Writing a book seems like a daunting task.  50,000 words on a single subject?  How are you supposed to do that?  It’s so overwhelming that the majority of people give up part way through.  They might start their book, but they certainly don’t finish it.  Did you know that 81% of people want to write a book?  Actually, that was according to a NYT article from 20+ years ago – that number is far greater with the relative ease of publishing these days.  Wanting to write a book, and knowing how to write a book are greatly different.

Many people have an incredible story in them, and expertise that they’ve developed over the years.  However, when it comes down to it, only 3% of people finish writing their book.  What happened?  Why did that passion fizzle out when things got hard?

From what I have seen, it’s largely due to a lack of guidance.  They simply don’t know what to do.  That story is there, but it takes a little more than just sitting down and furiously typing at the keyboard to get it out.  Having a story is one thing, but where do you go from there?  It takes thought up front to map it all out.  You have to decide who the book is for, what they should know when reading it, what your readers should do after they’re done.  When you have the prep work done, it gets a little bit easier.

Writing a book is achievable by nearly everyone.  Though most people don’t have the guidance they need to really get it done.  And that’s why those books sit as word documents on their computers.  And year after year they go unfinished, untouched, and ultimately forgotten.

This guide will help get you there.  I will teach you how to write a book, and how to take that idea in your head, and end up with a book in your hand.

Defining Your Book’s Purpose and Audience

One of the biggest mistakes new writers make, is they jump right into the story.  They have all this information bouncing around in their head, and they are told, “You should write a book!”  However, they don’t know how to write a book, and largely the only training they have had is a handful of English classes in high school and college.

If that’s you, take all of that information that you learned on writing, crumple it up, and throw it out the window.  Then go out there and pick it up, because littering is naughty.

Really, though, most of what you learned about essay and thesis writing isn’t going to apply when you’re writing a book.  That’s because they have entirely different purposes and audiences.  And unless you define these and get them figured out before you jump into your writing, your book can end up with a whole bunch of loose ends, unresolved conflicts, and your audience won’t know what to do.

Before you get into writing it, you need to gain clarity by knowing your audience, your goal, and the reaction you want to provoke.

Who do I want to read this book?

If you say, “everyone” then you’re on the absolute wrong track.  Yes, we do want everyone to read the book, because that means more sales, notoriety, and riches beyond your wildest dreams.  However, if you try to speak to everyone, you speak to no one.  Just like in marketing, you have to define your audience.  What many people don’t realize, though, is that just because you have a target audience that’s highly defined, you don’t have to market to ONLY that audience.  That audience is the group of people who will most highly resonate with your book, story, and purpose.  But others will too.

What do I want them to do after reading this book?

If you’re writing a fiction novel, your goal might be to have them put it down, say, “That was nice, I liked that” and then they go looking for more work that you’ve done.  A noble goal, and one that millions of people chase every single day.  It’s a very (very) small fraction that hit it big.

That’s one of the reasons I stick with the non-fiction category.

Since we’re focusing on non-fiction books, your goals will ultimately extend beyond storytelling.  The goal is to set yourself apart as an expert in your industry, and being a published author establishes that authority.  Because when you write a non-fiction book, it can open things up to even more desired actions when the reader is done.  Do you want them to sign up for your newsletter?  Are you using the book as a promo piece for your business?  Are you landing clients for an online training course?  Perhaps you need the authority that a book builds so you can get public speaking gigs, consulting gig, or land that coveted seat on a board.

How do I want people to react to this book?

People miss this all the time.  It’s very different than the previous question, and even big-name authors can fudge this one.  Of course you want people to think it’s well-written, that’s just a given.  But what emotions and reactions do you want from people?

Here are a couple examples. 

Gabor Maté wrote one in 2022 called The Myth of Normal which challenged our beliefs (in western culture anyway) about what trauma is, and how we heal.  He wanted people to be furious with modern medicine, and passionate about reclaiming their health.

Shane Fichter wrote one in 2025 called Addict.  An autobiography that told stories of how he grew up in poverty to a drug addicted mom, then became an addict himself but overcame it.  He wanted people to be shocked, but inspired to go do great things.

Long before you start typing out the words to your book, you want to be able to thoroughly answer these questions.  Because if you just launch into your story and expertise, now you’re just relaying information.  The book will probably be good, but if you want to learn how to write a great book, then it takes some planning so your stories and expertise can build up to the ultimate goal purpose that resonates with your chosen audience.

