Writing and publishing a book – by Ruth Fogg

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.