Dr. Liz Alexander visited ThoughtWorks Bangalore today (Sunday Apr 29, 2012) to give a talk about writing a non-fiction book. Many thanks to her for agreeing to give a talk on a sunday morning. It was great to hear from someone who has written 13 books and has a readership of a million.
Below are my key takeaways from talk.
Why to write a book?
The question I like to answer is ……
Who is my target audience?
Where are the audience and how do I find them?
Platform
Establish a writing platform, show up at places, expand reputation. Blogs, magazine, conferences matter.
SEO of book writing, it is OES
O-Opt-in identifier. Take into account demography and psychography.
E-Emotional hook. Can people relate themselves to the book?
S-Special sauce. Our knowledge and expertise.
Help from others
We need the help of proof readers, critical reviewers, layout artists, cover artists, page look and feel designers for a book to be of publishable quality.
Publishing
Vanity publishing vs commercial publishing
Vanity publishing requires upfront investment from the author to get it to the market.
Commercial publishing takes a lot of effort, credibility, being at the right place right time. Also pays upfront but a lion’s share of revenue goes to the publisher for the risk taken.
Ego vs care for readers
It will be tempting to push an idea into a book through vanity publishing which is like a startup idea being tried in a small office space at the corner of the road without any business plans.
The desire to sell the books written will also focus on what the readers want than trying to get the book published and not sell much.
Critical reviewers are very important to shape the final look. Friends, relatives and fans will just praise the effort without helping to improve.
Once again I thank Dr. Liz Alexander for her presence and sharing the knowledge, Rajiv Mathew for arranging the meetup.
Novi's 