What we’ll cover:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
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Hone Your Idea (Write Your Book\u2019s Business Plan)<\/b><\/h4>\n<\/li>\n
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<\/b>Find Your Structure (<\/b>What\u2019s The Best Way To Arrange This Idea)<\/b><\/h4>\n<\/li>\n
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<\/b>Research (<\/b>Take Notes on Everything You Read and See)<\/b><\/h4>\n<\/li>\n
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<\/b>Start Writing (Break <\/b>The Book Up In Small Pieces)<\/b><\/h4>\n<\/li>\n
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Get Outside Perspective (You Need A Professional Editor)<\/b><\/h4>\n<\/li>\n
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Perfect The Package (Nail <\/b>Your Title, Subtitle, Cover)<\/b><\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/blockquote>\n
<\/p>\n
Lots of people want to write books, but very few people know how. For starters, when someone says they want to write a book, what they’re really saying is they want to <\/span>publish<\/span><\/i> a book. In order to publish a book in a traditional sense you’ve got to impress a gatekeeper of some kind and that gatekeeper is an agent or an editor at a publishing house. And even the publishing house, when they give you a book deal, just <\/span>assume<\/span><\/i> you know how to actually write the thing.<\/span><\/p>\n
But books are <\/span>long<\/span><\/i>. <\/span>George Orwell said that writing a book “is a horrible, exhausting struggle, like a long bout of some painful illness.” <\/span>Most published books end up being somewhere between 50,000 to 100,000 words in length. How on earth does one manage to string so many words together in any coherent fashion? It’s not exactly something a writer can simply wing.<\/span><\/p>\n
The author and poet Austin Kleon has done the creative world an enormous favor with his concept <\/span>of showing your work<\/span><\/a>. Part of the mystique of the artistic brand is to make it look easy, effortless. The result is that creativity seems like a black box. In fact, we should show <\/span>how<\/span><\/i> we make what we make. To help others, to understand our own process, to practice humility. To show people that it\u2019s not impossible to turn their ideas into work.<\/span><\/p>\n
There was once an exchange between the painter Edgar Degas and the poet St\u00e9phane Mallarm\u00e9. Degas was having trouble trying his hand at poetry and so he complained to his friend about his trouble writing, \u201cI can\u2019t manage to say what I want, and yet I\u2019m full of ideas.\u201d Mallarm\u00e9\u2019s response: \u201cIt\u2019s not with ideas, my dear Degas, that one makes verse. It\u2019s with words.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n
But still, <\/span>how?<\/span><\/i> I can\u2019t answer generally, but I can show how I learned how to string words together and turn them into a book. At my wedding in early 2015, my editor made a suggestion about an idea for a book she thought I might like to kick around. Now, roughly three years later, that book has been out for half a year and sold very well. Books, like poems, are a matter of words. And a hell of a lot of <\/span>work<\/span><\/i>. What I thought I would do in this article is show almost step by step, what that work is and how it happened in the creation of <\/span>Perennial Seller<\/span><\/i><\/a>. Given the book\u2019s subject matter\u200a\u2014\u200acreating artistic work that stands the test of time\u200a\u2014\u200aI\u2019m excited to share how I tried to accomplish that with my own writing. Enjoy.<\/span><\/p>\n
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Hone Your Idea<\/b><\/h1>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
As Mallarm\u00e9 was saying, ideas are cheap. Lot of people have them. Even smart people have lots of bad ones. But the truth is every project starts with an idea. They can\u2019t start anywhere else. There would never be any creative work without an idea that came before it.<\/span><\/p>\n
Some people struggle even just coming up with ideas in the first place, but this is more a question of technique than an actual dearth of ideas. <\/span><\/p>\n
One of the best techniques for always having ideas on hand comes from Inc.’s top columnist and author <\/span>Jeff Haden<\/span><\/a>, who says:<\/span><\/p>\n
