What You Need To Do If You Want To Write A Book

It's not impossible. Not anymore.

Writing a book used to be QUITE difficult. Not only did you need to write it all before you even knew if someone would select you out of a mass of applicants, but there was no guarantee that your hard work would be turned into a book anyway - because traditional publishing houses are... picky.

They don't just pick anybody. These days, they pick mostly celebrities or TikTok influencers. (Just kidding. Kind of.) You likely need to be a traditional celebrity or someone of substantial influence on a popular technology platform, like YouTube, Instagam, or you gotta be, like, TikTok Famous.

People like Michelle Obama? They can just... write books. And have massive publishing houses say yes. It isn't so easy for everybody else.

Now, there's one thing I want to mention before I move forward, and it's something that may come as a surprise to you.

Not everybody should write a book.

"Pardon? Aren't you like, trying to help anybody who wants to write a book... write one?"

No. Not anybody. People who have a beneficial story to share, and who want to share it via writing and publishing.

And while I do believe that we ALL have a story to share, not everybody is destined to become a published author.

Why?

It's a long process.

It's a high commitment project.

It requires a financial investment (in yourself)

It's not something that everybody has the patience (or skill) to accomplish.

It requires your own marketing and advertising.

It requires you to take a chance on yourself, and... It's hard work.

Writing a book (and then publishing it) IS. NOT. FOR. EVERYONE.

Just like not everybody should start a podcast. There are many people who have started podcasts because it was the "thing to do", and then have either stopped because they didn't enjoy it, didn't see the ROI from pursuing free work for a long period of time, or simply weren't well suited to the audio format.

You should not just write a book because you think you should write a book. Or because your sister's friend's cousin wrote and published one, and look at HER success. Or because someone else you know in your industry wrote one, so maybe you should too.

If you are well suited to writing a book, you'll know it.

How?

Here are some ways to tell:

1. You've thought about writing a book for a long time. Maybe "always" is a good adverb to describe your desire.

2. You have an idea for what you'd write about. Maybe you don't have the entire manuscript planned, but you have at least a little idea of what you'd write. A personal life experience, a journey through healing, or maybe explaining in long-form your method, system, or blueprint for helping people accomplish X.

3. You enjoy writing. This isn't mandatory, but you should at least have some interest in it, since you're going to be writing, like, 30,000 - 70,000 words at least.

4. You're already sharing. Maybe you talk casually about your story, journey, path, system, method, or idea on your social platform, your blog, or your podcast.

5. Becoming an author is a big goal of yours. A "bucket list" goal, you might say. Something you would feel very proud accomplishing and so, you don't mind the long-term commitment and investment in both time, money, and energy required to get going. Holding that finished product would be more than enough for you.

6. You're interested in creating a passive income stream. Yes, this is something probably everybody wants in some capacity - and it's definitely a benefit of self-publishing and promoting your book when it's finished. But you definitely need to be ready to receive the benefits of your hard work AND... you will have to tell people over, and over, and over again about your book. It doesn't sell itself.

7. You know your story (method, system, path, blueprint... etc.) has the power to help someone. Just one person, even. Chances are, if there's one person, there are many - but you need to be sure that what you're sharing will be helpful for people. That's who you're writing this for. To serve other people and help them, whether it's with information, advice, inspiration, or entertainment. People buy books to serve a purpose.

If you answered YES to at least 5 of the above statements, then sure as sh*t, you're probably a good candidate to pursue the book-writing process.

YAY! That's great news.

Now... what are you gonna write about?
How are you gonna structure it?
How are you gonna organize your topics?
Should you have sub-topics?
Should you have parts or sections?
Should you have information with your story, or should it just be your story?
Should you plan things ahead of time, or just write?
How long is it gonna take?
Should you write every day, or just once a week?
How many words should each chapter be?
How many chapters should each section be?
How are you going to find the time necessary to bang out your weekly word count?
What tools and tech will you need to get going?

AHH! So many questions, right? Self-publishing is available to everybody, but that doesn't mean it's EASY!

I told you already, it is going to take TIME. Energy. Resources. Strength. Patience. Trust. And at some points, money. But I DO have one shred of really great news for you... if you feel inspired to start, but don't want to invest anything until you KNOW...

I have a resource for you! It's called the Book Mapping Workbook, and it's the method I use when planning and organizing all my past (and future) books. It's full of information, resources, and worksheets to help you get organized AND - to test if what you want to say is actually worth writing an entire book. It will help answer all of the above questions. It will give you something tangible to get your ideas organized on. It will help get you started, going, and get/stay motivated. AND IT'S FREE! It's all yours. I want to support you in this journey, but the thing is - before you publish anything, you gotta WRITE IT!

YOU'RE WELCOME, FRIEND!!! Love ya! XO