Tips for getting your thoughts out into a book?

[PositiveSelfTalk]

So I have been wanting to write a book (physical one) for the longest time... I've done e-books before yes... but not a "real" book.

Been proscrastinating on that for years.... guess it's some sort of fear... not too sure if it's a fear or failure or success or a combination of both...

Anywayz, just wanna hear from you guys who have successfully written and published a book... how did you motivate yourself to do it? What are the productivity tips you can give?

[irfan]

Originally Posted by PositiveSelfTalk

So I have been wanting to write a book (physical one) for the longest time... I've done e-books before yes... but not a "real" book.

Anywayz, just wanna hear from you guys who have successfully written and published a book... how did you motivate yourself to do it? What are the productivity tips you can give?

Why is an ebook not a real book? It still involves the same processes and raw materials, at least as far as the writer is concerned. Why don't you just pretend that you are "only" going to write an ebook, get the words onto the hard disk, and then turn them into a "real" book?

How did I successfully motivate myself to do it? It helped that I was commissioned to write a book within a specific time frame and that I had ongoing meetings with an editorial committee with the people who were paying my fee. They were very nice people, very supportive, and they were helpful when there were setbacks, even setbacks that I managed to create for myself. Still, I knew that I had to go to meet them at specific intervals and to show them what I'd done, explain any problems, ask for extra resources and so on.

It would have done irreparable damage to my career not to finish the project. Failure was not an option. Actually, there was a time when I did want to quit, but it would have been about as easy - and as much fun - as a major divorce. We did a bit of "marriage counseling" and got back on track.

So, maybe you need to somehow create that environment for yourself, even if you do it artificially. Find a coach and pay them to treat you the way my bosses treated me! A friend might do the trick, but friends can be too soft. Find a mean, tough, unforgiving friend and report your progress to them regularly. Divide the project into chapters, of course, with a time frame for each chapter, and have people expecting you to deliver!

[PositiveSelfTalk]

oh cos the word count for the ebooks are pretty short... but I always carry the notion that books have to be very detailed and lengthy

[Clint Cora]

Most of my titles are in both ebook form as well as softcover printed versions. I came out with the ebooks first but soon developed the physical versions because some people want them. So what motivated me was the reader demand for them.

To lesson your fear so that you don't have to worry about spending lots of money to print out hundreds of books that will be taking up your basement in case you don't sell them, you can go the POD or print-on-demand route. Check out Lulu and Lightning Source, both POD providers.

They print out physical books only if you need them and only as many as you need, even only one copy if you want. This is what I did for my titles.

My personal development title sells very well at live talks so I decided to go ahead and use a book printer to print out 1,500 copies. Yes this is more of an expense upfront but the cost per book is much lower than POD. I made this decision only because I knew that I could sell all of the stock and I did.

For another title, it is more industry niched so I still have it on a POD basis so I won't get stuck with extra stock.

So I think the POD route would be best for you to start.

[Matthew Cluff]

Originally Posted by PositiveSelfTalk

Been proscrastinating on that for years.... guess it's some sort of fear... not too sure if it's a fear or failure or success or a combination of both...

I heard something great on procrastination this morning. Loral Langemeier said people procrastinate (1) What they don't know how to do; and (2) What they don't want/enjoy doing.

Originally Posted by PositiveSelfTalk

how did you motivate yourself to do it? What are the productivity tips you can give?

I want to suggest picking a niche, then a general topic for that niche (the book), then the different topics you'd want to write about (the chapters) and then points for how you can elaborate on those.

Just create some sort of framework or structure, get in the right vibration, and write away! The thing about being an author isn't so much as the first draft, but getting that first draft to the publication stage through constantly refining what you wrote.

Let the motivation to write and refine come from the inherent desire you likely have to share your message with the world and help others in the process.

To Your Success,
Matthew Cluff

[gene2009]

I prefer paper books to ebooks. I've read some ebooks and they didn't give me the deep pleasure like real, paper books always do. If we speak about different guides or manuals,it's all right with ebooks. But if i'm looking for a deep inner contact, i buy a paper book.