by Karen Newcombe
You know things that no-one else knows. You’re an expert about your business. You’re the only one who can explain how your technology solves problems. You’re the person who has put in the time to develop an abstract concept into a useful process.
How can people find out that I'm the person they should turn to for help?
Write a book. If you don’t, your competitor probably will.
Publishing a book will help establish you as the person who best understands the business or process. The first thing people do today when faced with a challenge is look it up on the Internet. When your book pops up as the result of a search, that grabs attention immediately: here’s someone who is an expert.
But I’m not a good writer, and I just don’t have the time.
That’s where an outside writer can help you. Every writer has their own process for working on ghostwriting projects. My method is highly collaborative – I like to work closely with authors to identify exactly what topics the book will cover, who the audience is, and the best way to engage their interest.
If you don’t know anything about my industry, how will you understand what to write about?
Collaboration. Writing a book involves conversations and interviews with you, the author, to learn about your personal style and voice, outline the topic, identify what background or supporting research needs to be done, and to capture your ideas, stories and viewpoint. You explain it all to me, and I help you turn that explanation into a compelling document.
All that interviewing still sounds like a big time commitment.
Yes, it is, yet this process is more efficient than going it alone. Would you redo the plumbing in your house by yourself? Unless you’re an expert plumber, it will take you much longer than it would for someone who does plumbing all day long. You could get frustrated and just give up–and that’s exactly what happens to many people who start writing a book. I have the tools and expertise needed to do the work efficiently and with craftsmanship; you have the ideas, knowledge, and stories that need to be worked on. You will have a book when we’re done.
What about publishing? Will it be a regular book or an eBook? Should it be independently published or should I approach a traditional publisher?
The fastest, least expensive way to get your book out there immediately is to publish independently, aka self-publish. If you want to publish only in eBook form, there are dozens of services available. For your book to be published in paper form, a print-on-demand publisher (like Amazon CreateSpace) makes the most sense. Are you already well-known in your field or industry? You may find that a traditional publishing company or one that specializes in your sector would love to publish your book. Working with a traditional publisher means writing a book proposal, negotiating a contract, and waiting one to two years for your book to appear in print. The publisher will also take a larger cut of the sales income than an independent publisher does, but they do offer some nominal marketing services in exchange.
Understand that whether you publish independently or through a traditional publisher, marketing a book today is primarily your responsibility. But don’t worry, I can help you with that, too.
Are you ready to get started?
Buyer beware: With the great boom in publishing going on, there is also a great boom in publishing scams. If you’re not sure whether someone is a legitimate publisher or a scammer, call me: 954-428-5457.
Photo credit: Patrick Gage / Foter / CC BY-NC-SA