Want to write your own book?
Millions of people dream of someday writing a book – and the great news for you is that you can start doing that TODAY!
Writing a book is certainly a serious undertaking that will require some of your time and commitment to seeing it through, but beyond that, it is not nearly as complicated or as difficult as you probably think it is.
Thanks again to technology – and companies like Amazon – you have the power and the ability to create your own works and publish them to a marketplace of billions of people worldwide the instant you finish uploading your book to KDP.
That is far different from the not so long ago old days where you had to get past some random gatekeeper at a traditional publisher who could decide the fate of your writing career on their own – and most were simply rejected.
No more. They are removed from the equation!
You get to go directly to the readers and the readers alone decide – and chances are that if you write enough books you will get more than enough sales overtime to make it very worth the effort!
Who knows, maybe you will even have a best seller!
But before that can even be a real possibility you will first have to get your ideas and your stories out of your head and down on to paper – or into digital format.
Keep It Simple
Make life easier on yourself and make it as simple as you can to get your head around, and that increases the chance that you will actually start and complete your book.
I suggest you use an outline – regardless of whether you choose to write a fiction or a nonfiction book.
Go to Amazon and look for books that are similar to what you have in mind. Look at the table of contents, the length, and format. Many have a free preview or look inside function – take advantage of that. You might also want to buy and read a couple of books yourself – and not just to enjoy the content – but to study how it is made.
In other words, look at the chapters, the numbers of pages, how each page is built, how many paragraphs, words per paragraph.
Look at how the book is organized and how it flows from one chapter to the next.
Then go get a three-ring binder and some pre-punched college-ruled notebook paper. Buy or make some divider tabs you can write on to separate out your chapters.
Create an outline listing first on a sheet of paper the title of your book and what it’s about general story and related notes.
Then list out each chapter and give each one a name.
Create your table of contents using all that information and then create the first page for each chapter and put it in the appropriate section of your binder.
Start writing.
Set a Writing Schedule and a Deadline
Choose a time each day to write.
Then at that appointed time put your butt in the chair and write.
Be sure to do this every single day – at the very least six days per week, and write during that time. That time can be 15 minutes or more. Ideally one to two hours. But at least fifteen minutes no matter what, rain or shine – hell or highwater – butt goes in seat and writing gets done.
Estimate out how many words per session, and pages per week you are getting done – then look at the proposed length of your book (based on the others you looked at in your Amazon research above), and then you can extrapolate out how long you will need to finish your book.
Use that and set a deadline.
Things that are scheduled and have deadlines get done – things that don’t won’t. It really is that simple, so don’t make it a complicated opportunity for another excuse. Do – or not do – it is all up to you.
Writing time is writing time.
What I mean by that is that it is not research time, social media time, thinking time, or any other time – it is time for you to put words on the page. One way to help you do that is to set a timer… ready set go, and start writing as much as you can until the alarm goes off.
During that time there are no breaks, no other activities, no other thoughts – just crazy focus and write, write and write some more.
Do NOT EDIT!
Just write…
There will be time for editing later, but you need to finish the book first! Write!
You have two primary choices as to how you write – you can write directly on paper with pen and paper (or pencil) or you can type your words into your laptop or other computer program.
I do both depending on what I am writing. Nonfiction I prefer to write on my laptop for most of my work (in Word) and for training manuals and some other work I like to write on paper in a binder. Fiction work I prefer paper first, then the computer.
There is no right or wrong answer – just figure out what works for you and do that.
Soon enough if you do all that – your first draft of your book will be finished.
Time to Edit Your Book
A couple of things you should know.
The first is there is no such thing as a perfect book. Every book ever written has flaws and imperfections – yet they all exist whereas that work of perfection never will because its author keeps putting it off – or fiddling with it forever and never actually publishes the thing!
Get it good enough and launch it into the world.
