20 lessons from writing my first book

I was recently having a conversation with someone who had ‒​ in their words ‒​ wasted £12k on their book.

After engaging a company to help, the service was slow. Their deadline was missed, which meant that it wasn’t ready for an important event. And this person was never truly happy with the end product.

So they never took advantage of using it as a tool to showcase their expertise and they fail to promote the book.

I hate hearing these types of stories.

Over the last 10 years, I’ve seen too many examples like this.

People who have been given bad advice, had the wrong type of help or they’ve not had the right support to create their best book.

To help avoid this type of situation, here are 20 lessons I’ve learnt from writing my first book (and subsequent books), and from supporting hundreds of business authors.

20 lessons from writing my first book

1. Your first book probably won’t be your only book, so it’s OK not to include everything you know in it.

2. Your book must be aligned to your business if you want to use it as a business building tool.

3. You need to have mastered what you are teaching ‒ or at least be many steps further ahead than your ideal readers and clients ‒​ if you want to be seen as an authority in your field.

4. Expert interviews and case studies make great content, but make sure you shine the spotlight on yourself through what you share in your book.

5. Know what you want people to get from your book before you get started, so that you seed in the right stories to help achieve this result.

6. Be prepared to tell your story and why you are writing your book, as people will get to know you on a deeper level. Warts and all.

7. Involve your prospective readers early on in the process, so that you can find out what they want to hear from you and write the book that they want to read.

8. Writing a good book can take time. Getting clarity on its flow and structure early on will make it quicker to write in the long-term.

9. The only way to make your book happen is to schedule time in the diary and stick to it. You will likely need to make some sacrifices and setting some boundaries along the way.

10. You are good enough. You do know enough. And remember, you can do this! Don’t let doubt or other worries get in your way.

11. If you’re using other people’s content in your book, then you will need to get permission, unless it’s fair use (which is a pretty grey area!). And the same can be said if you are mentioning others in a memoir.

12. Know what you want your readers to do after they have read your book, so that you can set out the next stages, should they wish for further support.

13. Get feedback as you write it. And it’s essential that you engage an editor as you will get word-blind very quickly and your brain will see what it thinks it sees.

14. People do judge a book by its cover, so employ a good designer to help you to align your book to your brand, both in terms of the cover and the internal typesetting.

15. A publishing deal isn’t always the best way of getting published. You may lose control over what you want to say and how you want to say it. Although there are pros and cons to all of the publishing methods.

16. See a printed proof copy before your book goes live. And never ever get 1000 copies of your book printed before doing so!

17. Have a plan for your launch and involve other people to help you to share the message with more people.

18. Remember that your launch is just the start of the process, and you need to be prepared to continually talk about your book so that you show up in a bigger way.

19. Your book will change your life! Both in terms of writing it and sharing it with those who need to read it, who will be inspired by you committing to the process.

20. Getting help with your book will save you hours of research trying to work out what you need to do and how you can do it. If I knew 10 years ago what I know now, it would have been so much easier!

This is what’s coming up soon and how we can work together.

I hope you find these lessons useful. If you’d like to chat with me about how you can get help in any of these areas, please arrange a call.

1. Book a Make It Happen day

Make It Happen days are designed to kick start your motivation. Whether you’re getting started, or doing your planning, writing or editing, you’ll join a small group of authors via Zoom for the day, and get advice, support and the chance to pick my brain to make your book happen. Dates and details can be found at www.librotas.com/make-it-happen.

2. Join the Smart Author System

The Smart Author System online training programme is where you can learn everything you need to write your book that enables you to self-validate and self-fund it as you write it. You can join the Self-study option or the Community version. The latter includes a Make It Happen day, Facebook community, expert interviews and additional support. Details can be found at www.librotas.com/smartauthor.

3. Apply to work with me on a 121 book mentoring programme

My one-to-one programmes are for leaders and experts who are passionate about making a difference through their book and they are ready to step up and take massive action. Working with me personally, you get support every step of the way to write a book that helps you to become an authority. Limited spaces available. You can arrange a complimentary Book Focus call here.