They have made it very easy to publish a book through Amazon these days.
How do I know? I have published 3 books in the past year, and I have a new book about to be released about startup names. To get on my book list to get a FREE Ebook to be released soon about coming up with a startup name click here: http://www.startuppop.com/about-us-2/
Amazon at some point purchased CreateSpace.com. I have used CreateSpace.com to publish 3 books for free over the past year. Yes for FREE. I heard today from a friend that somebody paid thousands to publish their book. You can pay thousands, even in CreateSpace.com. But you could just as easily do it for nothing. That is a personal choice.
Most anybody can do it who is the least bit savvy with websites, Microsft Word and graphics. We have used http://CreateSpace.com to self-publish my books. You can go there now and start the process of self-publishing. Trust me, it is no big deal!
The problem is while it is very easy to publish a book, it’s still work to write one.
Writing is something that you desire to do. If is a chore, then stop reading this article now and go golfing. It takes time to write obviously and it could be hard for many to write. Only writing can make you a better writer. That’s why I tell people to write a little bit each week or day. This blog is just a small piece of writing I am doing out of a larger body of work I have been working on.
Being able to write well; that alone is a big barrier. You can overcome this by writing a blog or even leaving me a comment on this article.
Other people who want to write tell me they don’t know exactly what to write about. That comes with time and patience. Write a bunch of blog articles and you will see a pattern to your writing. And that is what you will write about.
Most people want to read books that are well written and on a subject they are interested in. Start off with writing a book YOU would want to read yourself. That is the best book for you to write.
There are easier and easier ways to accomplish writing a book. As one friend of mine pointed out, he no longer hand writes his books, he simply dictates them. So if you are good at talking that is one way to write your book, speaking it right into your SmartPhone, where it gets perfecting translated!
And writing a book just to have it on your shelf to hand to a new client as a financial only deal is not that impressive anymore (most anybody can do that!) Well, let’s just say, that there is something about writing in general which is all about honesty and transparency. People are great readers and they know if the writing makes sense and has an impact! If you are simply writing a bunch of rules in a book to show you are an industry expert and the book is less than 30 pages that you could easily read on some website out there with a Google search, well, maybe that means you need to dig in and rethink your whole reason for writing a book. Maybe people will see right through that.
I had started out in 2007, blogging away just like in this Linkedin post. I had written about 100 blog posts between 2007 and 2014. For my first book, I took the best 20 that revolved around a single subject, Startups, and put them together as a book. Sounds simple, right. Well, I still had to work hard at editing and making sure the book made sense.
Now, you may be thinking to yourself, “why in god’s name would I want to write a book”.
Well, after a friend recently recommended Authority by Nathan Barry http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18070394-authority, I am seeing the light on how writing can be the path to many things, the most important of which is making a living. He points out that you can become an expert in your field even though you did not start out that way.
Just writing about a subject will make you an expert at a subject over time. Eventually you will become an authority!
It will get you gigs/jobs, you can accomplish a life-long goal, you can get your point across, you can heal some souls, you can heal your soul, you can free the truth, you can confuse and conspire but most of all you can help people.
But one thing in Nathan Barry’s book that really struck me is how he focused on becoming an “Authority”. When you become an authority on a subject, then you can write and sell your work and make a living as a writer. I get that. It makes sense.
Writing to be an authority is very different than writing a novel or screenplay. Those are creative works. To write a non-fiction book, you may desire to reach out to become an authority or maybe not. Barry goes even further to suggest honing in on subjects that can make other people a living. Teaching people how to make money through your book, whether it is tech, financial, marketing, self-help or another method is part of being an Authority on the subject. Obviously you could write a book about most anything, but helping others help themselves is an excellent place to start.
I am going to do a series of blog articles about self publishing and take you step by step through the process. So please get on my list so you can read about my next series of articles.
Once again if you have not gotten on my email list at StartupPOP.com, please click this link http://www.startuppop.com/about-us-2/and add yourself to this email list. I will be giving away one of my Kindle version/Ebooks for FREE in an upcoming email if you get yourself on this list:
http://www.startuppop.com/about-us-2/
Have a great day and start writing your book today.
Dan