Mercy Maju

On Monday, a lady reached out to me after seeing someone advertise a book editing training. She wanted to register for the class but wasn't sure if it would be worth the money, so she asked for my opinion.

I first commended her for wanting to learn a skill like book editing. It's a skill that can become a good source of income when developed properly.

At the same time, I told her it wasn't my place to tell her whether or not to register because I knew nothing about the trainer. Instead, I advised her to do her homework before paying.

If you're going to invest your money in a course, especially as a student, make sure the person teaching it can actually deliver. Look for evidence. Have they worked on real projects? Can they show books they've edited? What do previous students have to say about the training? Is there proof that they know what they're teaching?

The training she wanted to pay for cost ₦25,000. As a student, losing that amount to a course that doesn't deliver wouldn't be funny.

I then shared my own experience with her.

When I decided to learn book editing in 2024, the training I enrolled in cost ₦30,000. I was also a student at the time and couldn't afford to pay the fee all at once, so I paid in installments.

I was comfortable making that investment because I'd seen enough evidence that my trainer knew the craft and had the experience to teach it well.

But I also told her something I think many people overlook.

Paying for a course is only the beginning. What you do after the training is what really matters.

You can learn from the best trainer in the world, but if you don't practise consistently, improve your skills, and apply what you've learned, the training won't change much.

Building a career takes time.

For me, it took months of interning with a writing and editing company, where I worked on about seven manuscripts before I became confident enough to work independently and deliver quality work for the authors I've worked with since then.

That experience taught me lessons no training alone could have taught me.

So whether you're learning book editing or any other skill, don't stop at buying the course.

Choose your trainer wisely. Then commit to practising, improving, and staying consistent.

Good things take time to build. If you're patient enough to trust the process, you'll eventually see the results.

One of the greatest strengths you can have while building a personal brand is the ability to keep creating content within the niche you want to be known for, regardless of the season of life you're in.

That ability helps protect your privacy, preserve your personal brand, and maintain your image, even during your weakest moments.

There are people who gradually turn every phase of their lives into content. Over time, the original reason they started building their brand begins to fade. If they're dealing with family problems, their timeline becomes filled with conversations about that. If they're navigating career challenges, that's what dominates their content for a while before another phase of life takes over.

Before long, there's barely anything about them that isn't public.

Sharing your experiences can make you more relatable, and there's nothing wrong with that. But it shouldn't overshadow the real purpose for which you started creating content in the first place.

Your lifestyle, challenges, and different seasons of life can inspire content, but they shouldn't become the foundation of everything you share. Some experiences are better processed privately than published publicly.

Outside of writing about book editing or my work as a pharmacy technician, you'll rarely see me turning the challenging seasons of my life into content. Not because I don't know how to talk about them, but because I've decided that some parts of my life deserve privacy.

Not everything that happens to you needs to become a post. Some things are worth protecting—for your peace of mind, your relationships, your reputation, and even your future.

If someone discovered your page today, would they immediately know what you're known for, or would they only know what you're currently going through?

Dear author,

Don't write a book on a topic you barely know.

Wanting to publish a book is exciting, but excitement isn't enough to carry an entire manuscript.

Imagine someone who has been investing for just three months deciding to write a book on How to Build Lasting Wealth.

By the second or third chapter, they'll probably run out of original things to say. The rest of the book may end up being a collection of ideas borrowed from YouTube videos, podcasts, and other people's books.

Readers can tell when a book lacks depth.

You don't have to know everything before you write. But you should know enough to explain your ideas clearly, answer the questions your readers are likely to have, and give them something they couldn't have gotten from a quick internet search.

If you're still learning about a subject, that's okay.

Keep learning. Keep gaining experience. Keep taking notes.

Then, when you finally sit down to write that book, you'll have something worth saying.

A good book isn't remembered because it was published. It's remembered because it gave readers something they couldn't easily find elsewhere.