How to write and publish your own book

The idea of writing and publishing your own book based on your expert knowledge is an exciting one. It’s a romantic fantasy that many of us would like to see come true, however so much self-doubt prevents us from fulfilling this desire. What would I write about? Where would I find the time to write? How do I get it published? Who would read my book?

Please don’t think for a moment that other independent authors did not have those same fears from the outset. Achieving a new and unknown feat can be daunting for anyone, so we need to replace our emotional fears with a logical plan.

 Last year I fulfilled this goal and published my first book. The journey to get there was not easy and I learned a lot on the way there. To help aspiring authors, below is some advice that I wish someone gave me at the beginning:

You have something valuable to share

In whatever industry, hobby or lifestyle, each and every one of us has a compelling story to share. To prove this point, a group of colleagues and I started rattling off a series of potential book titles for each person. One colleague has worked as a Personal Assistant for over eight years, we thought this could make an interesting book – “Watercooler Talk; what Australian businesses really want to say” or “Weird things my boss says; Confessions of a Corporate PA”. 

Another colleague is an economist and he felt inspired to start writing, “Closing the gap between rich and poor”. A friend of mine who sits on Reddit all day making fun of people wanted to write a book titled “Trolls don’t only live under the bridge”. 

Think both creatively and objectively to find your topic of interest and expertise. Start having conversations with a few friends about the subject-matter and see if interesting conversations arise; this will inform you if people want to read this or not. 

Build structure to avoid writer’s block

You may have heard authors talk about the pains of writer’s block; where the writer is in a creative meltdown and cannot produce new content. Yes, this definitely happens to writers, but only when we write without a plan.

Before we start writing, we need to have a map of ideas that flow together, coupled with a long list of ideas to explore later. If you invest time in this first you will never be short of content to write about. Ensure that your book structure and dump of notes is ahead of your writing. When you get stuck on a topic, don't dwell on it, there are many more topics prepared to write about. 

Don’t be concerned if you don’t complete the book from top to bottom. Some writing sessions will inspire you to write about a certain topic and you should not stop that creative flow because of a rigid order that you want to write in.

Allocate creative times to write

Are you a morning person or a night person? I for one am my most creative in the morning and far more brain-dead at night. Knowing this, I never attempt to write at night as I know it will go nowhere and eventually become demotivating. I allocate specific creative times to write on the weekend in the morning when I am well-slept and relaxed. 

A few hours on a Sunday morning is greater than back-to-back evenings throughout the week. Find a time that suits you.

Create micro-goals

Your goal should not be to write 100,000 words. This goal is challenging to focus on and will test your levels of motivation and self-discipline.  Rather than being single-minded on a large goal, break up the target into many micro goals.

Books are not written in a single setting, they are written 1,000 words at a time. This is what I convinced myself of and made many micro-goals of 1,000 words each. This allowed me see my short writing sessions as successful and there more opportunities to reward myself.

Options for publishing

It took me just under two years to write my book - it would have been a lot shorter had I used the above advice earlier. However, it took me an additional year to get it published. The main part of that year was consumed by my fear of trying and failing. 

I was disheartened when I was pushed back from publishers telling me that there are 3 ways to get published:

1.  I am already a well-established published author,
2.  I am famous or
3.  I am a unicorn – that is, that one unknown author that they publish each year

I have never been published, I am not famous and believe-it-or-not I am not a unicorn. 

Not leaving important things to chance I eventually took destiny into my own hands and learned about the process of self-publishing. There a variety of fantastic online services for aspiring authors and I encourage you to do some research before landing on one. I used Amazon’s CreateSpace which takes you step-by-step through a process to publish your book on both paperback and e-book.

If you wish to start the journey of writing your own book, I really encourage it. Not for the obvious benefits of sharing your knowledge/experience with others, but for the personal development exercise of challenging your abilities of self-expression to the highest degree. Best wishes!

If you enjoyed the article, hit 'like' and stay in touch by following me on LinkedIn or Twitter @sanavasli. Also to learn about sales without becoming a stereotyped salesperson, grab a copy of my book I Am Not A Salesperson  (paperback or eBook).