How to Write a Nonfiction Book That Actually Sells

In this video, Tom shares 4 key strategies for generating new book and blog post ideas. Before you decide WHAT to write, it's important to get generate lots of ideas for several reasons.

First, the more ideas you have, the better ideas you will have. Quality comes from quantity of practice.

Second, the more ideas you write down and express, the easier it will be to focus when you choose which project to work on next because you will have "cleared your mind" of all the creative ideas and projects you've been dreaming of consciously and subconsciously.

Third, if you ever get bored or stuck on a project, you can come back to your list of ideas and find something new that inspires you and gets you back on track.

Now that you've generated a boatload of ideas, it's time to prune them down and get focused on what's most important for you right now.

In this video, Tom shares 3 key ways to do market research to test your ideas and see if they have the potential to earn a significant side income or even a full-time income for a nonfiction writer.

Because market research does take some time and effort, you're probably going to want to prune your list of ideas first so you don't spend a lot of time and energy doing market research instead of doing what counts - writing content.

Links:

www.Amazon.com

www.alexa.com/toolbar

Now that you've narrowed down your book ideas, done your market research and picked the topic you want to write about, it's time to generate the ideas for what you will include in your book.

Remember, we're using our creative brain here and brainstorming, so just write down ideas regardless of if they're "good" or "bad" or any other considerations.

Just write down as many ideas as possible. In the next video, we'll narrow down your ideas and begin your book outline.

In this lecture, Tom shares his process for outlining a nonfiction book, and the key points to focus on to improve your writing quality, speed and output.

In this lecture, Tom shares a simple process that will help you eliminate writer's block and get you in the zone as fast as possible during your writing sessions.

Download the nonfiction Kindle formatting template for Microsoft Word here.

Download the fiction Kindle formatting template for Microsoft Word here.

In this video, Tom shares some great ways to keep your momentum going when writing your book, so you never have to worry about writer's block or forgetting where you left off in your manuscript.

In this lecture, Tom shares a powerful tool to get you unstuck if you ever feel unsure of what to do next while writing your book. Most writers get bored, confused or just plain give up halfway through their manuscript. By simply printing your manuscript and editing and writing by hand, you can break up the writing process, bring much more clarity to your work, and move through this common obstacle that stops many authors from ever finishing their book.

In this candid interview, bestselling author Steve Berry shares his honest perspective on what it takes to succeed as an author when it comes to self-editing. Steve has sold over 19 million books. Although he write novels, they are all historically based and involve a massive amount of historical research and fact checking, so his experience is similar to what many nonfiction writers must go through.

Although Steve is probably quite far down the perfectionist scale, he never lets his commitment to excellence stop him from getting his work done and published. In other words, he uses his perfectionist tendencies to help him write the very best book he can, and then he shares it with the world.

You can tune in to the Publishing Profits Podcast show if you'd like to see more interviews with bestselling authors like this:

www.publishingprofitspodcast.com

Or subscribe to the show on iTunes here.

In this video, Tom walks you step-by-step through the process and mindset of hiring an editor, what to expect and how to avoid making a costly mistake.

Websites for Finding Potential Editors

Guru.com - By far my favorite site as mentioned in the video lecture.

Craigslist.com

Freelancer.com

Upwork.com (Formerly Odesk.com)

Questions to Ask When Hiring an Editor

What is your specialty?

How long have you been editing professionally?

What is your editing rate/fee per 10,000 words?

Can you guarantee delivery within 2 weeks (4 weeks max)?

Can I see your list of at least 3 references, preferably from past clients?

In this lecture, Tom discusses page count and word count, and shows you how to find the exact page count and word count for your manuscript in Microsoft Word.

Note: Your page count will vary from platform to platform. The same manuscript may appear to be 200 pages in Kindle and more or less in print form.

Technically, there is no such thing as a real page count for an eBook, but all eBook distributors now show an estimated page count number for all eBooks. Because those numbers are just estimates based on an algorithm, sometimes the eBook word count appearing on Amazon, for example, may be very different from the actual page count in Microsoft Word, or when your book is printed.