You’ve spent years following your passion, studying your chosen field, working with clients, and showcasing your genius. One impressive way to expand your circle of influence even more is to become a published author.
A word of advice, however…don’t try to cram your years of experience into a single book! You’ll certainly overwhelm your audience and your expertise will become muddled because you’re trying to teach everything you know all at once.
Rather, hone in on a subset of knowledge to focus on. Ease your readers into your subject matter slowly. Not so slowly that they’ll get bored and wonder when you’ll get to the heart of the subject but slowly enough that you’re tackling one aspect of your subject at a time. This will make your book feel more cohesive and will be easier for your audience to digest the information and take action.
“But I know too much and don’t know where to begin writing!”
I’m guessing that’s your response right about now because you’re not the only one who wonders how to go about taking your vast knowledge and putting it into a book. Instead of sitting down to a blank computer screen, do some old-fashioned outlining first. Creating an outline will help you organize the flow of your book and will prevent you from going off on irrelevant tangents that are so easy to miss when you just start writing without a plan.
Start off by brainstorming some ideas that come to mind immediately. Empty your brain onto paper without editing your ideas. Writing down these ideas will free up your creativity and you’ll feel more focused on this planning stage.
Now that your brainstorming is done, go through all your previously published content and make a list of possible subjects. Remember to scan your blog posts, social media posts, and email newsletters for ideas. If you want to get uber organized, ask your VA to create a spreadsheet with these topic ideas with links of where they can be found.
Research each subject to see which has the most potential to be both popular and profitable. We’re entering the analytical phase, where you’ll want to rank subjects that got more positive feedback high on your list. Also ask yourself these important questions to narrow down your choices:
- Are you a true expert on this subject?
- Is this subject something that’s been written about by other authors successfully?
- Has this subject been “done to death” by other authors?
- Has this topic spurred engagement, such as views, likes, and shares on social media?
Let’s clarify numbers 2 and 3. An easy way to discover if there’s a buying market for a book on a particular subject is to research if anyone else has published on a similar topic. If you find no one else has ever published on your chosen topic, this could mean one of two things: Either there’s no audience who will buy a book on that subject; or you’re truly a visionary who is willing to be the first to publish and test the waters.
However, if you find dozens of authors who have published similar books, the market could be oversaturated and you’ll have to work extra hard to find a unique perspective or to find an audience. It’s really a fine line between the two choices and only you can make the decision whether or not to publish in these circumstances.
Your ultimate goal always is to create a book that your tribe will want and buy. After you’ve done some research, narrow down your choices to the topic that’s the clear winner.
Take a look at Book Launch Booster Rockets to decide whether this strategy is the right one for you as you begin writing and marketing your book.