How do you begin to write a book?

1. Decide on your primary objective(s): Change the world, entertain the world, educate, inform, preserve memories, achieve personal fulfillment, have fun, make money, become famous, achieve higher status, get revenge, something else. Multiple objectives are fine—but not conflicting objectives. 
2. Decide on your target audience. If your audience is 'everyone,' it will be very expensive to reach them. If your target is too small, you may not sell enough books to make money. Your mother may be wonderful, but your potential sales of a book about her may be seven books. Or two. More on choosing a topic 
3. Check out the competition. Does the world really need another barbecue cookbook, JFK bio or post-apocalypse teenage vampire sex novel? More about competition
4. Come up with about ten possible titles, then cut back to three, and then one. More about choosing a title
5. Even if you have no artistic talent, make some rough cover designs. More about covers
6. Write a one-paragraph book description that could go on the back of the book cover and on booksellers' websites, and should keep you focused. This is like the "elevator pitch" that you could use to describe your book to someone you meet for a short ride on an elevator.
7. Cut that down to one sentence so you have a quick, comprehendable answer to "what's your book about?"
8. Read books for authors. I've written a bunch.
9. Write. How to deal with writer's block 
10. Oh yeah, if you plan to write poetry, forget about making money.
11. Think about how it's going to be published: (A) traditional royalty-paying publisher (difficult for a first-time author), (B) self-publishing company, (C) your own little publishing company. If you are considering A, this book will help. If you are considering B or C, this book will help. 
 

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