Start a business book – writing tips and ideas

MACCLESFIELD, U.K. - Oct. 9, 2015 - PRLog -- So you want to start to write a business book but don’t know where to start. Welcome to the club! You’re not alone. This post will get you past the starting post so you’re ready to write it with confidence.

Top ten tips for writing a business book in 2015
Tip 1: Get your business book idea down on paper
Or computer – whichever you prefer! Just brainstorm all the ideas you can think of for what you’d love to write about. At the end, pick one idea that will promote your business AND which you’ll love to write about.

Tip 2: Write the outline of your business book
You need an outline before you start writing your book. Really. If you don’t have one, you’ll probably run out of steam a quarter of the way through; either that, or realise you’ve written your points in the wrong order and need to go back to the beginning. Not good! Make life easy for yourself by outlining your book first.

Tip 3: Be clear on your expertise
My clients are coaches, speakers and experts, so anything I write is written with them in mind. I know what I do – I help them become business authors, either by me ghostwriting their books, or coaching them to write their own books. What’s your ‘thing’? Make sure it shines through in your book.

Tip 4: Find your writing voice
The business books you probably most love to read are those which speak to you directly, in the writer’s own voice. They’re not full of jargon, or long words. Imagine you’re talking to one of your clients or even a friend – what words would you use? Write them in your book.

Tip 5: Think about the business books you like to read
As I mentioned above, other peoples’ books are a great source of inspiration. Is there a business book out there that you’d like to be inspired by? It’s ok, really. As long as your content is your own, you can work with the outlines other people have used (they almost certainly didn’t make them up themselves, in any case).

Tip 6: Talk to your readers
If you have clients in your coaching and speaking business and you’re writing for people like them, why not survey or interview them to find out what they’d love to learn more about? This information will help you develop the content for your book and write it with them in mind.

Tip 7: Set a timescale for writing your book
Will you get up an hour earlier every day, or block book time in your diary to write? What routine would well for you, so your business book becomes a reality?

Tip 8: Start writing your business book
Just write your first draft quickly, without going back and correcting it. That’s because when we edit our writing, we use a different part of our brain to when we’re in creative flow. Make it easy to write by not expecting your first words to be perfect – they certainly won’t be, and it doesn’t matter.

Tip 9: Edit your business book
Once you’ve written your first book draft, leave it aside for a couple of weeks to allow you to ‘forget’ about it. Then – if you can bear it – haul it out again from your hard drive and dust it off. Now all those writing and content errors, omissions and repetitions will seem glaringly obvious. That’s ok – it’s normal. Just go through cutting, pasting, deleting and replacing your text as needed. No-one said it was going to be easy

Tip 8: Get your business book proof read
It’s impossible to spot all the grammatical errors and misspellings yourself; you simply become blind to them, reading what you want to read rather than what’s been written. Your book needs to look professional if you’re wanting to build your coaching or speaking business with it, so it’s really worth hiring a professional proof reader to help.

Tip 10: Commission a professional cover design for your book
Whether your business book is an ebook or a printed version, you want to look like you’re the professional coach or speaker you are. So it’s really worth investing in a proper cover design from someone who knows what they’re doing.

I hope you found this list of writing tips and ideas helpful for starting your business book.

If you’re serious about your next book, but aren’t sure what you want to get out of it or how you should start, why not apply for one of my free and incredibly valuable half hour Author Maker Strategy Sessions (http://marketingtwentyone.co.uk/strategy-session/) (worth £150$250)? I’ll help you get clear on your next steps.

And if you’d like to understand more about how a business book can build your expert authority, here’s afree download you’ll love (http://marketingtwentyone.co.uk/how-to-stand-out-as-an-ex...).