So... you wanna write a book?
It’s something I hear all the time – and while everyone seems to have the "Great American Novel" in them somewhere, when most people say this they mean that they have a non-fiction book that they’re ready to write. Some of these people are consultants who want a book to support their practice. Others are academics ready to turn their work into ‘popular’ science/history/management. Still more are avid amateurs with a particular expertise in an intriguing subject such as the War of 1812 or gluten-free desserts or AAA baseball. And finally are the political junkies, with wide-ranging expertise. I suspect there are a few here...just a hunch...
More below the fold...
When I look at the shelves of writing books at my local bookstore, I see dozens of tomes on writing fiction, a handful on poetry, several on magazines, and a sliver of books on term papers and essays. Few and far between are the books on how to write non-fiction. They are out there – from the classic On Writing Well by William Knowlton Zinsser to Laura Robb’s Non-Fiction Writing from the Inside Out, and my personal favorite, Fact and Artifact by Lynn Z. Bloom – but like any subject matter expert, I am undaunted and thus want to add my two cents. What I find is that those books are comprehensive, or very in-depth, which is great if you have the time to read them or want to learn more specifics about, say, science writing. But they are hundreds of pages long, and most people I know don’t have that kind of time. What I am offering is the Cliff’s notes version – the starter kit, if you will. Some ideas to get you going, from an editor and publisher’s perspective, on what goes into a good non-fiction book, some of the traps to avoid out of the gate, and some of your options for publishing and promoting your book once it’s written.
I also was moved by something said around these parts about a month ago by proseandpromise that emplored us to "be more helpful." When I go into a bookstore, I am bombarded with images of Glenn Beck, Bill O’Reilly, and Sarah Palin. Their books are on the shelves, and they’re often on the front kiosks. Meanwhile, Kos’s books, Franken’s books, and other great progressive tomes are relegated to their shelves. Not that I’m surprised – squeaky wheels get the grease, even in book marketing. But I suspect that we do good in the world when there are two or three books from progressives to everyone from the right wing. My on-the-ground activism days are over – but in this way, by encouraging you all to get your non-fiction books written – I can follow proseandpromise’s lead and be more helpful.
My street cred and disclosure: I am a publisher and editor – I run a small independent company called Mélange Press, and our growing catalog includes a variety of fiction and non-fiction books. I have spent much of my career prior to the formation of this company as a writer and editor of technical and business manuals, have written theatre criticism, and have taught English composition and grammar. I also do some editing for Cisco Press. (Yes, someone actually edits those doorstops...now don't you wish you were me?)
This series will explore the practical side of writing non-fiction books. Over the course of the next 18 weeks, I’ll be covering the following topics:
So You Wanna Write A Book? – Some practical considerations for deciding whether you really have a book in you
Finding, Using, and Beating the Competition – Doing market research; making sure your book differs; using others’ expertise effectively and legally
The Blank Page – Methods for getting the first draft written
Genre: Procedural – how to "how to"
Genre: Informational – Explaining stuff to a lay audience
Genre: Analytical/Critical – Dissecting and dissing
Genre: Blog to Book – New media in analog form
Genre: Misfits – Humor, religion and spirituality, memoir
From PowerPoint to Page – Traversing the difference between teaching/training and book writing
Stylistics – Various thoughts about style, voice, tone, jargon, and alphabet soup
Illustrate This – Charts, graphs, and photographs (with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back describing each one)
Front Matters – Tables of contents, forewords, introductions, prefaces
Back Matters – Appendices, indices, timelines, afterwords
Editors are a Writer’s Best Friend – What good editors will and should do for you
Legal Eagles – Also known as the ‘covering your ass’ diary
The Publishing Game: Options – traditional, self-publishing, partnership – how the money works, how the processes work
Publicity – Tips and tricks for getting your book in front of your target markets
Finals – Not an exam, but a chance for you to pimp your projects, ask questions about topics I’ve not covered, etc.
NOTE: This series will NOT discuss fiction, poetry, or playwriting. It will not discuss grammar. It won’t tell you how to find an agent or write a query letter. SensibleShoes is doing a fabulous job discussing fiction and the world of traditional publishing in Write On! so if that’s what you’re seeking, please visit her series; I highly recommend it. You can also find more book talk, at Bookflurries, Books by Kossacks, and What Are You Reading.
