This is the other question we can’t ignore. Readers make a split second decision about whether you are the right person to listen to. The media is over more discerning in this regard when they make a choice about what book to review or what author to interview for a story.

People want to see some form of authority before they buy (or buy into) your book. Education is a piece of that. The places that you have worked and the positions you held is another piece. These show a measurable forms of achievement.

But today it is the projects you do more than anything that give you the ability to demonstrate authority. A blog can be your test kitchen. Twitter can be your tip line. Ebooks show a sustained argument.

The trick is to tell a story that shows the reader how you got arrived at that point and why they should look to you as that source of authority.

The best form of this question might be “Why You?”