What Are the Steps to Making a Book? – Page 2

What Are the Steps to Making a Book? – Part 1, Page 2

What will it be: Money, A Name or A Difference?

Discuss it with your family. Explain what you want to do, why you want to do it, and what it means to them. Understanding your vision will enable them to get behind you 100%. It’s important, because most of the time, their lives are affected, too. AuthorSmart.com founder Gail Richards provides three tips in her September 21, 2008, article, So You’ve Decided to Write a Book – The Good News and the Bad News About Sharing the News.

1. Thank them sincerely for their interest and support.
2. Tell them you will keep them apprised on your progress—then do it via email and blogs.
3. Steer the conversation from “when” topics to “what” topics. Even though you know this intellectually, you can start to feel like a failure emotionally when your progress doesn’t meet their expectations. Keep in mind. They likely understand very little of the process you are in the middle of or how long it takes.

Check your ego. The reality is, most writers in your position are just hoping to beat the odds and get published. According to Laura Backes of Write4Kids.com, mid to large publishing houses get as many as 5,000 unsolicited submissions each year, 95% of which are rejected right off the bat. Add your general anonymity to those odds and you quickly realize how hard you’re going to have to work hard to gain attention and win respect. My advice – swallow your pride, take good direction when it’s offered and do what you need to do.

Dig deeper: Are You Prepared for Author-hood?

Step 2 – Start thinking ‘platform’. What is your reputation within your market segment? How many people at least know of you, right now? 150,000 is what it takes to make a run at the bestseller lists. But even if you never get there, your goal still should be to have as many people as possible thinking of you first and feeling the best about you when they have a need you can fill. And you can’t start building that kind of brand soon enough. Here are two actions you can take to broaden your scope of influence—

Do public speaking. The Book of Lists reports that more people are afraid of public speaking than death itself. But if you’re willing to get up there, you have an incredible opportunity to connect with your audience and make a lasting impact on them. Interacting live establishes the kind of relationship no website or newsletter can. It puts a face, a personality, a person, to the message, and people tend to relate better to other people.

What are the steps to making a book – part 1, page 1 And What are the steps to making a book – part 1, page 3

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.