Get all of the details about how to define your book’s purpose and audience.

Choosing Your Topic and Unique Angle

One of the hardest things to do is narrowing down your niche.  But it’s also one of the best things you can do to really get in front of the right people.  When you’re writing a book, you want to use one book to show off one area of expertise.

Why Choosing the Right Topic Matters

Scattered books don’t sell.  There’s actually a whole lot more to that, but the idea is that if you try to include too much in your book, you won’t appeal to everyone; instead, you’ll appeal to no one.  When you narrow down your topic, it will be a whole lot easier to home in on the right audience.

Why Broad Audiences Don’t Work

A couple of examples of how this works.  Maybe you’re a physical therapist, and you work with a few different target audiences.  One of your audiences is all athletes who are recovering from injuries.  Another is older folks who have had joint replacements.  A third might be accident victims who suffered from traumatic brain injuries.  You could write a book that included blanket concepts, but one that focuses just on those targets would be a heavier hitter.

Or, perhaps you have a lot of expertise and focus on leadership.  Leadership is such a huge concept, and filled with so many vagueries (that’s a new word, I claim it as my own.  Yes, I know I could have said filled with so much vagueness, but I wanted to make up a word) that it can be hard to write a general “Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Leadership” type book.  However, you could write a book on the “Five Essentials of Leading Teams of 10 or Fewer.”  That would hit hard with a whole bunch of employers.  Or, alternatively, “How to Effectively Lead Teams of 1,000 or More” which would capture an entirely different demographic.

How to Find Your Unique Angle

Step one is to figure out your topic.  Really focus in deep on it.  For example, if this was a full-length book, I could write a book called, “How to Write a Book.”  It’s not super specific – it’s not targeting a particular demographic, but it’s specific enough that people who want to write a non-fiction book (they would have to get that information from the back of the book, I don’t really deal in fiction), they would say, “Hey, this could help me in the process.”

There is, however one little twist.  A hurdle we need to overcome.  That is the fact that really no matter what you write, it will have been written before.  And the thing is, this isn’t a new concept.

“What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.”  Ecclesiastes 1:9 NIV

This Bible verse is really just talking about the ins and outs of everyday life.  You get up, you eat breakfast, you go to work, you come home, eat dinner, and the next day you do it all again.  It does show, however, that thousands of years ago, we were basically going through the motions, and nothing really that new was ever getting done.

If you write about what you’ve learned in leadership, it’s likely that it’s been written before.  The same goes with basically any other topic there ever was.

Quick Test: Is Your Topic Too Broad?

• Can you explain your book’s purpose in one sentence?
• Do you know exactly who would benefit most from reading it?
• Does your idea answer a specific problem or question?

If you answered “no” to any of these, your topic (and audience) likely needs more focus.

Once your topic and audience are defined, you can structure your unique angle.  Put a spin on it and shake things up a little.  Most of this can be done by weaving your personal stories into your book.  Just because the concepts are all there, the way you have experienced them has never been experienced by anyone else before.  So, weave those stories into your book, and you’ll have a unique spin on a proven concept.

Get all the details on choosing the perfect angle for your book.

Outlining and Structuring Your Book

It’s estimated that 70% of writer’s struggle with finishing their book because they don’t know how to keep moving forward.  Potential authors set out to write, but they have no clear idea on what they’re communicating.  Even after figuring out purpose, targeting your audience, and determining your unique angle, there’s more work to do before you even start writing.

What Happens if You Don’t Structure Your Book

I heard a story recently about this very thing.  Over the years an author had been journaling.  Thoughts, emotions, and events were all recorded, by hand, in her journals.  Eventually, she had filled a lot of notebooks, and decided she wanted to turn those thoughts and journals into a published book.  Her idea was to merely type every journal entry, and that was a new chapter in the book.  Easy, right?

It’s not quite so easy.  First, that would certainly get your ideas, thoughts, and dreams printed, but it really doesn’t align with the first two goals.  Second, journals tend to be very scattered.  They need compiled, duplicate thoughts condensed into one, and the book needs a structure to it so it flows.

If you’ve already started to write, and you haven’t figured this part out, don’t panic.