“Often people ask how I keep coming up with ideas. If I feel stuck, all I have to do is think about something I don\u2019t do well, or a mistake I once made, or a failing I have\u2026and then I try to figure out how I can do better. That approach means I have an endless source of ideas, because I suck at an endless number of things.”<\/span><\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Often, a book starts with an incredibly vague idea. The original suggestion from my editor had been a book about book marketing. That is, after all, my day job. And so the project began with that idea and a short one page proposal.<\/span><\/p>\n
As it happens, the book <\/span>Perennial Seller<\/span><\/i><\/a> is not a book about book marketing, but in 2015 I sure thought it would be. Doing so made a ton of sense\u200a\u2014\u200aat that time, <\/span>my company Brass Check<\/span><\/a> had five different clients on the <\/span>New York Times<\/span><\/i> Bestseller list. I began to write the book proposal for what would become <\/span>Perennial Seller<\/span><\/i><\/a> in March of 2015. In fact, here is the original title (a suggestion from my agent) and subtitle I used in the book proposal:<\/span><\/p>\n
THE NEW RULES OF BOOK PROMOTION:<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n
Why Content and Strategy Trump Tactics Every Time or How to Succeed with Content and Strategy When All the Old Tactics No Longer Work<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n
As you can see, that’s a much different book than what<\/span> Perennial Seller<\/span><\/i><\/a> would become. Why the drastic change? Because it’s important to test your idea early and often to see if it has staying power. Here’s an example to illustrate how that can work: When I sold a previous book proposal, the one that would become <\/span>Ego Is the Enemy<\/span><\/i><\/a>, I thought it was going to be about the topic of humility. But that book didn\u2019t survive my attempt to write even one chapter. Honestly, it had trouble surviving anything much longer than dinner conversations with friends. Thankfully, I listened to the feedback from these early attempts, these tests of the material. The message was clear: The idea needed to be taken in a different direction before I could proceed much further. (I pivoted to a book against ego instead of writing a defense of humility.)<\/span><\/p>\n
Lots of authors test their book ideas in similar ways, gauging their relative merit via other mediums before settling in to actually write the idea up as a book. <\/span>Todd Henry<\/span><\/a> has used the podcast he created, “Accidental Creative,” as an incubator for his book ideas. Henry said in <\/span>an interview<\/span><\/a>, “Many of the ideas that end up in my books begin as a podcast episode in which I\u2019m exploring a hunch. In some ways, the podcast has become a test tube for ideas that I might want to elaborate on or research in greater detail later.” <\/span><\/p>\n
Author and World Poker Champion <\/span>Annie Duke<\/span><\/a> approaches her book ideas in a similar manner, only she workshops them in front of live audiences at her speaking engagements:<\/span><\/p>\n
“<\/span>I am always trying out different ways into the material, new narratives to bolster the concepts, fresh ways to organize the material. Doing this in front of an audience, piecemeal, as I\u2019m giving different speeches, makes generating new ideas much less daunting than having to develop an entire book\u2019s worth of material in one fell swoop. Trying out new ideas and approaches to material through the speaking process acts like a workshop for those ideas. In terms of <\/span><\/i>Thinking in Bets<\/span>, I certainly had developed a lot of these ideas over the course of many years through my speaking.”<\/span><\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Taking a step back to the proposal stage for a second, if you\u2019re wondering what a book proposal even <\/span>is<\/span><\/i>, you\u2019re not alone. In the world of nonfiction traditional publishing, most authors don\u2019t get to simply wake up one day and sit down to write a manuscript (even when it\u2019s their sixth book). Before an author writes a single word of the book itself he or she will write down what the idea for the book will be and why people will read (i.e. buy) it\u200a\u2014\u200aand they have to sell that to someone. It\u2019s like writing a business plan for a book. Proposals can contain an outline, sample chapters, endorsements from relevant tastemakers, and anything else that may attract the attention of an editor at a publishing house, with the goal usually being to secure as high of an advance as possible. A publisher essentially buys the rights to publish a future book by you based on your book proposal.<\/span><\/p>\n
In my case, my publisher bought the rights to my book about book promotion based on the proposal I\u2019d written. It ended up selling that same month, in March 2015.<\/span><\/p>\n
