If you are a first-time author, there are definitely three mistakes you want to avoid!
Nothing is like the excitement of starting to write your first book. You have this great idea that you are sure the world needs. Perhaps you’ve been thinking about it for years.
Finally you fire up your computer, open a new document and begin clicking those keys.
Wait! There are few things you need be sure are in place before you get too far.
There are three mistakes you must avoid
1. Starting without a purpose
Why are you writing this book?
Do you want to get your story told, sold or used to spin gold?
Your purpose will determine how you proceed.
· If you are writing your story to be it told, you don’t care if it ever gets on the bestseller list. You just want to share it with family and friends. In this case you may not even want to go to the expense of getting an ISBN and having it posted on Amazon. You only need a few copies to distribute at the next family gathering. Memoirs, family cookbooks and poetry often fit into this group.
· If you are writing to get your story sold, you want your book to compete with others in your field. You are aiming for bestseller status and massive profits. When you have this as your goal you want to do the necessary research before you start to ensure that your book is well-positioned in the market and you have a platform to which you will market your book. Depending on your topic, a book in this group may need an index, a bibliography, charts, research findings, activities and more.
· If you are planning to use your book to spin gold, you are writing your book not to sell, but to give away to attract new clients or customers to your business or service. Your book will be used to build your credibility and increase visibility. Authors often use ebooks for this purpose, but many use paperback and even hard back books for this purpose as well. Although books in this category often have an ISBN number, and may
even be listed on Amazon and other online booksellers, sales figures are not the author’s primary concern.
2. Starting without a platform
A few centuries ago, authors may have written their books without too much concern for who would be reading their books, but as a modern author you can’t proceed without a platform.
Platform is a marketing term that refers to the relationships you have built up with potential book buyers before your book is even published. A platform is regular readers and commenters of your blog, friends on Facebook, followers on Twitter and connections on LinkedIn. Even if you aren’t familiar with these sites you will need to learn how to use them. They are the modern equivalent of word-of-mouth, only lots faster and deeper.
Traditional publishers will not even consider publishing your book if you haven’t created a following that will ensure that you have a target group to which you will market your book.
Even if you decide to self-publish, you will benefit from building a platform in your niche. The fastest way to do that is to sign up for the key social media sites: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube. Begin posting tips, quotes and relevant information that are helpful to your readers. The more valuable your postings, the more you will attract followers.
3. Staring without an outline
The benefit of building a platform is you learn what your followers want and can steer your book toward their needs.
Now you can create a tighter niche that has a higher possibility of generating high sales. Think about these groups:
· A self-help book for women is far too broad.
· A self-help book for women who are also single moms
· A self-help book for women who are single moms raising an autistic child
The third group has fewer women than the broad category of women, but it targets women who are highly motivated to find information through books, groups, and services for which they have immediate and daily need.
Now, with the information you gathered as you built your platform with this target group you are able to create an outline for your book.
Your outline can be a traditional linear one or a graphic concept map. Either way, the components of your book are the key questions you will answer in your book. They are likely to become the chapter headings.
Follow these tips and you will avoid the three common mistakes first-time authors make. Now you can go back to clicking those computer keys.
10 Tips For Writing Your Book Fast
While you may think that your book would be perfect for everyone, it will be easier to write and more likely to be a hit if you direct it at a specific group. A book for pet owners is far too broad, and will only be able to give cursory attention to all the aspects of pet ownership.
Making Money From Your Writing
All successes are preceded by failures, setbacks, twists and turns. So, unless you have prepared for this early period with sufficient savings, keeping your job is strongly advised. I speak from experience.
You Can Write a Book
If the story you’ve been writing about yourself is that you can’t write, you’re not an author, or writing a book is for smarter people, then you’ve been living out that story up until now. It’s not a true story, but you’ve been living as if it is.
