Your book writing team

There's a romantic and whimsical notion that you can hide away in an attic or escape to a cabin in the woods...

And emerge a few months later with a beautifully crafted manuscript ready to be published...

But the reality is very different.

For starters, very few people have the luxury of being able to disappear for a few months to write.

Let’s face it, most of us have to manage a life around our writing. Such as running a business or working, needing to take care of others and other things we need to consider. So, writing has to fit in among our other goals and priorities. Often shoehorned in as and when we can in our bid to bring our ideas together.

Even if you do have the luxury of being able to go away and write in isolation, the existence is likely to be lonely and not much fun. It may not be long before you feel frustrated or fed up.

But most importantly, you need other people around you for it to be a success.

Just before Christmas, I was on the Hidden Growth Champions podcast.

Hosted by one of my Smart Author – Fast Track clients, Saar Ben-Attar, whose book demonstrates the benefits of building partnerships to create ecosystems, it’s not surprising that one of the topics that we talked about was how writing a book is a team sport.

Today, I thought it useful to explore who needs to be on your book writing team, so that you can get the right support in place. And I explore why this is so important.

Your Book Writing Team

There are three types of people who need to be by your side when you’re writing your book – professionals, cheerleaders and your wider community.

Professionals

You are an expert in your topic and you don’t need to be an expert in writing a book. And when you’re doing something so important, I’m sure you want to avoid the pitfalls, get supported through the process, and know what to do and when. This is the best way to get to the end point (i.e., having your book published) in the most timely and efficient manner.

There are many professionals in the book industry.

You have people like me, book coaches and mentors, who are experienced to take you through all the stages of writing your book.

A good book mentor will help you to uncover and explore your ideas, so you write the right book for your business. They'll challenge you and help you to refine your thoughts. They'll give you feedback on your writing and guide you through the process.

A book mentor can help you with things like sharpening your writing, creating the right hook, building your community whilst you write it, helping you to market and monetise your book, keeping you accountable, supporting you if you feel fearful or doubt yourself and holding your hand each step of the way.

So, all you need to worry about is the next step (rather than the next 20 steps!) as you will be certain of getting the right guidance.

Once you get to the final manuscript stage, other people are involved in the process.

You’ll likely work with an editor and proof-reader. Because you need someone to ensure your writing is consistent, reads well, complies with copyright and other legislation, and doesn’t contain any embarrassing typos or mistakes!

And you'll engage a designer and publisher who will make your manuscript look like a proper book. They design your book (inside and out) and ensure it’s available in all the right outlets, so people can buy it in print form or e-book, and distribute it throughout the world.

You may also work with illustrators, get marketing support, and PR expertise. And you might get help in other specialist areas to create courses around your book content, get social media management help or bring in advertising specialists.

Without professionals, you are more likely to make mistakes. You'll produce something that doesn’t reflect your brand. Or you'll waste hours going around in circles feeling overwhelmed, frustrated or discouraged by your progress.

Cheerleaders

Then you need cheerleaders in your book writing team. These are people you know personally who will champion and support you on your journey.

This could include your team, if you have one. They may carry the slack whilst you’re writing, be involved in the writing process (or review what you’ve written) or cheerlead you through the process.

This will likely also include friends and family. Although they probably won’t be directly involved with the writing process, they may give you space to write and understand if you need to change arrangements, especially during the final push.

They might help you out, do some chores for you, look after the kids, or understand when you don’t put dinner on the table and need to be plied with coffee and biscuits to keep you going!

I also hope that they will build you up, give you confidence and keep you buoyant. Especially if, at times, you may struggle to do this yourself.

Without having the right cheerleaders to place, you risk trying to juggle multiple balls in the air at any one time, meaning that your book is more likely to go to the bottom of the list rather you actually getting it done. You also might struggle to believe in yourself and have the confidence to finish writing and publishing your book.

Your wider community

In terms of writing a book, if you keep your idea to yourself until you reach the publishing stage, you won’t be able to check whether your book actually creates the transformation you desire. So, there are a few people who are pivotal in this area.

There’s the community of people you want to have around you whilst you’re writing. These are the people who might respond to your blog or social media posts when you talk about your book. They might give you feedback on your writing or the direction you want to take your ideas.

You’ll ideally grow your community as you’re writing your book. You'll take them on the journey with you. So that when you launch it, these are the first people who have their hands up wanting to buy it.

You’ll likely also seek inspiration from the clients you work with already or clients you’ve worked with in the past. With their permission, they could become case studies for your book or real life examples that show how what you teach or coach works in practice. And, who knows, if you reach out to them, you may get more clients as a result!

If you have other people contribute their expertise to your book, then these will both add value to your writing and help you to promote your book later on.

Towards the end of your writing journey, your community will include those who agree to peer review your book and give you feedback before you get editorial support.

Plus, there are those who may not know that you are inspired by them. This may be other authors who have written on related topics, those who have written blogs or produced information you refer to, or anyone else who has inspired you to write.

Without involving your wider community in your book writing team, you risk choosing the wrong topic for your book or writing something that doesn’t hit the mark with your readers. Or you might launch your book, only for it to fall flat because you've not promoted it early or widely enough.

So who are you going to have on your book writing team?

Take a moment now to consider the most important people in your team. Write these down.

These might be the types of people you might want to be involved in your project or the actual names of people who you might like on your support team.

If you’d like me on your book writing team, then let’s chat about how I can help you. It's not just the practical stuff, it's about keeping you focused... Keeping you accountable... And building your belief and confidence each step of the way!