So... You wanna write a book?
Excellent. There are both too many and not enough books out there on exactly your topic. But don’t let that intimidate you. The market is saturated with books, made doubly so by the proliferation of self-publishing companies. And it may seem silly to think you might have something different/new/exciting to say ... sort of like being the 350th commenter on a rec-listed diary. But if you’re reading this series, you are likely undaunted.
Let me take you tenacious writers through a checklist of things to consider before you set off to write a book:
You have something new to say. This does not necessarily mean you have a completely new idea – those are remarkably rare. More often, the ‘something new to say’ is an expansion or exploration of an established idea, an explanation of a theory, an alternate view of a situation, or a criticism of someone else’s exploration of an idea.
You are focused. While it’s appealing to own a bookshelf full of "complete guides" to everything, being able to write a complete guide and have it actually be complete is a Herculean task. You are better served by focusing on the one topic you really want to talk about – whether it be storytelling in non-profit organizations (rather than storytelling in general), integrating holistic ideas in your dental practice (as opposed to all of holistic medicine) or Lithuanian beekeeping (as opposed to...you get the idea).
You instill confidence in your reader. Being a proven subject matter expert makes a difference. Of course, you wouldn’t decide to write a book on a topic that you didn’t know anything about (you wouldn’t, would you? Really...?), so you have the expertise already – but you do need to prove it to your reader (and before that, the prospective publisher/bookseller/distributor). Now I admit, there’s a bit of a Catch-22 here: having a book proves your street creds, but you need street creds to have a book. However, there are ways for the unpublished to prove those street creds: conduct workshops/seminars/lectures on your subject. Write articles/essays/blogs on your subject. Work in the field, or have experience in the field. It’s okay if your background has nothing to do with your subject matter: I have a friend who is a career consultant who’s working on a book on mountain climbing. He’s not got the background, but he’s got the experience (namely, a litany of completed climbs). The point is, you must be able to prove that you are a subject matter expert. Or find co-authors who can add that expertise. On a book on finding the right mate, the author – a random guy who thinks he has a good set of ideas – is being taken seriously now because his co-author is a psychologist.
The book is useful. I was recently approached with a proposal for a book on model making, using materials and methods no longer in use. It was a "how-to" book, and when I challenged the author, he said, "oh, no one does this anymore, but it is all I know." I then asked him about the competition, and he said, "yeah, there are lots of books from the 1970s about this." My final question was about who would use his book. He looked at me, dumbfounded, as though the idea that his book might actually be READ or USED was completely new to him. Needless to say, I patted him on the head and sent him on his merry way (in a completely non-patronizing manner, of course). If you’re going to write a non-fiction book, you should know who your audience is (fellow true crime aficionados, novice mead brewers, angry progressives), what they will use your book for (plotting crime, brewing mead, taking over the system).
The book is timely. The example above of the model maker is an example of a book that’s out of time. Writing about a trend after the trend has passed might be interesting if it’s a "history of the mullet" but less interesting if it’s "how to program your Betamax".
The book is timeless. Yes, there is a need for "how to use your iPad" right now, but that’s more useful as a feature-filled website than a book. (Not that this keeps tech companies down: Cisco, for example, cranks out a plethora of user manuals, study guides, and other process books on technology that goes out of date quickly. A two-part study guide on unified communications that I edited in late 2008 is likely due for an update in the next year, as the technology has been upgraded.) But technical books aside, most non-fiction books that succeed should not be easily marked as out of date. I am working with an author who wanted her book to be about the nitty-gritty of Twitter, Facebook, and Linked-In. Yet when we started looking at her materials, we saw that things she’d written just five months earlier was already superseded by new features. I convinced her to take a step back from the how-to and talk more about the why’s and wherefore’s of using social media to promote your brand, and how your professional brand is intertwined with your personal life.
So do you still wanna write a book? Are you undaunted?
Hurrah! Next time, we’ll look at Finding, Beating, and Using the Competition (and get your minds out of the gutter!). Tune in next Monday evening.
Cheers!