How to Finally Write That Book You’ve Always Dreamt of Writing
AWAI Wall of Famer Patricia Ogilvie has accomplished what many aspiring writers only wish they could.
In addition to being a successful copywriter, she’s published two books and is working on her third.
So how does she do it?
Here’s Patricia’s advice for finally writing that book and getting it published:
- Strike while the iron is hot. As soon as you get an idea for your book, or feel a wave of inspiration, write! Even if you just bang out an outline with some character ideas, get it down on paper, napkins, your computer – anything that’s readily available. According to Patricia, “Too many people think of a great book idea, but never do anything. They just think about it. Then their attention goes to something else, and they can’t get back to that initial essence of the idea they had.”
- Commit. You’ve got to set aside time every day to write. If all you have is 15 minutes, so be it. Something is better than nothing. All too often, people don’t work on their book because they think, “Oh, I’ll just do it when my life isn’t so busy and hectic.” Or, “When I get the inspiration to write, I’ll work on it.” This is a mistake. Pretend you’ve been hired by a major publishing company to write your book. If that were the case, how important would you make the writing process? Chances are you’d make darn sure to write that book no matter what.
- Use the “Architecture of Romance.” Patricia swears by this. (The “Architecture of Romance” is Michael Masterson’s brainchild. It’s described in detail in AWAI’s Accelerated Program for Six Figure Copywriting.) The important thing to take from it is that every kind of writing has an underlying structure. In promotional copy, the “Architecture of Persuasion” serves as a blueprint to writing effectively. A similar structure can be applied to writing a book. It allows you to fill any “gaps” your writing may have otherwise (e.g., plot holes, weak characters, etc). Patricia has used this concept with everything she writes, whether it’s writing a speech … creating a training program … writing books … writing sales copy, or even writing poetry.
- Get it published. You’ve got two options here. You can try and get published by a publishing company. This may take time and many query letters. If you go this route, use your copywriting skills. Make the query letter as persuasive as you know how. Eventually, you may get published. When you do, the average pay is 30% of sales. The second way is to self-publish. If you go this route, you’ve got many options. Some companies will print your books for you. They’ll even create a website, landing page, and list your book for sale on Amazon.com. Doing it this way, you keep 100% of the net profits.
Your dream of becoming a published author doesn’t have to remain a dream. You can turn it into reality. Just follow Patricia’s tips and get to it. Who knows, it might just be the next great American novel.
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Published: December 30, 2008
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