Where Is Your HOW-TO Book?
by Bart Smith
If you know HOW TO do something really well, why not get paid to share that know-how with others in the form of a book, which can then be spun into different income streams? Great, I knew you’d like the idea! The reason why I say book, first, is because it’s from the book you write the script for your audio book (product), your online/offline course (product) and the option to consult others (service) and your expertise that appeals to prospective buyers of what you have to sell.
To give you an example, I’ve been writing books for 20+ years. So, it would seem natural at some point to take that knowledge and put it inside a book. I know, funny, writing a book on how to write a book. I’m just using this book as an example of taking something you’re knowledgeable about and profiting from it. You could write a book about parachuting, driving a race car, flying, fly fishing, sewing, … you name it!
So, it was October 2019 when I decided to write The Ultimate Self-Publishing Manual. I had been working on a table of contents for a few weeks when it was time to put fingers to the keyboard and start writing. Funny thing was, I designed the online course for the book first using that table of contents inside WordPress. I then put the book together for it afterwards.
Interesting, eh? The online course took me about 3 weeks to write, design, build, add images, make 30+ video tutorials, hook up each lesson (70+) to the membership software inside WordPress, etc. Once the course was done, I said to myself, “It’s time to slam this material into a paperback book.” So, I opened up Adobe InDesign and started putting the book together. From start to finish, it took me about a week and a half to write a 260-page manual (8.5″ x 11″) with over 100 images scattered throughout the book.
You too can easily take your passion, hobby, knowledge, education, experience, real life examples, what-to-do’s, what-NOT-to-do’s, avoid this ____, do this ____, your success, your failures, lessons learned and other aspects of your life and turn that knowledge into a how-to book.
Steps to writing your how-to book …
Make a quick list of your hobbies, passion(s), knowledge, skills, experience, etc.
Now prioritize those topics and what you wrote into a list where you can best identify which topic(s) will be:
1. Best received by others …
2. The most (or least) content to write for to fill up a minimum of 30 pages (in your new book) …
3. Fastest/easiest to write, as in, it won’t be too complicated to explain or put into a book …
With your prioritized list in hand, start writing!
There, that was simple, right? Not too complex.
Writing your how-to book …
Here’s a quick look at a proposed book outline you might use to get the ball rolling. With that in place, open up a Google document (for example), and start writing for each section:
Copyright Page
Dedication (Optional)
Acknowledgements (Optional)
Disclaimer (Optional)
Message From The Author … (Pen a letter to your reader. Why is this material going to be good for their business?)
Table Of Contents
Chapter 1: ___________ (You can use Parts, Sections, Steps, etc., It's all up to you.)
Chapter 2: ___________
Chapter 3: ___________
Chapter 4: ___________
Chapter 5: ___________
Chapter 6: ___________
Chapter 7: ___________
Chapter 8: ___________
Chapter 9: ___________
Chapter 10: ___________
Conclusion/Summary/Wrap-up
BACK PAGES
Your Bio
Recommended Resources (Optional)
(Anything you can think of …) (Optional)
For starters, that’s a pretty good outline to work with. Fill in the blanks, start writing (anything) and see how far you get in a week of effort. Once you start writing, at some point, take a break and read what you wrote. Then, expand upon it by adding more content to what you wrote while rewriting some sentences and sections you think could be said better. Yes, you can add images to your book if you like. It just might enhance your overall book.
As I said in another special report here on my site, writing is like building a sand castle. If you don’t have enough words, go get some more sand (words). Then, keep shaping your sand castle (i.e., words, sentences, paragraphs) and keep working at it until your book starts to really come alive. There may be times it feels hard to write something. That’s okay. That’s the same feeling you get when you start working out after a long hiatus of not working out regularly. But, after a few hours, days, weeks, it all starts to flow out of you naturally.
My self-publishing book and video tutorials …
If it helps you, check out my self-publishing manual. It's sure to get you fired up and in-the-know about how to write virtually any type of book. From start to finish, I walk you through every step. I know for me, I wouldn’t and couldn’t write a book without the knowledge I’ve acquired over the years and then I put it into my self-publishing book/course.
What's more, be sure to check out my self-publishing video tutorials as well. They're sure to give the education of a lifetime when it comes to self-publishing your book.
Need help with your book?
Let me know if you’d like some help writing your business related how-to book. Time and availability permitting, I’m available. I’ve helped many clients with their books. We’d have an initial phone call to determine where you are at with your writing and discuss how I can be of assistance.
Perhaps, you might just need some coaching on the book idea itself and then you could write the book on your own time. You might send your written work back to me to put in book format, get it edited, and even design your front/back book covers. BAM, your business related how-to book is born!
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