Looking forward to reading yours though – thanks for taking the time and effort to write it.

Paul.

Starting with an outline of what you think the Table of Contents should look like is always the best approach to take. It gives you a structure and framework to start with, and that will **always** change some along the way. Even with the best intentions, you never know how much or how long something will take until you’re knee-deep in it. Plan for the best and be prepared to adjust the outline when you need to.

The other bit of advice I like to give my authors is to NEVER submit a chapter right after you’ve finished writing it. When you finish a chapter, close the file, close your laptop, and go do something else for 24 hours. Go for a ride/run/swim/bowling. Get a good night’s sleep (for once in the past week). Then go back and read that chapter with a clear head. You’ll be amazed at what you find you want to change. Then submit the chapter.

Writing should be fun, and I’m glad to hear you’ve recovered already from writing your book. It’s a big accomplishment; congrats!

Chuck

I wrote a book also – a murder-mystery called Murder in Ocean Hall – and this part of your post really rang true with me:

“Figure out the environment and mode you need to be in to effectively write.”

For me, it was sitting in a coffee shop, which was away from the distractions of home and allowed me to focus. It was like my office, the place I commuted to when I had to write.

Writing a book is a “good” experience, but most authors end up leaving it burnt out (I’ve talked to 3 this week). It’s totally worth it, especially for consulting/speaking, but it really does suck your soul dry and it tkaes awhile to recover.

Good luck on the recovery mate, and see you at southby!

Also, that’s assuming you don’t have existing solid relationships with publishers, or publishers aren’t already bidding on you. If either situation is true, an agent is just superfluous and a middle man.

We couldn’t thank you enough for the hard work you did complete for us at Navstar. We are very happy with the final product of helping us realize our external vision of our internal enterprise 2.0 ways. Social Media is a big part of that and choosing WordPress as our CMS tool for our site was a purposeful decision.

We also plan to be relocating our HQ soon and doing so, one of the things I am planning to institute is a library, in which we plan to have a copy of your book. At your release, we hope to get a signed copy — saying we knew you when…

Many happy returns!

David Nick

I recently finished a Dummies book for Wiley, and really wish I’d spent more time reviewing the guide. (What I really wish was that I would have got the first couple of edits back before I finished writing, then I could have corrected my mistakes) Most of the work I had to do was along the lines of “convert this to a numbered series of steps” — all things I would have known if I’d read the style guide more closely.

+1 on the “have an agent”… On both my books my agent has negotiated an increase that was greater than their fee, and in the latest case, more than earned their pay after some co-author deals went south. Plus, my agency has got me into writing for various companies that pay a lot more than books!

Looking forward to picking up a copy of the WP Bible when it’s released!

1. An agent is not needed in my opinion.
2. Yes, the environment in which you can/need to write is very important. I like writing in loud public places. I can drown out the noise and focus. I get inspiration too from the hustle and bustle.
3. Every editor I’ve ever worked with has made my work so much better. From magazines, to online pubs, to speeches/scripts. I imagine my team at Wiley will do the same as they did for you.

Congrats on the book Aaron. I look forward to reading it.

From the outside watching, I didn’t know how you could do it either.