Get started writing your book today

You want to write a book. You’ve heard that there’s money to be made (LOTS of money) writing ebooks for the Kindle and other ereader platforms.

You’re ready, willing and able, but… you don’t know how to start.

It’s easy.

Here’s how to prime your writing pump.

1. Write 20 Titles

This is your chance to be as outrageous as you choose. You can make your titles funny, mysterious, sad — anything but plain vanilla.

Can’t think of anything?

Go to Amazon.com, and click around. If you want to write nonfiction, look at the top nonfiction bestsellers. Similarly, look at the fiction bestsellers if you’re writing a novel.

Ideas:

* Choose an evocative noun (fiction: “blood”; “temptation”; “death”; “river”) and riff off it;

* Use a number: (nonfiction: “100 Ways to…”; “10 Things No One Told You About…”; “50 Easy Ways to…”) and fill in the blanks;

* Grab a word from a dictionary, and base your title on it. This works best with a paper dictionary. You can open the dictionary anywhere, close your eyes, and place your finger on any word.

I use an electronic dictionary, by choosing a letter, for example “i” and adding vowels until something I like pops up: “ia”; “ie” etc. I chose “ie”, which gave no results, but then the dictionary gave me “ig” which did.

Interesting “ig” words I liked include: “ignite” and “ignore”.

I could use these words in a title, however, if I were seriously looking for a title, I’d use a thesaurus on these words.

For example: “ignite” brings up: “Heating: heat, warm, chafe, foment, make hot, burn, fire, set fire to, set on fire, kindle, enkindle, light, ignite, melt, thaw, fuse, liquefy, burn…”

Remember, your titles should be outrageous. This gets your subconscious mind “igniting.”

2. Write 20 Weird First Sentences

Here are some phrases to get you started:

* I knew I was alone, but then…

* She got her greatest wish…

The key is not to think about it — just write.

3. Write About Your Scariest Experience Ever

I’ve been badly scared three times in my life that I can clearly remember. I wouldn’t want to relive these experiences, but if I wanted to start a book, I’d write a couple of paragraphs about one of these experiences.

Your aim isn’t to include the experience in your book — it’s to mine the emotion generated from your memories. All emotion is energy. You can use the energy to write.

You’ll find that once you’ve written a couple of paragraphs and have scared yourself, you’ll start writing — and hey presto, you’ve started writing a book.

4. Choose a Fairy Tale, and Retell It

Fairy tales are fun. Screenwriters and novelists use them constantly in their work, either overtly, by retelling the fairy tale, or as inspiration.

Spend ten minutes reading Grimm’s fairy tales.

Now choose a fairy tale, and think about how you might place the tale into a modern setting.

This works for both fiction, and nonfiction. If you’re writing nonfiction, think about the lesson the fairy tale teaches.

The easiest way to start your book is just to sit down and write. There’s not much more to writing a book than that.

You Can Make MORE Money Writing Than You Can At Any Day Job

Tired of struggling? Here’s some inspiration for you… An ebook called “Fat Loss 4 Idiots” made 21 million dollars in 2009. Last year, Amanda Hocking wrote several short ebooks, and made 2 million dollars. Publishing has changed. You’re in charge, if you want to be.

Can you profitably write and sell ebooks? The self-publishing frenzy says that you can. However, you need to know what you’re doing, so that you’re as sure as you can be that your new ebook will SELL before you start writing it.

It took me five years of writing and selling information products before I stumbled over the formula I’ve been using ever since.

Now I’m sharing the formula with you. Once you start the right way, ensuring that you have readers who are ready and eager to BUY before you start writing, it’s easy to make sales.

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Many authors are wary of posting their material online. You shouldn’t be.

One author had some luck.

This article, Author Found on Penguin’s Web Site Signs Book Deal – NYTimes.com, reports:

“Ace Books, an imprint of Penguin, has signed the debut novelist Kerry Schafer to a two-book deal, only weeks after Ms. Schafer posted writing samples on Bookcountry.com, a Web site Penguin introduced in April that invites writers of genre fiction to share their work.”

There you go.

You’ve created a blurb for your book. You’ve even created an outline. Now comes the writing.

Unfortunately, few things go according to plan. When you’re writing a book, nothing goes according to plan.

