How to Get Into Book Writing

Starting on a new career can be a daunting experience, particularly if it seems you have to start afresh, however what if you could use your existing skills and knowledge and springboard into a different career? That is what the How to Get Intro Series is all about.

If you have extensive experience in any field it can be very tempting to put all that knowledge and expertise down on paper and hopefully get it published as a book. But being an expert in a field is one thing; becoming a published author is something else. How can you combine the two?

Typical Skills For Book Writing

Expert - If you want to write a book you need to be an expert in the field. And this means having extensive knowledge in the particular topic you want to write about. Whether you want to write a practical How To book, which captures your practical experience at how to do something, or you want to write a fact-based book on your knowledge, research is essential. It’s also important that you know everything and anything there is to know about your topic!

Unique Selling Feature -There are many books out on the market, what’s different about what you want to write? If the market is saturated with many titles that cover the same material, then it is unlikely that you will get very far, unless of course you have a new and exciting way of approaching the topic. Do some research and see what existing books are out there. How does your idea compare? And how could you make your idea stand out?

Writer - It’s one thing to be an expert in a field and know how to do something well, it’s another to capture that on paper. A good writer can put down in words what the reader understands and enjoys. Writing is an art that improves only with much exercise. Don’t be afraid to re-write!

Creative -Books that are published and sell well put forward an idea or knowledge in an interesting way. People don’t want to simply read information. There is a lot of competition in the book world, and readers demand creative and interesting books in both fiction and non-fiction categories.

Recommended Training To Prepare For The Role Of Book Writer

• Creative Writing
• Research skills
• Presentation skills
• Communication skills

Considerations For Becoming A Book Writer

• Write, re-write, and re-write again. Good writing is about editing until you get it right. Don’t be precious over your words; seek feedback and be prepared to re-write.
• Writing takes time; be prepared to invest many hours, days, weeks and months.
• Think about why you want to write a book. It’s unlikely that you will make a fortune from a non-fiction book, so if it’s to fund your early retirement think again. To give you further creditability in your field and to improve your CV are good reasons.

Book Writer: A Case Study

Mary had worked for thirty years managing large scale programmes in the finance industry. She felt that she’d experienced much in her career, and her opinion was often sort by her colleagues and others in her field. Over the years she’d built up quite a reputation and was beginning to be considered somewhat of an expert in the field of implementing large-scale change in big corporations.

After some research into the current market, Mary discovered that there were few practical How-To books in her particular expertise, therefore she decided to write a book of her experiences. Her book has been published and sells slowly; she hasn’t made a fortune; however, it has opened up the opportunity for her to become a speaker at various business functions.

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