How To Write A Book In 2019: A Step-by-Step Guide For New Authors

I am excited to know that you want to learn how to write a book because I know what having a quality book out there can make possible for you.

Since the year 2007, I have been writing and publishing books but one that really got to me was my book – Preparing For The Future (which I actually co-authored with my amazing wife).

Asides from the fact it was the first book we wrote together, one thing that makes that book special till this day was what it made possible for our family.

The city we had called home had come under a political crisis that was beginning to look like it was going to escalate into a civil war. We had gone to bed like every other night when we started hearing sounds of gunshot and missiles flying across the whole place …

I noticed the sound was more prominent in the part of the house where my then 13 months daughter’s room was located and quickly ran in there to pick her up.

As soon as it was dawn, I quickly moved my family into a hotel in another part of the city that was safer at the time.

It was a terrible time for us financially then but our saving grace was that we had written this book and the launch was scheduled for just the next day. So I told my wife that as soon as we were done with the launch, we will take a trip out of town in hope that by the time we returned about 2 weeks later, things should have normalized!

We launched that book and in one day, brought in a revenue of close $9833! Though I have later launched books that have brought in 6 figures in revenue, this one remains remarkable because of what it made possible for my family.

That money made it possible for us to take that break that eventually turned out to become a relocation as we couldn’t return to our home afterward. A full-blown civil war broke out after we left and several parts of the city were destroyed including that apartment complex we lived!

Each time I look back at that incidence, I never stop feeling like a book actually saved my family from untimely destruction.

Okay, I know you may not have a similar story with me but think about it for a moment …

[sc_fs_faq sc_id=”fs_faq81a88xdjd” html=”true” headline=”h2″ img=”” question=”Why Write A Book?” img_alt=”” css_class=”” ]You can write a book to share a passion, tell a story, share an experience, make an impact in the world, share knowledge, create a source of passive income, spread a message, generate leads for your business, spread the word about a cause you believe in and so much more … [/sc_fs_faq]

What can your own book make possible for you?

What can an extra $10,000+ from a book launch make possible for you?
What can an extra 1000+ leads make possible for your business?
What can reaching another 1000+ people mean for the spread of that message you are passionate about?

The benefits of getting your book out there are too numerous for me to mention here now but you know what? All that will NEVER happen unless you do the work and write that book.

That is why I want to take you by the hand and show you how to easily and quickly write your own book too.

Between 2007 when I wrote my first book and now, I have written and published more than 60 books of my own with 5 of them becoming #1 bestsellers. I have also helped more than 100 people write and publish their own books in a short time with less effort and mistakes.

Not just that, our company has ghost-written more than 40 books for clients ranging from corporate executives to pastors, entrepreneurs, independent professionals, and others.

Why do I tell you all these?

It is so that you know that I know more than a thing or two about actually writing and finishing books. So in this eBook, I lay down the 12 simple steps you should take to write your first or next book too.

The best part is that following the steps I outline here will ensure that you don’t just write a book, you actually write a book that is guaranteed to sell well in the market place.

So without further ado, let’s get into the simple guide for writing books fast now.

Happy Reading!

Step 1) Define your goals

One of the most common mistakes I see people make when they set out to write books is that they do not decide on the publishing goals ahead of time.

You see, there are several routes your writing and publishing journey can possibly take, but the best route for you is the one that leads towards your predetermined publishing goals.

For example, if I set out to write a book for the purpose of generating leads for my business, it means that my priority with this book is to get customer details from it. Therefore, I can afford to make this book an eBook and not bother about a paperback or audiobook version.

I can also afford to skip an official book launch if I want as long as I have a system in place for spreading the book to my ideal audience.

However, if my goal was mainly to spread a message that I am passionate about, I would want to reach as many people I can through the various channels available. So I will plan to publish in eBook, paperback, and audiobook formats and these all appeal to different people.

So deciding your big dream for your book helps you know how to position the book and how to go about the content as well.

In our Write, Publish and Promote Your Book Masterclass, we teach 5 other goals you could possibly aim at with your book and show you how to choose the best goal for your book.

Step 2) Clarify Your Message

Many times, people have a message they are passionate about and they think that is all it takes to write a good book. Sadly, nobody cares about your passion for the subject until they know how you care about them with that subject.

In other words, even though it is important that you are passionate about the subject, passion is not enough to determine your message. You need to make sure that passion is mapped out in a way that is meaningful and engaging TO THE READER (not just you)

So how do you know [sc_fs_faq sc_id=”fs_faq2r1z8rl3r” html=”true” headline=”h2″ img=”” question=”what to write a book about?” img_alt=”” css_class=”” ]There are several things to consider but here are a few ideas for you: 1) An experience you had that you want to help others prevent. 2) A problem you see around you that you have a solution for. 3) A cause or topic you strongly believe in. 4) An area where you are an expert of some sort. 5) About a skill you have learnt in the past and so much more.[/sc_fs_faq]

There are several things to consider but here are a few ideas for you:

An experience you had that you want to help others prevent. A problem you see around you that you have a solution for. A cause you strongly believe in. An area where you are an expert of some sort. About a skill you have learnt in the past and so much more.

