I just read a fascinating statistic that stated 81% of people want to write a book. That’s a lot of people. The truth is, though, that most people who want to write- and who might actually write a good book- may never actually do it, because it feels overwhelming and like too much work.
I’ve written a couple very specific niche coaching books which have been selling well since the early 2000’s. I recently just published one of them to Kindle, to take advantage of the new surge of consumers purchasing e-readers. The second of these books is 150 pages, and I wrote it in 30 days back in 2004.
I think everyone who wants to be profitably popular ought to consider writing a book. Even though publishing is changing, and the cachet of being a published author is now within reach of more people, I believe that, as a solopreneur, having a book because you actually wrote it– not just wanted to write it- still separates you out from others in your industry.
Aside from building your visibility and credibility, writing a book can also create a stream of income for you, as well as expert status, and can create more business opportunities for you as well.
While I think writing short reports, offering audios, and all the other product creation is also important, I do believe that having a book for your core business is still an important marketing and promotional strategy.
Even if you want to write a book, you might be feeling it’s too difficult and will require too much effort. So let me share with you a few tips I used to write my book in 30 days. These strategies work best for self-published books.
So here’s a few strategies for writing a book the easy way:
1) Make an outline.
An outline is crucial for including all the information you want to convey. Let’s say that a typical, traditional business book has 15 chapters. Each chapter is about 10 pages. So that’s how you get to a 150 page book. It’s vital to build your outline with a beginning, middle, and end- and make sure the content flows logically.
2) Set an approximate page number per chapter.
If you don’t know for sure, just use my guideline of about 10 pages per chapter. That’s a good starting point.
3) Create a document, and set up the chapters within it.
This helps you start the process of moving your dreams into physical action. Plus, once you set up a document, it’s a higher form of commitment- another set of actions past just outlining.
4) Add in any material you already have.
Chances are, if you’ve been marketing yourself at all, you have articles and blog posts and other content you can already use. In this step, you compile all those into one document, which can help you build your chapters quickly.
5) Next, set aside time in your calendar for 30 minutes a day for the next 30 days.
Devote this fully to writing your book, and try to do it first thing in the day. You’re more likely to stick with it when you get it done early.
6) Write.
7) Reassess.
After 30 days, note how far along you are, and either wrap up the book (you might be done, or close to it) or set a plan for the next 30 days.
and then, of course–> Get the book formatted correctly, publish it and PROMOTE it.
If you have a content-rich blog, you should be able to repurpose your content easily for your book. This, of course, is one way to do it- you can also use a service which turns your blog into a book. Check out sites like blurb.com, blog2print.com and blogbooker.com if you want to go this route.
The goal, as Nike says, is to “Just Do It!”
So you’ve got a book just dying to be written? We’re waiting….
