OLD POST ALERT! This is an older post and although you might find some useful tips, any technical or publishing information is likely to be out of date. Please click on Start Here on the menu bar above to find links to my most useful articles, videos and podcast. Thanks and happy writing! – Joanna Penn
Four years ago I wrote and published my first non-fiction book on Career Change (recently rewritten and updated). I learned so much during the process that I started this site and since then it has been my mission to help people release the book inside.
You’ve probably heard the phrase ‘there is a book inside all of us’. For me this was true, but rather than ‘whether' to write, my dilemma consisted of ‘what to write’ and ‘how to get started’ because I had several ideas and concepts inside of me bursting to get out. I knew I would need to narrow it down if I was to ever reach my goal of becoming a published author.
Attending Joanna’s non-fiction book writing workshop helped me to clarify my thoughts and fashion out a successful path to publishing my book. Here are the steps I found most useful.
1) Decide what you will write
Go with what you know most about and are most passionate about. This way you will be both engaging and authentic. As a non-fiction author, people expect truth, either from your experience or knowledge so you need to write with authority on your subject matter
Your non-fiction book can help to position you as an expert in your field, open doors in your career including speaking engagements, as well as gain you more clients, so choose a topic that you want to be associated with now and in the future, rather than a past endeavor that is no longer current.
Write what’s relevant to your target readership. You can do this in many ways for example by addressing a problem or need, clearing up an area of ambiguity, presenting new information, or presenting existing information in a fresh way by applying it to different contexts.
When I wrote my book, I decided to base it on the topic I’m most passionate about and have significant experience on, which is How to Start a Business. I knew my content would be relevant to my target readership because I used each chapter to address the questions I get asked most frequently, especially when I’m speaking at conferences, which is a strong indication of what my target audience would like to know.
2) Make a chapter plan
Flesh out a plan for each chapter at the beginning of the writing project. Your chapter plan should include the topics you are going to cover within in each chapter and as well as the subtopics, and any examples you plan to use to support your concepts, theories and ideas.
A chapter plan can take many forms, while some prefer flow charts or lists, others prefer spider diagrams or mind maps. As long as you can read and understand your plan for each chapter then it’s right for you.
My chapter plans were in the form of mind maps. Each chapter plan looked like a spider’s web with the central theme in the middle, and strands radiating from the middle on which I wrote my subheadings, with further strands as examples. I found that the hours I spent up front producing my chapter plans paid off as once I started writing, I could keep going until all of the concepts and ideas I’d brainstormed at the beginning of my project were exhausted.
Your plan enables you to know where you’re heading with your book so that you write in a focused manner and don’t go off on a tangent. Also, by making a plan at the beginning of your project, you are less likely to dry up or run out of words as you progress.
When you’ve finished writing about the topics in the first section of the plan, you simply tick the off and move on to writing the next topic that you’ve earmarked. This is particularly useful if you’ve taken a break in your writing for any length of time, you always now where you left off and can resume quickly.
3) Make a time plan, the shorter the better
With many fiction authors spending years penning their books, non-fiction deadlines need to be shorter simply because we are living in a digital age with knowledge advancing at breakneck speed. Taking years to write a non-fiction book could render it’s concepts out of date pretty quickly. As a general rule of thumb, aim for three to six months to complete your first full draft and aim to publish within the year. You can always release a new, updated version later.
4) Buddy Up!
Writing a book can be a lonely business. It can be a great help to have a like-minded person to be accountable to. This could be anyone, but preferably someone who is also undertaking or has undertaken a writing project as they will be able to empathize with you and find mutual encouragement.
Being able to pick up the phone for a chat, or meeting up for a coffee can go a long way to lightening the writing process. Discussing your writing targets with your buddy will keep them at the forefront of your mind and spur you on. You can find writing ‘buddies’ through joining your local writers circle, or joining a writers ‘meet up’, or on a course, or even persuade a friend to start a writing project.
Knowing that I had buddies that would ring me to ask me my progress on the book front helped keep me on track. When I made progress it was great to have buddies to celebrate with knowing I was spurring them on too. I found my buddies on the writing course I attended and still enjoy keeping in touch even though I’ve now completed my book.
