People write books for many reasons: to share information, to tell a story, to provide inspiration and to provoke others to take action. Just as there are many reasons for writing a book, there are a number of ways to structure the material and an increasing number of options for publishing. Writers should consider these factors when planning to write a book.
Know How to Write
Writers at all levels need to work at building their skills. Before tackling a book, a writer might choose to gain experience by applying for a job at a local publication or submitting a piece to a magazine. "Writers' Market" is the classic online and print publication for writers to discover the appropriate venues for their writing and learn what they need to know about the publishing industry. Many resources are available for developing specific writing skills. "Word Painting," by Rebecca McClanahan, provides instruction in descriptive writing, and Sandra Scofield's "The Scene Book" gives tips for creating compelling, believable scenes. Writing classes are a valuable tool as well, whether online or at a local college or writing center.
Know Your Subject Matter
Whether writing fiction or nonfiction, a writer needs to know his subject matter. For nonfiction, he usually needs to choose a subject in which he is an authority, as evidenced by his education and experience. A person with a degree in the construction trades field who has built several houses would be qualified to write an industry-specific trade book, and a trained psychologist who has worked with juvenile delinquents would be viewed as a credible author for a book about troubled adolescents. Writers with excellent research skills can write about subjects outside their areas of expertise, and books like "The Craft of Research," by Wayne Booth, Gregory Columb and Joseph Williams, are valuable tools for developing research skills. For fiction, writers still need knowledge of any subject matter included in the novel, such as historical details for the time period in which the story occurs.
Know How to Get Published
Publishing is a competitive business, but with current technology, writers have many options for getting their work out there. "Writers' Market" provides information on publishing houses, including the type of work they publish, how many books they publish each year and contact information. Fiction writers who want to find a traditional publisher must have an agent. They should approach agents who represent writers of similar books. Writers attempting to go the traditional publishing route need to be prepared for lots of rejections. Even J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series, collected a number of rejection letters before she got published. Self-publishing is another option; authors can pay a company to publish their work or do it themselves online. Whatever method of publishing is used, authors need to promote their own books in order to sell them.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, a writer needs to know herself. Does she work best with a strict schedule, or does she operate better when working freestyle? Does she need a quiet room for writing, and will that require getting up before the rest of the family, or does she prefer the background noise of the neighborhood coffee shop? Is she hoping to earn serious money from her work? Then she will need to put serious effort into studying the trends and learning how to market her work. Can she deal with negative reviews? Even Hemingway had his detractors. Writers who know themselves are in a good position to tackle the difficult challenge of writing a book and to reap the rewards.
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