5 reasons not to write a book
Now, right now, like today, it is the exact right time to write your book. Writing is a drive. A desire. We start writing to free an idea that is overtaking our minds and our imaginations.
5 Reasons To Write Your Book Now
Comment within one week to enter! Good luck! But are you certain now is the right time for you to become an author? They take specific elements into consideration to determine if you should publish now or later. A platform, in simple terms, is a built-in audience in a target market for your book. Lack of platform is one of the primary reasons nonfiction authors get turned down by traditional publishers. You might have a good idea and write well, but without a platform you likely will be sent away to build one — at least by large and mid-sized publishers.
Platform has historically been less important for novelists. Today, novelists set themselves apart from the pack by building a platform like their nonfiction counterparts. The same premise holds true no matter the genre: Platform provides the foundation for promotion. If you want to successfully sell your novel upon release, you need a built-in readership.
Seth Godin, marketing guru, says writers need to start building a platform three years prior to publishing a book. Think about that…. Authors are expected to help sell their books. Publishers seek good business partners, ones who will produce the product — the book — and help make it successful. This means you must demonstrate that you have some business savvy and can and will promote your book.
If you self-publish, this element is just as important — if not more so. You are on your own as an indie publisher, and you must handle all marketing and promotion. Your plan must be strong, and you must be willing to do what it takes to let your target audience know your book has been released — and that they need and want it.
Only then can you help your book succeed. You can become one, though. Maybe you need to wait to publish your book while you take a course, get a degree or get certified. Or you could take the time to interview experts; journalists become experts on a topic by doing research and learning from thought leaders. Your personal or life experience might make you an expert; maybe you just need to take time to find someone with credentials to write a foreword for your book and verify that you have authority.
If you plan to self-publish, you financially back your own project. You will have no venture-capital partner — a traditional publisher — to provide the funding for editing, proofing, indexing, design, ebook conversion, and other tasks. That begs this question: Do you have the funds you need to produce a book that meets the standards of the publishing industry?
You could also wait until you run a crowdfunding campaign. Either way, you need to have the resources to get your new publishing company off the ground and keep it running. In general, becoming an author requires that you show up and play big.
You might think a pseudonym will keep you safe, but eventually someone will discover who you are. Successful authors get out there and show themselves authentically and publically in many ways. What do you think? Are you ready to become a published author right now or would it be smarter to wait? Nina Amir NinaAmir. Use social networks…. Nina, this is a great post!
Thank you so much! Thank you again for enlightening me on my journey, and may it inspire others in the future as well! Thanks for your comment. Good luck. Really agree with all the things said in the article. Very informative. As I am self-publishing my 2nd book, all said above is true. Knowing when you are ready and thinking you are ready are two different fields. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you for the tips. Thank you for writing this article. I am currently working on building my author platform and social media. When you know a little, you realize just how much more you need to prepare. I hope one day I can get behind the eight ball…. You could get that book off your bucket list…finally…and possibly use it to build a business.
It may…but maybe you just need to change your attitude or determine your goals. Grand post! Above all else, a writer who is a freelancer and a self-publisher must have strong dedication to his craft. Without dedication, the marketing avenue will fizzle. Thanks for sharing! I like that these are very practical, hands-on tips. Now I just need to figure out how to build my platform!
You can build platform with an ebook, of course. These five points are specific reasons that so many good ideas for book never make a profit; unless the platform is in place to create the demand, even the best ideas for solid books being discovered are nonexistent. The successful book authors follow each of your steps to the letter, or wishes they would have. Thanks for solidly making the case for having the plan, first.
You are welcome! I liked your points a lot. If I had read them a couple of years ago I would say I was absolutely unprepared. Going towards the pole position and almost ready. But what a great work it has been. I love the process. Wish me luck!!! Your article is perfect timing for me. I am one of those who is embarking on my first book and doing it myself. However, one comment asked your thoughts on starting small and then building. Your answer encouraged me. Thank you for the well-timed and content rich article!