5) Don’t look back
Once you have your chapter plans in place, start writing and keep going forward. Don’t look back to re-read what you’ve written or you might keep tweaking it and risk getting stuck in ‘tweaking mode’ . Instead, finish writing out all that you have in your plans so that you complete the first draft of your manuscript. Once you have your manuscript, you can re-read it in order to tweak, improve, re-phrase and tighten up in places.
Once you’ve improved your manuscript as best you can you are ready to send it to ‘beta readers’. Beta readers are people in your target audience that will give you their honest opinion on your work. Be open minded about the comments you receive back and use them to polish your draft to the best it can be getting it to final status, ready for a professional editor.
I sent my manuscript to five beta readers. I gave them a timescale of 2 weeks to feedback so as not to unduly lengthen my project, and thank fully all obliged. All of my beta readers provided invaluable feedback albeit in different forms.
6) Use a professional editor
I found my editor through Joanna's list of recommended editors and I chose Liz Broomfield, Libroediting because she was recommended, reasonably priced and as an author of non-fiction, understood the genre well. I was very happy with Liz’s input and would use her again.
[Find out more on the editing and rewriting process here]
7) Include references back to your website
Within your book, make sure you ask readers to refer back to your website for information that you would like to include in your book but are conscious may be subject to change or date quickly, e.g. references to legislation or professional associations. That way you can update the information on the website rather than having to re-submit files of your book.
Directing people back to your website also means that people will be more likely to sign up for your newsletter and you'll be able to communicate with them directly over time. For non-fiction writers, this is important as extra revenue will come from speaking engagements or sale of other products/services.
8) Produce both paperback and ebook
Where my non-fiction book is concerned, I’ve sold more paperbacks than ebooks which is common if you have a speaking platform or a physical community of people to market to.
Paperbacks are easy to produce via print on demand services. I used Amazon's Createspace for my paperback and Amazon KDP for my Kindle version. Both platforms were easy to understand and use. [See How to Publish A Book 101 for more details]
9) Get a great looking cover that is suitable for your genre
Non-fiction books tend to have simpler cleaner looking covers versus fiction, some simply with text.
Browse the bestselling books in your genre to understand what works well then work with a professional designer to ensure your book stands out in a crowded market.
10) Celebrate your success, but don’t put your feet up for too long!
There’s marketing to be done and for that I recommend you check out Joanna's book marketing resources!
Lotwina is the author of ‘Fruitful Business: How to Start a Business Now!’ where she shares her tips and strategies for successful business. The book is available now on in paperback and Kindle formats.
Top Image: BigStockPhoto Red Cherries in a bowl
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1 2 Next »Be sure to also capture any video, images and audio for the eBook to enhance it, even just a little bit of extra content will help it sell. If you think about this during the beginning stages it is quite easy to get an Author interview recorded or a book introduction video or perhaps some photos that are relevant to your book. It's much harder to do this at the end of the process.
Thanks Gavin. I totally agree that every little helps.
#11 Set realistic sales expectations.
A quick glance at the top 100 Amazon sales reveals that non-fiction can't compete with 'Twilight'.
Hi David. Thanks so much for your comment. I agree that fiction certainly dominates the sales charts but would hope that fact wouldn't curtail a non-fictions authors aspirations or indeed deter a non fiction author from aiming high. For many non-fiction authors, writing a book is worthwhile for a myriad of reasons including positioning one as an authority in their subject matter, opening doors to further opportunities, speaking roles, creating a platform e.t.c.
David, this is absolutely true - although it's also true that one fiction book will rarely sell a lot of books - most fiction authors have a lot of product! (Twilight being one of those exceptional lightning strikes!)
For non-fiction authors, the book is more of a business card for the business on the back end. In Lotwina's case, she is a speaker so the book is important for that.
I'm a non fiction writer and I love it. I would encourage all fiction writers who are interested to go for it!
One of my biggest problem that stopped me until now on that project is... that I can't decide which genre to use for the writing of this book. Let me explain briefly, maybe somebody can suggest me something.
A dramatic event happened to me few years ago, this kind of event that changes your life forever, the one that could also destroy everything you have done up to now. I was violently bullied and assault... barely escaping for my life. I want to write about it. I have an urge to write about it. But I don't know under what genre to write it.
I am a published author and my genres are more -- besides magazine articles -- hoovering in children and MG.
My dilemma is... if I write a non-fiction adult book and even if I change names and cities... I could be sued, isn't it?
