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Expert to Author: How to turn your know-how into a bestseller

Written by: Lynda McDaniel

Article Overview: You've put years into your career. In fact, you're an expert. So it's time to share your know-how in a book. Consider these tips on how to get started, what to include and how to publish.

Expert to Author: How to turn your know-how into a bestseller

Do you have information that can help others prosper? Do you want to share it with a larger audience? Then it’s time to write your book. You know, the one you’ve been noodling around in your head for months or years.

When you share your expertise in a book, you’ll earn increased respect and prestige. With a good marketing campaign, you’ll find that the media—radio, TV, blogs, newspapers, magazines—are more interested in what you have to offer. (Do a good enough job, and you might even be invited to write a regular blog or column.)

Start today
The hardest part of writing a book is getting started. Sound obvious? It’s not. First, niggling fears of not being good enough spell trouble for even the most successful people. (See “Overcoming Fear of Writing.”) And time. A book takes a lot of time, and where will you find it in an already busy schedule? Even with a ghostwriter or editor, you’ve got to do more than dump information. You need to share your unique perspective.

For others, the mystifying process of how to get published stops them cold. Add in the modern dilemma of whether to self-publish or go the traditional route, and the hurdles get higher. (More on that in a moment.)

Step by Step
The solution? Take it one step at a time. Don’t overwhelm yourself. Use some psychology and eat that elephant one bite at a time. These seven steps will get you well on your way to writing a bestseller:

1. What is the takeaway value of your message?
What will the readers get out of it? A book isn’t just about sharing your expertise but how that information will help your readers.

2. Who is your audience?
Please don’t say everyone! I used to think that everyone was my audience because, goodness knows, everyone could use a writing tune-up. But now I’ve fine-tuned my audience, and my message is much clearer. Figure out who will appreciate your message the most and write to them. Any extra fans you pick up along the way are gravy.

3. Check out your competition.
Not only will you need this information for the book proposal (for traditional agents and publishers), this research helps you determine the gap you can fill. You need to know what’s out there, what’s good, and what can be improved. For example, when I was researching my books, I often found that the competition was too technical, too long-winded, too corny or too serious. At the same time, keep an open mind and respect what’s good about the competition. Both the good and bad about your competition will help you determine your niche and how to fill it.

(more)

4. Keep a pad of paper handy.
Jot down every idea—“good” or “bad”—for a month or two. Take advantage of the out-of-the-blue ideas that come to you when you’re relaxed or not consciously thinking about the topic.

5. Start small.
Start with articles on the Web and/or in magazines, association newsletters, op-ed pages—anywhere you can get your ideas published. (Each article is a bite out of that elephant.) Not only have you started writing (the biggest obstacle of all), but you’ve written content for your book. Just make sure to retain the copyright, and you’re on your way.

6. Get an editor.
This is especially important for self-published books, but even with traditional publishing, you’ll want to send in the best manuscript you can. Good editors do more than dot Is and cross Ts. They help you organize your material and identify when you’ve fallen victim to the curse of knowledge. What’s that? The curse of knowledge rears its head when you write from an expert level that’s over the head of your readers. It can be difficult to step back into beginner’s mind, the place where most of your readers reside, and a good editor can help you get there.

7. Self-publish or traditional publishing?
Today, both approaches are viable options. Consider these factors.

Self-publishing
Pro:
a.Fast and easy. You pay, you get what you want with quick turnaround.
b.Higher return on each book sold (though this needs to be weighed against initial costs and how effective your marketing campaign will be.)

Con:
a.You have to pay to have your book published.
b.Most bookstores won’t carry your book.
c.Your online presence on major bookseller sites is limited to Amazon.com.

Traditional publishing
Pro:
a.You get paid to have your book published. Advances help pay for your time upfront. With reasonable success, you’ll also receive royalties from sales.
b.Cash in on cache. Traditionally published books deliver more prestige.
c.Bookstores are more likely to carry your book.
d.Online giants like Barnes & Noble and Borders will consider your book.
e.It’s easier to get PR, media coverage, and acceptance from speaker’s bureaus.
f.Publishers still offer some editing and marketing help (though today this isn’t guaranteed).

Con:
a.You often need an agent just to be considered by a traditional publisher.
b.Once you have a contract, the process can take a year (or longer).
c.You’ll probably have to edit your manuscript more.
d.You receive less per book sold, and only once your advance has been repaid.

You didn’t get to be an expert overnight, and you won’t be an author overnight. Just take it step by step and before long, your book will be finished. And, with any luck, you’ll have writer’s cramp from your book signing.

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  Is Becoming an Amazon.com Bestseller Worth Anything?
  Being a Bestselling Author has Ample Benefits
  Trust Comes First

Article Tags: expert, how to write a book, professional business writing, writing book



Related Forum Posts
Re: How Much Of Ourselves Should We Give Away...? - Thanks Ros! OmnivoreInk: [quote:1juiyp32]many of them allow you to download and read the first two chapters of their latest publication....[/quote:1juiyp32] It was on the basis of the first chapter of Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code that was available free on his website that I did NOT buy the rest of the book! However, I do agree with the point you were making. Dan Brown was savvy enough to turn an average novel into a massive bestseller.
Re: Your choice between... - I will take the $100,000 and double it on it becomes millions before I spend it. Though I am crazy about information, yet I would rather take the money and turn it into a million before I spend a dime out of it. I will do it in 4 steps. Step 1 turn $100,000 to $200,000 Step 2 turn $200,000 to $400,000 Step 3 turn $400,000 to $800,000 Step 4 turn $800,000 to $1600,000. After getting the goal of step 4, I will spend the $600,000 on myself then continue to double the millions again. I could then by the book for $1,000,000
Re: VALUE = ROI / Price (Cost) or Opportunty Spent - [quote="Takuya":ra8u6vda]OK, but what many people do not realize is.... just because the "free offer" is relevant, or we didn't pay money for the message, it still costs our opportunity to be just paying attention to it. Here is a scenario, I get a phone call from a stranger who knows nothing about me. Without asking me for a permission, just because their FREE message is relevant to what I do, they assume they're doing me a favor by approaching me with their promotion.[/quote:ra8u6vda] Hi Takuya, While I understand your position, I think you're straying off topic from what Andy and I interpret as "giving value first" and asking for nothing in return. If you try to help a potential client by simply offering your related service or products for free, then that's self-serving because you're trying to make the sale. And no one likes cold callers. A good example of offering value first would be: -I want to connect with Business Author ABC. -The next step would be to find out how I could help (and NOT by trying to sell my product or service). -Let's say I learn that this author wants publicity for his/her new book, so I introduce Business Author ABC to an influential person in the book/publishing industry like Oprah and ask for nothing in return. -Then Business Author ABC would want to connect with me and want to learn what I do for a living. -And in the future, Business Author ABC would want to help me in the future if need be. It's as easy as that.
Re: Affiliate Marketing - Open for Discussion - Hi David, Same here, it's like people are waiting for me to turn my back and then they come out of their holes and when i turn around again, they disappear. Maybe we try too hard?
Finding a technical person to work with - Hi Barbara, I would suggest tapping your network to see who knows who. It's amazing how small the world is. Your situation reminds me of many entrepreneurs who are afraid to go for venture capital because they feel the venture capitalists will take the idea and use it themselves or with another company. It takes a team to build a successful company and most engineers are just that - engineers. To make the business fly they would need to have their own vision as well as the experience of being a mother with infant / toddlers with strollers and the knowhow to successfully sell and market a product. This is a highly unlikely scenario and chances are if that person existed your product would already be on the market. I've always found that be telling people what I'm up to I've received far more help than harm.


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