10 tips to move your book forward over the holiday

I hope you are having a relaxing time and sharing experiences with family over this week. This is a great time to relax, recharge, and reconnect.

But once you’re stuffed with holiday treats, you might enjoy turning your attention to your writing. This is a rare chance to concentrate exclusively on your own content, at least until next Thursday, January 2, when regular work is likely to come back at you full force.

Ten suggestions on how to move your book forward this week

1. Read. Grab a book you’ve been meaning to spend time with and immerse yourself. (Bookstores are open this week, and you can download ebooks or audiobooks anytime.) Take note of the techniques authors use to tell compelling stories, maintain your interest, increase drama and tension, insert humor, drive home points, and generally connect with readers. Steal. Stealing content is wrong, but stealing techniques is a best practice.
2. Write down your best ideas. Write down your five best book ideas. Now look at the list. Which ones would readers like best? Which are original and unique? Which would do the most for your business or your reputation? Which are you best qualified to write? Which would be the most fun to work on? If one looks promising but has flaws (for example, idea is not sufficiently differentiated, or would not generate enough benefits for you), how could you improve it? It’s way easier to start with one written-down and well-developed idea that you’re passionate about than five that are floating around in dreamland.
3. Do a competitive audit. Starting with your best idea, write down ideas for your best title. Now search. Search Amazon for similar titles (both the text of the title and the idea). Find websites recommending the best books in your topic area; what’s the whitespace that they don’t cover? Is the web domain corresponding to the book’s title available (check both .com and .book, and don’t give up if isn’t; the availability of the domain is not a deal-breaker). Write a statement that looks like this: “This will be the first book that . . .” Until you can write that, you’re not ready to launch your book.
4. Inventory your content assets. What have you written already that could be adapted for the book? What have you published, and what did you create just for your own internal use? See if you can organize the existing content into a rational sequence for a book. What pieces are missing? What would it take to create them? You may find that you’re further along on book content than you’d realized.
5. Find a potential coauthor. Is there a colleague or friend who’d be an ideal partner on your writing project? Reach out now and start to discuss it. Coauthors both contribute to the content and reap benefits from the publication; you’ll need to find someone who’s as excited about your topic as you are. Think, not just about how you’ll both contribute to content, but how you’ll work together. Consider whether you would be compatible personalities, not just effective content collaborators.
6. Assemble resources for author support. Do you need a developmental editor to move your book along? A writing coach? An illustrator, graphic designer, or cartoonist? Many of these folks are in demand, so it pays to find out their availability now, even if you won’t be working with them right away. And ask how much they cost, so you can plan for the expense (or decide you need someone cheaper).
7. Compile your marketing assets. If you’re pitching traditional publishers, the marketing section in your book proposal is essential. Start listing your marketing assets now. They will include speaking gigs, social media influence, regular contributed columns, media contacts, influencers, organizations in your field, publicists or PR specialists at your company, podcasts (your own or others on which you can appear), and anything else you can do to gain visibility. Strange as it seems, you can write a marketing plan completely independently of the details of the book’s content. That plan will be helpful to sell the book, and of course later when you need to promote it.
8. Check in with your family. Writing a book is taxing on relationships. It’s not something you want to spring on your spouse or children without a conversation about how it might impact your relationships.
9. Invest in your health. This is also a great time to get yourself in shape to write. Join a gym (they’re going to be swamped in a few days, so now is a good time to check in). Start using an exercise app. Put the pie aside and make a plan to change your eating habits. Get onto a normal sleep schedule and stick to it; staying up late on New Year’s generally isn’t worth it! Writers who are in great shape have the stamina needed to write a book.
10. Start calling yourself an author. “What do you do?” “I am an author.” Once you start saying that, you’ll have to do it, or admit you’re an imposter!