You’re reading this because you want to write a book. That’s a beautiful, noble thing. I want you to write your book, too. But not just any book—I want you to write a great book. 

There are about 3 million new books published each year.¹ That number might sound intimidating—why would anyone want to buy your book when they can choose from so many others?

But the fact that 3 million books are published each year does not mean that 3 million great books are published each year. If you are committed to writing a great book, you have an advantage over most of the books released, because, quite honestly, most books aren’t great. 

Why settle for writing a bad book when you can write a really good one? Of course, good is relative, but good books don’t happen accidentally. They are written a day at a time by someone who is willing to put in the hard work of writing a great book.

Yes, you can use AI, or you can publish your first draft. You can write 25,000 words instead of 50,000 because it’s quicker. But the goal is not just to finish; the goal is to write a really good book.

So if that is what you want—to write a really good book—I want to help you. I’ve written and ghostwritten more than 10 books, and while not all of them were really good, I’m proud of most of my work.

In the pages that follow, you will find the lessons I’ve learned and the advice I’ve given to countless aspiring authors who ask my opinion on writing. My approach is not the only way, but it’s one I know works from personal experience.

So let’s start here: If you’re thinking about writing a book, especially if it’ll be your first, the best advice I can give you is to simply start writing. Stop thinking about it, talking about it, and dreaming about it. Sit down and type actual words. We’re not even talking about your book yet, by the way! Just write anything. Write about the weather today. Write about your first dog, who got hit by a car when you were eight.

Writing a book when you’ve never written anything since high school is like climbing Mount Everest when you’ve never gone hiking. Take a few days and write 500 words each day on any topic you want. Just experience what it feels like to talk to yourself while you type. Experience the sound of the keyboard clicking. Experience the creative dilemma of hating most of what you wrote, but being impressed with one sentence that really stands out.²

Writers write. If you want to write a book, you must write. 

If you’re just beginning and you’re not very good at it, that’s ok. Every author you love started as a beginner. What’s important is that you get in the habit of writing, because if your book idea is going to come to life, you’re going to have to write it.

There’s a popular saying that most people don’t want to write a book—they want to have written a book. Holding a freshly printed book you’ve spent two years striving toward is a glorious feeling. But books don’t write themselves; they must be written, and that’s your job.

Authors love to talk about how grueling and brutal the writing process is. “Writing a book is a horrible, exhausting struggle, like a long bout of some painful illness,” bemoaned George Orwell.³ There’s another famous saying, often attributed to Ernest Hemingway: There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.

This attitude makes us feel better about the accomplishment of writing a book. The harder we make it sound, the more impressive we feel. But honestly, it’s not as hard as you’ve been led to believe.

Make no mistake, writing a book takes time, and it will test your patience and self-confidence. But it’s not hard. Brain surgery is hard. Astrophysics is hard. Typing words into a computer is not hard. You gather all your ideas and words as best you can, type them into your computer, and then put them in the right order. It’s intimidating, and it can be hard to know where to start if you’ve never done it before, but it is doable.

I’ve broken this book into seven parts, which are the seven phases of every book project we work on at Word & Craft. The seven phases are: Clarify, Outline, Write, Edit, Design, Print, and Promote. And that’s truly all it takes to publish a great book people will buy. I’m sorry if you were expecting some big industry secret! The first time you publish a book, you will come to the same realization as every other author. Books aren’t magic; they’re produced through an intentional and structured process. It’s not an art or a science—it’s math. If you write enough words every day, you will finish. 

Now let’s talk about your expectations. I want to help you write and market a book that sells at least 5,000 copies. 

Maybe that number seems low to you. It’s notoriously difficult to track self-publishing statistics, but the general belief is that most self-published books sell less than 300 copies total. 5,000 would be impressive, but depending on your platform and relationships, 10,000, 20,000, or even 50,000 isn’t out of the question. You may even be a unicorn whose book goes viral and sells millions of copies (if so, please send me a thank-you gift).

Or maybe 5,000 copies seems impossibly high. You may be wondering how you’re even going to sell the first 100 copies, let alone a few thousand. 

I’m not promising that you will sell 5,000 copies, but if you follow the steps you’ll learn, you will finish your book and print something you can be proud of, and it’s always easier to sell something you’re proud of. 

At the end of some chapters, you will find a challenge to help you stop procrastinating and take action. I’ve also included some inspirational stories of first-time authors. If you’ve never written a book before, you might be surprised by some of the feelings that come up during the process. I hope their stories will help normalize what you’re feeling and inspire you to keep going. Over the next several months, while you write, you’re going to have times when you think, “This is awful. No one wants to read this. Why am I wasting my time?” That’s how you’ll know you’re on the right track. After you finish writing, you will feel insecure about your work and vulnerable sharing it with the world. You may get rejected by publishers. You will certainly get bad reviews. All of these come with the job, and that’s what this is now—a job. I hope these stories will help you to feel seen and keep going.

In the appendix, you’ll find my thoughts on whether you should self-publish or pursue traditional publishing, along with a breakdown of the economics, advantages, and challenges of both paths.

One word of warning: Don’t tell anybody yet. I know it’s so tempting to do; there’s something exhilarating about telling the world your intentions. You want to post a picture sitting at your computer in a coffee shop with a caption that says, “working on my first book,” before you’ve even finished a chapter. I understand the impulse, but it’s dangerous, because talking about what you’re going to do makes you feel like you’re doing it. It gives you an illusion of progress before you’ve made any.

At the beginning of any new endeavor, we’re nervous, excited, and insecure, so it’s natural that we want affirmation from others. But research shows that publicly declaring your goals causes the same emotional reward in the brain as actually achieving them. Public recognition releases dopamine, giving you a false sense of momentum. You feel accomplished before you’ve accomplished anything, which kills your motivation to keep working. 

So let’s just keep this between you and me for now. There’ll be time to tell everyone—as a matter of fact, once you get to the promotion section, you’ll need to tell them a lot. But for now, you’re going to sneak around behind everyone’s back and write 500 words before they wake up, 300 words during your lunch break, and another 300 words after everyone else has gone to bed. Before you know it, you’ll have a book, and everyone will want to know, “When did you do that?” The answer? Every day.

If you’re ready to write and market a book that people will buy, let’s get started.

Challenge:
Visit wordandcraft.com/prompt and sign up for the free 7-day writing challenge to start developing your writing habit.