Get Your Book Done Now

People say they have writer’s block, but what does that mean? Unless you are treating this as a hobby…book writing is a profession! You wouldn’t hire a plumber to fix your drain and when he gets there, he told you ” I have plumbers block”. If he did you would probably throw him out. You should look at your book writing the same way and don’t let anyone (even Satan’s tricks) get you off track.

I’m not comparing writing to plumbing, but if we follow the proper steps we can get the job done and much faster. Just like Drano melts away and unclogs the drain following certain steps when writing can start the words flowing like water from a faucet.

But what are these “steps”?

Unlike other professions authors operate under a whole different set of rules. Not many of us can just sit down and pound out a story. We see this huge story with all sorts of directions we want to take it, we see the cover, we see the characters, we see the market potential. Then we glance back down at our monitor and see a tormenting blinking cursor and blank screen. We have all these stories and nothing on paper. This is not bringing you closer to your goals. When writing your book, you take one step at a time. But to create these steps, you first have to break down your book into manageable, bite-size pieces. You do this by creating a TOC (table of contents) that can guide you through the book. Your TOC is your roadmap. If your chapters don’t have individual headings, then write a 2-3 sentence description of what the chapter encompasses Once the TOC is outlined, you’ll have a vision of your book from start to finish. A few things that creating this TOC will do for you: (1) It will show you any gaps in your story that might need to be fleshed out, and (2) it will give you a sense of completion, of seeing the book or project actually done.

Once you’ve developed your TOC, you’ll want to go through it and create a “to do” list. Regardless of what genre your book is, you will always have a to-do list. Whether it’s getting endorsements, doing research, or getting approvals for quotes or excerpts for your book, this to-do list will become yet another item that will help propel your book toward completion. I have a separate book for my to do list in which I also take notes on the book that I am writing about as I talk to others or do research.

I would also grab your favorite beverage, close the door and put a do not disturb sign out. I would try to free my mind and set aside x number of hours each day if not every other day but not any longer to get my book completed. When I set aside schedule time to do something on the book, even research, I find that it will be completed faster. You don’t have to spend hours, take 15 minutes, or even five — whatever your schedule permits and do something.

If this seems like a ridiculously short amount of time, consider this: You now have your to-do list and your outlined TOC. If you are short on time one day, pick a quickie item from your to-do list and get it done. If you have more time, then pound out a chapter or two. The idea behind creating the to-do lists and a TOC is to not only give your project a structure, but to also eliminate any and all excuses for getting it done. Don’t feel like writing today? No problem. There’s probably a mountain of research just waiting to be gathered.

If your book is all over the place and you do actually manage to get it done, you’ll never be able to keep a reader interested because you will be the only one who will get it, and what’s the point of that? What you’ll need to do in this case is find the “core” of your book or the focus of your story. Ask yourself this: What’s the one thing this book cannot do without? What’s the one thing this story circles around? That’s your core. If you’re still coming up with three or four things that your story circles around, you aren’t focused enough and neither is your book. Find that one thing and build your story or book around it. If you follow these steps, your book will get finished quicker than you could have ever imagined.

How Do You Publicize Your Book

Contrary to what people think, I feel that writers are faced with a lot of fears. Is my work good enough, will it be rejected, do I inspire people, how will I publicize my book, what if I get writers block? The list can go on and on.

I know I have been writing for years but never did anything with my writing. I did not want to share it with the world and would use it as my own personal journal. I was approached many times by others to step out on faith and get my work published.

When I finally took their advice and published my first book, I was told being an Indie writer I would have to make sure I publicize my book myself.  I was told it was an absolute must. I freaked out again.

Then after speaking with a few other people they said if you want to sell your books to the masses you need to be on the radio, on TV and social media. Yea right. How am I going to get on TV? Then I realize that I have to get out there and spread the word. The more the public hears about my book the better it would be.

Many bestselling authors say that talk radio is one of the best and most cost-efficient vehicles to get the word out. But what if you are a shy writer?

If you are a shy writer I would:

1. Start with a written plan. Write down your goals, what you want to accomplish and how you are going to accomplishing those goals.

2. Learn as much as you can about publicizing your book.

3. Learn how to do a Virtual Book Tour.

4. Schedule a book signing at a library, book store, or your home.

5. Become a guest Blogger.

6. Subscribe to another authors’ newsletter.

7. Join Book Groups or Meet Up Groups on Social Media.

8. Do whatever you can to get people talking about your book.

These are my recommendations on ways a Shy Author can publicize their book.

Six Secrets Of Writing A Book That Sells

You wrote a book now what? Did you write it because you wanted to keep a private journal of your activities or because you wanted something that would sale? It’s one thing to write a book, it’s an entirely different thing to write one that’s saleable. Ensuring the success of a book is something even the biggest publishers have not been able to guarantee. If you want to write a book that sales here are some recommendations. 1. Know your readers. We’re not just talking about whether your readers are male or female. You’ll want to know how old your readers are? If they are married, single or divorced? Where do they live? What they do for a living? What other books do they read? What do they do for a living?

It seems like a lot but when you are on the internet your actions are being monitored, why? Because those in control want to know all about your habits so they know how to market to you.

Knowing these elements will help you incorporate those aspects into your book *and* help you unearth salient marketing opportunities (i.e., publications and stores). 2. Know your market. What’s the market like for your book? If you are writing about bottles and nobody cares about bottles you are wasting your time. Do you have something of particular interest to you and your readers based on the profile you developed in recommendation 1.  Are you reading all the publications related to the topic you want to write about? Are there any “holes” out there your book could fill? What’s the future for this market/topic? For example, let’s say you’re a fiction writer looking to publish a book about making money. Go to any bookstore or library and find out as much information about making money that you can find.

3. Similar books. What else has been published on your topic? Have you read all ten books in your category? If you haven’t, you should. You’ll want to know everything you can about what’s out there and how it’s being perceived in the marketplace. It’s never a problem having a similar topic. All you have to do is angle your book differently.4. Getting and staying current.  What are some hot buttons? What are people looking for? What’s next on the horizon for this topic/audience? If you can’t seem to gather this information through traditional channels, why not survey your target audience? There are a number of places to run free surveys, Survey Monkey is one of them: http://www.surveymonkey.com

5. Follow the media. Keep track of what the media is talking about. Look into what they are writing about. Is there something that you are planning on writing about that is getting a lot of coverage?

6. Timing is everything. When do you plan to release your book?  Are you releasing around a holiday or anniversary? That can make a big difference in your book sales.