What if you wrote a thank you note to every author you’ve read a book from in the past year?

How would that impact you and them?

I decided to write a thank you note to the author of every books I’ve read since September.

Of those 20 books, 15 of the authors were still alive, 4 had a physical address I could find, 10 had a virtual address.

I wrote a total of 14 thank you notes and got 6 replies.

Selling Above and Below the Line by Skip Miller (sent note)

Enders Game by Orson Scott Card

Think and Grow Rich Book by Napoleon Hill (Deceased)

What to Do when It’s Your Turn (and It’s Always Your Turn)Book by Seth Godin

The Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist by Sir Author Canon Doyle (Deceased)

Basic Economics by Henry Hazlitt (Deceased)

The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham (Deceased)

Banker to the Poor by Muhammad Yunus

66 Love Letters by Dr. Larry Crabb (Sent note)

The Amazon Way by John Rossman

The Prodigal God by Tim Keller (Sent note)

Can They Sell by Steve Suggs.

Selling Beyond Survival by Lance Cooper

Jesus > Religion by Jefferson Bethke.

The Four Loves by C.S. Lewis (Deceased)

Men are from Mars Women are from Venus by John Gray

The Advantage by Patrick Lencioni (Sent note)

Dare to Lead by Brene Brown

The Giver by Lois Lowry

Re-Wiring Education by Jason Towne and John D. Couch

The response was overwhelmingly positive. Authors appreciate receiving written expressions of gratitude and hearing that their work is valuable.

That’s not surprising.

But what did surprise me is how this exercise impacted me. Getting replies from people I look up to and realizing they’re just normal people, like you and , who can be emailed had an empowering impact.

The internet is a great tool that opens a lot of opportunities; take action on your crazy ideas.

Cheering for you, always.

– Beeli

P.S.

Since starting this challenge in December I’ve read the following books: The Hard Thing About Hard Things, Outliers, and A Curious Mind.

You can bet I’m going to write those authors a thank you note as well. This is such a fun exercise!!!

Photo by Elijah O’Donnell on Unsplash.