Assuming you're writing a book that's related to your work, decide first on who your target audience is before you set pen to paper. Writing for a specific group of people is not only easier, but it enables you to be perceived as an expert within that group. You must also decide on the level of knowledge of your average reader and write accordingly. In this way, you avoid being patronising - or writing above the comprehension level of your reader.
Step Two - Get to work on your structure!
It's all too easy to get the writing bug and produce pages covered with fascinating streams of consciousness. The problem however, arises when you need to format the book into some kind of structure. Wading through 70,000 words to find a particular topic takes hours, is frustrating and will leave you so disheartened that you may well choose to give up the whole project as a bad job.
It makes sense, therefore, to consider your book's structure - before you start writing the content. Doing this is often easier if you write the book jacket first. This helps you streamline your thinking and reading it often not only is inspiring but it also reminds you to remain focused on your target audience. It's also a good idea to plan your contents page with chapter headings in the early days too - this ensures that there's a flow for the reader and a route map for you. (Also, if you want to play about with the structure, it's far easier to simply cut and paste chapter headings than it is to move swathes of purple prose.)
Step Three - Consider becoming an author of a tips booklet first!
If you're really keen to get into print as quickly as possible, why not consider writing a tips booklet? Not only does the booklet quickly - it should only take you a couple of days to write - give you something that you can sell to clients or use for PR purposes but it will also provide you with an excellent framework for when it comes to writing your book. Tips booklets are not only cheap to produce but they also provide you with an easy opportunity to become an author.
Step Four - Keep your writing style simple!
Understand that one of the keys to good writing is to keep things simple. While it's tempting to imagine yourself as the next literary discovery, in truth you'll do better to keep your writing easy-to-read so that it doesn't get in the way of the message. Trainee journalists are taught to write for individuals with a reading age of 12. Scary but true! Unlike classic reporting - which calls for writing in the 'third person' (for example, "It is believed that..." rather than "We believe that") - your book will come across as warmer and more accessible if you write as though you were talking to one reader, personally.
Step Five - Grab your readers' attention!
With millions of books out there, you're going to have to work hard to make your book sell. As well as an attention-grabbing headline, you also need to build up a sense of curiosity - and make sure that it runs throughout the book. You can easily achieve this by giving a teaser at the end of each chapter for what's coming next...
And finally...
Writing a book is hugely satisfying - and can help improve your personal profile, both within the media and your local community. Stick to these simple rules and who knows, you might even be the next JK Rowling!
1 Decide on who your target audience is before you set pen to paper. Writing for a specific group of people is not only easier, but it enables you to be perceived as an expert within that group.
2 Write your book jacket before beginning to write your book. Similarly, work on the chapter titles before writing the book itself. Doing both of these tasks first ensures that you get the structure right - and will save you hours of work and heartache later.
3 Get realistic - and write a tips booklet. Not only is it quicker and easier - but it will give you a useful framework for when you do write the book.
4 Keep your language simple and make your book personal. Language that's flowery and fails to get to the point may well serve your reader by sending them to sleep but it's unlikely that they'll keep reading.
5 Understand that you must grab - and keep - the reader's attention. You can easily do this through the book and chapter titles and at the end of each chapter, give a teaser for the following section!
But what are you going to do if you can't or don't want to write?
Well, for starters if you hate writing articles and you can't afford to hire someone reputable to write for you, you can get free articles. The first place to look is in the public domain. You won't have problems with copyright infringement if your material is available in the public domain.
Public domain writings are simply expired copyrights. When a work is originally copyrighted, the copyright only lasts for a specified period of time. If the copyright isn't extended, usually when an author dies, then it simply expires. Then the writing is placed in the public domain. These are articles or writings that were once published works and so the English and grammar should be very good. You may need to check copyright laws in the country in which you reside for more information.
Because public domain articles are available to anyone, your competition may also be using them. This can be verified easily with a search engine. Make sure the articles you choose pertain to your website topic. You'll likely need to edit them a bit in order to place your keywords in the right places.
You can also let other websites with similar content submit articles and post them on your site. Many bloggers today do what is known as "utility posting" in which they post an intro to a post on another site and link to it. They are using content from other blogs to fill their content needs and linking to the other blog.
Now, you might be saying -- wait a minute, I don't want links to other sites on my site! Well, if that's what you think, you're a little behind the curve because that's exactly what Web 2.0 is all about! Google knows this and is now serving up pages based primarily on their social popularity. Google weighs other parts of the site as well, but always remember that social populariaty is VERRRRY important!
So, forget about keeping all the links to yourself and start sharing as much as you can.
And, if you're wondering where all this is going, well here's the pot of gold and the real reason why I decided to write this article in the first place. Because of Web 2.0, there are now many article services gaining popularity that cater to this need. The one I belong to not only sends my "unique" articles to about 600 sites upon submission, but I also receive many unique articles each day as a subscriber. And, you can choose to only receive articles if you don't want to write them.
This service is not costly but is well worth the minor fee I pay monthly. As a result, I'm seeing my links increase in Google daily. It's the best method I know of to help us all trade links and acquire unique articles. I have no problem posting regularly to all of my sites now. It's up to me to choose what categories of articles I receive, how many are sent each day and whether or not to publish on my website. Unfortunately, not everyone is able to write good articles! If it's crap, I don't post it.
One more thing you should know -- There are now many websites that offer Private Label Rights Articles that you can publish on your site. Many of them are free to join. Private label rights allow you to take credit for writing the articles. If you want, you can even rewrite all or part of them. In fact, that's how I wrote this article. I'm pretty good at writing, but sometimes the ideas don't come as quickly as I'd like. So, when I begin with a PLR work, the ideas start churning out and there's no need to create all of the content myself. Although most of the time you would not recognize the original as the starting content, when I'm done!
Both Olivia Stefanino & Pankajarora are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Olivia Stefanino has sinced written about articles on various topics from Difficult people, self improvement and motivation and Internet Marketing. Author & Coach Olivia Stefanino is Principal of "The Quantum School for Therapists". Join today and receive £500 worth of free gifts - including a 9 CD audio library, 9 workbooks & a 2-hour coaching session! Visit. Olivia Stefanino's top article generates over 33100 views. to your Favourites.
Pankajarora has sinced written about articles on various topics from Internet Marketing, E Books and Writing. For more useful tips & hints, please browse for more information at our website: -