Two years ago my life changed.
About this time three years ago, I found a website called Write Nonfiction in November. In 2009, I started to believe that maybe some day I’d write a book.
On November 2, 2010, I read something that I needed to read. It said that procrastination is just trusting your future self to do something. The thing is, if your present self never takes steps to accomplish your goals, your future self will never be the kind of person who does the thing that your present self thinks you’ll do.
I started writing that day.
The premise of NaNoWriMo (National Novel or Non-fiction Writing Month) is that almost anyone can write a 50,000 word book in thirty days. You only need to write 1,667 words a day to hit that goal. For the sake of comparison, this post is about 700 words and today I’ve written a total of 2,000 between this post and the chapter of the book I’m writing as part of this year’s NaNoWriMo.
As a result today I tweeted:
“Writing really is a muscle. If you write every day, you’ll be able to write more and more. If you don’t, you’ll be able to write less.”
That started a whole discussion with one of my followers. I thought I’d share a couple of the pieces with you.
A Few Thoughts
I had to fight through self-doubt with my first book. I would tell everyone that I talked to about my first book, Podcasting Church, that I was trying to write a book. That wasn’t false modesty. I didn’t know if I could write it. Every day as I sat down to write, I had to tell myself that I might just be able to do it.
That’s the first thing I want to tell you. I read blogs for years, but only wrote sporadically, even though I’d wanted to write a book since at least my second or third year of college. If you want to write a book, you probably can.
I thought writing a book was like writing a 150 page book report. In school, I never wrote anything longer than twenty pages and that was torture. Every time I write a book, it’s fun.
When I write, I start with a rough outline. That outline is basically the table of contents. Each day, I write one of those topics. I don’t wait to be inspired. I just write.
Everyone is different, but what works best for me is Jerry Seinfeld’s productivity secret. I try to write everyday no matter what. I’ve found that if I skip a day, it’s easier to skip two. Two days becomes a week which becomes a month.
At the end of the month (or however long the project takes), I send it to my editor. Ideally, I’d have a professional editor who’d fix grammar and typos as well as help me with the flow of the piece. I’m fortunate in that I have a relative who put herself through grad school editing papers, so she’s edited three of my books. When you’re done with yours, you can hire someone to edit it.
Trust me, you’re too close to find all the mistakes. With my first book, I edited it three different times. Each time I thought I’d found all the mistakes. Each time I found more. Finally, I sent it to Jenny who found even more. It’s worth the time and money to get this piece done well.
And Now …
Since, I do graphic design as one of my side gigs, I make the cover myself, but that’s a simple thing to hire out for as little as $5 on fiverr.com or more if you use another source. I also do the interior design for the paper book and the formatting for the Kindle version.
In the mean time, I send the electronic books to my “beta readers.” They get to read it for free. I ask that they give me honest feedback. If they like it, I also ask for a review on Amazon.
I use CreateSpace to publish the paper book. I upload the files and order a proof. When I get the new book, I give it one last look before I tell them to publish it.
They do print on demand using an Espresso Book Machine, so I can order one book or 10,000. Since they’re owned by Amazon, your book is placed on Amazon and you’re a published author. Amazon doesn’t keep them in inventory. When someone, or a bunch of someones, buy a copy, they print them and send them to the buyer.
To publish on Kindle, I use Kindle Direct Publishing. In order to get 70% royalties, you’re required to price your Kindle book from $2.99 to $9.99. Otherwise, it’s 35%.
I really was amazed at how easy writing a book is. I hope this peek at my process helps you.
What book would you write if you knew you could have it done before 2013?
[Image via DavidTurnbul]
Matt Brier says
Oddly enough, if I knew what book I wanted to write I would be writing it. I have access to plenty of information on building a blog or writing a book, but it all seems to be predicated on having a subject to write about.
I’m batting some ideas around regarding music/movies/pop culture though.
But yeah, NaNoWriMo is a pretty cool deal. I did it two years in a row and while I never got to the finish point, it did help me exercise my writing muscles quite a bit.
Paul Clifford says
Thanks buddy. Pretty cool when you write a post and the best man from your wedding comments even though you didn’t tell him about it.
Anyway. I used to be mad that I wasn’t “self-disciplined” enough to write everyday. One day, that changed. Then I wanted to write a chapter in a book AND a blog post every day. Now, I’m wondering what will happen the next time I take it up a notch. 😉
Back to planning the launch of my third book, “The Serving Church” for tomorrow.
Paul