How to write a best selling book in 6 months
It still feels a bit crazy. First to have a book published, and second to be an Amazon Best Selling Author.
If you are yet to check out the book it is not too late to get a copy!
It started 6 months into the weekly Public Speaking Space. A request was made at the Public Speaking Twitter Space to have ‘some kind of product’ from my co-host, Derek and I. We decided a book was the way forward and that we would write it in 6 months.
How to write a book in 6 months
Now to write a book in 6 months sounds impossible at first glance, but lets break it down.
You can write 500 words a day for 100 days and reach 50,000 words. That is just shy of the word count for the average non-fiction book.
Write a book in 100 days: ‘impossible’
Write 500 words a day: ‘I can do that’
This meant there was still 3 months left of our timeline to spend refining, designing the cover and create the marketing campaign.
Break it down into achievable chunks that make it seem achievable to take action on right now.
Build in public
You could write a book and never tell anyone about it until launch, or you could test your ideas with the market and write a book that people both want and need.
This is the power of running a weekly Twitter Space on public speaking. We tested ideas, gathered all questions asked and shaped that information into the book. If one person has a question the chances are other people do as well.
At the same time as testing your ideas on social media, you are also building your brand as an authority on the topic. By doing this you start gathering momentum and a customer base that might just purchase your book.
But it does not stop at gathering feedback. Build relationships with people. Get to know them. Show them who you are. This is how you create opportunities, and turn being an author into being a best selling author. If you build connection with people, they will buy the book because they want to hear what you have to say on the topic.
Playing the game
You don’t just want to have a book out there. You want to get it into as many hands as possible. That makes marketing a key part of your 6 month timeline. You can’t automatically guarantee your book being a best seller, but you can strongly stack the odds in your favor. So how are you going to play the game?
This means understanding the platform you are selling the book on, and how they count sales. There are certain rules you need to abide by for sales to count — if your plan is to buy 100 copies yourself, that will count as 1 sale on amazon.
There are several details that will determine how high you rank on amazon. One of them is the category your book is in.
You might think putting your book in the ‘personal development’ category will reach more people, but there are thousands of books also in that category that you will have to compete against.
Aim for niche — be specific in your category. The obvious one for Effortless Public Speaking was ‘Public Speaking & Speech Writing’.
If you sell books, generate more sales by asking your customers to post reviews — showcase the value that book has given people. That will be a differentiator in someone buying your book in the future. Reviews sell more books. This will make a difference in the longevity of your book — in particular if it is only available online.
Actionable takeaway’s
If you want to write a book, approach it with the systems mindset. 500 words a day for 100 days. This will help you achieve your goal quickly.
If you are writing a book, or launching a product, build in public. Shape everything around the feedback you receive. This is a sure fire way to give your customers the product they both want and need. It might just be the differentiator in making enough sales to become a best seller.
Understand the game. This goes beyond selling books. Know what outcome you are looking for and figure out the rules of that game. Use the rules to guide you to best seller status.
More from me
Check out my book Effortless Public Speaking: How to Speak Stress Free, With Confidence & Make Speaking Your Competitive Advantage
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