Book Writing: Step 4 of Six Preparatory Steps to Complete Before Starting your Manuscript

Book Writing: Step 4 of Six Preparatory Steps to Complete Before Starting your Manuscript
By Yvonne Perry

Okay, let's take another step toward getting your book ready to write, publish and bring to the market.

The following steps are explained in detail in my subscription-based teleclasses on freelance writing Writers on Call. Let me remind you of the other steps we have been working with.

1. Know What Type of Book You Want to Write
2. Do a Market comparison
3. Complete a Title Search
4. Create an Outline
5. Write a Query letter
6. Start your Book proposal

Now, here is step 4 of my six preparatory steps to complete BEFORE starting your manuscript.

Step 4. Creating an Outline

You hated it in school and now Im asking you to do it again! Coming up with an outline may not be much fun, but it will help you stay focused and organized as you work on your project. Theres a big difference in writing a fiction book versus a non-fiction book and therefore, your outline will differ depending upon which you are writing.

Fiction - If you have a story line in mind it is a good idea to write out a time line to sequence the events in your story. Type a list of chapter titles that fit the time line of your fiction story into a Word document. Put Roman numerals by each one.

Write a short bio on each of the main characters. Now write a paragraph about the scenes/places you plan to create in your story. Keep these in a word document.

Non-fiction Start with the main points you want to cover in your non-fiction book. Simply type them into a Word document and put Roman numerals by each one. If you know how to use the advanced features of Microsoft Word, you can use the outline tool.

Make sure all your main points reflect back to your title. Whenever I feel I am getting on a rabbit trail, I go back to my title and ask, How does this information support my title? Answering that question always gets me back on track and helps me decide if that chapter, quote, paragraph, or research data is necessary. Then I can go to my outline to see where the information will fit best.

Next, write a short summary of what each of those main points is about. One or two sentences are plenty. Put these summaries or character/scene bios into your outline underneath the Roman numeral and hit your tab key. This will indent the text and put a letter a. in front of the paragraph if you have the bullet and list feature enabled in your Word program.

Your outline will need to be adjusted as you write your book, but at least youll have a working idea of what you want to accomplish while you are writing and researching.

Ill be teaching a class on the advanced features of Microsoft Word program, so be sure to check my blog http://yvonneperry.blogspot.com for information on upcoming events. Now, go get step 5 of this article series posted at http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=YvonnePerry.

All six steps in this article series are explained in detail via my subscription-based teleclasses on freelance writing Writers on Call. You may order the entire CD audio set of all the classes in my 8-week course on How to Write a Book at http://www.yvonneperry.net/Writersoncall.htm .

Yvonne Perry is a freelance writer and editor who assists clients with any type of writing project. Yvonne is available to assist your with telling your story or writing your book. Her podcast Writers in the Sky is filled with information about the craft and business of writing. See http://www.yvonneperry.net for more information about her writing services, books, newsletter, podcast and blog.

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Free To Try Audiobooks

Free To Try Audiobooks
By Steve John Cowan

Although many people have now heard of audiobooks, its a fairy safe be that most of these people have never actually taken a moment to consider exactly what an audiobook is.

After all, unless you had an obvious interest in audiobooks, why would you take such an interest?

Likewise, some people, perhaps people who might tell you that they dont like books, will shy away from audiobooks, simply because of the name, and the image that this name might conjure up for them.

This is a shame in many ways, because audiobooks can be, and can do, so much more than their name might suggest.

Of course, the very name audiobook will tell you that it is a book that you can access in audio format.

And this is, of course entirely correct. There are many thousands of great audiobook titles out there on the market that are literally pre-existing books that are read onto an audio soundtrack for you, the listener.

That description is, in itself, almost childishly simple, yet at the same time, extremely accurate, as far as it goes.

As the owner of my own online audiobook store at http://www.takalive.com, I can tell you that even this incredibly simplistic definition hides a couple of very important factors which partially explain the rapidly increasing popularity of audiobooks.

First, in the same way that we can all talk quicker than we can write (or punch a keyboard) we can all listen much more quickly than we can read. Also, we can listen wherever we are, and whatever we are doing, again, unlike reading a written book, which is something you can only do when the circumstances allow.