By the way, I have found errors in practically every book I have ever read (thousands of books over my lifetime) and that also includes many of them which are textbooks. There are also errors in each of my published books and manuals and most of my articles and posts. Yet they all exist… they all communicate my thoughts and ideas, and provide a means for me to share specialized information with other people – people like YOU!
All that matters is that it is good enough to get the information, the story, and your ideas across clearly and in a way that does not become distracting and annoying to your readers. I do not mean the hand full of obnoxious readers who are closet wannabe (or actual ) school teachers or college professors either – but I mean the majority of your core readers.
As long as it is good enough to please them then it is good enough – and messing with it beyond that is a waste of time and effort – time you should be using to write your next book!
Now that we have that covered – start with your first edit yourself. Go back through it all and fix major spelling and related mistakes and issues.
Then you really need to go back through it at least one more time – and look hard for remaining major errors. A word of caution though – avoid the temptation to rewrite or add to your book! Just fix the problems you find and get ready to launch it.
You Need a Kindle Direct Publishing Account
Go to Amazon and sign up for a KDP account.
You can do that by scrolling to the bottom of the main Amazon page and looking for the link or just go to www.kdp.amazon.com and click the Sign-Up button then follow the directions there.
You can also go to YouTube and search “How to publish a book on amazon kindle direct publishing…” and watch a few videos there.
It isn’t rocket science – and you can figure this out if you want to, but you do have to take action to make it happen.
Once your first book is live – congratulations you are officially an author!
Next, you need to make some efforts to market your book. You can begin with free marketing by mentioning it on social media, your own site/blog, your own youtube channel, and other methods that will help get the word out and hopefully begin to get you some sales.
Want to learn more about building your own site/blog, youtube channel, and many other aspects of marketing? Consider joining my network inside Wealthy Affiliate – while the core training focuses on teaching Affiliate Marketing – many of the things you will learn will help you market anything better – including your own books.
That’s why I initially joined – in part anyway – was to learn how to better market my own books, my other publications, and especially my online courses on Udemy and other platforms. You can do the same and you can even get started doing all that for FREE too!
Technology affords you and me with opportunities that were unimaginable for people just a few years ago – and the business opportunities you have literally at your fingertips can change your life forever for the better.
Sound good so far? Good … then join me HERE.
Building Your Own Publishing Empire
There are a few more keys to your success that you really need to understand going in.
Most people think they are going to write just one book and are hoping to make a bunch of money off of it. Good luck with that!
It is NOT a reality for most people. While it is possible and has been done by some, it simply is not something that is possible nor is it teachable and replicable for the majority of people.
In other words, it is kind of like winning the lottery.
While I can teach you how to write and publish your own books, how to create your own online courses, and several other things – including as much as you will ever want to know about real estate and about trucking, and the other topics (niches) that I cover – what I can’t teach you is how to pick the right numbers to win the lottery.
Who knows, maybe you will get lucky – and maybe you will make millions and get a movie deal from your first book.
But just in case you don’t – know this – success is still possible for you over time with effort if you systematically and consistently do the work that needs to be done.
Part of that work is going to be to write another book and then create other publications over time. The more you create the better your overall sales, and the more people will find your work.
Courses work the same way.
When I created my first course it was soon selling and making a few dollars – but nothing to be excited about. But as I added more courses the numbers cumulatively kept going up (and still are!). The more courses I create the more money I make consistently and predictably month after month after month.
Publishing your own books works the same way.
You are going to need more than just one book (or course if you are interested in online courses) if you want to make more than just a few bucks from time to time. that is not a problem once you know and understand it going in – and now you do!
The way I suggest is looking at your business as a business and not just as a hobby – if you want a business that is. Every publication you create and launch into the world becomes another asset that is working for you non stop. The more you have the greater their combined power – and the more profit you will potentially make over time.
But it all begins with the first one.
I hope that helps and maybe at least inspires you to start taking action. Remember – I am happy to encourage and help you too, and you can join me and get my personal help as well by becoming a member of my network as a Premium member of Wealthy Affiliate. Try it free – then decide. Sound good? Then click HERE and let’s get started today!