Planning your nonfiction book

As you know, if you have been reading The Writing Life, I teach and coach six steps that take a nonfiction book from concept to completion. It is a huge topic, with much to cover, and there are always questions. I hope to answer as many of them as I can in the upcoming series of blog posts.

What are the three most important questions an author must answer before he or she starts writing?

1. What is my book about (in one sentence)? Why one sentence? Because if you can't clearly and succinctly explain what your book is about in a way that anyone will understand, you don't know. If you don't know, you can't write it.
2. What is my book's purpose? Why are you writing this book? What do you want it to achieve? A book needs a mission, a reason for being. The purpose might be to entertain, to educate, or to inspire. Whatever it is, the mission must include providing a benefit to the reader.
   
3. Who is my ideal reader? Think about this. "Everyone" or "every woman" is too broad. if you were having a conversation with your reader, who would that person be? To whom are you delivering the benefit you promise?

How do I know if my idea for a book is viable?

If you write a book proposal for an agent or publisher, your job is to prove that your book will sell. You do that by answering these ten questions (three of them may look familiar):

1. Why are you writing this book?
   
2. What is your book about?
   
3. How are you qualified to write this book?
   
4. Why is this an appropriate and timely topic?
   
5. Who are your target readers?
   
6. How will they benefit?
   
7. How will you reach them?
   
8. How big is the market? How many potential readers are there?
   
9. What else is out there on this subject? How is this book unique/special/important?
   
10. How will you help to promote your book?
    

Why do I need a proposal if I’m self-publishing my book?

A proposal is your plan. if you can answer the ten questions above, you have the basis for your proposal. If you don't intend to pursue traditional publishing, this may be all you need. Proposals may be organized in various ways, but they must address the basics. When you reread your answers you will know if your book is viable. You will also use all of this information as you write and promote your book.

Chapter 12 • 2008-2010 • Helping Writers Write

When people tell me they want to write a book, I always ask, “What is your book about … in one sentence?” It is so difficult to answer that question. Unless these aspiring authors have developed a sound byte they can rattle off in thirty seconds, they tend to explain why they want to write the book or tell a long story about the book’s content. Somewhere in that monologue is the point: what the book is about.



In my classes, I insist that every student must answer that question in a way anyone can understand. We don’t move forward until they do, and sometimes that takes a while. In a class fellow students can help to clarify a concept by asking questions and making suggestions. Eventually, everyone succeeds, though they may not understand until much later why this is so important. Yet, they are delighted when someone asks about their books and they are able to confidently respond with a single, well-crafted statement.



If defining the subject of a book is so tough, imagine what it takes to define a life. Training courses on subjects as diverse as managing time and dealing with change often start by asking participants to distill their mission into one sentence. What is your purpose? What matters to you? What do you value? It is hard to set goals or even manage time if you have no North Star to guide you.



Perhaps because I have been to many such programs, I have spent considerable time pondering the answers to those questions. For most of the past forty years, I have come up with the same answer: My purpose is to write. That has been the foundation, to which I have added new goals along the way. I sometimes visualize my career as a house with many additions, some of which go with the original design, while others are just extra rooms I never intended to build.



No one is more surprised than I that the foundation has held firm all these years. “What are you doing these days?” someone will ask me. “Still writing,” I reply. “Really? That’s great!” they may say, as if they thought I would be in another line of work (or retired) by now. I know I am among those fortunate people who find their life’s work and never question their choice.



Sidebar
“"I want you to know, my life changed with taking your class. You gave me the confidence and boldness to be able to put myself out there with my writing. Heroes aren't Superman; they are people like you who take the time to nurture the potential in others so they, in turn, have something to offer someone else. Thank you."

Spring 2008• Kim Dailey • Special Education Teacher




The writing life has neither been a breeze nor filled with the romance of book tours and appearances on the Today Show and Oprah. I have not written a best seller, though I haven’t given up on that dream. Many of my books are out of print, but I have discovered that people do own them. Once, when I lent my only copy of Polish Your People Skills to a client, who lent it to someone else, I bought a used copy on Amazon.



I have always considered myself a working writer. By that, I mean I worked for other people, as a salaried employee or a freelancer and wrote about topics of their choosing. I tackled wide-ranging subject matter, primarily about business and always nonfiction. Only in recent years have I have begun to write articles and books about writing.



A few years ago, when I knew I had to rethink my business strategy or sink, I talked to woman whom I had known for a long time. As “The Job Doctor,” she had years of accumulated wisdom to share with people who were trying to figure out what to do with their lives. I was at a crossroads, and I felt stuck. Entrepreneurs do tend to rethink their direction every five years or so, she said. Being in a state of suspended animation is normal after fifteen years in business. I left feeling somewhat validated but still unsure of where to go from there.