Great article. In this culture of instant gratification, it is often hard to convince someone to wait until they are ready before doing something as important as publishing a book. These are some very important guidelines to go by in order to get published. I understand the statement that you made about fearing success; It is a great hindrance to anyone wanting to advance to fear success.
For one of my College papers, I wrote one an essay of the fear of success. As I did research for that essay, I realized that it was a much greater problem for people than what one would expect. Thank you for a great article. For me, the writing and the compulsion to write has always been the driving force. However, it is important that a writer be able to navigate through the many facets of the publishing industry.
The more know how a writer has in their arsenal the better equipped they will be. Being an active participant of a project from conception, to publication to promotion will bring a level of professionalism that will help a writer be noticed and more widely read. Exactly right! It also makes you a good business partner for a publisher or a savvy self-publisher. My feelings exactly.
To me the fun of writing is the real thing, and the publication part is just what you do with it afterward, if you feel good enough about it. Thanks for the great tips, Nina. For many years I have believed that there is a great book inside me. Thanks so much! You are welcome, Norm. Many get frustrated and deterred by this fact. No, Nina. I can do pretty much anything I set my mind to.
Thanks for the encouragement, and I look forward to more of the same! But you do get out what you put in.
On top of that, the people who are on the cutting edge of any topic are not waiting the two years it takes to deliver new ideas in a book. Instead. You may know why you should write a book, but what about why you Tucker has sold over 5 million books as a 4x NYT Bestselling Author and is about 1 million new books published (that is total books, not just non-fiction). The New York Times Best Seller List is the most prestigious list (though for dubious reasons).
Have you been trying to write a book for years, but keep finding yourself getting lost in the process or being unable to stir up the motivation to deliver a final product? In other words, if people start writing — only 30 of them finish the book and just 6 of them end up publishing it. Pretty surprising, right?
And even more to take your book a step further by learning how to publish a book effectively.
Has anyone ever said you should write a book? Maybe extraordinary things have happened to you, and they say you should write a memoir. Or you have an extremely vivid imagination, and they say you should write a novel.
10 Reasons NOT to Write a Book
My inbox is full of people who have an idea but not a single word written and they get offended when I say the first step to writing a book is actually writing. I write every day in some capacity. There is little to no notoriety that comes from writing. Now, I know you think this is just my opinion because, well, what do I know, right? So, your book is liable to be lost in the current of the thousands of other books released daily on Amazon.
11 Reasons to Not Write That Book
Well, grasshopper. Go ahead, write one. Writing a book has nothing to do with luck, it is just discipline. Getting it published however is luck. Coming to that later. However I cannot dismiss all of those who actually want to write a book and will do at some point in their life. In any case, before you go in for the big jump, there are a few things you should know. Thinking about many things, smoking, drinking a glass of whiskey, talking to nobody, being suddenly inspired, taking walks and having ones fingers coloured by ink and tobacco. They have a day job, because very few writers live of their art.
The best way to think about writing a book is through expectations. If you have the wrong expectations, writing a book is a mistake.
Entrepreneurs should write books. YouTube stars should write books. Quit your job and become a Kindle author.
Should You Write a Book? Why You Shouldn’t Even If You Can
Mark Gilroy September 15, So you want to be a writer? Everything there is to say has already been said. It has all been done before. Nothing under the sun is truly new. There are already more books published than people will read. Bowker, the company that dispenses ISBN numbers, reports that more than 1 million new titles are being released in the US alone each year. See my infographic on the top book-producing countries. The average number of units each new book published will sell is As low as that number is, it is still inflated by books that sell hundreds of thousands and millions of copies.
12 Reasons Why You Should Write a Book This Year
Comment within one week to enter! Good luck! But are you certain now is the right time for you to become an author? They take specific elements into consideration to determine if you should publish now or later. A platform, in simple terms, is a built-in audience in a target market for your book.
