Painless preps and simple steps for writing a business book
It’s been nagging on you, right? Four people in as many months have listened intently as you talked about some aspect of your profession, and after a short pause they all said the same thing: “Ya know, you ought to write a book.”
You dismissed the first two, listened to the third person, but the fourth person was the charm. “But where do I start?” you are asking.
Painless preps: Reduce your point of view (POV) to a before and after contrast. The first sentence describes how the subject or field has traditionally been handled. The second sentence is how you believe it must change. In emails to trusted but objective colleagues, ask them to react to your before/after contrast. Tell them to poke holes in your idea, unravel it, and describe the negatives of your approach. Next, ask them what business books are available that hint of your approach or POV.
Simple steps: Use Google and Amazon searches to uncover the recent books that dominate your field. Find out if your POV is addressed in any of them. Read the reviews for telltale signs of frustration.
Ask some professors in your field a very powerful, open-ended question: “What’s happening in your world and how should it change?” Then sit back, don’t interrupt…and listen carefully.
Next, build a spreadsheet of the existing books, their authors, the page counts and words-per-page. Note the level of difficulty. A professional reference book is quite different from what we at BBG call an “airplane book,” that quick-read paperback for the flight to Chicago this morning. Determine if each author has an author platform. A platform (discussed in our SECRETS document available on this website) could be a newspaper or journal column or a workshop series.
If your POV seems to be valid, start a blog or discussion group on the topic so you can be the “go-to” expert on the change. If you come up with a spiffy name for your POV, nail down the domain name immediately.
None of these preps and steps will take much time. If you think you have a solid idea, the next step is a book proposal. Download our SECRETS document and read about book proposals and why they are necessary. The Business Book Ghostwriters are ready to offer several levels of assistance. We’ll help you write the book you know you need.