It\u2019s important to stress that the iterative phase of the book idea doesn\u2019t necessarily stop once the book proposal sells. Authors frequently (maybe even usually) deliver a book that is substantially different that the book that was laid out in the original proposal. I usually tell authors that the proposal is for the publisher\u200a\u2014\u200athe book is for themselves. So what is even the point of a proposal anyway? That\u2019s another article for another time, but suffice it to say that even though I\u2019d sold a book about book promotion, by May of 2015 the idea still wasn\u2019t sitting right with me.<\/span><\/p>\n
Around that time I happened to be reading book called <\/span>Enemies of Promise<\/span><\/i><\/a> by Cyril Connolly. He explored contemporary literature (from 1939) and the timeless challenges of making great art. It was also an honest self-examination of why Connolly, himself a talented writer, hadn\u2019t broken through commercially with his previous work. In the book, Connolly throws down an ambitious gauntlet for authors: Making something that lasts for ten years.<\/span><\/p>\n
I <\/span>loved<\/span><\/i> the book. Though it was clear to me that because of my <\/span>track record as an author<\/span><\/a> and because of <\/span>my company Brass Check<\/span><\/a> I could do quite well with a book marketing book (and monetize it with courses, consulting, etc), the idea just didn\u2019t excite me. It wasn\u2019t an idea that I thought would last. I mean, if I filled it a bunch of strategies that were working right now\u2026who is to say they would still hold true even a year later?<\/span><\/p>\n
I began to ask, was there enough there for something good? Would the content last? Who was even the audience for this book? Just authors? Was that a big enough, diverse enough audience? I realized something: writing a book about book marketing violated a lot my own advice about book marketing and marketing it general! I\u2019d even written on the subject a few months before in a post titled \u201c<\/span>6 Reasons Your Book Will Fail<\/span><\/a>\u201d in which I wrote specifically about the rules I found myself on the verge of violating:<\/span><\/p>\n
\u201cToo many books fail because it was written in a vacuum, without ever considering anything beyond your own immediate tastes and needs. You wrote without ever thinking: How the hell are people going to hear about this and why would they care if they do? You thought about why you wanted to write it, but not why anyone else needed it….Your book will fail because of your inflated self-importance. Do you know how many people are eagerly anticipating your book? Unless your last name is King, Lewis, Evanovich, Gladwell, Patterson, Kingsolver, Child, or R.R. Martin, the answer is next to nobody.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Such a book about book marketing would be unlikely to last\u200a\u2014\u200athe tactics change too often, the audience was too small and I\u2019m not sure the world actually needed another book marketing book.<\/span><\/p>\n
As I kicked around the book some more, I remember very vividly a conversation with <\/span>my writing and business partner Nils Parker<\/span><\/a>. I was speaking at a conference in Puerto Rico to business executives and entrepreneurs from all over the Caribbean. It occurred to me that a book about book marketing would be too niche to ever get in front of an audience like this. Not everyone wants to write a book, after all. In the conversation, I told Nils about the Cyril Connolly quote\u200a\u2014\u200aabout lasting for ten years. His response: Now that is a better idea for a book. As we chatted, it became clear that authors were not the only people interested in making something that lasts. It\u2019s the universal dream.<\/span><\/p>\n
From this breakthrough, the book pivoted. Instead of being for authors it would be about authors and for everyone engaged in a creative field. It\u2019s obvious when you think about it: Who doesn\u2019t want to make something that sells and sells for years? Who doesn\u2019t want to be responsible for a classic? Thus, <\/span>Perennial Seller<\/span><\/i><\/a> was born.<\/span><\/p>\n
As I said, book proposals are really just the entry point to an idea. Almost every single <\/span>one of my books<\/span><\/a> has become something very different in the research and the writing process. <\/span><\/p>\n
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Structure (What\u2019s The Best Way To Arrange This Idea)<\/b><\/h1>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
