Susan Jagannath star

In 2023 you will regret not starting your book today

"The fault, dear Brutus, lies not in our stars, but in ourselves that we are underlings" William Shakespeare

Can you believe it’s nearly the last quarter of 2022? It is time to take a step back and reflect on what you have done in the past year and what you want to do in the upcoming year. If you haven’t started on your book as yet, you are not going to be a published author in 2022. And you can even make that a “published BESTSELLING author”!

In 2023, you will regret not starting writing your book today because if you do, you will be an author in 2023. You should start now and by next year or earlier you can be fulfil your dream of being a publisher author. Procrastination helps no one, not you, nor your readers.

Aim for bestseller – don’t be shy

To reach your readers, a book needs to aim for bestseller status. And in as many media as you can – but for now, plan only for digital.

This is because readers are now more likely to buy books based on their friends’ recommendations or reviews. They also rely on recommendations from other readers, which they can access through social media sites like Facebook and Instagram.

So start talking about your book now!

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A book is not a hobby – its a business asset

The key to success  is to treat your book as a business. Do some research on similar books that have been published in the past and see what they have done well and what they have not done so well. You want to be sure that you are doing everything right before you start. This is the best time for a new author! The book publishing industry is in a state of massive disruption. The industry is seeing a shift away from traditional publishing and towards self-publishing. This shift has been driven by the rise of e-books, which are now outselling hard copies.

There are many ways that you can make money from your book. You can sell it as an e-book or hard copy of course, or use it as your business card to establish yourself as THE authority in your field. The book can often be your marketing strategy to attract paying clients to your business.

Find out what your future readers want

and write that book….

It is not enough to write a good book. You need to know what your target audience wants to read and then write that book. Delve into social media with the intention of looking for readers!

Market research into what books are selling today is as easy to searching though Amazon, Google and Udemy to look for what people are searching for. The Bestseller list is a treasure trove!

Make new “book” friends

Don’t expect family, friends and colleagues to support you in your book journey. This is a hard truth for many people, but you need to accept that very few of your immediate family will help you. They may be there for you when you are down and out, but they will not support your goals. You need to be the one who is pushing yourself and getting back on your feet. They might not understand what you are going through or they might not have the time to support you. It is your responsibility to reach out for help when you need it.

Make more friends with other authors, entrepreneurs and those on the same path as you. Create a street team for your book launch. These are your earliest fans, treat them right!

Study your competition

Who else is writing bestselling books on your chosen topic? Knowing what other people are doing on your topic is a great way to get ideas for your own book.

Your competition are your friends – learn from them.

Look at what is working for them and read the reviews carefully to see what readers like and dislike about those books. Study what the competitor is doing well and improve on it. Study what the competition is doing poorly and make sure that  you don’t do those things themselves.

Learning and Change

The publishing world is changing at an exponential pace. It is important to keep up with the changes and be able to adapt to them. It’s not enough to publish and forget! As an author look at learning about your craft, about marketing, and other aspects of selling. Even though you cannot be an expert at everything, you can learn enough to know the fundamentals.

Done is better than perfect

The first step to writing is to start. A lot of people have a fear of being judged before they even start writing. They are afraid that their ideas will be stolen, or that they won’t come up with anything. But the truth is, you can’t be creative if you don’t give yourself the time and space to do so. Make a space on your calendar – and pick a target. Even 500 words a day builds up to 15K words in a month. That could be a novella, a short how to book, or a complete 100 page book..keep going for a 100 days, and you have a 50K book!

Don’t stop writing until you’re done means not going back and editing until you have completed your first draft. Aim for a scrappy first draft – a perfect draft doesn’t exist – except in the mind of the procrastinator.

Outsource the non-writing tasks

When you are self-publishing a book, there are many tasks that you need to take care of.

Note: Ghost-writing is not what this about, I’m assuming that you are in fact writing all of the content of your book.

Outsource your non-writing tasks and focus on writing your book.

These include, editing, proof-reading, graphics and illustration, cover-design, and even marketing help. Ask for recommendations for excellent professionals. You can also find them on Fiverr.

Keep a time for writing

Time management is the key to success for any person and that is even more true for a writer. If you can’t manage your time, you will never finish your book.

I have seen writers who have a great story but they just can’t find the time to write it. They start writing and then they get distracted by some other work, then they go back to writing and then someone calls them and tells them about some new project that they want them to work on so the project gets delayed again.

This cycle has a nasty way of repeating itself – stay clear of it!

Be accountable

to someone who knows you are writing a book

I’ve been writing my book for a while now and I’ve found that accountability to someone who knows you are writing a book is really helpful.

Guess what – if you’re the only one who knows about it it’s easy to make excuses and give up or stop! If you are not ready for a coach, join a course, a membership or even a Facebook group like this one!

Of course you know that in the past year, I have coached my Magnificent Seven to write and publish their first and next bestsellers on Amazon, and you can too – here’s a 7-day course to get your mindset in place!

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