What’s the easiest way to write a book?
Often, people view writing as an arduous task – and it can be – but becoming a published author doesn’t have to be difficult at all.
Hard to believe? Well, it’s true. In fact, your book might already be written!
The Easy Way
Tons of people have enough material right now to publish a book without having to sit down and start writing from scratch.
That’s because so many people are already involved in writing, teaching, and studying on a regular basis. If you’re one of them, it’s possible that all you need to do is to transform your raw material into a manuscript and – presto! – you’ll have a book.
Let’s take a look at some of the places your book might already be hiding.
Lectures
Have you ever heard a lecture that transformed your life? Is there any record of it? Probably not.
Maybe you’ve given presentations about your work or spoken on topics near to your heart at special occasions. You might be one of the many teachers who shares their tremendous knowledge every day. If you’ve already put the work into creating one of these lectures, speeches, lesson plans, or presentations, why not use it to as a starting point for your book?
You might not have a written document of your lecture, but there might be an audio or video recording of it. These recordings can be transcribed and edited to form a wonderful book. Otherwise, you might have a set of notes that you can use as the basis for your book.
Collected Essays
Have you ever written a daily, weekly, or monthly column for a newspaper or magazine, in print or online? How about blog posts? How many have you posted on your website over the years? Perhaps you send regular emails with Torah thoughts, personal advice, or business insight.
All of these can easily be collected and transformed into very special books, and a lot of people are making a lot of money doing this.
If these articles were printed in old newsletters or magazines, it’s possible there is barely a trace of them today. What a pity! And even if they do exist online, is it easy for them to be noticed among the billions of other articles on the world wide web? Collecting and publishing your writings in one attractive volume can create a good opportunity to promote your work and get it to those who are interested in it.
Notes
Maybe you have a notebook filled with your most treasured ideas. So many people, especially men and women who have devoted much of their lives to studying various parts of the Torah, have pages full of notes and thoughts waiting to be culled and organized into precious books.
If these notes are truly notable, then there is a great benefit in publishing them as a book. Even if these notes are only special to your family, your children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren will cherish these thoughts. They can create an everlasting bond between the generations.
Unpublished Manuscripts
You might not believe it, but since I entered the publishing world, I have met many people who have told me that they have complete manuscripts that have never been published. I’m sure that there must be tens of thousands more like them in the world!
Why would someone write a manuscript and not publish it?
They might have submitted it to a traditional publisher without getting a positive response. Instead of trying again and again, they gave up. Some authors might be too nervous to even submit their work to a publisher at all.
These stories break my heart. After all the effort these authors invested in their manuscripts, they have nothing to show for it. What a shame!
If you are one of those people, please don’t waste all that effort. No matter what, don’t give up. Find a way to publish your manuscript, and often the easiest way is by self-publishing.
Where Do You Start?
The first thing you’ll need is a Microsoft Word document with your raw material in it. Whether you’re starting with a hand-written notebook, emails, or a tape cassette, you’ll need to transfer your writing to this industry-standard electronic format.
Of course, your book can’t be a random assortment of thoughts; it needs a coherent and consistent approach. So, sit down, review the material available, and devise a plan for organizing the material so that it’s sensible and engaging. Even with plenty of good material to work with, be prepared to do a little more writing to make the title a complete success.
The next stage is to decide if you are going to attempt to publish through traditional channels or to self-publish. This choice really depends on how marketable your manuscript is. A really specialized book – a family history, for instance – will be an invaluable treasure to a few people, but it won’t have the large audience a traditionally published book demands.
If you are going to submit it to a publisher, you don’t need to hire an editor to edit your work. If the publisher accepts the manuscript, he will edit it according to his style. The time and money you will spend on editing is likely to go to waste.
If you are going to self-publish, which is an increasingly popular approach, decide how much money you are prepared to invest in the book. The more you invest, the better the quality of publication, and the more pleasure you will have from it. If you have a minimal budget, you can still put out a good publication (and you can try crowdfunding). In either case, it’s important to plan your budget.
Whatever your situation is, I can’t encourage you enough to make the small effort to realize your publishing dreams today.
From Jewish Self Publishing, here.