An outline is what will guide you in your writing.  It’s often overlooked (even popular writers, like Stephen King, claim it’s not necessary and every aspiring author takes that to heart), but it keeps your content focused and consistent.  When authors try to skip this part, saying they already have all their stories and concepts in mind, and they know what to write about.  But once they start writing, they forget them.  They get into the groove and realize they have to go back and figure out how to weave another concept, idea, or story into the overall text.

Why You Should Outline Your Book

Outlining is one of the most overlooked steps when learning how to write a book.  By mapping it all out first, you know exactly where each part of the story belongs.  You can review those stories, jot them into the overall theme, and not worry about missing parts.  Before you write, you get all of this down, so when it’s time to write, you aren’t worried about missing something.  You merely pick up at the next bullet, and write a chapter around that concept, prompt, or notation.

Your outline isn’t just a static piece either.  It’s a guide so you know every part of the book that you’ll write.  Then, you have to rearrange your outline.  Structure it so it makes sense.  Keep in mind that a chronological timeline isn’t always the best structure for your book.

If you’re writing your autobiography, you might want to start at the beginning and work your way to the end.  But what if you’re weaving in life lessons and concepts?  Maybe instead of the overall focus being on your story, it might be on the concepts.  In this situation, instead of going year by year, you go concept by concept with flashbacks that take you back to the original lesson and how you learned it.

When you have your book outlined so you know all the key points, and then you have it structured so you know how to tell it.  Then, you can start writing keeping your primary intent and target audience in mind as you do.  Guide them toward the action that you want them to take at the very end.  When this is done the right way, they won’t really realize they’re being influenced by your amazing story.

Get all the details on how to outline and structure your book.

Writing Strategies and Staying Motivated

There are two types of “I’ve always wanted to write a book” people.  The first is the one that has an incredible idea.  An idea that would turn into a fantastic story, filled with inspiration, guidance, and motivation for the readers.  But they don’t know where to start.  They don’t know how to write a book, and instead of giving it a go, they simply don’t even begin.

The other type has something written.  Perhaps a good portion of the book written.  But then they run into roadblocks.  Perhaps they don’t know how to accurately express themselves.  Or maybe they can’t find the information they need to back up their claims.  Maybe it’s just that life has gotten in the way, and they set the project aside for later… but never pick it back up.

It’s exciting to want to write a book.  It’s exciting to get started on that book.  Then, when you’re in the thick of it, that excitement wears off.  Soon it can feel like a bit of a chore, and you’re slogging through something you still care about, but it’s just taking so long.  There are ways to combat this sluggish period; learn how to stay motivated to write a book.

Writing Strategies to Guide Your Writing

One of the best ways to keep on plugging away, is to create your writing habit.  Just like you get up in the morning, brush your teeth, shower, put on your shirt and tie (largely without thinking about it), you should be writing in the same manner.  The difference, of course, is that when you’re writing you are thinking about what you’re typing.

Staying consistent is one of the biggest challenges people face when they’re figuring out how to write a book.  Even after nailing their outline, the sometimes tedious work of actually writing can slow you, or stop you.

To encourage your brain to prioritize your time at the computer, you have to develop a series of prompts that will trigger the internal motivation.  The goal here is to make it so ingrained, that if you skip your time at the computer, you feel like something is off and make it so you’re uncomfortable with not writing.

We can take some advice from Robert Cialdini in his book Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion.  Near the beginning of the book, he talks about a mother turkey and the natural instinct to protect her babies.  It’s so ingrained in the brain that whenever the mother hears the “cheep cheep!” of her babies, she moves in to protect.  Without the “cheep cheep!” however, she doesn’t.  Through a series of experiments researchers were able to mimic the “cheep cheep!” and caused the mother turkey to protect her babies, even when there was no danger.  They then put the babies in danger, but didn’t use the “cheep cheep!” noise, and the mother turkey didn’t protect her babies.

Setting up your environment in a way that makes you almost instinctively move to go start writing is how you can keep things progressing, even when you’re suffering from lack of motivation.

Staying Motivated to Keep Writing

No matter how many habits and structures you put in your day, there will be times where you just don’t want to sit down and write.  This often comes when you’re in the middle of the book.  The thrill of starting has worn off, but you’re still thousands of words away from the end.  These are the times you need to “trick” yourself into thinking this isn’t going to be boring.

There are a bunch of great ways to do this, here are two that work really well.