Although I know that writing a book’s a chaotic process, that doesn’t mean I like it. I’m always looking for something — anything — which will tame the chaos. Otherwise I know that I can get entangled in thickets for days, if not weeks, trying to find my way back to my original inspiration.

Here’s an idea for planning your novel which I’ve never heard discussed. This post, Taking note: Charles Dickens’ Plan Sheets, describes Charles Dickens’ plan sheets:

“On the right side dealt with the substance of the chapters. Thus he usually wrote on the top right of the sheet the name of the novel and the installment number; below the title he wrote the name of each planned chapter. In the space under each chapter he listed the most important events. The “plan sheets” varied very much, as one might expect. Some plans are very full, some remained rather empty.
“

It’s a simple, paper-based method, which is why it appeals to me. I can write nonfiction books on the computer, but when I’m writing fiction, I always write my first draft using pen and paper. I’ve no idea why this is, but I can’t write my initial draft at the keyboard; when I try I always end up blocked.

What do you think of Dickens’ planning method?

Seth Godin is a marketing genius.

I love these words of wisdom in his blog post, Seth’s Blog: The last hardcover:

“If you’re an author, pick yourself. Don’t wait for a publisher to pick you. And if you work for a big publishing house, think really hard about the economics of starting your own permission-based ebook publisher. Now’s the time.”

Pick Yourself

I hope you’re hard at work writing your book. I also hope that you have books #2, #3 and #4 in the planning stages.

You now have opportunities NO ONE has ever had before, if you want to write a book.

I’m majorly aggravated that I was born too soon. I wish I’d been born around 1990… Ho hum, since I wasn’t, I have to believe in reincarnation, because I LOVE being an author in 2012 with so many opportunities.

So, pick yourself, get published on the Kindle. See where it takes you. Your potential is glorious, but only if you believe in you.

FWIW — I believe in you.

This post, A Newbie’s Guide to Publishing: Guest Post by David Gaughran, makes the valid point (emphasis mine):

“Of the many memes being parroted by writers, one of the most destructive is “Most self-pubbed ebooks don’t sell.”

When you are arguing a point involving a new technology, such as ebooks, it is essential to make sure your argument also encompasses the older technology. The fact is, most legacy-pubbed books don’t sell.“

Too true.

Read the entire post. David Gaughran says, “I can’t afford to take a publishing deal.”

Again, too true.

That’s the case for many — I’d say MOST authors.

I’ve been the traditional publishing route many times. I’ve had two New York agents. New authors tend to think that having an agent and a publishing contract from a publisher solves problems.

Here’s the truth — it increases your problems, because more people are involved, and you have little control over what they do.

Your agent has other clients. Your editor has other books. Neither your agent nor your editor cares about you and your career as much as you do. They’ll give you advice, and taking bad advice can stymie you for years. Only you know what’s best for you.

If you’re a new author, you’ll think that everyone knows more than you. A trip down the traditional publishing path will soon disabuse you of that idea, I promise you. To repeat, only you know what’s best for you.

I’ve been writing for over 30 years. There’s never been a better time to write your own books and sell them — there have never been more opportunities.

If you want to go the traditional publishing route, and think that this is the short path to bestsellerdom, remember: as Joe Konrath says “most legacy-pubbed books don’t sell”.

There are many reasons for that. Mostly, they’re out of authors’ control.

Self-publishing gives YOU control. Write a good book, whack it up on Amazon. Or, go the trad publishing route… and give up control. Your choice.

Content Is King Online: Develop a Six-Figure Income from Your Content

Creating better content faster is your secret to online riches. There’s a huge demand for content online. You can develop a six-figure income not only by getting writing jobs, but also by creating content for websites, blogs and ebooks.

60-Second Content Power: Create Better Content Faster shows you how to create content FAST.

One writer said: “Working from home was just a dream for me. I thought writers starved. Angela shared the 60-second process in her coaching class a year ago. Last week, I signed a contract to create eight Kindle ebooks for a client in the next six months. It’s a BIG contract. Made my partner smile, and kids create shopping lists. I’ll always be an Angela Booth fan.”

Today, writers are in a powerful position. Content is king online. Take advantage of the unlimited opportunities, with 60-Second Content Power.