| By :
Ronda Del Boccio
There are a number of easy ways to write a book. And if you are any kind of expert or business owner, becoming an author is mission critical. The good news is that it is easier than ever to publish a book without spending a fortune or taking years writing proposals and being rejected by publishers. But before you concern yourself with publishing options, you need to write the book. There are several easy methods for how to write a book. One of these should take an expert or business owner very little time, because you solve problems for people every single day for your customers. I'm talking about writing a step-by-step book. A step-by-step book guides the reader from problem to solution. I'll give you a super-simple example in a moment. First, though, there is an important matter that deserves your attention. Avoid these mistakes that the vast majority of would-be authors make. * Waiting for the "right time": I don't know what this "right time" is; it never comes. Because it's nebulous, by the time you wait for the kids to be out of school or the stars to be aligned in a particular pattern, something else will come up to make life busy again. So you'll kid yourself into thinking life will somehow "slow down" and let you write your book. You have to seize the moment. * Perfectionism: If you're waiting for the book to be "perfect", you'll be in your grave before you're an author. Nothing's ever perfect. Get over yourself and get it done! * Not making becoming an author a priority: How can you become an author if you never finish the book? You are losing business every single day that you are not a published author. Think about the fact that authors are esteemed and respected above non-authors and you realize why writing your book is mission critical. * Writing about a topic instead of a solution. This isn't high school and you're not writing a term paper. You want to write a book your ideal customers or "target audience" will want to read. That means writing about solutions to problems. Now that you know some of the pitfalls to avoid, I'll show you why writing a steps book is an easy path to becoming an author. Writing a step-by-step book is a good way to be sure you're creating something of sincere interest to your reader. After all, you are going to show a path from problem to solution. And that kind of book sells big-time! Why is the steps book such a good idea for any expert or business owner? Because your potential customer has big problems or desires and is searching for solutions. Think about this. Your potential customer is in some sort of pain or distress. They have the kind of problem that you solve every single day with your expertise in your business. Your guide may take on one of two styles. 1. Your book concept could arise from the answer to "how do you do that?" Examples include how to grow prize-winning tomatoes or how to groom your dog. 2. Your book will address the solution to a big problem that keeps the reader up nights worrying and grinding their teeth. The direction you take with your how-to book depends on the nature of your business and expertise. And good news...Writing the steps book is really easy. Here's how. Step 1: Identify a problem "big enough" to attract your ideal customers to your book. The problem your book solves should be a big one. You don't want to focus on a minor irritation or annoyance for your potential customer. For example, I may find hang nails annoying, but I'm not losing sleep over it, and this situation isn't big enough to warrant buying a book. Step 2: Write out the overall path, or steps, from problem to solution. This isn't rocket science, but you do want to be specific. You want to guide the reader, without missing any steps or skipping over any material. Before you start writing, show your steps to colleagues or even customers. As someone who has already solved the problem, sometimes it's difficult to remember what it was like while you were in the middle of it. Congratulations! With the completion of this step, you now have your table of contents! Each step becomes a chapter. Step 3: This is the obvious step. Now that you have your chapters identified, it's time to write. Armed with your outline, your steps, now you simply get busy and write. You might choose to let a new customer read your book before you publish it so that they can tell you where you were too vague, where you skipped over things that are obvious to an experienced person but not to a newbie, etc. Let a few people "field test" or "beta test" your book. That way, you'll find and fix any holes or forgotten pieces before your book hits ink. Celebrate, because now you know exactly how to write a book that will guide your ideal customer from painful problem to smiling solution.
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