Give Yourself a Writing Deadline

Not necessarily for the entire book, because a deadline that’s 6 months from now is easy to fudge – you’ll put it off to the last minute.  Instead, give yourself a deadline to finish that chapter.  You can go as far as penalizing yourself if you don’t meet your deadline, but generally speaking if you build it up in your head that, “by Friday at 5pm, I have to be done with this chapter or I won’t be able to publish it” works quite well.

Mix Up Your Writing a Bit

Maybe you’re in a part of the book that’s just kind of boring to write.  No action, no big “aha” moments, but completely necessary to set the stage so you can build up to those things.  It’s a situation you’ve explained a billion or more times, and you just can’t slog through it again.  So, skip it.  Move right on to the next section.  Something that is more exciting to write, or more interesting to write.  After you get your mojo flowing again, then go back and chip away at the stuff that you aren’t as thrilled about.

There are so many other strategies to keep going and stay motivated, can you think of any?

Get all the details on how to stay motivated and inspired.

Editing and Revising for Clarity

There’s a quote, often misattributed to Ernest Hemingway, that says, “Write drunk, edit sober.”  The literary man himself never actually said that, and in reality, it’s horrid advice.  Trust me, I’ve tried it, and my writing was so bad and scattered that it was actually faster to completely scrap it and start over and write while sober.

That doesn’t discount the fact that you’ll need to edit your writing.  This is, however, where some people get a little wonky.  They think they can act as their own editors, so they write the book, then read through it and check for grammar, sentence structure, and all that fun stuff.  The problem is that you know what’s going on in the book, and you’re going to gloss over some glaringly obvious spelling mistakes and inconsistencies.  Here’s how I tackle that issue.

Edit as You Write Your Book

First, I edit as I write.  Because I sometimes write thousands of words per day, I found it extremely helpful to be able to write in a way that basically doesn’t need much editing afterward.  Again, though, that doesn’t mean I don’t have to do any editing, nor does it mean I shouldn’t send my material off to a copy editor.  It just means I do this a lot, so I’ve developed that skill.

Edit After You Write Each Chapter

For others, I suggest something sort of similar.  Don’t wait until the very end to go through, but rather do this at every chapter.  Proofread your chapter, note your errors, and fix them.  When you’re done with the entire book, do it all again – cover to cover.  It usually helps to have someone else read it as well.  Before it heads off to the copy editor, have other people read it and mark it all up.  This will help with the clarity of the book.

Improve the Clarity in Your Writing

A big mistake new writers run into is that their writing is unclear.  Because they’ve told this story (at least in their heads) so many times, details start to be skipped.  Some of them aren’t necessary for the story and only serve to enhance the overall storytelling.  But leaving them out creates a book that’s just kind of dry.  Readers often won’t know what’s wrong, or why the story kind of sucks, but they can sense that it just doesn’t hit heavy like it should.

This is precisely why you need friends and family to read it with a critical eye, and tell you when you need to make something clearer, better, or more detailed.  However, the problem is that they aren’t trained writers either.  Some things might still get missed.

Developmentally Edit the Book

One of the services I offer is called developmental editing.  Most people have never heard of a developmental editor before, but essentially this process goes through the entire book, and checks for issues.  For example, I helped Dave Nordel with his book.  At one point he was telling a story about how as a child he learned this unique leadership technique.  As he was relaying what happened, he said something along the lines of, and I very badly paraphrase here, “That’s when Tim wandered over, and told me I was wrong…”  The issue wasn’t that Tim wandered over to tell him he was wrong.  The issue was that he didn’t establish Tim as a character in his book.  That was the first, and the last mention of him, and I was left scratching my head saying, “Who’s this guy?  Why do we care?  What makes him an expert on this activity?”

I marked it so that Dave could go back and add a paragraph explaining Tim, his expertise, and why he was telling Dave that he was wrong.

Revising for clarity can mean simply updating information so the reader isn’t left wondering what happened, or it can mean completely restructuring the book to flow just a little bit better.  No matter how it’s done, you want your reader to have a smooth experience, one where they feel like they can’t put the book down and the next thing they know, they’ve finished it.

Publishing Options – Self vs Traditional

Once your book is written, there’s still this impending feeling of overwhelm.  How the heckfire do you take a word document and turn that into a book?  Well, you have two broad options when it comes to being published.  You can tackle it on your own and self-publish (this is a bit of a misnomer, because you don’t have to do it entirely on your own), or you can go with a traditional publisher.

