Things to do before writing
- Come up with a title (it will guide you as your write, and should be helpful as you market the book)
- Identify your the basis or thesis of the book
Writing
When writing
- Things don’t need to be perfect, editing will take care of flaws later
Get it written then get it right
- Be careful with absolutes and guarentees
- Cite your quotes
- Work towards a deadline
How large should it be
- About 10 000 words
- Roughly 9 Chapters
Publishing
Things to consider:
1) Who gets what royalty
2) Who has what control
3) What tasks need to be done and who does what
How to get a ISBN Number
- Owning the rights to the ISBN number is like owning the URL.
How do you get a ISBN Number?
- still need to find this out
Self Publishing
- You keep all the profits
- Options are
Publishers
- O’Rielly
- PragmaticPub
Pricing
- Check costs for printing, distribution, marketing
- Compare other books in the category and see what they are priced at
- Decide what your aim is, wide distribution vs higher return per unit
Roles Needed
Marketing
- Generate a short description of your book
- Identify and nurture evalngelists (people who will promote your book)
Enders vs Repeaters
- Enders are things you just need to do once
- Repeaters are things you do at a cadence
Benefits of being an author
- More or better recognition in the industry
- Speaking engagements
- Consulting engagements
- Book sales
Sections of a book
- Half title page [title only] (page i)
- Title page (page iii)
- Copyright (page iv)
- Dedication
- Epigraph (or before main text)
-
Table of contents
- Foreword (not “forward” or “foreward”)
- Editor’s preface
- Author’s preface, or
- Preface and Acknowledgments
What is the difference between a preface, a foreward, and an introduction
What’s the difference between a Foreword, Preface, and Introduction?
Preface
Author briefly explains why they wrote the book
Establish credibility indicating experience in the topic of their book
Foreward
Most often written by someone other than the author (an expert in the field, a writer of a similar book)
Forewards help the publisher market the book
Introduction
About the content of the book
Sets the overall theme of the book
Potential Editors
Ricky Hunt - hunt.ricky@gmail.com
References
Writing & Marketing a Book by Jason Alba
Book Marketing Plan 0 the definitive checklist
Writing Advice Archive
So you want to publish a book - Ted Weinstein lightening talk
