Do You Want To Become an Author? 5 Things You Must Know.

It is not easy to write a book.

But you can make it easier by understanding what it takes to write one.

For starters, know these five things.

1/ Author’s No. 1 Enemy

It is a blank page. Until you put words on a page, however shitty they are, there will be no book. And without a book, you won’t become an author. So to become an author, put something on the page, and make it better by editing it.

2/ Author’s 2 Micro Skills

You need two micro-skills to become an author. The first one is know-how, your knowledge, and experience, and ideas for a fiction book. The second one is the ability to write. By writing you put your knowledge and experience or ideas on paper.

Once you have enough words on paper it is just a matter of organizing what you wrote to get your manuscript draft ready. Then you edit to get to the final drafts.

3/ Three Types of Authors

Authors write books with different goals. It also has an impact on how they make money. There are three types of authors, celebrity authors who make a lot of money directly from book sales. JK Rowling, James Clear, and other well-known authors are in this league. For every print book sold authors make a dollar or more. So, to make a million dollars directly you’ll need to sell a million copies over your lifetime. It is not easy and only a few books and authors reach this mark.

The second type of author writes with or for other well-known people. Like Bharat Sundaresan who collaborated with Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Suresh Raina for their respective books. I have written two books like that. 

The third type of author is someone who writes with business goals in mind. My second book, the digital marketing handbook, is a book that I wrote with such goals in mind. Knowing well that it won’t sell a million copies. It sold well and made me some money. But it generated a lot more in an indirect fashion. For example, the business deals that I signed because of the credibility I developed because of the book. It was in multiples of what the book generated directly.

For most authors who are looking to develop credibility and also make money. The third approach is the best. I wrote more here on how one can write a book and use it to make serious money.

4/ Author’s Friends

You need these 4 friends to succeed as an author.

  • A Writing Plan – to make sure that you finish writing your book because in your writing plan you write, when and where you’ll write a book.
  • Other Books – to learn about your chosen topic and also to understand what good writing reads like.
  • Mentors – to guide you in your book writing process. Someone who has done it before and who is invested in your success can be a good mentor.
  • A Deadline – without a deadline it is tough to finish your book or for that matter any project. And, book writing is a massive undertaking so you need milestone-linked intermittent deadlines and deadlines for different stages of writing and publishing your book – research, first draft completion, editing of first drafts, completion of second drafts, final editing, cover design, and more.

5/ Successful Author’s Mindset

It’s all in mind. 

To become an author it is important to pay attention to what you tell yourself. Here is what someone who wants to be a successful author tells herself.

  • I’ll find time
  • I’ll learn what I don’t know
  • I’ll learn and share
  • I’ll help the reader first
  • I’ll be a woman of integrity, accountable to self and others. (Integrity as an author means working to create your best work and not stopping until you do that.)

Are you in the process of writing your first book?

If yes, then use some of the ideas that I shared and make your book-writing journey smooth.

Happy writing!

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