Writing A Book - What You Should Know Before You Begin

One of the popular suggestions for passive income is writing a book.  There are some pros to doing so.  However, it is not a project to be undertaken lightly.  Whether you are aiming for a fiction or non-fiction work, there is a lot of effort beyond putting words on paper.  Here are some things that will help you decide whether this is something you genuinely want to do.

Writing a Book Includes a Lot of Writing

It will come as no surprise to you that a book requires a lot of writing.  In my experience, this goes beyond what most of us experience.  I have blogged for years, written white papers, produced a vast array of term and research papers, and produced countless e-mails.  While this helped me practice for undertaking a book, there was still more writing than I expected.  Therefore, you need to be open to writing before launching into a book.  

I suggest you start with a regular task of writing.  It is best to do this very day.  Start with fifteen or thirty minutes each day to work on your eventual book.  If that is comfortable and enjoyable after a few weeks, then kick up the commitment.  Now I say all of this to those that are not dead set on writing a book.  There are stories of people spending a weekend or several days locked in a room somewhere to knock out a book.  The goal was to get the painful part of writing completed in as short a period as possible.  While this is a possible approach, I recommend you avoid it.  How often do you equate fast with high-quality?

Oh The Technicalities You Will Experience

I admit I was not a fan of grammar when I was in school.  Language arts was never a class that was fun or easy for me.  I could spell and enjoyed reading, so my vocabulary was excellent.  However, the challenge of adequately organizing words and proper punctuation tended to be more than I wanted to invest.  That being said, there is no way to write a book without diving into these things.  There are different ways to approach grammar and punctuation that provide consistency to written work.  A writer needs to have at least a passing knowledge of these and which one they prefer.  A writer does not need to be a grammar geek, but they also cannot ignore it.

What Is Your Goal?

There are a couple of ways to make money with a book if that is your goal.  Sales are rarely one of them.  There are people that write professionally, prolifically, and make a living from book sales and tours.  They are rare and highly skilled.  The rest of us are more likely to make money by using a book as an introduction to products or services that provide us a suitable income.  As always, the best reason "why" for your book is the pure enjoyment of it.  If that is not you then make sure you have a good business plan to make this effort worthwhile.  It is easier to become a number one bestseller on Amazon (with the appropriate qualifications) than to make a suitable income from that writing.

Writing a book is a sizeable endeavor.  Do not take it lightly as you might find yourself wondering where the year went.