Are You Still Struggling to Get Your Book Done?
Get the Support You Need to Write Your Book Now
(Instead of "Someday")
If you're a writer or entrepreneur, you probably know all the great reasons to write a book. As a published author, you are regarded as an expert in your field. When you are a book author, you gain:
- Credibility with potential clients and the media.
- A tangible product you can sell and use as a stepping-stone to higher priced products such as consulting or multimedia information packages.
- The satisfaction of bringing your information out into the world.
The reality is that if you have written 50,000 words on a topic, you probably know more than the guy who has not written 50,000 words. When you are an author, you stand out.
Yet even with all those great reasons to write a book, many books never see the light of day.
Is There Part of a Book Languishing on Your Hard Disk?
The sad truth is that writing takes time and effort. It's not always easy. Sometimes you get stuck and sometimes getting words on paper seems like an endless, unrewarding struggle.
Sure, you know you want the book done, but it seems like every time you go to work on it, life, the universe and everything is constantly getting in the way.
Does this sound like your book project?
- I have lots of good information for a book, but I can't seem to get started. I haven't been able to identify a consistent theme or a purpose for my book.
- My book has become so disorganized that the outline makes no sense.
- I can't seem to finish my book. There's something critical missing.
- I've been stuck for so long that I can't seem to get going again. Every time I think about working on my book, I put it off.
- I think my book has great stuff in it, but I don't know who would want to buy it.
- I make strides on my book once in a while, but I have trouble putting consistent time into it.
None of these problems are unique. And they are not insurmountable. The fact that books continue to be published every day is ample proof of that.
So take heart, it's really not just you! First you need to think about what has been stopping you from making forward progress.
Why Did Your Book Project Stall Out?
The reasons large swaths of text continue to decompose on hard disks is not because the writing or the book idea is bad. If you have a good idea and even passable writing skills, all is not lost. Most book projects stall out for a few simple reasons.
If you have stopped making progress on your book project, do any of these excuses sound familiar?
- I've lost track of the big picture. Every time I sit down to write, I get bogged down in the details and I'm not sure if what I'm writing is relevant.
- My life is full of distractions. I need an external force to keep me focused and push me forward.
- I know what I know, and others have assured me that my knowledge is valuable, but I'm not sure how to pull it all together into a book.
Overcoming these problems isn't rocket science. Published authors aren't really any different from anyone else. It's not magic. However, they have found ways to overcome a lot of these problems, so they have bookshelves full of their books.
Envision Your Finished Book
Pretend it's a year from now and your book is done. It's no longer a mismatched pile of words in a file. It's a physical book in your hands.
What would that feel like? Would you feel...
- excited to see your name on the cover of a book?
- satisfied that all your hard work and ideas have finally taken shape in a book?
- proud of the appreciation and respect from others who bought and enjoyed the book?
- pleased with the sense of accomplishment from writing the book?
- happy to see the look on the faces of customers when you hand the book to them?
- thrilled to see payments coming in from selling the book?
- relieved to really prove your expertise to clients?
- delighted to see your business increasing because you're getting more customers?
By visualizing the finished product, you've taken an important first step toward finishing the book. As Dr. Wayne Dyer says, "you'll see it when you believe it."
Commit to Finishing Your Book Project
After you have made the mental commitment to getting your book done, here at Logical Expressions, we have a few programs that can help turn your book into a reality.
In fact, you can take the first step toward getting your book done for free! Sign up for our free Publishize Newsletter or the free Publishize Podcast at our Publishize Web site and learn new tricks of the self-publishing trade every week. It will help keep your book project at the top of your mind and inspire you to get your book done sooner rather than later.
Write Smart and Recycle
If you write articles or a blog, you are only a few steps away from a book. In fact, writing a regular newsletter is one of the not-very-secret "secrets" of our publishing success. It's no coincidence that our books and newsletters are on the same topics. The reality is that if you write anything regularly, you can use that material in a book.
Our second not-very-secret "secret" is our IdeaWeaver software. Like many people, even with a lot of writing behind us, we had parts of books languishing in word processing files too. (That's why we are so sympathetic to writers who are struggling; we've been there.) But using IdeaWeaver, we were able to take a disorganized pile of articles and convert them into books.
People have told us that they had NO idea that the books were originally articles because the software makes it easy to reorganize information and include transitional text where you need it.
A fully featured 30-day trial copy of IdeaWeaver is completely free. Like any software program, it's not for everybody, but trying it out costs exactly $0, so why not give it a try? It could be just the jump-start you need to get your book back on track.
Get the Help You Need
The bottom line is that we are just like you. We have a business, and publishing is just one part of what we do. We have already been through the learning curve of integrating self-publishing into our business. If you've gotten this far, you know you want a book and you want it done.
We developed our "Publishize System" to make the process of writing and publishing a book easier.
The first part of our Publishize System is our Book Completion Plan, since you can't get into publishing without the book!
Our Book Completion Plan helps you get from wherever you are to a completed manuscript on a realistic schedule. It includes the following components that will make finishing your book seem easy.
- Market Analysis: Our marketing analysis helps you clearly understand your audience, your goals for your book, and your competitive advantage in the marketplace. This information helps you develop a book that your audience can't wait to buy. (Understanding your audience also makes the book easier to write!)
- Scope Analysis: We'll also help you determine where you are with your book, what content still needs to be developed, and how your book can be refined to appeal to your market. When we are done, you'll know exactly what steps you need to take to complete your manuscript.
- Completion Schedule: Based on the Scope Analysis, we'll help you assemble a completion schedule that can be realistically achieved. If you want to finish your book in three months, you can do it if you write two pages a day. But maybe that's too much. Maybe you can commit to 600 words/week. No matter what your schedule, we can help you formulate a timeline.
- IdeaWeaver Writing Software: We highly recommend that you use IdeaWeaver for your book project. IdeaWeaver is uniquely suited to helping non-fiction authors craft a book. We use it on virtually all of our writing projects, and we've completed seven books with it so far!
- Progress Coaching: We can provide ongoing support, encouragement, and suggestions that help you move forward with your writing. We'll help you keep the big picture in mind and keep you focused on developing the right content for your book.
Sound interesting? If you are really serious about getting your book done, take the first step by filling out the form below and telling us about your project. We'd love to help!
Book Completion Plan Questionnaire
All of the information you provide below is completely confidential and incurs no obligation.
Please answer each question as completely as possible so we can better understand your project.
