book writing help

book writing help

Writing a Book: A Comprehensive Guide

1. Introduction

The beginning of this process is writing a book. Hopefully, you have an appreciation for composition and a powerful imagination; if you don’t, toiling on a book may not be the best use of your time. That is to say, only write a book if you really believe it will teach you, entertain you, or others. The very first step is to make up your mind that a book is the best, and most efficient, way to communicate what you want to share with people. Not a brochure, a slide show, or a lecture, but a book. Once you’ve done that, you’re ready for step two. This is the hard part with fiction. There are, of course, a lot of different types of nonfiction but for the sake of simplicity, we’ll call nonfiction an instructional book. The first big nonfiction book is what I did. This means teaching. Odds are that if you’re writing a book to teach people something, you’re already somewhat of an expert at whatever it is you’re trying to teach. Due to my age at the time of writing, I wasn’t able to do what I wanted and write a program for people to come and study with me. So I wrote a book instead. Whether or not this was a good thing is debatable, but if you fit into the trying to teach someone something category, let’s move on and assume that writing a book is a good idea. At this point and throughout the rest of the guide, we’ll be focusing on the other type of nonfiction. Usually when someone wants to write nonfiction, it’s because they want to share an experience. Coming back to my book and my second attempt at writing a book, this left me with some extra free time. During that time, money was saved up and I went on a trip around the world. I wanted to share my experiences, and thus I wrote a book. The other type would be a motivational speaker trying to get a message out. My editor at one time had interviewed a man who had an experience way back in World War 2. He never once spoke of the experience, but my editor was so inquisitive that he managed to write a whole book. Whether it was ethical or not is debatable, but the point is that it would be impossible for the man to share that experience with anyone in real life, and thus he did it through a book. See, I told you that was the hard part.

2. Choosing a Topic

The best thing to do is to make yourself a list of what you are passionate about writing about. It is not uncommon for people to generate in excess of ten or twenty ideas. Then evaluate the potential in all of these ideas and tick the ones that are good, viable ideas that you feel you are able to write. Then check the ideas’ potential against popularity and which of these ideas are viable for a book of the length and style that you hope to write. Then reassess the potential of each idea against your own personal feelings. The balance of these four attributes will help you to match your own feelings on the book to its potential for success. A successful idea would be one that fulfills the criteria and would maximize achievements in the criteria.

The reason is simple: if you want to learn how to write a book, you must choose your topic. Learning how to write a book is about writing a book. You need a good idea of what you are going to write. You will need to ensure that the idea is something which you feel capable of writing and are truly passionate about. This is a detailed subject and, as such, one that is covered in its own article. If you have an idea that you are raring to write about, do not let it escape you. In fact, write a few notes and keep it aside for when you are going to write your book.

3. Planning and Outlining

At the end of it all, a decision needs to be made on what you want your readers to take with them after reading the book. This can then be transformed into a goal. Over time, as you continue to write and your ideas mature, it is not uncommon to change your idea or book’s destination. At that time, just reevaluate and modify the plan you originally created.

You might have already determined the purpose earlier on for your reasons for writing. If not, do it now. Establish the mission of the book and give it a working title. Imagine the book’s jacket cover. It generally gives an overview of what the book is about, some information on the author, and whether the one browsing will buy the book or not. With this in mind, jot down ideas and create a thesis of the book.

Following through with good quality preparation will most likely carry you to the next stage. You must be willing to invest time in this phase and not be too eager to jump right into writing. You are obliged to have an idea of your book’s purpose and have a vision of the end product.

4. Writing and Editing

After writing the first draft, take a few days to a few weeks off from the book. This will allow you to clear your mind and approach the book with a fresh pair of eyes for the editing. Then, start on the editing. This is often the longest and most frustrating part of writing a book. It is important to start big in the editing. Make sure the content of the book reads well. Then, reread the book multiple times, looking at smaller and smaller parts each time. You will always find something that can be improved.

Now that you have your initial notes, you are ready to start on the actual writing of the book. The first draft is important in producing a high-quality book. Remember, it is always okay to write a very bad first draft. This will help you get all of your ideas on paper and provide an opportunity to structure your book in the best way.

5. Publishing and Marketing

This is the final piece of the puzzle; where the realization dawns that you are on your way to success and not just sharing a pipe dream. The publishing process is a fascinating one. Sometimes it ends up being quite elementary, i.e. if you are intending to publish an eBook, you can use Amazon’s Direct Publishing platform and get it over and done with in a matter of a few hours. If you are looking to publish hard copies of your book, the process is a bit more complex. You will need to have an ISBN (International Standard Book Number) for your book. This is the distinctive code that identifies your book and means, you know, it’s actually a book. You can purchase ISBNs from Bowker Identifier Services. The skinny on the whole Amazon thing is that you can still purchase an ISBN if you so choose, but Amazon will provide you with a free ASIN (Amazon Standard Identification Number) which is unique to your book or book edition. With the ISBN and/or ASIN in tow, you can then register your book with Books In Print, which is a bibliographic database that provides information and resources on books, authors, and publishers. This step is not necessary if you opt out of purchasing an ISBN and are just using an ASIN.