For these reasons, audiobooks are an incredibly handy and convenient alternative to the written word, although I would personally argue that audiobooks can never replace the written word.

The second thing about listening to an audiobook, assuming that you are listening o a high quality production (and you definitely should be!) then the narrator or reader will be a top professional.

Sometimes this narrator might b the creator of the original written work himself (of herself), sometimes a famous actor or sometimes a not-so famous actor who, in fact, is a specialist in voice-overs and audio text readings.

All of these different groups will bring their own interpretations to the audiobook text, and three different people may indeed bring entirely different interpretations.

For you, as a listener, this gives you the opportunity to hear, for example, a book that you have already read in a completely different voice, in an entirely new light.Indeed, for me, as someone who listens to many audiobooks, this is one of the great delights of the audio medium. I know how I imagine the story to be told, but other people can tell if quite differently, making it, in some cases, almost a brand new story!

However, in all of these situations, we are talking a bout written books being transposed into an audio soundtrack, and here we come to the reason why audiobook is, in fact, a little bit misleading as a product title.

In many cases, audiobooks are not books at all!

Speeches, talks, sales presentations, radio and TV shows, all are available as audiobooks, although, of course, they were never books I the true sense of the word.

For example, in my own store, I have brilliant Internet Marketing presentations from industry leading figures such as John Reese and Armand Morin, lined up alongside BBC comedy classics (some free) and many, many radio favorites of the 50s and 60s from both sides of the Atlantic!

So, whilst the phrase audiobook is a handy shorthand term, it actually only paints a part of the overall picture, which is that many, many different and diverse types of audio works which are not, nor ever have been, actually books, are nevertheless called audiobooks.

Even if you are a person who professes to not like books, therefore, I would still urge you to give audiobooks a try.

The author is an audiobook and mp3 fanatic and has 30 excellent free audiobook titles to give away at http://www.talkalive.com

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Writing Ebooks That Sell Fast

Writing Ebooks That Sell Fast
By Matt Ide

Thousands of people want to be authors. They want to have written a book but dont really want to put the work into it. Many times the mantra is that they would love to write a book but dont have the time too. In fact, they dont have the time to read much either, and as is often the case, writing instructors and authors themselves will tell an individual that you dont have any business writing a book if you dont have the time to even read.

That may be true of writing a book in the traditional sense, but not with writing ebooks. Writing an ebook can be a great way to break into the book writing business. There are differences between writing a novel for print and an ebook which will be explained shortly. Just know that if you are thinking about writing a book and want to make money from it fast, you should consider writing an ebook.

The differences between print books and ebooks are bountiful and minimal at the same time, which means that its more of what you want to do that dictates the final product than what any set guidelines may be.

With an ebook you dont have to have a certain amount of pages. Quite often, in a non-fiction sense, many ebooks can be about twenty pages long and sell for twenty five to fifty dollars. The key here is that when you write a non-fiction ebook it is all about the information. If the information is in great demand you can charge more for it. No one is going to dictate to you how much you should charge for your ebook either, except for the market itself.

Next, with an ebook, all you need is a small website for people to purchase and then download your book and the transaction is over. There is no need to trudge through years of finding an agent and then a publisher, who may want you to rewrite whole slews of your work, and then have the book go to the bookstores and wait for someone to buy it. People can go directly to you for the book. Its fast, inexpensive, and can bring in thousands of dollars with just one book. For some this is a full time job!

If you are interested in writing and selling ebooks to make a living, which is quite possible if you have the drive, you will want to learn more about how to market and how to set up a website in order to drive those sales.

Click here to learn more about how to write an ebook in seven days and then learn how and where to sell it. Go to www.ultimatereviewsite.wordpress.com

Matt Ide lives and writes in northern Michigan. If you have always wanted to learn how to write and sell your own books, you need to go to http://www.ultimatereviewsite.wordpress.com and learn how easy it can be to make that dream come true.