Which direction you take impacts cost, speed, control, royalties, and sometimes even credibility. Often, you don’t have as much of a choice as you might think, many of the big-name traditional publishers won’t look twice at a new author that doesn’t have huge name recognition, and a following that’s already into the hundreds of thousands.

Your decision will be based on how much control you want, what upfront costs you’re willing to pay, how fast you want this done, and how much you desire in royalties.

Taking the Self-Publishing Route

Most new authors today will go with self-publishing.  Using existing platforms, like Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), IngramSpark, or Barnes & Noble’s self-publishing platform make for simple and straightforward options.

Amazon (KDP) is where most people already shop for books.  It’s built into the online retail giant’s website, and holds a massive market share.  It’s simple to set up, has a big reach, and an enormous audience.  You don’t have to choose only one place to upload, but you want to capitalize on this one especially because you have a much better chance of being discovered organically using their built-in search tools.

That said, self-publishing is easier, faster, and relatively low risk when the books are largely done print-on-demand.  It comes with a few perks:

• You are in charge of the creativity behind the book. You get to choose the cover, the title, the layout, and the pricing of the book.  Editors and designers, of course, would help with some of this.
• Once the book is written, you can go from manuscript to published book in a matter of weeks.
• Your royalties will be the highest; 30 – 60% for print and as high as 75% for digital books.

There are trade-offs, though.  Some things will fall on you which you’d rather someone else take care of:

• Costs for editing, design, ISBNs, and marketing are your responsibility. No big network to tap into here.
• You take full responsibility for the book and the business that might be associated with that book.

Self-publishing is a popular option because it’s often easier to get into it (when you can’t find a traditional publisher that will pick you up).  Costs range from a few hundred dollars if you edit and design on your own, on up to a few thousand dollars when you hire professionals to really look your stuff over.

Taking the Traditional Publishing Approach

For those that have different goals, there is the traditional publishing approach.  For many this isn’t an option due to the exclusivity (it’s highly competitive), but there are a couple of other reasons you wouldn’t want to go with a traditional publisher.  First, the perks:

• Prestige factor is higher. They said your book was good enough, and it’s not just you publishing your thoughts.
• Resources are built in. Editors, designers, and marketing teams are all working toward your success.
• Lower up-front costs involved since you’re not paying for those teams to polish the finished manuscript.

But there are some drawbacks that might make you reconsider:

• It’s time consuming to post queries, wait for answers, or track down an agent that will work with you.
• You lose creative control. Not just design, but sometimes the actual content of the book can be changed without your consent.
• You won’t make as much. Royalties drop considerably because the publishing company needs to recoup their investment.

Realistically, you’re actually looking at a 12 to 24-month process, and that’s after your manuscript is completed.  Taking it all into consideration, there is actually a third option.

Taking the Hybrid Publishing Route

A hybrid publisher combines (mostly) the best of both worlds.  Instead of you doing all the work to track down editors, designers, and figure out how to upload your book to these various platforms, the hybrid will do that for you.

You get all the perks of self-publishing, and some of the perks of traditional publishing, with one drawback: cost.  Choosing a hybrid publisher will end up costing more than self-publishing due to the fact that someone else is doing the legwork for you.

That premium (usually in the $6,000 to $20,000 range) gives you peace of mind knowing that you have expert guidance for buying your ISBN, accurately building your author accounts on the self-publishing platforms, editing, formatting, cover design, and some will even help with distribution.  Use caution for any vanity publishers that offer bestseller status, or guaranteed spots in a bookstore.

Depending on how long it would take, and where you value your time, this might be the right option and something worth considering as you learn how to write a book.

Marketing Your Book for Maximum Impact

Publishing your book is half the battle, but getting it into readers’ hands is where the real magic (and money!) happens.  This is where many first-time authors struggle when figuring out how to write a book that actually sells.  After you put in long hours, develop the idea, map it out, structure it, then you get it all written.  Editing and design go smoothly, not a whole lot for you to really put in except approval.  You get your ISBN, you’re uploaded to Amazon and Barnes & Noble, and then it goes live, woohoo!

You sit back and wait for the orders to pour in.

If that’s all you do, you’re going to be really quite sad when you don’t get a single order.  Because just like if you created the absolute best product in the world, but you kept it in your living room and didn’t let anyone know about it, then it would never sell.  Most new authors have very limited marketing budgets, so paying a company to spread the words isn’t an option.  You have to do it on your own.  Part of learning how to write a book is learning how to sell that book.

