism has a lot of principles that I was trying to deploy in my own life, and I thought this is really worth another guidebook for folks who are not veterans,” he explains.

Describing himself as a “streaky writer”, who works best when an idea captures his imagination, he thinks it’s important to know when something isn’t working. “When I get an idea, it tends to go really quickly for me – I want to write whenever I possibly can,” he says. “But writer’s block is real, and I have a hard time pushing through it. If something doesn’t flow, and I start thinking it’s too hard, I take that as a sign that maybe I’m on the wrong track.”

Business authors, almost by definition, are people whose careers have gone beyond the usual boundaries. They’re people with broad skill sets and they’re people whose hard-won life experience informs their expertise. “I think success is having a vague idea of where you want to go in life, but also being open to what life brings you,” says Richard. “And it’s in the melding of those two that the magic happens.”

So is there a secret? “Whatever it is you do pursue,” says Warren, “be the best you can at it. Then you’ll be ready to talk to others about it – you’ll be ready to write a book.”

Ken Davenport
Class of 1981 (1976-77)

Having built multiple businesses, Ken is an entrepreneur and writer based in San Diego, California, and now spends much of his free time helping military veterans transition to the civilian world.