Do you find that people often ask for your advice? When you’re at a networking meeting do you get lots of people saying “So how do you do [insert your specialist subject here]? Do you find your business connections often refer people to you for help?
Sounds like you might be an expert!
If you find you’re often explaining things to people, showing others how to do things and maybe being asked to speak at groups about your area of expertise, you’ve probably got the raw material for a book.
If the idea of writing 40,000 words sends you running for the hills, don’t worry, there are other ways to get that book out of your head and into print.
Talk it out
Instead of writing you can record your book in episodes. Actually, you could record it as podcasts using software like Spreaker or Anchor and then you get the double whammy of having a podcast AND a book.
Of course, for the book, you’ll need to get it transcribed, but you can find people who will do this on freelance sites such as Fiverr, People per hour or Upwork.
We have clients who have literally dictated their books over the phone or on a VoIP system.
Get yourself interviewed
Effectively this is how a ghost writer works. You’ll need a plan first to establish the structure (and that applies regardless of how you get your book out of your head and into print). A good ghost writer will then interview you to get the content for each chapter. Generally, they’ll record the interviews as well as taking notes and then go away and write up the manuscript.
You’ll need several interviews to extract the information for a full-length book.
Work with a professional writer/editor
The right editor will be able to help you with the whole process, from planning and structure to developing the manuscript from your notes, discussions and any materials you may have developed for presentations, training or clients in the past.
Don’t cut corners
When you’ve got your first draft you’ll need to review it, maybe add bits that you forgot to mention earlier – and then turn it over to a professional editor who will look at how the overall concept works, what needs pruning, what needs developing, what would add more value and what doesn’t contribute to the overall message.
This isn’t proof-reading (which will need to be done before it goes to print), but will make the difference between a book that gets read and recommended and one that readers never finish (a literary agent once told me that most people don’t get past chapter 3 of a non-fiction book!)
At the end of the process you’ll have a book you can be proud of.