Here are three effective methods to market your book and get people to buy it.

Use Social Media the Right Way

Social media is a powerful tool.  However, there are ways to use it that really work well, and others that end up doing more harm than good.  When you’re using it to promote your work, follow the 70/20/10 rule.

70% of what you share should be value-driven content.  This is designed to attract and engage your audience.  Share something with them: tips, strategies, or insights.  The goal here is to create enough value that people want to keep coming back.

20% of what you post should be something personal or a connection building.  You want to show that you’re a real person, and you have dreams, goals, and struggles just like everyone else.

10% is promotional content.  This isn’t a “Hey, buy my book!” type deal, but announcements of a book launch, a free downloadable resource, or something similar.  You want to sell, without really selling.

One of the biggest mistakes I see is that people don’t put forth that 70% effort.  Instead, the bulk of their stuff is personal connection building (I’m guilty of this) or promotional content.  Too much personal stuff and people aren’t really sure what you do; too much promo stuff and they don’t want to follow you.

Do Book Signings and Invite Everyone

One way to double down on that 10% is to set up book signings in your area (or even outside of your area).  Most independent bookstores will love hosting a time when authors come and show off their work and sign books.  Bring some snacks and drinks, use your social media to promote the signing, and ask the bookstore to use their social media as well.  More people in the store for them means more sales, even if they’re not getting a cut on your own book sales.

A book signing, however, does very little good if few people come in.  Promote this sucker extensively!  Across your social media platforms, in your email newsletter list, text your friends and family and get them to come (and bring a friend).  Only about 10% of your social media following will even see your posts, so you need to encourage people who love what you’re doing to help promote as well.

If you live in a city that only has a couple independent bookstores, then you can branch out and capture other venues as well.  A couple of years ago I went to one at a local tap room.  The author had a table set out front, there was a band scheduled to play later, and there were craft beers on tap.  Some places might make you pay; others will like the idea that you’re bringing in extra customers and will waive the small charge they would otherwise impose.

Create a Streaming Book Trailer

Authors tend to shy away from video.  They’re communicating with the written word, and by golly they’re not going to encourage people to watch videos instead of read their stuff!  There is a great amount of overlap that can be done, though.

Instead of shunning video, embrace it.  There are a number of companies that will help you create a professional looking and sounding book trailer.  You can use those in your promotional material as you build up to your actual book launch.

No budget for a professional?  No worries!

Instead, get on camera and read an excerpt from your book.  Offer tremendous value, explain the thinking, and post that all over your social media accounts.  You can use this as part of the 70% of your posts that offer value, but it overlaps into the 20% when you explain the behind-the-scenes story of why you wrote that short passage, and it touches on that 10% as well when you encourage viewers to buy the book and get the entire story.

Marketing your book can look like an expensive task or a hard task.  But when you pay attention to what actually works, you can get it done relatively cheaply, and when you start seeing the patterns of posting and purchases, you can lean into that and maximize what actually works.

Common Pitfalls to Avoid

The publishing world is full of landmines.  Here’s how to avoid the most common mistakes that cost new authors time, money, and sanity.  Because as a new author, you don’t know what you don’t know.  Without the right guidance on how to write a book (and how to navigate the publishing world) many writers can fall victim to mistakes, scams, or really poor service providers that don’t exactly scam them, but don’t have the author’s best interest in mind.

Before you get taken for a ride, know these common pitfalls that can delay your book, cost you money, or worse, get your intellectual property stolen from you.

1 – Partnering with the Wrong Publisher

When you read through the publishing section, the last section is called Hybrid Publishing.  Long before Amazon came about, that was called Vanity Publishing.  The big difference here is how the publishing company represents themselves.

Vanity publishing tries to hide the fact that they’re a hybrid publisher.  While a traditional publishing company makes their money on book sales, the vanity publisher makes their money on charging you, the author.  Which isn’t always a bad thing, unless they overcharge you.

Watch out for phrases like, “Pay us to publish your book.” Or, “We’ll get you into bookstores.” Or, “We guarantee a bestseller.”  None of those are wrong in themselves, but when you hear them, take extra time to research what’s really going on.

2 – Paying Pretend Professionals

If you’re writing the book, you’re probably not in a good position to edit, design, and market the book.  You can certainly do some of that, but even if you have extensive editing experience, you need to have someone else that will get their eyes on the book.  So, what do you do?  You hire that out.

