I write books for a living, for myself and for clients who have great ideas but who don't know how to start the process of penning one. In many cases, clients could certainly write their own books but they get stuck. They've never written a book, so they assume the process is much more complex and difficult than it really is.
So if you're interested in writing a book, let me offer some ideas to help you get it done.
Decide on a Title
First, come up with a tentative title. This may not be what you eventually choose, but having a title helps keep you on point. Your title can help ensure that you stay focused on your main topic and that you don't get too distracted or go off on a lot of unrelated tangents.
For nonfiction books, generally the best titles say what the book is about. Don't try and be too clever - keep it simple, using keywords to increase the chances that a reader will find it in a search on Amazon, where most books are purchased.
Draft an Outline
Next, create an outline. This will become your table of contents, but for now, it's a way of deciding what to include and what to leave out of your book. If you're writing fiction, you may want to map out your plot or story arc and then figure out what parts of the story go in different chapters. For nonfiction, I always try and make sure I've covered the who, what, why, where, when, and how of the topic I'm writing about.
For example, if I'm working on a corporate history - a book about an organization - I often include some background material on the business, important leaders, products and services, major events along the way, why the company grew and evolved the way it did, and how it affected the city or town it was located in.
Or if I'm writing more of a how-to guide, I often start by explaining what I'm talking about (like how to write a book), who should consider writing a book, how long it can take, what kinds of tools and equipment you might need, and what to do once your manuscript is written.
Your outline helps keep your organized as you begin to write.
I find that creating file folders for each chapter helps me keep related notes and research together for easy reference later. So if there's a newspaper article I spot that's related to a chapter in my book, I'll tear it out and place it in the file folder for the relevant chapter.
You can also use a program like Evernote to store links to related articles and websites. Having that background material together can help jump-start the writing process.
I prefer to write chapters in order, starting with chapter 1 and then going back and writing the introduction once the rest of the book is done. It's generally easier to write an introduction once you know exactly what is covered in the rest of the pages.
Talk Through Your Book
People who are scared of writing, who are nervous that maybe they aren't great writers, or get writer's block as soon as they attempt to get started will want to consider recording their thoughts. Yes, you don't have to actually physically write or type your words - you can speak them.
You can use your smartphone's built in recorder, buy a handheld digital voice recorder, or call into a system like TapeACall to record your thoughts. You can talk through a whole chapter in one sitting or you can record bits and pieces as you think of them.
Have Recordings Transcribed
Once you have a recording, you can have it transcribed, so you transform spoken words to words on a page. I often pay to have recordings transcribed by Speechpad, but many of my writer friends use Rev, which is a similar online service. I've never tried it, but you may even be able to use the Dragon Naturally Speaking app to automatically transcribe what you speak into the phone. Or you can transcribe your recordings yourself by playing them back and typing up what you hear.
It's so much easier to edit than to create from scratch, I think. So once you have some pages in-hand, you can read them through and decide what's missing. You can then do some more research, if need be, to learn more and fill in the missing links about that topic.
Hire an Editor
After you have a solid draft, turn it over to a professional editor. You may think what you have is perfect, because you've read it through 100 times, but the truth is, if you've been reading and re-reading it 100 times your eyes are probably missing obvious typos and errors. You need someone who hasn't seen the manuscript before to go through it and clean it up.
The Editorial Freelancers Association has many qualified editors who can help you. Or you can a student majoring in English at a local college to go through it.
But you definitely want to get it cleaned up before you have it published.
Your Publishing Options
Once you feel it's ready for publication, check out some of the many self-publishers that are out there to see which one may be the right fit.
I suggest self-publishing because traditional publishers today are rarely willing to take a chance on a first-time author. The only exception is if you are a celebrity or have friends who are celebrities who may be willing to help you promote it.
Otherwise, go with a platform like Amazon's CreateSpace, which can help you print physical books or format it as a Kindle e-book, BookBaby, or Lightning Source, which is a major player.
The truth is, unless you have a big event coming up where you need dozens of copies of your book, you don't need to print up hundreds all at once. Go with a print on demand (POD) publisher, where you pay only for the number of copies you need; some allow you buy them one at a time.
You can also skip printed books altogether and write an e-book that you can upload for sale on Amazon almost immediately. The advantage e-books have is that production costs are lower (since you're not printing physical books), you split the royalty with Amazon, and you can have it uploaded and available for sale in a matter of hours, not weeks.
Writing your first book takes time, but if you're having trouble getting started, try talking it through. Since most people can talk faster than they can write or type, you can also get that manuscript done in less time than if you wrote it out by hand.
So get started! I can't wait to read what you create.