My first piece of advice is to BUY A BOOK ON HOW TO WRITE A BOOK!
It will save you hours! Take a look at: AuthorToolkit.co.uk or BookPublishingCourses.com which will give you a free book plus an invitation to a workshop, also free. You can find others on Amazon or explore the Amazon Create Space website. Then…
- Decide what you are going to write about (choose something you know something about)
- Who is your audience?
- What are you going to call it?
- How long do you want it to be?
- Is it a book or booklet?
- Are you going to have illustrations?
- Is it going to be a paperback, e-book or Kindle book?
- Decide how many chapters you want – brainstorm headings
- What is going in your introduction?
- Allocate as much time as you can to write each day
- Be disciplined!
- Check page sizes and set up layout
- Double check spellings and grammar
- You do not have to write chapters in order – remember you can always change things
- Ask someone (not too close to you) to read and comment
- Get it edited and formatted – Fiver.com did mine but others are Upwork.com, 99Designs.com – very reasonable and cheaper than “professional” editors
- Use above for cover design – front and back
- Decide who is going to write the foreword for you
- Can you ask for endorsements from people in your profession, e.g. national bodies?
- Purchase your ISBN number and get barcode
- Make sure your printer will send you a draft copy before you order loads
- Have some printed to take to networking meetings as well as putting on Amazon
Example costs:
- 280 page A5 book: £3.45 for 200 (Bookprinting.co.uk)
- 12 page A6 booklet: £45.00 for 100 (Instant print)
FREE download booklets (PDF) from Strsessworx
STRESS N’ STUFF – Tackling Teenage Mental Health is available on Amazon
Good luck!
Ruth Fogg
www.stressworx.co.uk
About Ruth Fogg
Ruth Fogg from Stressworx is a therapist, trainer, speaker and published author. She specialises in providing practical skills and solutions to understand and manage stress in both personal and professional situations. She is a Fellow of The International Stress Management Association.