The first place most new authors go is onto Google and search for service professionals that meet their needs.  They search for an editor, and click the first result.  They find a cover designer, when they actually need a book designer – one that designs not just the cover but helps with interior layout, and enlist the help of a marketing company.

Then the new book looks awful, includes mistakes, and hardly sells anything.  Instead, read samples of work, read testimonials, and compare prices.  Remember, it’s a get what you pay for world; low cost usually means low quality.

3 – Purchasing Phony Publicity

It can be tempting to hire someone off Fiverr who guarantees a bunch of reviews for your book.  They’re usually really cheap, something like 25 bucks, and you’re guaranteed 100 five-star reviews overnight.  More great reviews mean your book will sell better, right?

Yes, it does.  But not like that.  Amazon’s algorithms are designed to reward sales (and how many you get in a certain time period), reviews (more stars are better, text that goes with the review even better), and traffic.  If you get 100 legit reviews, then your book certainly will be shown to more people.

However, when you purchase reviews you violate Amazon’s terms of service, the sudden influx of reviews (from non-verified buyers) is a huge red flag to their algorithm, and ultimately, you’re more likely to get your book removed or have your account shut down completely than you are to get more reviews.

A better way is to build things organically.  It’s more time and work, but it lasts longer.

Where Do You Go from Here?

Learning how to write a book doesn’t have to suck as bad as it seems like it might suck.  But it does take a little bit of work and time on your part to ensure you don’t spend even more time writing something that you’re passionate about, but ultimately flops because you don’t know what you don’t know.

The good news is that you don’t have to just dive in and try to figure it all out on your own.

There are actually three ways you can take that story in your head, and turn it into a book in your hand.  I’ll briefly outline them here, from those that take the most work on your behalf, to the least amount of work.

Research Online How to Write a Book

The World Wide Web is full of resources that you can tap into for free.  There are bajillions of YouTube videos if you’re all about watching.  There are tons of podcasts if you’re all about listening.  And there are oodles (that’s a fancy word for “a shit-ton”) of websites that will explain all the things.

This method can be done entirely for free.

But you’ll have to wade through a lot of crap, a ton of repeated information, and really annoying vloggers to figure it all out.  The trade-off is that you spend less money, but you spend more time.

Have Someone Teach You How to Write a Book

Alternatively, you can have someone teach you what you need to know.  Similar to all that vast amount of information I touched on just up there, there’s a vast amount of information held in the brains of people who have been there before you.

Some of those people have consolidated that knowledge into a course that will help you write your book.

Like any purchase online, read the reviews, make sure that it’s right for you, and know that some of it might be personal opinion.  However, when you purchase a course or training program, you can skip wading through all that crap, and have someone knowledgeable hand you what you need to know.

Skip it All and Have Someone Write it For You

Finally, you don’t have to do any of this yourself.  A ghostwriter acts on your behalf to write your story for you.  Through a series of interviews that ghostwriter will get to know you, know your story, and learn your voice.  He, or she, can then write your book in the manner you want it written.  In the end, your name is listed as the author, but you didn’t have to slog through all the hard work.

Some might say, “Yeah, but is it really my book if I didn’t write it?”  In the music industry there are so many popular singers that don’t write their own songs – they just perform them.  And in the non-fiction book world, it’s estimated that 60% or more of those books are actually ghostwritten.

This is your most expensive option, but it also can save you tons and tons of time.

Don’t Go It Alone – Help Writing Your Book is Available

No matter which route you choose, the key component is getting the right support, the support you need.  Because writing a book doesn’t have to be a solo journey.  As you learn how to write a book, it comes down to decision time.

Here’s what I can offer you.

I have a program called the Author’s Mastery Academy.  In this 6-month course, I’ll teach you exactly how to write your book.  We’ll go through the concepts talked about in this document you just read.  You will refine your audience, the goals of the book, and what you want people to do when they’re done reading.  You’ll learn exactly how to outline, structure, and develop the story so that it hits just right.  By the time we’re wrapping up, you’ll know how to purchase your ISBNs, create your Amazon author account, and ultimately get your manuscript uploaded so people can buy your book.  I even throw in some light developmental edits in there and some tips and tricks on how to market your book and how to make money beyond selling copies.

Sound like it’s up your alley?  Spots in the next AMA are limited, reserve yours today.