Want to write a book? You have incredible tools available now to tell your stories (or inform people, in the case of nonfiction) in entirely new ways.

That’s what a small company did to win Best in Show at the South by Southwest Web Awards, in Austin, Texas.

BBC NEWS | Technology | Win for UK story-telling website reports:

“We Tell Stories worked with six authors on new forms of story-telling.

‘They were fantastic and didn’t run away from this. They want to do it again. We need that creative talent, great story telling and want them to be excited about the potential of this new medium.’

Some of the stories use tools like Twitter and weblogs, telling a more conventional multi-platform tale from different viewpoints.

The husband and wife writers Nicci French wrote live for an hour each day for five days, with readers able to see the story unfold one sentence at a time.”

What new forms of media could YOU use in your book? Publishers are ready for you to be truly creative, so use your inspirations.

Want to write a book? If you do, you need to decide from the outset whether you’ll sell it yourself, or will offer it to publishers. Although a book publishing credit is highly valuable, it can also be a way of losing money.

This is because the majority of published authors fail to make any profit on their books, when you consider the time and energy they invest in the process. However, if they understood the benefits and downsides to choosing a publishing method, they’d make a profit.

1. Is Book Publishing Profitable?

Sadly, for 95 per cent of authors it’s not. Here’s how it works:

* You spend one to two years writing a book and selling it (licensing it, in reality) to a publisher for an advance on royalties;

* You spend a couple of years waiting for your book to earn out, and start earning royalties… if indeed the book ever earns out.

If you add up all the time this takes, and estimate an hourly rate for published authors, you’d make more money serving burgers and fries at the golden arches.

Of course, a lucky few authors (very few), do hit the bestseller lists and make great money.

2. The Benefits of Writing a Book and Having It Published by a Major Publisher

I say “benefits” but there’s really only one benefit, and it’s this: credibility. A publishing credit legitimizes you as a professional writer. It will help you to sell your writing, and writing services, for years to come. It establishes your writing career, as nothing else can.

2. The Downsides to Writing a Book and Having It Published by a Major Publisher

* You spend months and years in publishing limbo.

You wait for an agent to get back to you… you wait for your editor to get back to you…

If you’re a successful, published writer, this won’t matter much. You’ve got lots of other projects in various stages of completion, so you won’t notice these long delays.

If you’re a new writer, the delays can kill your career, because you’ll become depressed and downhearted, which means your writing suffers. You’re too busy waiting to do what you should be doing, which is writing.

* You lose money.

If a book idea is hot enough for a publishing house to give you a contract, the book idea is worth money. Guess who makes the bulk of the profits?

While you’re waiting for your book to be published, you could be selling it yourself, and earning an income. The time you spend waiting equals money you’ll never get back.

3. Make the Choice Early

It’s up to you which publishing method you choose. For many authors, writing a book and self-publishing, whether electronically or by Print on Demand (POD) is the best option — but only you can decide. But if you want to write a book and make it profitable, you must decide.

Write more: kick start your book

Yes, you can write more and kick start your book – even if you’re a world-class procrastinator.

Did you know that when you write more, your writing improves? Many of my writing students experience this. They find that when they write more, writing is easier for them – they’re not dominated by their inner editor.

My new writing class, “Write More And Make More Money From Your Writing: Develop A Fast, Fun Productive Writing Process” is based on lessons I developed for my private coaching students to help them to write more, improve their writing, and make more money writing.

If you’re struggling with your writing, the class will help. The techniques you’ll learn in class with help you write fiction, nonfiction, and copy for business.

Discover how you can write more, improve your writing, and sell more of your writing to higher-paying markets.

Want to write a book? Start with the events of your daily life.

What’s happening with you that would make a great topic for a book?

Here’s one author’s story: she wrote a recession cookbook.

Move over Nigella, the recession’s REAL domestic goddess is after your culinary crown | Mail Online reports:

“That evening I’d managed to cobble together a tasty, healthy meal from virtually nothing and it just came to me very suddenly. The next day I sat down and wrote a proposal. I didn’t really think anybody would take it up.’

Certainly she could never have dreamt that her guide to thrifty family-friendly food, written on a whim and ‘in-between doing everything else’, would become one of the publishing sensations of the year and see her hailed as not so much the new Domestic Goddess but the real Domestic Goddess.

Her book – ‘How to feed your whole family a healthy, balanced diet with very little money and hardly any time, even if you have a tiny kitchen, only three saucepans (one with an ill-fitting lid) and no fancy gadgets unless you count the garlic crusher’ – is about to go into its fifth reprint.”

Book ideas are everywhere. Just open your eyes, pick a topic, and take a leap of faith.

Discover the world of Web writing – make a great income writing from home, or from anywhere

Sell Your Writing Online NOW

There’s great money in Web writing. Some Web writers are making $20,000 a month by blogging for a stable of sites. Others are writing articles or ebooks.

Join the Web writing gold rush with Angela Booth’s comprehensive training: “Sell Your Writing Online Now”.

Want to blog your book? It’s the fast and easy way to write your book. Who knows — you may even get a publisher before you finish writing.

Write a Book « Support « WordPress.com reports:

“We’ll show you a way to write something that is chapter-based using your WordPress.com blog. A blog is, essentially, a reverse chronological publishing tool. That’s what it is, and to make it behave differently you will need to do some work yourself. You will also need your readers to exercise some self-discipline (if at all possible, of course).”

Here’s more on why a blog helps you to write and get published.

Recession-proof your freelance writing career

“Write More And Make More Money From Your Writing: Develop A Fast, Fun Productive Writing Process” gives you all the tools you need for a thriving writing career, no matter what the economic climate.

Three weeks after completing the class one student wrote:

“Thanks Angela, for all your help and advice in class. I’m quitting my job next week. I printed out my letter of resignation tonight after landing a contract writing job that will pay me more for three months part-time work than I earned in from my day job in the whole of 2007! You were right – the great gigs are out there, and now I’ve got the skills to land them. Your class opened my eyes. Bless you…”

“Write More And Make More Money From Your Writing: Develop A Fast, Fun Productive Writing Process” shows you how to thrive as a freelance writer. Would you like to write five times more than you’re writing now, and sell to higher-paying markets? Take the class.