What Is The First Step In Writing A Book

Congratulations on your decision to write a book! You’ve made a good decision to join the elite circle of successful authors. When you write your book, you become eligible to receive life long passive income. With a book, you create a foundation to develop other information products and services when you’re ready. Believe it or not, every successful author had to make the same decision to take the first step. You see, we all have to begin at the beginning. And there’s more than one thing to be done inside that first step.

To answer your question, I’ve compiled a few first things to prepare for your first step.

Make a commitment. The greatest seal you can give your decision is to make a commitment. In the words of Gerald Ford, “Begin to act boldly; the moment one definitely commits oneself heaven moves on their behalf.” To give you and your commitment the best possible chance to succeed, write it down and tell someone. Then educate yourself about book writing. Enroll in a book writing course or hire a book coach. Go buy a pen and pad or software for notes.

Put a plan in place. It’s a life principle; if you don’t plan you plan to fail. So, plan to succeed with your book project by putting a plan in place. No, I’m not saying you have to write a five page business plan. Your plan can be as simple or complex as you want. You might simply start with an intention goal and when and how long you will write.

Select your topic. If you have a topic, that’s great. If you don’t have a topic yet, consider your existing audiences. Your book’s message could be directed to your clients, your work associates, your speech attendees, etc. For some of you this one is easy. Look for topics you are passionate about. Or look for problems of your existing audience that you’ve solved or know the solution to. Write the solution in a book. For more about choosing a book idea, enroll in the 100 Days To A Book http://100daystoabook.com

Target your audience. After choosing your topic, choose who you are writing your book for. Who are your current clients or audience; what information do they want to know about that will help them improve or change their lives. Take a fresh look at them. Get to know what your audience needs and even wants. Prepare a profile for the typical person in your audience. What do they look like? What’s their age group? You will use this profile when writing and marketing your book. Loosely termed, when you do this you have just done market research for your book.

Create an outline. Start with a simple list of sub-topics or categories for your chosen topic. If your book is directed to your clients, you might write a list of ten to twenty frequently asked questions. Take the questions, one by one and answer them fully. Use as much detail as possible. Pull examples, case studies, and stories from your experiences. Aim for five to ten typewritten pages for each question and answer. In the speed writing technique for books I teach, you would simply do research for any q/a session with not enough material.

Finally, as a first step I would advise you to create a table of contents (a list of topics to discuss in your book.) Don’t worry; nothing is in stone at this point. Start with a simple table of contents. Remember to implement the five preliminary steps of making a commitment, putting a plan in place, selecting a topic, targeting your audience and creating an outline to ensure you are off to a good start. I send you best wishes for the success of your book writing project.

Ready to start building your author’s platform with your very own book and the right focus? Sign-up for the 100 Days To A Book, 12 Week Course at http://100daystoabook.com  You will receive lessons, exercises bonus reports and coaching all designed to take you step by step to the finish line of a successful book.