While my entrance into the world of ghostwriting was serendipitous, major changes often happen that way. My mission had evolved when I began to clarify my expanding role and add book coaching and editing to the mix. In addition to writing, I now wanted to help other writers write. With my first job as a magazine editor, I became hooked on enabling talented people to have their work published.



Teaching reintroduced me to the joy of helping others write their stories. I was surprised at how much I loved to teach. I treated my little continuing education class like a graduate-level course in writing. I wrote lesson plans, invited professionals to speak, assigned homework, and read and critiqued students’ work. I related to each of my students and the subjects of their books. At times when the economy foundered, and people were holding on to their money, the community college was often forced to cancel some classes. I felt adrift when mine was among them, and I was unable to teach.



Sidebar
“"Do you realize how many people you've inspired with your classes? You inspired me to write, even though I'm the world's worst procrastinator. Thank you for your encouragement, your sense of humor and your ability to handle awkward situations with aplomb. I enjoy your blog very much - keep it going."

Spring 2008 • Marilyn Heidbrier



When my students and clients began to publish their books, I felt like a proud grandmother. As I put each new, autographed copy on my “friends-of-Bobbi shelf,” I knew that I was doing exactly what I should be doing. I treasure these books more than my own.



Years ago, before anyone ever heard the expression, “pay it forward,” I understood the concept. I realized that no one succeeds without help. I doubt that I even remember all the people who helped me or fully appreciated what they did for me. There was no way to repay them except to pass it on to the next generation of writers. I’ve been fortunate to be able to do so. Whenever someone thanks me for advice or assistance, I remind them of their obligation to those who are right behind them on the path. The image of an unbroken chain comes to mind.

The Business of Blogging

Since I’ve launched my blog I’ve become very interested in this subject. I want to know, of course, if I’m doing is correctly, but instantly discovered that everyone seems to have has a different idea of what “correctly” means.

First of all, people blog for many reasons — to keep a kind of diary of events as they unfold; to reflect on various topics of interest the blogger; to support a position, political or otherwise; to serve the needs of the blog’s readers; to display one’s creative abilities; to market a brand or a product; and to entertain, educate, or enlighten. I’m sure I have barely scratched the surface.

Second, there are the many ways blogs are designed. Some are plain vanilla — no frills, just text —which encourages the reader to concentrate on the words. At the other extreme, are beautifully designed, truly artful blog/websites that are a pleasure to look at, as well as read, like Riehl Life, my friend Janet’s blog. Some are so busy, you don’t know where to look; others are cleverly but simply designed. Mine, I think, is somewhere in the middle. It’s really simple because that’s all blogspot allowed me to do in terms of design, or at least it’s all I have been able to figure out so far.

So, I’ve been reading about blogs and discovering there is a lot to learn! Last month the SLPA had a speaker on blogs. His name was David Strom. Here are a few points he made that I found very helpful:

1.Social networking is about creating conversations.
2.Keep your blog entries simple and searchable.
3.You are a source of content for other blogs, as well as your own.
4.Think about your target audience.
5.Solicit stories and comments from readers.
6.Digg.com will drive traffic to your site.

Julie Hood of the OrganizedWriter.com generously sent me a link to WellnessCoach.com with a series of articles by Erica Ross-Krieger on “What should I blog about?” If these articles are excerpts from a book, I want to read the book. Here are a couple of gems:

• Go back to basics. What do your readers want to know? Do keyword research with the word tracker keyword tool to see how they are looking for that phrase. Create a post with a commonly used keyword phrase in the title and in the post.

• Comment on current news in your topic area and add your own spin to it.

Here are three tips are from an article on that same website by Alexandria K. Brown, the Ezine Queen. She lists 11 quick (and good) content ideas for your e-zine, website (or blog).

1. Jot down 8 questions your clients have asked you in the past, and answer each in a short article (or post).
2. Think of three areas in which you’d like your clients to think of you as a resource. Now develop content in those areas
3. Recommend books and resources you use and offer full reviews on them.

In 7 Things You Can Do to Improve Your Online Marketing Presence by Bobette Kyle, one great suggestion is to “Identify 10 Bloggers in Your Category. Then send them your product as a gift. The idea is to expose your product to influencers in your category by giving them an opportunity to try it free. If they like it, they may give it a mention in their blogs. Note that this is a subtle online marketing technique. The idea is NOT to advertise to them, ask a favor of them, or ask them to blog about the product. Choosing to mention (or not mention) your product should be solely up to them. You can find and read blogs by searching blogging directories such as technorati.com.”

When I started The Writing Life I thought I would just muse about my favorite subject, but obviously, musing is only a small part of the package. One has to muse with purpose. My purpose is pretty clear to me — to help writers write — but there is much I have to learn about how best to achieve it.