Writing a novel could be a solution, I think. It could be the only alternative. Now... adult novel? YA novel? MG novel? Surely not children...
Usually, I have no problem writing but this one is freezing my muse. I don't know how to start it. Do you have some advices or written an articles on How to thaw the muse and How to start to write on difficult subjects and How to decide for a genre?
Thank you so much for your blog :)
Hi Amyah.
Thanks so much for your post. Sorry to hear about your traumatic event. It's great that you are going forward in a positive way by choosing to write about it. By writing about it, you will be able to help others that have faced or are facing difficult circumstances as well as yourself.
Whether fiction or non-fiction, you have the liberty to change names, events and places to protect the identity of anybody concerned. You can also put in a disclaimer at the beginning of the book and can even write under a pen name.
Regarding the genre that you eventually choose to write the event under - I think that you should go what comes most naturally to you and take your lead from within. This way you will be able to connect with your readers and let your words flow naturally creating an authentic experience for the reader.
Hope it goes well and the 'freeze' thaws quickly
Hmmmm.... you're right, Lotwina. Maybe it is my mind who play tricks on me :) trying to find an excuse to not write. Well, I will write it as it comes and then... will see. Like my other books, it will surely take form by itself.
Thank you :)
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I will be self-publishing my 14th book Parent Power, which is a parents' guide to education, in about five weeks. I am about to start planning my next book which will be on dyslexia so this site has been very useful. I have published books on a variety of topics from terrorism in Pakistan (published by a major academic publishing house) as well as a bestselling essay writing guide also published by a major education publisher. Ironically, I am quite severely dyslexic so reading, spelling and writing have always been very difficult and I left school virtually illiterate. I use the voice recognition program Dragon Naturally Speaking which enables me to get my thoughts down quickly on paper rather than having to use a pencil and paper, a process which many dyslexics find very difficult. The program also has a "read back facility" which is great for copy editing text.
This is a good article, but I have a spesific question. My problem is I don't know if I need an editor or not in order to get my non-fiction book noticed by publishers. I've completed the book, and I've written my book propsal to send to publishers. I've gone through the beta readers, proofreading etc...
I've also published it on kindle, but my early success on kindle has dried up. Clearly no more electronic copies of my book will sell unless I do something else now. So getting a paperback published seems like the next step. When I started this I didn't intend to publish, so it's not a case of "Should I write it or not?" I don't partucularly want to be a full-time author, although I have practised my writing and completed a Creative Writing degree. I just want this book to be out there. Is it worth getting an editor to tell publishers about it, or should I just send the proposal to publishers myself? I don't want to be told "We don't publish unsolicited books", but I don't want to hire someone for a lot of money if there's a chance my book just won't sell. Some advice on this would be really helpful.If it helps to know, it's a sort of diary of someone with depression, based on my own experiance. I know this type of market is crowded, but the book exists now, so there's no point in asking "Is it unique enough to sell a lot of copies"? I want people to read it. I want it to be out there. It would be nice if I didn't give several years of work away for free. However, I'm not expecting it to be a bestseller. If anyone has any advice it would be appreciated.
As a retired naturopathic doctor, I am assisting a former client in getting her published book in Mexico into english and prepared for english/American readers. First, I noticed she had no references, no resources nor index. Aren't all nob-fiction books on health and wellness required to be in APA format? She is getting great reviews from the book from Spanish speaking readers. I really want to help her be successful with an english version. Please advise.
Susan Foster
I don't believe there are any "requirements" as such - it's more about what readers expect in a genre. I imagine that plenty of health & wellness books have no references etc - I would suggest looking at the Top 50 books in the genre she is aiming for and looking at what they do.
Hello! Great article, it was very helpful. I have a question though. I am working on a book that is a collection of several already published books that I just want to summarize their main points in each book. Plus some other topics. Do I need to get permission from each publisher of those books or do I just reference each of those books in mine? And if I seek a publisher of my own would they help me with that? I just don't want to get in trouble for putting a part of someone's work in my own work and get in trouble for it. I hope someone reads this and can help me out! Thanks again.
Should I get my first draft copyrighted prior to getting an editor.
No, I wouldn't worry about that. Editors are professionals and will not be stealing your words. This might help on copyright: http://www.thecreativepenn.com/2013/07/05/a-guide-to-rights-orna-ross/