February 17th, 2008
How To Write A Nonfiction Book
I’ve had 16 nonfiction books published with two more under contract and a third in negs, so am probably classed as a veteran by now!
Here are my top tips on how to set about writing a book
1. Plan your book very carefully and thoroughly. You will need to show a fairly detailed chapter breakdown and structure as part of the proposals unless you’re self-publishing, but in any case you’ll need this to work from. Take it from me - the more effort you put into planning and structuring, the easier it will be to write your book in the end. You will also save a lot of time in the long run, because with the plan it’s very simple and quick to shift things around and try out various running orders until you hit on the right one. That process becomes a lot more complex and time consuming once you’ve written the first draft.