“The Secret of Choosing Your Book Topic! --An Expert's How to Write a Book Step-by-Step Guide”
If you're having trouble deciding which book, or what kind of book you want to write, here's the answer to get you started, and up to speed!
by Steve Manning
Believe it or not, a lot of my authors come to me with a profound starting problem. Either they don't know which book of several they want to write first, or they know only that they want to write a book but are at a loss about choosing the topic of their first effort. In this article we'll deal with both of those problems so you can get over any initial delay and get right to the writing. The answers are surprisingly easy, if you know the secret.
Let's start with not knowing which book to write first. There are several that are floating around in your mind. One or two may be fiction. Two or more may be nonfiction. With the writing system I've developed you can hop from one to the other with very little problem. In fact, writing two or more books concurrently may be the very best use of your time. But let's make things simple and start with just one.
The basis for your decision has to do with your success. I want you to be successful when you write your book. And the fewer obstacles in your way the easier and faster that success will come. So just what is it you want to achieve? Is it money? Is it creativity? Is it a legacy for your family? Is it the beginnings of an information business? Yes, you may have two or more reasons for success, two or more goals one. And that's fine. You'll be writing books that will satisfy all these goals and so many more. But for now what do you want to achieve most?
Once you know that, you must decide which book will take you to your goal fastest. It may be fiction, it may be nonfiction, it may be a particular nonfiction subject. That's the book you start with. Don't think that starting with one book means you're giving up or abandoning your intentions to write the others. You're just making a decision, you'll come back to those other books later.
Sometimes it's a dead heat. Two different looks have equal potential for your success. Pick the one that interests you most. And if two writing projects are still dead even just flip a coin. What you want to avoid is spending time in the decision-making process. Pick a book topic and go. The writing you do now, even on a book that isn't top of the list, is infinitely more important than the time you spend sitting, fretting and worrying you'll make the wrong choice.
And don't be too concerned if you get a couple of chapters into one book and then decide you'd rather work on another. Nothing is carved in stone. But your ultimate objective is to complete the manuscript. So if you are going to change books in mid stream, make sure you have a good reason. It might be more fruitful for you to simply finish the first manuscript as quickly as possible and then move on to the second. I want you to avoid the process of changing books simply as a technique for procrastination. If you don't have a really good a reason for changing books once you've begun, other than writing the first manuscript has become a more of a challenge than you initially thought, then you're far better off sticking with the first until it's done.
Time for a little unabashed, self promotion: If you haven’t asked for my Free CD, “How to Write a Book On Anything in 14 Days Guaranteed!” then you’re just plain nuts! It’s free, no charge, but you can bet this $100 CD will be carrying that price tag very shortly. How do you get it? Just email me at Free CD, Please, or CD_please@writeabooknow.com and make sure you include your name, your mailing address and your telephone number in the email. Now, back to the article…
Now let's move on to those authors who want to write a book but have absolutely no idea what book they want to write. These authors aren't even battling over a choice. So I'll try to make it easy for them.
If you usually read nonfiction, you should write a nonfiction book. If you usually read fiction, novels, that sort of thing, then fiction is the way for you to go. Remember that the decision itself is far more important than choosing correctly. It's a bit like a sports game: everyone wants the referee to make a decision. Whether it's the right decision or the wrong decision really doesn't matter as long as the decision is made and the referee is consistent.
If you're writing nonfiction choose the topic that will reflect what you know the most about. You don't have to know everything about a topic, just more stuff than the average person And you should be thinking about solving a problem for the reader. The more ubiquitous the problem, such as excessive weight, and the more specialized your solution, the more popular your book will be.
If you're writing fiction, you'll be writing in the genre that thrills you most and in which you are most widely read.
While we're on the topic of strategies, and if you haven't already done so, feel free to
subscribe to my FREE on-line course, "How To Write A Book On
Anything in 14 Days... or Less" it's packed with tips, techniques
and tactics for writing your book faster than you ever thought possible! But
ONLY if you're SERIOUS about writing a book NOW!
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Time for a little unabashed, self promotion: If you haven’t asked for my Free CD, “How to Write a Book On Anything in 14 Days Guaranteed!” then you’re just plain nuts! It’s free, no charge, but you can bet this $100 CD will be carrying that price tag very shortly. How do you get it? Just email me at Free CD, Please, or CD_please@writeabooknow.com and make sure you include your name, your mailing address and your telephone number in the email.
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