So You Want To Write a Book – Part 4

So you had the wild idea to write your first tech book. Hopefully you've taken the time to read my advice in Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 of this series. Today, I think I'll wrap things up and cover a few other items that I think you should think about. Don't get me wrong in all of this. I certainly applaud your ambition to tackle a book, especially as a first time author. I want you to succeed because more than likely if you succeed, your tech community also succeeds. I've been writing books for 12 years for a variety of publishers and with varying degrees of success. My intent in this series has been to share some of my experience to make this writing and publishing process as enjoyable and productive as it can be. Let's dig in.

Selecting a Topic

I've covered this a bit in Part 1 but since this is the most important step let's review it. Since I assume you would like to sell at least a few books, you need to find a topic that will be appealing to your reader. Finding a topic also depends on you. What are you bringing to the project that makes it appealing to a prospective reader (or publisher)? It is a safe bet that introductory or fundamental content always sells better than advanced topics. There's simply more of a market. I don't mean to discourage you from an advanced topic but you'll need a compelling angle. Regardless of your topic you need to also know what existing titles you'll be competing against. How will your book be different or more attractive than existing titles?

Pricing

If you have a traditional publishing arrangement, this topic is out of your hands. But otherwise this is a tricky subject. On one hand you need to factor in a value for your time in producing the book in the first place.  Once you have that number throw it out the window.  You will likely never earn enough in royalties to meet that figure. Most tech books, especially from first time authors will sell a few hundred copies. A traditional publisher will likely be able to sell more copies but your royalty payment will be lower so it all kind of balances out. Still, you have to come up with a number. This is where you need to know the competition. What is the price point for a comparable and competing book on your subject? It makes sense that you should fall in the same range.  However, if you are publishing on a platform like Leanpub where a reader potentially will be getting "free" updates, you might factor that in and be able to justify a higher price point. You need to be to justify the higher price to a prospective buyer.

Another option is to not worry about price and royalties. Instead, price and sell your book for a cause. I know that Leanpub will let you designate book sales for a charitable cause. You forego any personal profit. This might be an ideal approach for a shorter book where you weren't likely to earn much income anyway. You get a the accomplishment of writing a book. The reader gets some useful information and the charity gets a little something.

Marketing and Promotion

If you want people to discover and buy your book, you will need to take an active role in promoting it. Even with a traditional publisher, the best person to market your book is you. You need to think about how you will do that. Certainly social media can play a big role. If you don't have a good following, start improving that now. You need to promote via social media repeatedly. Look at tools like ifttt.com and buffer.com to help automate and schedule.

You might want to give away  free copies to related user groups. Or if you are speaking at a conference, you might be able to give away a copy or two. Check with conference organizers first. You might a site like Rafflecopter to give a away copies of your book.

I'm assuming if you have a blog that you will be promoting your book.

You might also consider making a short video promotion or announcement that you can post to YouTube and use in your social media marketing.

Depending on your content and connections, you might be able to offer an excerpt as an online article.

Obviously the goal is to raise awareness about your book to your prospective audience. But tread carefully. There's a fine line between promotion and spam.  The surest way to kill your book is appear desperate and spammy. Many outlets will have rules or guidelines regarding marketing efforts. I help run the PowerShell group page on Facebook. We've had to deal with this and I think the consensus is that a tasteful announcement about something that might interest the group member is OK but any heavy-handed spam or outright advertising is frowned upon. We also prefer that the poster be a member in good standing and a part of the community. If you drop into a forum only to promote your book, it probably won't go over very well. All of this is a way of telling you that the best way to promote and sell your book is to be a respected part of your community from the beginning. I think this is especially true if you are a first time author.

Synergy

The last item I want to mention is synergy. This is the idea that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Don't let your book project exist in a vacuum. As you are writing your book, and after, look for ways to leverage the content and experience. Perhaps during the research for your book you discovered an interesting concept. Perhaps blog about or find an online site that will publish your article. Leverage parts of your book as conference sessions or user group presentations. Maybe there is a how-to video you can put together. As your career develops you can begin leveraging your book against your other books. Or public classes you might teach. Or courses for companies like Pluralsight. All of this can feed on itself. You might get a conference speaking slot because of articles you've written and conference attendees might be inclined to buy your book(s) after hearing you present. I don't mean to suggest you'll be able to quit your day job, but writing your first book can lead to great things personally and professionally.

Get Started

To help you get started on the right foot, I've started a collection of documents and PowerShell scripts that you are free to use.  My Writing Tools repository is open to everyone. You are also welcome to use the Issues section to add your own advice and tips. Or feel free to ask any follow-up questions from this series. Good luck.

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