How does your book improve the reader’s life? What does it make possible for the reader? What will the reader be able to do after reading it? How is it saving the reader time, money, heartaches or all?

These are the questions you should answer to determine whether your book is, in fact, valuable in the market place.

Step 3) Choose the Right Audience

This is one of the top reasons why many passionate authors with good intentions fail in the market place.

Again, having a passion for the subject you are writing about is great but you should know that you are not writing for yourself. So your passion alone is not enough.

You need to take some time to research and decide on the audience you are writing to. We call this your reader avatar.

Ever before writing the first word of your book, please take some time to identify who your reader is in as many details as possible. For example, if you were writing a book to teach people how to bake cake, you know you can’t just assume that you are writing to everyone. There is the saying that a book written for everyone is written for no one!

What a beginner needs to learn about making cakes is way different from what an experienced person needs to learn. So if you write a book without defining your audience and all you have there is elementary, do not be surprised when advanced readers leave a negative review and tell you that your book is full of elementary content!

In the same way, writing about fitness for a pregnant woman will be completely different from fitness for men. Yes, the topic is the same but the audience completely changes the dynamics of the content of the book.

If you are not sure who you should write to, try and answer the question: who will benefit the most from what I am trying to teach? That should help you determine who your readers are. But if you are ready to learn more about this, join me for our masterclass to learn how to identify your audience in 4 simple steps.

Step 4) Get a Winning Book Title

Oh, you probably already know this right?

The title of a book is one element that can either make or mare the entire project. And sadly, many authors make grave mistakes here in that they just stamp any title on it and move on!

Worse still, many decide to write a clever title that isn’t clear to their readers. For example, an author once wrote a book and titled it “Astrological Love”. She felt impressed by what she had done and believed it would fly …

To her surprise, the book only sold a few copies to her close friends and family members. Then she got a coach who helped her see that her title was too clever but not clear.

After going through the message of her book, they were able to come up with the title: How to Win And Keep The Man of Your Dreams. Like you would imagine, the new title did the magic and the book did way better selling over 10,000 copies!

Whatever you do, make sure your reader never has to ask “what does that mean?” when they read your book title. It should be clear enough to tell them what it is about and what is in it for them.

You can add an element of intrigue to it but don’t overdo it and lose the element of clarity and benefits.

Whenever in doubt, you can never go wrong with a “How To” title.

Step 5) Craft a Selling Book Intro

Many people make the mistake of assuming that their book introduction is just for telling people what the book is all about. Well, that is true to a large extent but it can do much more.

You will notice that in books stores both online and offline, people often have the opportunity to browse through the initial pages of a book before they decide to buy the book.

So with that in mind, you want to write your book intro like you know you were writing to someone who is still trying to make up his mind on whether or not to buy the book.

It should have certain elements that help readers understand that this is the right book for them and what they stand to gain from reading it.

In our Write, Publish And Promote Masterclass, I teach 8-elements of a selling book introduction and I hope you will join me there soon.

Step 6) Choose the Right Voice

One of the objections new authors give me each time we speak about their books is the feeling that no one will read their books because they are not experts.

I like to call this the “imposter syndrome” where someone simply feels like they are not qualified to talk about the topic they have in mind. Meanwhile, that only appeals to one type of writing voice!

It is only when you take the position of an expert and write like one that you need to have the expertise to back up what you are writing. However, you can also write about the subject without being certified.

For example, it is one thing when a certified fitness coach writes about fitness. But it’s a totally different ball game when a post-partum woman writes about her journey to regaining her pre-pregnancy shape after pregnancy.

You will agree that in the case of the woman, no one really cares whether she is certified or not. What matters is that she has the results she is writing about and that makes her qualified to write on the subject. Yet, there is the option of writing about your fitness journey as you go through the different stages of pregnancy as well.

All three people are writing about the same thing essentially but they are taking 3 different angles that make them all qualified to share their stories.

So, you don’t have to feel like you are claiming to be what you are not. Just choose a writing voice that best suits your unique situation and communicate with the audience that best matches that voice.

Step 7) Kiss Writers’ Block Goodbye

You have probably heard of the term writers’ block before. But even if you haven’t you might have experienced it at some point.

Remember that feeling when you decide you want to write and you stare at the screen having no idea where to start from? That is what they call writers’ block and, in many cases, that is what holds a lot of people back from completing their books. In my 12+ years of writing, the way I have solved this problem by simply creating an effective book outline!

Having an outline in itself saves you from starting from a blank page all the time. It gives you a skeletal framework to build upon each time you write and you know that whatever you write adds to the building of the entire project.

Say, for example, you have a 7-chapter book to write and each chapter has an average of 4 sub-titles. Then let’s assume that each subtitle is made up of a story, 2 quotations, your view, and some statistical facts.

Just having all these details written ahead of time means that anytime you decide to write, no matter the part of the book you are working on, you probably have a story on ground, 2 quotations to elaborate on, some statistical facts to back up your point and your overall opinion on the subject at hand.

