What Are the Steps to Making a Book? – Part 2 of 4

By Michael Drew - Feb 04 , 2009

What are the steps to making a book? I posed this question last week in the first of a four-part examination of the topic. Would you like to revisit that first article now? Here are the12 steps again if you missed them—–

Step 1 – Prepare Yourself
Step 2 – Start Thinking ‘Platform’
Step 3 – Identify Your Target Market
Step 4 – Write the Book
Step 5 – Plan Your Marketing
Step 6 – Choose a Publishing Model
Step 7 – Market Your Plan
Step 8 – Engage in Pre-Publication Promotions
Step 9 – Release the Book
Step 10 – Engage in Post-Publication Promotions
Step 11 – Celebrate
Step 12 – Prepare Yourself

Today’s focus is Steps 4 – 6.

Step 4 – Write the book. It’s an obvious step, but necessary just the same. Do you just sit down and start pecking out paragraphs, or is there a process to the writing? Every writer is different and I’ve seen many approaches succeed. Still, I like to point authors towards a methodology that involves writing to human temperaments. There are four of them-

A. Spontaneous (SP) – These experiencers think in terms of what and when. They prefer to deal with life ‘hands on,’ in constant pursuit of instant gratification. You find a lot of SPs in careers like farming, mechanics, firefighting, emergency response, and carpentry. Don’t dilly-dally when writing for this group. Be clear about why your solution will help them enjoy life more, and how quickly it can happen. Spontaneous people account for about 35% of the U.S. population.

B. Competitive (NT) – These challengers are compelled to ask why questions. Why did you do it that way? Why is that the best way? Why couldn’t we do it differently? For these folks, life is an eternal quest for knowledge and competence. They view systems and models through a big picture lens and have complete confidence in their evaluation and ability to improve things. If you’re going to win this group over, you must explain your logic thoroughly and demonstrate superior reasoning. Competitives make up approximately 12% of the U.S. population.

C. Humanistic (NF) – These harmonizers are all about who. For them, life is about cooperation and personal connections. They need to feel like they know who you are and what you’re about before they can believe in you. This group measures everything you say against a personal value system. If your values appear to be aligned, you win. Testimonials and personal stories are a great way to bond with Humanistics. They, too, make up approximately 12% of the U.S. population.

D. Methodical (SJ) – These are life’s administrators. Think accountants, bankers, and judges. They believe in duty and responsibility, and they want to know how things are done. Be precise when communicating with Methodicals. Lay out procedures for them to follow. Provide steps and include all the details. These traditionalists resist change, so introduce it slowly and explain the reasons why it is necessary. The biggest group by far, Methodicals make up about 38% of the U.S. population.

Writing to human temperaments is an effective way to address the needs, interests, and values of the various personalities that exist in your target audience. Study them. Get a feel for what makes each of them tick. Borrow a lesson from Pavlov and speak to the dog, in the language of the dog, about what is important to the dog.

What are the steps to making a book – part 2 page 2

Questions about taking the steps necessary to make a book may be directed to Michael R. Drew at the Austin, Texas, headquarters of Promote A Book: 512-858-0040. You can also contact Michael via email at michael@promoteabook.com.