Why Become a Published Author

Why Become a Published Author?

8 Reasons why It’s important to have a published book if you are a business owner?

• Having a book to share sets you apart from the competition
• Being an Author gives you credibility – Authors have as much credibility as physicians
• The book becomes your business card
• People take you seriously
• You are invited to be a speaker and get paid for sharing your knowledge and experience, which in turn gives you more exposure and brings customers to your business
• You are perceived as an expert in your field
• A book can help launch your business as an emerging Entrepreneur
• Remember, you don’t make money writing or selling a book, a book opens up the door for you to create more business success

How do you go about tackling the task of writing a book?

• Begin with a message, idea, or story you really want to share with other people.This must be something for which you have a passion, something that you believe in.
• You must write about something you know, your area of expertise, your business acumen, what you’ve learned, lessons you can share with others, tips for success. If you are not an expert in the area which you would like to write, then you must research the topic until you are the expert. You must be an expert on your subject. You must know ten words for every word you write.  Or the reader will know that you are talking off the top of your head. If you want to write on success, you must already be successful.  If you write on money, you must already be rich.  If you write on relationships, you must be happily married.
• Define your target market before you begin writing.

What is the age range of your prospective reader?

What is the sex of your ideal reader?

What is the income level of your reader?

What is the level of education of your reader?

• What are the hopes, fears and dreams of your reader? What problems will you help them solve by reading your book? What are the desires and motivations of your reader?  What are the interests and concerns of your reader?  What are the frustrations that your book will take away?
• Buy, read, and research everything you can about other authors, books or articles dealing with the same subject. Make sure that your material is relevant, up to date, different and better than other people writing in your field in at least three ways.
• Gather all the information you will need to write your book. The most successful writers begin by gathering 1500 pieces of information and then organize them from beginning to end, in a logical structure before beginning to write a book on any subject.
• Organize your material into ten, or twelve chapters, each following in a logical order, from beginning to end. If your book is more than 150 pages people will get bored and wont’ finish reading it. Thinking in terms of a number of chapters forces you to decide what will be contained in each chapter, and how each of the chapters will be organized in relationship to each other.

• You may want to create a “mind map” a visual picture of each chapter. Take a blank sheet of paper and put a circle in the middle of the page.  Inside this circle, you write the title of the chapter. Next, draw a line outward toward the edges of the page, and at the edge of each line draw a circle which will stand for a major subject to be covered in this page. Then draw lines out from each of these core lines upon which you write the sub-points covered under that heading. When you have finished, you will have your entire chapter laid out in front of you.

Begin with chapter one and dictate or write the book in the order of the material you have chosen.  Begin with your first point, develop a strong statement that makes a point, and arouses interest in the reader, and engages them to read further. Share personal stories or analogies to help get your point across.

• Set up a work schedule and create blocks of time consisting of two, three or four hours each. Put everything aside and discipline yourself to sit at your keyboard produce your material during this time.  You can also record your book, and have it translated for you.
• Edit the entire book from the first word to the last word the first time. As you edit, correct the grammar and typing errors, of which there will be many.  Create the necessary paragraphs, each one containing a single thought. The first edit is the longest and the hardest job of editing in the whole book. In your second edit, break up the text with a heading every two, three or four paragraphs.  This makes your writing “bite-sized” and easy to read. In your third edit, place a quote at the beginning of each chapter. 
• If it is a self-help or educational book of some kind, create several action steps at the end of each chapter. When you write an action step, always begin with an imperative verb, a command. For example, you could say “Write down three goals that you intend to accomplish within the next thirty days.”  Share your manuscript with others to read and provide you with feedback. Join a writing group, have a writing partner and accountability partner to keep you on task. Most of all enjoy the journey and the self-discovery process.

Og Mandino, wrote “The Greatest Salesman in the World” and sold millions of copies, said that he re-wrote each book thirteen to fifteen times.  He said, “My books are easy to read because they are so hard to write.”

Resources for Writing Your Book

Killer Covers.com– Will provide you with a book cover for $125.00, the Artwork, Graphics, Design, lay out etc.

Disk.computs your book on a CD and in a wrapper for 97 cents

Upwork.com for a virtual assistant

Fiver.com to find someone to edit your manuscript

K-llitics.com Ebook publishing information and allows you to search Amazon for the categories of books being released the next day so you can time the release of your book when there aren’t any others competing in your category so that you can become an Amazon Best Seller. You can also obtain your book ISBN number from Amazon.

Creatspace.com –Self publishing and FREE Distribution for Books, CD’s

For more information on How to Write a Book – click this link – www.HelloBeautifulLadies.com  and download the FREE “how to Write a Book Guide”.

Andrea H. Swensen, CEO of SuccessStrategies4U.com and HelloBeautifulLadies.com, Author, Award Winning International Speaker and Success Strategist.