How To Be An Author

And Grow Your Business

Bhavna Dalal

About Me◻ICF Certified PCC, M.B.A. I.I.M. Calcutta, ◻B.E.(Electronics)◻ Leadership Development Specialist, Executive Coach, Facilitator, Engineer,

Author, Forbes Columnist, Speaker◻Founder and CEO of Talent Power Partners.◻Worked in technology start-ups and Fortune 500 companies within the

education, retail, banking, consulting, NGO and technology industries.◻Lived in South Africa ( 1 year ), United States ( 15 years ) and India ◻Chair on the Board of Directors of Bodhi Education Society (NGO)

My Book◻Examines the dynamics of decision-making in teams. ◻Endorsements by Marshall Goldsmith, Former CEO’s of

Target, Bank of Baroda, 3M. Dean of Fordham Univ. etc.◻Presents insights along with practical, structured,

research backed processes and models using examples and case studies of companies like Amazon, Tesla, eBay◻Includes a collection of insights from the Leadership

Development workshops facilitated on team alignment and team decision-making.

https://www.amazon.in/dp/B01MXF5QEM

Rs. 199

This Webinar

Is For You If:

IV. You want to help others with your ideas

VI. You want to get speaking projects

VIII. You always wanted to be an

author

II. You want to grow your business

VII. You want to learn new tools

III. You want to build your brand

V. You want to become an expert in the field

I. You have something you just have to say

Do You Aspire To Be An Author? Why ?

POLL

Agenda◻Why Write a Book? ◻Business Impact of Being an Author◻What to Consider Before Becoming

an Author◻Nonfiction Books ◻The Idea◻Planning Your Writing

❖ The Writing Process❖ Publishing - Self vs. Traditional❖ Marketing

Why Write A Book ?

According to Jack Covert, CEO of 800-CEO-READ and co-author of The 100 Best Business Books of All Time, there are about 11,000 business books published every year in the US.

Image credit: http://cliparts.co

What do you think you will gain from writing a book?

POLL

Survey - The Business Impact of Writing A Book

In 2006, RAIN Group, a marketing consultancy for professional service providers, released the results of a survey of 200 business-book authors.

They called it The Business Impact of Writing a Book.

Benefits of Writing a Book

1. Lay out your key intellectual property2. Give clear idea to clients and staff of

your core ideas, products and principles

1. Generate more leads2. Close more deals3. Increase legitimacy4. Improve employee morale

Business Credibility

1. Be considered an expert 2. Show commitment to your craft 3. Get speaking engagements4. Charge higher fees

Brand Clarity

Personal Credibility

Things To Consider Before You Start Writing

1. Already an expert 2. On the verge of becoming one

1. Must have single-minded focus 2. Need to be organized 3. Discipline to stick to plan

Focus and Discipline

1. Need lots of free time, flair for writing 2. Must have urge to spread a message 3. Learn many disciplines simultaneously

Best Time to Write

Time and Effort

Characteristics of Nonfiction Books

Factual

Impart Knowledge

How to

Inspirational/Insights/Thought Leadership

Story Based on Facts

What is your favorite non-fiction book?

POLL

Typical Elements of Nonfiction Writing

Cite research

Use examples or case studies

Add your insights

Send a message

Share your experience

Writing Is...

Coming up with ideas

Drafting those ideas into

pieces

Editing those pieces for

publication

What You Need

An Idea

Marketing Channels

Publishing Channels

A Word Processor

Your Idea

What resonates with you?

If this book does not get written, what will the world miss out on?

The Idea - Look, Listen, Learn◻What problem are you trying to solve?◻Who is your reader?◻What’s selling? Authors? Topics?

Blogs? Ask around.◻What are successful authors doing

well?◻What segment of the market is being

neglected? How can you fill this gap?◻Why is your idea different?

What is your idea?

POLL

Creativity

□ Allow ideas to flow through you

□ Capture thoughts that come to you, make notes.

