Before you set pen to paper there are three steps to take to position yourself as the expert. Step #1 Decide why
you are writing the book. Are you writing it to boost
business and serve as a marketing piece? Imagine telling a potential client, "let me send you a copy of my book." This strategy works quite well to convince potential clients you are the one to do business with.
Are you writing your book to create a business? Many successful publishers and authors have built tremendous businesses from the creation of a single book. I like to use Chicken Soup for the Soul as an example because they have taken one original book and built an empire of products. You do not have to write creative non-fiction to be successful. There are many successful businesses who blossomed from one "expert" book.
Are you writing a book to share your joy and knowledge with others? What gives you great joy? Some people find great joy fly
fishing. Others enjoy taking apart their computers and modifying them.
Still others love to create deliciously healthy meals or train bears. Whatever your joy, it can be shared with others in the form of a book.
Step #2 Once you know what you want to write about, it is time to make sure there is an audience. It is time for research. Now the truth of the matter is there is an audience for just about every topic under the sun. That being said, you can fine tune your book''s topic to appeal to the most people by being specific.
For example, if your passion is fly fishing, there are many aspects of fly fishing. There is fly tying, building custom fly rods, the skills involved with fly fishing, fly fishing vacations and so on. The list could go on for quite a while.
Your job, here in Step #2 is to determine what potential topics are available and which has the most demand. There are many tools you can use to research demand and potential topics including online keyword tools, friends, family, and associates, and online surveys, chat rooms and forums. Once you know exactly what you are writing about, and you know there''s an audience, it is time to get down to the business of writing.
Step #3 Writing your book. Not everyone believes they can write and some people simply do not want to write a book. Do not let either stop you from
becoming an author. You can write a book if you want to, and if you do not want to then hire a ghostwriter. Either way, your book will begin with an outline. I know, outlines are dreadful and they bring us back to our high school years but I am not talking about that kind of formal outline. I am talking about an outline that will make writing your book as easy as writing a letter to a friend.
Once your book is written, and this can honestly take less than 30 days to complete, publishing it is the only thing that stands between you and your ''expert'' status. Don''t let publishing your book be your barrier.
Self publishing has grown by leaps and bounds over the past couple of years and there are options for everyone. Becoming the expert in your chosen field or subject is only a few steps away. By:bob burnham