how do you write a book

kickingkay

right after reading about Noel's book ive been told many times i should write my life's story, but wher do i start how do i do it?
any ideas

lady_fuschia

Well, the first step is to just write it!
It might be an idea to go around the bookshops and look at books to see which publishers publish books that are similar to the kind of thing you'd like to write. Then contact them (e-mail or letter is usually your best bet) with a brief precis of what you want to write and ask whether it sounds like something they might be interested in. Its a waste of time sending a manuscript off to a publisher who doesn't publish that kind of book, because they'll only return it unread.
Most of the bigger publishers wont accept unsolicited manuscripts, so you'd need an agent to mediate between you and a publisher.
You could also consider self-publishing. Have a look at the folowing sites:
https://www.literaturetraining.com (lots of advice and links for budding writers)
https://www.authoritypublishing.co.uk (self-publishing company)
https://www.oxfordwriters.com (publishing advice)
https://www.thewritersworkshop.co.uk
https://www.proprintpublishers.co.uk (self-publishing company)

I don't know whether all of these are appropriate for you, and I'm not 100% on how reliable they necessarily are (apart from literature training site, which is excellent) but it would be good for you to start looking around at what's out there.

Good luck with it!

Ordinary_Joe

Why don't your write info books instead and publish them as ebooks. People across the world are queing up to pay money for relevant information.

Unlike a book published by a normal print house you take much more of the profit. Plus you can find out what people really want relatively straighforwardly.

kickingkay

Ordinary_Joe wrote:

Why don't your write info books instead and publish them as ebooks. People across the world are queing up to pay money for relevant information.

Unlike a book published by a normal print house you take much more of the profit. Plus you can find out what people really want relatively straighforwardly.

do you mean info on what has happened in my life im not sure i know what you mean,
im affraid im not particularly good at writing refrence pieces, i ramble lol

ZTD

kickingkay wrote:

do you mean info on what has happened in my life im not sure i know what you mean,
im affraid im not particularly good at writing refrence pieces, i ramble lol

Get yourself a word processor if you haven't got one, (https://www.openoffice.org if you don't have Word) and learn how to use it. You'd be shocked at how much time that will save you.

Then ramble away. It doesn't matter what you write as you can edit it in/out/around later.

Be aware before you send stuff off that publishing houses have set formats they like to get stuff in (i.e. double spacing margins etc), find out what they are, and get your WP to apply them to your text.

Good luck.

MinnieSpender

Just write. However you like to. Some people like computers, some write by hand. It doesn't matter about getting it perfect from the off - you'll waste time and inspiration doing that.

The real work comes in the editing process.

But for now, just write.

tyllwyd

Rather than writing a book, have you thought about contacting one of the magazines that publish 'true life' stories? Several offer money for stories, and a professional writer would be able to get the words down on the page for you.

Kevicho

Writing a book is a significatnt investment in time, which is usually a problem for lots of people, as they waste it watching TV

Also you have to consider the harsh reality that there are millions of wannabe and thousands of established novelists already out there, so it will take something special to make an impression.

Also then theres convincing publishers that the book will sell, and then theres the public, I dont mean to sound rude, but the first question they will ask is why would I buy this book? what makes her life so interesting?

I think tyllwyds post is a great idea to get you started, mebbe if you become a regular columnist and build up a reader base then it would be a seller?

Who knows

The best of luck with your dream

Kev

The_Tax_Mans_Cash_Machine

I've written a handful of ebooks on information as suggested by another poster & made over £38K profit (ie, after ALL costs except the tax man [boo!]) in 18 months from my own website.

2 of the ebooks have done so well that I'm now getting one ready to print (self published, but very professional looking, with ISBN no etc). Then I can sell it in dozens, if not hundreds of outlets instead of just my website. It's costing £250 for a pro designed cover (& I negotiated that I get the copyright for the cover art work!), around £1000 for the book layout, again by a pro, then around £1.20 per book from the printer.

The cover price will be around £12.99 (though might change that a bit). If I can get a major bookstore interested then I'll be laughing all the way to the bank, but even without that theres niche shops, both online & physical stores, amazon (because it has an ISBN I can list it myself), B&N, local bookshops/independants, & maybe even magazine/newspaper advertising, etc, etc.

I think people would prefer a "real" book instead of an ebook, so hopefully sales will go up anyway.

If it does well enough I'm going to print another 3 of my ebooks as well, albeit one at a time & it'll be slowly, slowly.

frugglewump

The best piece of advice I was ever given about writing was:

Story - Structure - Sentence

You know what you're going to write so that's the story.
Break it down into manageable chunks to get the structure
Then write each section.

This works for an autobiography because you know what is going to be written in advance and can break it up into chunks, possibly by year or by important event.

It doesn't always work for fiction because you don't always know what is going to happen in the story in advance. My friend who writes fiction is constantly saying to me "I didn't know that character_x was going to be like that, but it makes sense now"

wannabedebtfree_2

I think most peoples life stories are interesting, but I have to agree with what has already been said about what makes your life worth reading about?

I too have been told that my life is a book in the making, not just me personally, but my whole family (I swear some eastender/coronation street plot lines are based on my family!!) I have been through more in my 30 years than most people get in a lifetime, but would it be interesting enough for people to buy a book? Who knows.

I would get as much on paper as possible, then approach a few agents & publishers and get a range of opinions, no-one is going to know better than them if it will be a hit or not.

xxx