□ Write for yourself and for others

□ Shift from thinking and doing to feeling and being

Planning Your Writing “How many words do you need to make a book?”

“As many as you need and not one more.”-Anonymous

□ 300 words: blog post

□ 1,000 words: magazine article

□ 10,000 words: short eBook or print book

□ 40,000–50,000 words: good-sized nonfiction book

□ 60,000–70,000 words: longer nonfiction book

□ 80,000 words–100,000 words: typical novel length

Planning Your Writing

Build your support group.

Choose a unique place to write.

Have a set time to work on your

book everyday.

Give yourself weekly deadlines.

Build Your Support Group

◻Mentors◻Coaches◻Book Coaches

◻Ghost Writers◻Writing Groups◻Agents

The Writing ProcessCollect Insights

Have an Outline

Start Small

Get Early Feedback

Stir informal discussions and debates on your topic at parties, gatherings etc.

Write up a table of contents to guide you. Then break up each chapter into a few sections. Think of your book in terms of beginning, middle, and end. Anything more complicated will get you lost.

300 words per day is plenty.

Nothing stings worse than writing a book and then having to rewrite it, because you didn’t let anyone look at it. Have a few trusted advisers to help you discern what’s worth writing.

The Writing ProcessEditing

Ship

Be Committed

Above All, Be Kind To Yourself

Leave the spell check, punctuation and grammar for later.

No matter what, finish the book. Send it to the publisher, release it on Amazon, do whatever you need to do to get it in front of people.

However, stay open to all possibilities.

The Writing ProcessBreaking the slow writing myth:◻The first step to writing anything is to get the words out. Whether it’s a

book or a blog post, your job is to get it done, now.

◻The faster you get the words out, the sooner you can start editing. And as we all know, all good writing is rewriting.

◻The faster you write, the more you write. And the more you write, the better you write.

In the end, writing is about quantity. Quality follows the quantity.

The Commandments of The Writing Process

I. Thou shalt write daily.

II.Thou shalt edit later.

III.Thou shalt commit to deadlines.

PUBLISHING

Traditional

publishing

Self-publish

Small publish

er

Large publish

erEbookPrint

book

Self-Publishing

1. Available to all

2. Eco-friendly option

3. Lower cost than regular print books

1. Formatting is more complicated than an ebook

2. Costlier option

3. Smaller, niche markets4. Greater control over final product

1. Formatting is simple2. Inexpensive publishing option3. Fast publication process4. Global access

eBooks

Print books

Print on demand

Self-Publishing SitesWebsite Royalty

Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing Upto 70%

PayHip 95%

BookTango 100%

Blurb 100%

FastPencil 80%

Scribd Depends on distribution partner

NookPress 40-65%

Traditional PublishingConsider both small publishers and big publishers

Advantages of Traditional Publishing Disadvantages of Traditional PublishingLesser autonomy

Profit sharing

Get away from project management

No money investment from you

Broader distribution for your book

Help with formatting, cover, index

Traditional Publishing

◻Why is your book a marketable product?◻Business plan for your book◻For nonfiction books, write your proposal

before finishing the manuscript◻Most proposals are around 10-25 pages

Having a complete manuscript does not let you off the hook for writing a proposal.

Components of a Proposal

Marketing Channels◻Websites◻Blogs◻ Email lists and opt-in incentives

(e.g. newsletters or some small product)

◻Corporate contacts◻ Speaking opportunities◻Digital marketing

Image credit: http://www.outsidesource.com/blog/making-sense-of-multi-channel-marketing

In ConclusionWhy write a book?

Gain personal credibility, business credibility, and brand clarity.

Plan your work and find your voice.

Set deadlines for yourself, and stick to them!

Don’t forget about publishing and marketing channels.

You’re not alone! Build a support network to help you through.

Questions?Bhavna Dalal bhavnadalal@gmail.com+91 9008352211www.bhavnadalal.comwww.talentpowerpartners.com