Two of the most common book writing questions that come up on our blog and from our members over at InfoMarketersZone are:
"I want to write a book, but what kind of book should I start with?"
and
"Where do you start when writing a book – what’s the procedure look like?"
Great questions – I’m sure you have thought of similar issues if you have considered or have gone through the process of book writing on your own.
Here’s a couple of answers that should be helpful in working past these book writing questions:
"I want to write a book, but what kind of book should I start with?"
Before jumping into some potential answers, let me be a pain in the ass and ask a counter question – no it’s not just to piss you off, just to make your book writing more of a reality than it has ever been.
First, I would ask – what is your goal in writing the book.
Common goals include:
- Get wealthy – to which of course I have to ask "And what about writing a book makes you think you will achieve wealth" – which usually leads back to either 1) the mis-guided assumption on how much the typical book returns to the author or 2) an advanced understanding of the role a book can play in building your online "platform" leading to additional profit
- Become famous – which also requires additional clarification – "what specifically will make you feel famous – seeing your name in print, having your family buy your book, making 100 sales to strangers, being interviewed on Larry King?" It’s important to be very specific about exactly what you want to achieve
- Share knowledge that will help others – if this is your main goal then you want to make sure your topic is as widely read as possible by your target audience – that will give you more satisfaction
- Help you start a new, more fulfilling career – to which we discuss what it really takes to be a successful information entrepreneur which involves more research and marketing than it does writing – that one’s usually a big kick in the pants for those that have dreamed of escaping their job to become introverted writers so they never have to speak or hear from another individual again!!
Anyway…you see that it’s important to get a grip on what is behind your gut feeling about what it takes to write a book.
If you seek wealth, fame and fortune – then writing kids books may not be the way to go or if you seek to help others then writing fiction is not likely your fortay (unless you see entertaining them is how you intend to improve their lives and GOD KNOWS we can all use some decent entertainment)
Bottom line – do a little soul searching before you seek answers from someone else about what type of book you should write.
"Where do you start when writing a book – what’s the procedure look like?"
I understand that it’s important to understand the entire process, procedure and project plan of what it takes to write and market your own books – and yes there are allot of steps to keep track of.
That’s why one of the most popular items within our InfoMarketer’sZone is the Ultimate Successful Book Writing Checklist – it gives two ordered checklists, one broken down by various tasks and one broken down by week over a 6-week period.
Here are some of the tasks you need to take into account:
- Market definition and idea/opportunity discovery
- Concept testing and idea testing
- Creating an Online Presence (Websites, Blogs, etc…)
- Surveys and finding evidence of red-hot demand
- Book or information product outlining
- Building your online list and brand
- Book writing and information product development
- Getting testimonials
- Planning product launch
- Building affiliates and joint venture partner network
- Getting published
- Product launch and improving profits
- Back-end, UP-sell and Cross-Sell strategies
- Turning a one product business into a thriving enterprise
That roughly breaks down the order of the book writing process you need to follow as outlined and taught over at InfoMarketersZone.
Surprised to see how many non-writing tasks there are in the book writing system?
That’s the difference between a writer or author that sells and one that doesn’t
Jeff
