Writing for a Living: HotHive tips – Helping you write, publish and market your book
5 August 2009
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This is the first in a short series of tips from HotHive on writing a book. These tips are ideal if you are in business and want to write a book to boost your profile.
Tip 1. Planning the writing of your book
When you are in business it can seem impossible to find the time to work on your idea for a book. It’s a good idea to create a structured plan – one that will help you reach your goal.
Is there a key event such as a conference coming up in the next year that it would be good to have the book ready for?
Write down your ideal publication date and work back from there. It can take anything from 4-18 months for a publisher to turn your manuscript into the finished product, depending on who you work with, so have a conversation with a publisher first! (Please feel free to start with The HotHive!)
Once you know when you need to get your manuscript completed, work out how many words you need to write in the time you have. Split this into sessions, put the sessions in the diary and stick to them. Treat them just like appointments with important clients.
It’s important to be realistic in the planning of your writing time – if you are a morning person, try getting up an hour earlier and write then, or if you’re a night owl book your sessions for the evening. Some people find it easier to get results by focusing on the book for a longer period of time. If you are like this, why not rent a cottage in the middle of nowhere for a week and turn off the mobile phone? You’ll be amazed at how much you can get done if you have nothing else to distract you.
Come back tomorrow for tip 2