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Top Ten Ways of Why and How to Write your Book's Sales Letter Part 2

Top Ten Ways of Why and How to Write your Book's Sales Letter - Part 2
By Judy Cullins

Authors/publishers are great at getting their books written. But after the initial one-year honeymoon, sales slow down. To counter this make sure your print or ebook will keep on selling from the first day, the first year, even for life. Count on this being a two to three- year project to become well known.

Write a short sales letter for each book.

Whether you have a web site or not, you can write a first class, must-buy-now sales letter. Since you are making your book a business write a sales letter for each teleclass and service as well. I even write one for my bookcoaching services.

What Every Sales Letter Needs to Pull Orders and Profits

You can write each sales letter in less than four hours the first time. As you practice, you can an excellent one in two hours.

For part one of this article email article-164@bookcoaching.com.

5. Sprinkle Testimonials Throughout your Sales Letter.

Potential buyers who visit your site are pulled to buy when they think other people have already bought and liked your book. If other people are happy with your product or service, they will be too.

Include testimonials from experts in your field, celebrities, man/woman on the street, and other people who have profited from your books advice. Learn how to approach influential contacts through email friendly notes and requests. To save these busy people time.(they want to help, but consider it's time consuming to create testimonials) ask them look at your list of 5-10 benefit phrases, and a page of your table of contents to give youre a testimonial within a few weeks. Remember, they dont have to read the whole book to give you a testimonial. Dont be shy on this one. Its part of the publishing-promotion process.

Give as you receive. Give that person something of value. Study their web site or read their ezine, and send them a short helpful tip, report or joke.

6. Offer your potential buyers three or four chances to buy.

Are you a skimmer? Many visitors are too. They may have already decided to buy before coming to your sales letter, or after your sparkling headline, book cover, and introduction dont want to read more. After the cover, offer a Click Here or Buy Now near the top of the letter. Offer more buying opportunities along the way after a list of benefits, what's in this book (features), and testimonials. You may offer by a download eBook by credit card or with a toll-free telephone numbermaybe three or four times.

7. Make your Sales Letter Credible.

To boost sales, authors often add free bonus reports related to their book. Visitors often want the bonus special report more than the product itself. The bonus How to Get Testimonials From the Rich and Famous I offered with the How to Write your eBook or Other Book Fast! on my web sites Discounts of the Month. Link increased that books sales double in one month.

Make sure your free bonus reports do not cost more than the price of your product. Would you believe this offer Order this for $49 now and receive 4 special bonus reports worth $395?

8. Share the downside of your book to create empathy.

For example, his ebook won't write the book for you, or even get it published, but it will show you the steps and resources to write compelling copy, finish fully and sell well.

9. Include your expert credentials

I spent 6 months researching this book and 3 months writing it. My background includes 23 years bookcoaching, presenting 70 writing and marketing seminars a year, and 48 published clients since 1999.

10. End your Sales Letter with your 100% Money-Back Guarantee.

When you offer an ironclad guarantee, people see your book as so valuable that you put yourself on the line for it. They will be more likely to buy and be satisfied with their purchase.

This product comes with a 100% Money Back Guarantee. Read the book cover to cover, and if the strategies don't work for you within 60 days, we'll cheerfully refund your money, and you can keep the product too!

Without a book sales letter to guide your potential buyers on your web site, you leave them bored, uninspired, without enough information to make that decision to buy. Your web site and ezine must entertain, inform, and give enough benefits to convince your readers to order your book.

For all email promotion campaigns, without a sales letter for each product, your unique, useful and inspiring information will not get read, people won't know you as the expert, and you won't make the sales you want.

Judy Cullins 2005 All Rights Reserved.

Judy Cullins, 20-year Book and Internet Marketing Coach works with small business people who want to make a difference in people's lives, build their credibility and clients, and make a consistent life-long income. Author of 10 eBooks including Write your eBook Fast, The Fast and Cheap Way to Explode Targeted Web Traffic, and Create your Web Site With Marketing Pizzazz, she offers free help through her 2 monthly ezines, The Book Coach Says... and Business Tip of the Month at http://www.bookcoaching.com/opt-in.shtml and over 165 free articles. Email her at mailto:Judy@bookcoaching.com.

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