Most of the material that I’ve seen about how to write a book suggests that you start with some kind of planning. Some suggest you start with a business plan for your book. Others urge you to begin outlining. I have a different idea. Before you start writing or planning, take some time to get your head around what you » Read More
Category: Writing A Book
Writing a Book: How to Keep Track of the Details
A couple of decades ago, a reporter asked a senior executive what it took to manage General Motors. I still remember his reply: “I don’t think you can actually manage General Motors,” he said. “I think the best you can do is keep track of it.” I’m sure that Mary Barra would disagree with that. She’s doing » Read More
Writing a Book: How long should my chapters be?
My coaching clients who are writing books and first-time authors in all kinds of online forums want to know the idea length for a business book chapter. Here’s the short answer. There’s no rule or standard about how long your chapter should be. Some folks will tell you to make it “long enough.” That’s good advice » Read More
Writing a Book: You Don’t Know What You’re in For
As of this moment, Joseph Epstein has published 17 collections of essays and nine nonfiction books. Keep that in mind as you read the following. “Before I had first done so, writing a book seemed a fine, even grand thing. And so it still seems – except, truth to tell, it is a lot better to have written a book than to » Read More
Writing a Book: A Chapter Planning Worksheet
Most of my clients come to me originally to write their first book. The entire book-writing, publishing, and promoting processes are unexplored territory for them. So, it’s a great learning experience, but they also have some common problems. A Book Is A Big Project A book is a large project with a lot of points, several » Read More