Everyone has a book in them and, as a business owner or consultant, you’ve probably got more than one. Your expertise and experience have value and being able to claim the title ‘author’ has a certain kudos.
The problem with daydreaming about becoming an author, is that it requires you to write. Yes, of course we can all write, but not everyone does it well enough to write a book (at least not without a lot of editing).
If you’re one of those people who likes the idea, but can’t imagine sitting down for long periods of time to actually get their thoughts down on paper, you could work with a ghost writer or professional editor in a variety of ways.
Notes and other material
A ghost writer will want to talk to you about the focus for your book, but if you have existing material (like blogs and articles) and some notes you’ve made they will almost certainly be able to produce a reasonable first draft.
Record your thoughts
If you’re happy to talk into a recording device, you could talk your book and then get it transcribed for your ghost writer/editor to work on. Ideally, you would need to have worked out a plan so you talk with purpose around specific subject areas, rather than just ramble on for a while!
Interview
Some ghost writers will sit down with you and literally conduct a series of interviews to extract the information they need to develop your book. This is more time-consuming and is likely to be more expensive.
Contract it out
You could just give your chosen ghost writer a brief and let them do the research and write the book. This is possible, but less authentic as they won’t have your thoughts and ‘voice’ to create a book that sounds like you.
These are all ways that books are written, so you can take your pick. Before you start talking, jotting notes or getting involved in interviews, it is a good idea to map out your book. This means working out what each chapter will cover – maybe a few bullet points to provide structure and then organising the chapters into a logical order.
If you’re planning to work with someone on your book make sure that you choose someone who you feel comfortable with and who ‘gets’ you and what you’re trying to achieve. It will make the experience much easier and help you enjoy your journey to authorship.
