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Inspired? Would you like to see your name on this website and your book up on those bookshop shelves? This is where we bring you a round up of writing tips, ideas and hints. | The Secrets of Writing a Non-Fiction Book |
by Paula Gardner People often ask me about my book, Get Noticed. How long did it take to write? How did I find the time? What impact has it had on my business? Today I've decided to write about writing a non-fiction book as a way to boost your credibility, income and publicity. Deciding What To Write Almost all of the clients I see have an idea for a book in there somewhere, often bubbling just beneath the surface. But, similarly, sometimes when they describe their great idea I've got a funny niggly feeling that I've heard it before ..and I probably have. So the first thing that you should do is check out the competition. What other titles are there on your chosen subject and how do they compare to the book you want to write? And how can you amke yours better? If there aren't any then it's either time to start rubbing your hands with glee or give up on the idea altogether as it may mean there's little or no market. Investigate further! Cheat A Little I must admit that I was very lucky when it came to writing own book Get Noticed as I had about a year's worth of newsletters that I could use to give structure and content to the book. What I had to do was turn my material into a realistic and practical course that worked as well as made sense. The good news is that if you've been writing newsletters or blogging for a while you probably have got a lot of ready-made material for your book already. Now, does that seem less scary? You Don't have To Do The Whole Thing At Once Publishers often don't want to wade through the whole book initially so if you've got a couple of chapters and a synopsis already then you can get things moving and get those out to publishers and carry on with the rest of the writing whilst you wait. Get Inpsired I love Julia Cameron's idea of Morning Pages as shown in book The Artists Way. The ritual or doing the morning pages is extremely creatively liberating. It's like pushing a button that just produces a flow of writing - fiction, non-fiction, even poetry for me. Put it into Ebook Format This means that you can test the market, gauge reactions and change the book a little if necessary. You can also sell the book from your own website and keep all the profits. Blog it! Blogs aren't just for PR or writing about what you had for breakfast you know. Blogging is a great way to get your thoughts up there and out in the world and disciplining yourself to write regularly means that you'll not only be boosting your business, helping search engine optimisation but also helping build up material for your book - and this works with fiction just as much as non-fiction. |
| Posted: 11/07/2008 13:08:00 Last Updated: 11/07/2008 13:13:05 |
Chick Lit > Writing Tips :: The Secrets of Writing a Non-Fiction Book