Several years ago, I sat on a barstool across from my friend Carolyn regaling her with my most embarrassing dating stories. "You need to write a book!" she urged. I was skeptical, but a year or so later, after the idea had percolated, I started writing short stories about ridiculous dates I had been on and wanted to forget (like the time I got food poisoning at prom). Next, I started writing stories about funny things that happened to me with horses. I realized I had enough material to intersperse riding adventures with awkward dating moments.
In 2018 those stories all came together into my first book Horses Adored and Men Endured. My life has changed for the better since I became an author. I'm glad I took Carolyn's suggestion seriously and put forth the hard work to make my author dreams come true.
If you have ever toyed with the idea of writing a horse book, or any book for that matter, I think you should go for it. (Spoiler alert: I have created an online course Aspiring Author Jumpstart to help you write your first book!)
Here are 5 reasons to write a horse book in no particular order.
1. Make New Friends (Authors and Readers)
You know how when you get a horse, you meet so many other people because of that horse? It's the exact same way with writing a book. When you publish your book, you will get connected to other authors. Since 2018 I have made friends with a bunch of awesome authors. For example, Heather Wallace (aka The Timid Rider) and Natalie Keller Reinert and I have sold books together at events. They are hilarious and if you haven't checked out their fiction and nonfiction horse books (and podcast, more on that later), you are missing out!
A few months ago I had an author book at the Retired Racehorse Project with Sarah Hickner, Sarah Welk-Baynum and Tiffany Noelle Chacon. They live in Virginia, Ohio, and Florida. I most likely would have never met these lovely souls had I not written my horse books.
And it doesn't stop with befriending horse book authors! I have become friends with readers too! How touching it was to receive a Thanksgiving and Christmas card from a fellow Marguerite Henry fan I met on Chincoteague Island.
Pssst!!! You might also like this post: Write a Horse Book in 2024.
2. Be a Lifelong Learner
If you set out to become an author and write a horse book or horse books, you will open yourself up to a new world where you must learn. Why? The book market changes. Publishing changes. Technology changes. You will probably want/need to get a website <Gulp, change! something new to learn.>
The good news is learning is good for brain health. And the other good news is that if you are a learner, you are putting yourself in a humble mindset (that you don't know all the things). People who are humble are much nicer to hang out with than people who are arrogant. If you are a learner you are probably a cool person to get to know, and interesting to talk to at a party.
3. Become a Thought Leader/Expert
When I set out to tell the backstory of my favorite author Marguerite Henry, I didn't realize I would be viewed as a leading authority on the Misty of Chincoteague author. My personal quest to find out who she was and why her writing was and is so good, set me on a path of deep, historical research. It was humbling when the Museum of Chincoteague (the one where taxidermied Misty now lives) invited me to speak and even more humbling when they asked me to help them brainstorm how to honor Marguerite Henry with the new exhibit they have planned for the Beebe Ranch (in case you forgot, that's the place where Misty was born and later weathered the 1962 storm from which the story Stormy, Misty's Foal derived.
I was just on the Adulting with Horses Podcast and my friend and fellow horse book author Natalie Keller Reinert referred to me as the foremost authority on Marguerite Henry. That was a cool compliment!
If you love Marguerite Henry books too, I would love for you to read Marguerite, Misty and Me, click here to shop.
Perhaps if you are passionate about off-track Thoroughbreds or training miniature horses or a DIY-approach to horse care, perhaps by writing a horse book about whatever is on your heart, you can become a leader in your subject area. We need more voices in the world of horse books.
4. Do Something Cool Very Few People Do
I've heard that over 80 million Americans say they want to write a book but only a teensy, tiny percentage of that group will ever follow their dreams to write a book. Wouldn't it be amazing to be one of the few who actually follow their heart and write a horse book?
5. Experience Joy Through Inspiring or Entertaining Your Readers
There's nothing quite like the experience of knowing the ideas you labored over and words you strung together into sentences, paragraphs and eventually chapters MATTER to people you have yet to meet. What an honor it is when people who've read one of my books reach out. Here are just a handful of examples of times when I was affirmed.
For Horses Adored and Men Endured, my first book, my equestrian memoir, I have had people confide in me they have had a hard time dating too. (If that's you, I see you! Persevere.)
With Strands of Hope: How to Grieve the Loss of a Horse I have had readers email me beautiful horse eulogies they've composed about a horse who left hoofprints on their heart. When they say my book made them feel less alone, it affirms in me the book I never wanted to write--the one written through tears has made someone else feel less alone and more understood.
A mother of a tween who read and was doing the writing exercises from my book Unbridled Creativity send me a DM on Instagram with a photo of her daughter's response. The journal prompt was something to the effect "Why do you think you love horses so much?" and the daughter wrote a beautiful paragraph about how she thinks she loves horses because her mom rides too and her mom helps her with the horse and it ended with the words "my mom is my hero."
And the connections I've made with Marguerite, Misty and Me, my Marguerite Henry biography, are many and profound. Just yesterday a mom sent me an email that she loved my book and her daughter is reading it too. She said she cried and then sent a photo from around 1980 of her daughter with the real Stormy, Misty's offspring, the mare made famous from Stormy, Misty's Foal!
If you want to write a horse book. I would LOVE to help you. Please contact me about my new course Aspiring Author Jumpstart. Let's get your horse book into the world and let the feel good begin. If you have further questions you can reach out to Susan at saddleseekshorse dot com.
