What you learn when you write a book. #4 of 5

Acts 20:35 ESV
"In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive."

Here we are on day four, of the five day share challenge I am doing, as I share what I have learned when writing a book. If you are just tuning in, be sure to go back to day one and read all the blog editions for this week. Welcome to the journey of becoming an author for the first time. We begin today with the eleventh thing I learned.

11. One of the decisions you will need to make, is where will your book be shelved in the bookstore? On the back of your book you are permitted to list categories. Most best selling books fall in one of three categories: Health, Wealth and Relationships.

Notice on the back of my book above the ISBN number it reads: Christian Life/Marriage/Devotional. This will be a decision that you will need to make along the way as you are writing. I never understood the importance of this when i wrote my first two books. The more categories listed, the more often your book will show up in a Google search. Be as specific as possible, so that you can target your audience; those that you are wanting to reach. Start by building a sensible list of categories. What is the genre? Which of those categories have high traffic and beatable competition? If your book is not listed where your target audience would expect to find it, then your sales will struggle, no matter how good your writing is.

Like I say, you will learn a lot, just by writing your book. Consider it a college writing class and just plan on it costing you money but, will be a worthwhile investment.  You will learn far more than it cost you to publish your book. Yes, it takes a lot of time. Yes, you will want to quit several times over. Don't. Just keep writing. 

12.  Keep your Title if at all possible to three words or less. One of the titles that ended up doing well was "Food Sanity" but so did, "Rich Dad, Poor Dad," and it is four words. We need to grab our audience with the Title. When your selecting a Title, be aware that the Title may be picking you. Think about if your book was turned into a movie of the same Title, would you go watch it? What would you think it was going to be about? What would the Trailer play? This will help you assimilate information to share when your invited to be on a Talk Show. Well, DREAM BIG! I can't wait!

13. Will your book be illustrated? If so, who will be your illustrator? How will you compensate them? If they are a new illustrator perhaps being on a book listed with Amazon will be enough? Will you pay them per copy sold, or one lump sum before the book is published?

I have worked with authors that have done both. I know of a few illustrators that are relatively new to the field, that I may be able to connect you with. Remember, in the field of writing it matters who you know, just like in any other field. Networking is important. No one writes a book alone. It takes a team. Which leads me to tomorrow's tip, who will you dedicate your book to, if anyone?

I hope you are enjoying this journey with me. Writing a book is a gift you give to the world, and to yourself. It serves as a door opener for you, because once you write a book on a subject people automatically think you are an expert, and in a way--you are.

Remember, I believe in you and you need to believe in yourself.