Many of my friends asked how to write a book. Here are some of my thoughts that will help you write your first book.Writing a book is a pleasurable experience but it’s also a long and tedious process (it took me 3 and half years).
• “Day dreaming” is a great idea to get your thoughts organized. I would think about my subject matter and chapter contents while driving a car or gardening or just taking a morning walk. I would immediately dictate it on my iPhone and put it in the notes section. Later I would organize these thoughts by various chapters
• Think about the scene, the people, the weather, the location, the sounds, the smell, anything else you can remember for that day and time you are trying to describe?
• Talking to people and getting their ideas is great help too. Especially for a memoir or a real story talk to people who were there.
• Writing good engaging English is easy these days. Sites like Grammerly will help a lot. You can even google up something as specific as “how to write a tense scene or funny scene” and google will help)
• I would encourage you to check out website reedsy.com. It has everything to help you, from writing, editing, planning, book cover, book layout, printing, marketing, launching, distributing the book. It is time consuming but if you go step by step it should not be a problem. Reedsy really a one stop shop. Another good site is Upworks.com. Here you can also hire people to do different kinds of work for you. Like editing, formatting, book cover, marketing, selling etc etc.
• I suggest that you get an editor to correct the English first and then hire a Content or Development editor who can tell you what are the strengths/ weaknesses and suggest changes or additions. (You can find these editors on Reedsy or Upworks). Once that is done, google for a Beta Reader (they will read it free for you and tell you their opinion)
• Once the manuscript is complete you will have to decide whether you self-publish or get a publisher.
• Getting a publisher is difficult and they will only accept books that they think will sell and make a profit for them. Google “submission guidelines book publishers” and then you will have to write to them individually.
• Finding a publisher who is interested in your particular type of book is hard so instead you may want to find a “literary agent. Just Google for “literary agents”. You can submit the manuscript to them and if they like it, they will reach out to various publishing companies on your behalf. They are more knowledgeable about the preferences of publishers and can direct your manuscript to the appropriate publisher who is interested in your type of story.
• In order to get a publisher or a literary agent you will have to write a letter to them. It’s called a “query letter.”. It’s easy to google this term and you will find requirements for writing a query letter. I can share an example with you. The best part about going through the publisher is that they know what needs to be done and do all the legwork
• If you want to self-publish you can do that through Reedsy or just google self-publishing and you will get lots of results. The only problem with self-publishing is that you will have to spend money on doing that. But Amazon is now the best way to self-publish (KINDLE DIRECT PUBLISHING)