That means your job becomes as easy as assembling parts of a puzzle to make a whole. That is way easier than starting from a blank page each time don’t you think?

With a solid outline like this, you can even [sc_fs_faq sc_id=”fs_faqvntgfkfo5″ html=”true” headline=”h2″ img=”” question=”write a book without typing!” img_alt=”” css_class=”” ]To write a book without typing, you have two options. But first, you need to ensure that you already have your thoughts penned down in a logical way. Mind mapping and subject organization is a great way to do this. Once you have the outline ready, you can choose to speak the book audibly while recording your voice or pass the outline over to a ghostwriter to develop the ideas you already penned down. [/sc_fs_faq]

In our Masterclass, we carry out a mind-mapping exercise that helps you organize your thoughts for the book into chapters, sub-titles of a chapter and so on. During our LIVE events, this usually takes about an hour and you are done!

To learn more about the next Event, please call Layo on (917) 594-7014

[sc_fs_event html=”true” title=”Write And Publish Your Book In A Weekend Workshop” title_tag=”h2″ event_location=”Westchase Forest” start_date=”2019-09-21T11:00″ end_date=”2019-09-21T01:00″ street_address=”11355 Richmond Ave,” address_locality=”Houston” address_region=”TX” postal_code=”77082″ address_country=”US” css_class=”” ] Discover: Top 3 reasons books fail and how to avoid them Case Study of how an author wrote and published her book to a Facebook community of 35,000 people and sold only 10 copies. And of course, how you can avoid that! A simple but powerful hack for defeating procrastination and finally getting your book done. How to say goodbye to writers’ block and finish your book fast. A 3-step formula for quickly coming up with your book content. 4 components of a winning book title (we will actually craft your title together there) [/sc_fs_event]

Step 8) Kill Procrastination

This is by far one of the top killers for authors. They keep putting away the task to write because of fear and overwhelm for the whole process.

Well, if you already have an effective outline drawn, half the work is done already! The next tactic now is to “begin with easier chapters FIRST”

I know many times we want to write out books in chronological order but truthfully, you don’t have to! If you feel more comfortable with the 3^rd chapter, start from there.

If it is the last chapter that comes to you easily, feel free to begin there too. The most important thing is that you are gaining momentum as you progress.

Seeing that you already have 2500 words done has a way of making you feel confident that you are making progress than when you see 50 words done!

The confidence boost from finishing other chapters builds you up for the more demanding chapters down the road. Also, committing to a writing schedule is a great way to ensure you keep at it.

In our Masterclass, we have a built-in accountability system that ensures you do the work daily and finish in record time.

Step 9) Forget About Editing First

Have you ever found yourself writing and then going back to edit what you have written over and again? Here is where many authors (particularly the new ones) miss it.

You have to determine not to allow yourself to get caught in the web of endless editing. In fact, I teach our students to completely forget about editing their book until the first draft is out.

As a matter of fact, you want to just write the best you can and pass the completed manuscript off to an editor who can help you clean it up and prepare it for publishing.

Even if you are a professional editor (which most authors aren’t) it is still advisable that you contract the editing of your book to others. Most times, we don’t see the mistakes in our own work because we often look at them with the eye of “what we intended to write” rather than “what we actually wrote”.

So to avoid this, please just write straight and then get someone else to do the editing for you. Of course, you can do a bit of cleaning up after the initial manuscript is done but have it in mind that a professional has to go through the work before you publish.

Step 10) Books are Judged By Their Covers

I often wonder where the idea that “you don’t judge a book by its cover” came from because the reality in today’s world is that the cover tells a lot about a book.

It tells so much about the content of the book and the person of the author. Nothing spells “amateur” like a poorly designed book cover!

I understand that an author might be on budget but your book cover is one area you don’t want to spare cost. In fact, with just about $100 you can come up with a cover that looks great.

You want to make sure that the graphics of your cover depicts the message of your book in such clear terms that readers kind of have an idea what it’s about.

Remember it is better to be clear than clever! The same applies to your book cover design.

Step 11) Promote and publish

One of the biggest mistakes authors make is to assume that because they have done the hard work and written a book, everyone is just going to be throwing money at them from left, right and center!

I thought so too and was disappointed 19 times before I came to the harsh realization that writing a book is ONLY about one-third of the whole process.

You see, there is an average of 600,000 – 1,000,000 new books published in the US alone every year! Add that to the roughly 130 million books in the world today according to Google’s advanced algorithms and you see that the competition is steep. Little wonder why the average author sells less than 250 copies in the entire lifecycle of a book.

This is why writing a great book without investing in promoting it is a waste of effort. But quite frankly, I understand the fact that most authors are only writers and not marketers. So they fringe at the thought of having to promote their books. But not to worry, we have you covered already.

Our Write, Publish and Promote Masterclass goes into details of how to promote a book for maximum success in the market place. Click here to learn more about the program today.

Have a question?

Feel free to post them in the comments below or email them to us at info@lasouchpublishing.com