Don’t think you can write a book? Don’t worry, everyone can. In fact, I’ll teach you how.‘Anyone can write a book’ is a favoured marketing line used by writing coaches and similar professionals across the globe to get you to buy their products and services. Now the purists in my field often respond by saying […]
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You have a great idea for a book – it’s about your area of expertise, you’re passionate about your subject, and you’re already thinking about the cover and marketing. Best of all, you have a large network you can contact for interviews. This is going to be awesome – with your happy clients and your […]
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If you’ve read Book Blueprint or have seen me speak, you’ll know that I’m a big fan of mind mapping to gain clarity on your book idea.But how much information do you need in a mind map? How do you know if you’ve done it right? And, if you’re using it as a way to test […]
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Open up any professionally published book. On page 1 you’ll see the title. On the flipside, you’ll see a bunch of scary legal information – copyright symbols, disclaimers, ISBNs, Dewey numbers, publisher details and more. This is your book’s copyright page, or imprint page.If your book is being published by a traditional publisher, or if […]
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I’d just gotten the biggest guest posting opportunity of my career – the chance to write for a site with more than 500,000 engaged subscribers.Everything was at stake. A great post would take my business to an entirely new level. A bad one would make it tough to ever get that kind of opportunity again.There […]
Continue readingAt the end of October 2014, I accidentally ended up with a week off. Having felt guilty about not having written a book for a couple of months at this stage, I decided that would be my focus.I gave myself seven days to finish my first draft. Why seven days?First, I’d created a book planning system that […]
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One of the most valuable questions for any business owner is, ‘what can you do that will make the biggest difference in your business, right now?’In my case, I knew it was writing a book. Having worked with over 100 entrepreneurs, I’d seen the difference that writing a book made to their businesses – some became […]
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For every non-fiction book (particularly ‘how-to’ books), there is one chapter structure that works every time. It’s effective, interesting and easy to follow, which makes for happy readers who are not only more likely to finish that chapter, but to read the next one too. What is that structure?‘What’, ‘Why’, ‘How’.WhatNo matter what Simon Sinek says, I […]
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Content is important – no argument here. After all, it doesn’t matter how much style you have if there’s no substance. However, for your content to have any impact, it needs to be delivered in an easily-digestible form. You create this with your structure.Why structure is so importantWhile many people think an editor focuses on […]
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You’ve been in business for a few years now, and you have a whole slew of marketing content up your sleeve – brochures, flyers, blog posts, articles, interviews, case studies and more. Writing a book should be easy, right? You can just use your existing content to bulk up your word count.While using existing content […]
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Over the past year I’ve edited a few books which have touched on mindset, spirituality and the law of attraction as a part of the main framework of the book. And I’ve noticed that, whenever authors write about an area that might be deemed unusual or unconventional in their circle, they tend to apologise.The first […]
Continue readingWhat if I told you I could cure your writer’s block in one hour? Would you say “awesome – where do I sign?” or would you be more sceptical, looking for the catch?What if I told you that this one-hour cure involved breathing chaotically, screaming, jumping up and down with your arms in the air, […]
Continue readingPat Fitzpatrick is an Irish writer who just self-published his first novel Keep Away From those Ferraris. A few months later, and what does he wish he new before self-publishing? (originally published at http://catherineryanhoward.com/2014/01/22/3-things-i-wish-i-knew-before-self-publishing-my-novel/)It’s over a month since I self-published my new thriller. Now that I have some distance from all the madness, it’s time to warn others what it […]
Continue readingEye have a spelling chequer,It came with my Pea Sea.It plane lee marks four my revueMiss Steaks I can knot sea.Eye strike the quays and type a whirredAnd weight four it two sayWeather eye am write oar wrongIt tells me straight a weigh.Eye ran this poem threw it,Your shore real glad two no.Its vary polished […]
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Following last week’s post, if you think your book could use a bit more research, here are some ideas to get you started.1. Interview expertsInterview some people who are experts in your book’s subject matter. Some of us get stumped on this one, because we think, “well I don’t know any experts,” but you might be surprised.An […]
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