How do you begin to write a book?
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- 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.
- 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
- Check
out the competition. Does the world really need another barbecue
cookbook, JFK bio or post-apocalypse teenage vampire sex novel? More about competition
- Come up with about ten possible titles, then cut back to three, and then one. More about choosing a title
- Even if you have no artistic talent, make some rough cover designs. More about covers
- 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.
- Cut that down to one sentence so you have a quick, comprehendable answer to "what's your book about?"
- Read books for authors. I've written a bunch.
- Write. How to deal with writer's block
- Oh yeah, if you plan to write poetry, forget about making money.
- 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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