Notes from Writing a book in 30 days

[[Original source for Writing a Book in 30 days by Ness Labs]]

• writing month - write 50k words in 30 days
• write a book around a topic that needs much more meat around it
  • illustrations
  • details
• her book Make Shine

What ideas make it a good book?

• idea based on personal experience (much faster)
• will inspire change (should add to the discurs)
• an idea I would like to be known

Where to start?

• start with a word count
  • average no-fiction books run between 50k - 75k words
  • ebooks are around 20k words
• Ness way
  • 1k words per day, 20 days
  • 80-100 pages
  • 10 days design and promotion
• create your outline, quick bullet
• start writing and stick to your schedule
  • write imperfect (you have 10 days at the end)

Few rules

• unfair advantage - stick to what you know and avoid time-consuming research
• flexible consistency - do your best to stick to the schedule and get back on track when you miss a day
• format freedom - feel free to insert pictures, charts, tables
• results delivery - keep in mind what it is you want your readers to be able to achieve. What should they remember from each chapter
• substance over style - make is clear and concise
• time constraints - remember, you have 30 days, use the power of creative constraints

Using the 10 days

• re-read a view times
• have friends reading it
  • get feedback on typos, grammar, clarity (can the understand the sentence; chapter order)

Make it pretty in three steps

Formatting

• consistent fonts and sizes
• check margins, spacing
• 2 fonts and some color combination, 2 colors
• she is writing in Google Docs

Book Cover

• canva or photoshop, ask for feedback
• ask a designer friend
• Google: your idea + book

File export

• export to ePub

Time to publish

EBook

• pdf on Website and publish via Gumroad

Printed

• produce a small batch via printer

Print on demand

• publish on Amazon
• Kindle version and print on demand option
• and on Gumroad in parallel

Gumroad allows to add additional options.

Promotion

Newsletter

• one of the best way - they already care about me and are on reading

Social Media

• comparable lower conversion
• talk about chapters of the book

Community

• appear on podcasts
• organize a launch event
• cross promotion with authors
• guest blog posts
• referral program
• bonus material
• supplemental workshops
  • everyone who buys in first month - workshop
  • everyone who buys in second month - access to video material
• price-based marketing
  • discounts, that are valid in a special time-frame
  • each day - price of book goes up
• promote on Ness Labs - as part of the community

Use product hunt too

Track

• focus on where the sales are coming from and double down

Linking

• [[Steal Like an Artist - Austin Kleon]]
• Experience Emotional Writing
• [[Writing an influencing statement]]
• [[85 Steps to Writing Faster Better - Daphne Gray-Grant]]
• 5 keys to readability
• [[The Ultimate Guide to Writing Online – Write of Passage]]
• [[Thinking about Essays]]

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