So you want to write a book - Part 5

You’re getting close

When your writing is done, give yourself a pat on the back.  Well done.

But there’s more to be done before you can submit your manuscript to a publisher.

What else do you need to do?

Cover design

Your cover is your advertising. You want your cover to attract potential buyers to pick up the book and want to read more.

It is a very subjective process and can take time.  So build in enough time for it to happen so you end up with the cover of your dreams.  There are reasonable designers out there – Fivrr or 19 – allow you to post what you are looking for and then you can select the best that comes out of the process.   Or perhaps you know a graphic designer who can assist.

The wording on the back cover is important.  It should include a summary of what the book is about, not in detail, more a teaser so the reader wants to learn more. We used a testimonial of a celebrity who liked One Red Lipstick on the back of that book.   Her name gave the book credibility. 

Testimonials

Once you are close to done, send copies out to people who will speak with authority about the value of your book.  Five or six will do.  You just want a short paragraph from them.  Some folks will even ask you to write what you want them to say, so be poised and ready to do that.

Readers

You also want to have some colleagues read the book.  People you trust and respect who will give you honest feedback.  When I was writing Day by Day, I had a group of friends read the draft manuscript and as a result made some changes and added sections.  It is good to have the objective feedback.

Copy editing

While you may be a good writer, I know for myself, I am not the grammar queen and so having a professional copy editor tidy up the manuscript is money well-spent as you want your book to be a professional reflection on yourself.  Typos and grammar mistakes don’t instil the same confidence in what you have to say and can distract from the important message you want to convey.

This post is part five of a series on writing books by Anne Day, President of Full Circle Publishing and author/editor of five books on Women and Entrepreneurship.  Her next book, co-authored with Amy Vodarek will be coming out in Spring, 2017

So you want to write a book? - Part 4

A deep dive into why you are writing this book

As I alluded to in the last article, often our first draft is just that, a first draft.  Hate to tell you, but likely one of many. The good news is that with each version you are getting closer to the final, finished product.

 But let’s get back to the beginning for a moment.  Early on I asked you why you were writing your book?  Who was your potential reader? And what were your key messages?

Has that changed?  Because sometimes it does as you go deeper into your topic and learn more.  Sometimes the writing process digs up more than you expected in your personal life. Stuff you’d kept under wraps.  Your decision is whether to include these insights or stories in the book, and only you can decide what gets included and what gets left out.  But just a heads up that writing can stir up issues you thought were long gone.

The clearer you can be on what you want to achieve through your book, the better it will be.  By clarity, I mean the key messages, the outcome for the reader, and yes, what you want to get out of it too.  If it is making a fortune through your book, I hate to disappoint you, but unless you are Stephen King, making lots of money as an author is a pipe dream.

What a book does is it gives you is credibility.  We live in a society that admires and respects people who have written a book.  If you are in business, your book can become a platform from which to establish yourself as an expert.  In fact it is often through public speaking that you sell the most books.

There will be times when you feel like giving up.  It is then when you want to remember your why.  Why you are doing this in the first place.  It is that why that will give you the tenacity to carry on.

Taking a break is OK too.  Sometimes coming back a few months later gives you a fresh perspective and a renewed enthusiasm for the project.

Personally I find it hard to write when I am not in the “flow.”   I am far better off to “step away from the computer” take a walk, do something else rather than force myself to write when I am tired and not feeling that creative.

Having said all this, there is something very rewarding when a reader contacts you to say that your words have been helpful, resonated and made a difference.  That’s when you know you are on the right path.

This post is part four of a series on writing books by Anne Day, President of Full Circle Publishing and author/editor of five books on Women and Entrepreneurship.  Her next book, co-authored with Amy Vodarek will be coming out in Spring, 2017

So you want to write a book - part 3

One chapter at a time

Format

Michael Hyatt recommends a template approach to writing your chapters, and when we were writing Good Enough? we found this concept helped shape our book.  It goes something like this:

Opening quote to set the stage for topic to be covered.

Brief introduction to the topic – why included.

Stories to illustrate message

Learnings to be gleaned

Next steps for the reader

Now obviously it depends on what you are writing about, but as a self-help book on getting over self-doubt, we found this formula worked well.

Chapter length

In her book Got your Attention, Sam Horn talks about the length of your chapters. Basically she advocates that less is more.  We live in a time when people are easily distracted and to keep their attention, you have to keep the chapters short and sweet. 

Ten pages is the maximum she recommends.  This may mean leaving out some information that you feel is important, but you can re-organize your chapters, or as she shares, leave it out.   Better to keep the reader reading and wanting more, than to lose them early on.

Chapter titles

Think about what you look at before you buy a book.  Usually it is the back cover blurb, and then a flick through the content and chapter titles.  If the titles resonate with you – sold, you buy the book.   It is therefore really important to come up with catchy titles, ones that will convey what the chapter is about and will have meaning to your potential reader.  This is not the time to be too cute however.  You want your potential buyer to grasp easily what the book is all about.

Your reader

Just a quick word about your reader.  In working with authors at the beginning stages of writing their books, I sometimes find that the reader is overlooked. That first draft becomes more about the author and less about the reader.  At some point, it will be important to give more thought as to what your reader needs to know, how the reader is feeling and what is helpful to the person reading your book.  Consider your first draft then as cathartic – it is all out there and then you can pick and choose the most relevant sections to include in draft 2.

This post is part three of a series on writing books by Anne Day, President of Full Circle Publishing and author/editor of five books on Women and Entrepreneurship.  Her next book, co-authored with Amy Vodarek will be coming out in Spring, 2017