GEW MAGAZINE| ISSUE 4, 2022
PAGE 18
AUTHOR SHORTCUTS If you think the only legitimate way to become an author is to sit down at your desk and bang out a few thousand words unaided, this will sound like cheating. But what matters is getting your original thoughts into print, not the way it gets there.
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TALK IT OUT
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HIRE A GHOSTWRITER
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The first thing you can do to get all those words out of your head and into your first draft is to record yourself talking about your subject and get the recording transcribed. There's no law anywhere that says you have to type.
As a ghostwriter myself, I'm here to tell you that hiring someone else to take the words as they fall out of your mouth and tidy them up a bit isn't cheating. A ghostwriter's job is to organise your thoughts and ideas into a structure and flow that makes sense as a book. That doesn't make the ideas and content any less yours.
USE EXISTING RESOURCES
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CO-AUTHOR A BOOK
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INTERVIEW OTHERS
TAKE A GUIDED PUBLISHING COURSE If you want to be the one to do the writing but don't want to get lost in the weeds along the way, you can take a guided publishing course. Courses like the POWER Author Diploma at www.PowerAuthorProgam.com, include several rounds of editing, cover design and publishing accounts set-up, and tuition. So, although they may seem pricey at first, they can help you keep publishing costs down.
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HIRE AN AUTHOR COACH There are coaches (myself included) who will work with you specifically on your writing. A coach won't do the work for you, but they will help you figure out your next best steps and keep you on track.
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Chances are, you already have a lot of material you can use in your book. Some people turn their blogs into books. Others use existing training materials, journals etc. The point is, you don't have to start with a blacnk page.
You don't have to come up with all of the content yourself. You can co-author a book with another writer and split the workload.
We've already mentioned this, but you could interview clients for a case-study compilation, or experts for a roundup of your industry.
HAVE GUEST AUTHORS You could even have experts write their chapters. That makes your job as the author much easier because all you need to do is provide the introduction and conclusion, and a commentary on each chapter.
BE A GUEST AUTHOR You don't even have to be the lead author in a book to claim the author title. You could simply write a guest chapter for someone else's book and let them do the bulk of the work. Okay, so the kudos isn't quite the same, but you can still say you're an author this way.
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