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Want to Write a Book? Here’s How!
Posted by Suzanne Bates on 21 Feb 2009 | Tagged as: Marketing, author, publishing
Last week, the National Speakers Association New England Chapter asked me to talk about how to make this the year you get that book written. When I sat down to think about what it’s really like to write a book, the image that came to mind was the old classic movie, The Wizard of Oz. While I didn’t actually write this speech, someone in the group captured the points, so I thought I should pass them along in my blog, to those of you who would like to write a book.
Before I get to the tips, let me just provide some encouragement to those of you who are wondering whether it’s worth it. Writing a book is by far the best way to establish your expertise in subject matter, and differentiate yourself from your competitors. A published book gives you credibility, and significantly enhances in business development. As an author, people seek you out. I’ve seen this first hand, after each of my books, Speak Like a CEO, and Motivate Like a CEO, was published. You have to know why you’re writing the book - so get clear on what it will mean to your business or career. If you can make a compelling case in your own mind for the value of the book to your business, it will be easier to find the time and get it written.
My thanks to the Downtown Women’s Club for taking good notes on the session so that I can provide them to you!
Follow the yellow brick road
According to Suzanne Bates of Bates Communications and best selling author of Speak Like a CEO and most recently published Motivate Like a CEO, writing a book for your business is similar to the journey Dorothy and her friends took to OZ. Here are the steps she outlined in her talk at the National Speakers Association of New England Wake Up Call on February 14, 2009:
The Tornado: Finding Your Topic, Voice and View Can Feel Chaotic
Take time to sit with your many thoughts and determine a theme for your book. Keep in mind you do not need to dump every bit of your expertise into one publication. Take the time to brainstorm ideas, find your writing voice and tolerate the chaos as it is an important part of the writing process.
Follow the Yellow Brick Road: Moving Forward on Your Book
Once you discover your theme, write with the reader in mind. Identify the target market of the book and keep that person on the forefront when writing the book. Making a visual representation of the reader can help you focus on what you want to say to your audience. Besides this information will be useful when writing your book proposal should you decide to traditionally publish.
The Wicked Witch of the West: Time
You don’t find time to write you make time to write. Anyone who has written a book knows that this is a constant struggle. Suzanne mastered the Wicked Witch by deciding that she would give up her weekends for one summer to get the book done. Schedule the time and protect it like you would the time you make for your clients. Would you stand up your highest paying contract? No. So make time in your schedule, write it down and keep the appointment.
The Scarecrows: Use Your Brains to Prepare a Brilliant Proposal
A good book proposal follows a predictable formula. Learn the formula then draft a great proposal. Pay special attention to the book’s potential marketability as this is what makes a publisher pick up your manuscript. Also include a well thought out marketing plan for the book. Publishers distribute books, they don’t market them. Authors do. Knowing this and building in a good marketing strategy for your book will help make your proposal stand out.
The Lion: The Courage to Keep Going
Yes, it takes courage to write a book. Find a place where you can get support and encouragement when the road gets bumpy. A writing group, a writing coach or a good friend can make the difference between a brilliant idea and a finished book.
The Tin Man: Write with Your Heart
Writing a book takes time and effort. Make sure you are writing about something you are passionate about and that makes sense for your long term goals. Suzanne was clear that she was writing a book to increase her company’s visibility. Others write for personal reasons. Whatever your reason, make sure you love it.
There’s No Place Like Home: Write what you know and to who you know
Do not try to be someone else. If you are great at empowering women around money then write about that topic. If you are gifted at helping people improve their speaking skills then go that route. Writing what you know and to who you know will make all stages of the book process more effective and enjoyable.
Pulling Back the Curtain on the Wizard of Oz: Best Sellers Don’t Just Happen
Market the heck out of your book. Suzanne learned with her first book many of the tricks of the trade in selling a book and getting it to be a top seller on Amazon.com. While writing the book is a great accomplishment, the difference between a best selling author and all the other authors out there is a commitment to marketing their work.
So if you decide to go down the yellow brick road, enjoy the trip and know that in the end there is nothing like seeing your finished book in print for the first time!
CEO Speeches: Cathie Black’s Memorable Line
Posted by Suzanne Bates on 08 Aug 2008 | Tagged as: CEO, Communication, Presentations, author, executive, public speaking, publishing
Media mogul Cathie Black, president of Hearst Magazines (Cosmopolitan, Esquire, Harper’s Bazaar and O), www.hearst.com spoke to the same New York conference I mentioned in an earlier post — the National Speaker’s Association www.nsaspeaker.org. Her closing keynote was a light, breezy affair, where she shared a few tales from her guide to career and life, Basic Black (Crown Business 2007) available at www.amazon.com
While she didn’t win a lot of points for her presentation style ( virtually glued to a script that by now you’d think she’d have memorized) — she connected with her charm and earnest advice.
It’s funny, but something (Cathie Black) said stuck with me. While it is now Friday afternoon, and her speech waas on Monday morning, it’s still in my head:
“Happiness has more to do with success, than success has to do with happiness.”
Now whether you agree, or whether you think it’s a little too sentimental, the point is this — it’s memorable. And for every speaker, that’s one of the tests - if your audience can remember it hours or days later, the message has staying power. Try it out. Test a message - on your own staff - and see if they remember it the next time you get together.
As you probably know, Black was one of the first women to take a major role in American magazine and newspaper publishing. She came to Hearst by way of New York magazine, where she was the first woman publisher of a weekly consumer magazine, and USA Today, which she helped build from a small upstart into one of the country’s most widely read daily papers.
So she’s no stranger to the world of words - and we can all take a page out of her book. Don’t be afraid to keep the message simple.