With the idea for the book beginning to form, the next question I had to address was how to present such a book. Think about it like this: A lawyer has their case and then they must structure their argument. Or, if you remember 9th grade, you outline your 5 paragraph essay before you start writing\u200a\u2014\u200anot while you\u2019re in the middle of it. A book is the same way. You have to figure out the best way to arrange and organize the information you are going to give to the reader. I <\/span>always<\/span><\/i> lay this out before I have written a word. I think you need to know the structure while you are researching\u200a\u2014\u200aso you can find the material needed to best make your case.<\/span><\/p>\n
With structure, sometimes tried and true methods can be useful, but it’s also important not to get tied to a structure just because you think it’s what you’re supposed to do. Bestselling author Chris Brogan has his own strong feelings on the structure of nonfiction books, <\/span>saying<\/span><\/a>:<\/span><\/p>\n
“There\u2019s this old rule with nonfiction: tell them what you\u2019re going to tell them, then tell them that, then tell them what you just told them. God I hate that rule. To me, the idea is that you\u2019ll explain the promise of where you\u2019re going, but don\u2019t get all mechanical. No one wants to read a book, nonfiction or otherwise, where there are no surprises.”<\/span><\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Sometimes it is helpful to physically lay out the structure of your book idea. As <\/span>Andrea Wulf explained<\/span><\/a> about her writing process, “When I work on structure and narrative pace, I need to do everything on paper. I end up with bits of paper scattered all over the floor. For days, I tiptoe through the chaos and move the papers around to plot structure.”<\/span><\/p>\n
For my third book, <\/span>The Obstacle Is the Way<\/span><\/i><\/a>, I structured the book in three segments, each segment dedicated to a discipline: Perception, Action, and Will. I chose that structure because, when it comes to obstacles, how we see them (perception), how we act when confronted with them (action) and what we depend on when our agency to act is out of our hands (will), are the framework for understanding how to benefit from those obstacles. Within each of the three parts are 10 chapters each that contain examples and stories that illustrate those disciplines. Essentially 30 chapters in total\u201430 great stories I needed to find via research.<\/span><\/p>\n
Structural brainstorming is one of the best ways to really define what your book is going to be about. For <\/span>Perennial Seller<\/span><\/i><\/a>, I chose four sections: 1) The Creative Process, 2) Positioning, 3) Marketing, 4) Platform.<\/span><\/p>\n
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Research<\/b><\/h1>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
“As for research, I can\u2019t begin to tell you the things I discovered while I was looking for something else.”<\/span><\/i> \u2014Shelby Foote<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
As I explained in a <\/span>video on how I wrote<\/span><\/a> Ego Is the Enemy<\/span><\/i><\/a>, once you have the structure, now the real research starts. I read books, articles, research papers, listen to podcasts and talks, watch documentaries and anything else I can get my hands on. (An Imgur album outlining that process <\/span>can be found here<\/span><\/a>.)<\/span><\/p>\n
And I take notes on everything I read and see. I already had many hundreds of notecards about writing and creativity assembled from my research over the years. I\u2019ve written about exactly how this <\/span>notecard system works<\/span><\/a> elsewhere, but at its core it\u2019s a method taught to me by my mentor and bestselling author Robert Greene for organizing and using all of the information I read or hear, and all of the thoughts that I have. Every book I write has a dedicated box that holds every notecard that will eventually be written into the book. But I don\u2019t only take from my books. I jot down things I like from podcasts, documentaries, conversations, and random thoughts I have.<\/span><\/p>\n
All of the notecards get filed into a box for when it\u2019s time to being writing.<\/span><\/p>\n
I do this so that I don\u2019t ever <\/span>not<\/span><\/i> know what to write about. I\u2019ve never really had \u201cwriter\u2019s block\u201d on a book\u200a\u2014\u200abecause I have so much material already there in the form of ideas and notes, organized in accordance with the structure. My job each morning is just expanding it into prose.<\/span><\/p>\n
During the research phase each story, anecdote and example that will appear in the book is transferred onto a notecard and then filed away for safekeeping until it\u2019s time to write.<\/span><\/p>\n