It’s no question, more books published equals more buy buttons, fans, repeat readers, and sales! Now, this article is all about how to create non-fiction acim quickly that have tremendous value for the reader. And although the title of this article says 48 hours, those 48 hours don’t need to be consecutive! You can spread them out over a week or two. Of course, if you spread them out over too long, it defeats the purpose of writing quickly. So a balance is good.
As mentioned, non-fiction can often work well for quick publishing because the structure is easier to plan and the content is easier to create. And if you know the subject well already, that greatly helps speed the process along. However, if it’s a subject you need to research, or in particular if it’s a subject you’re not familiar with at all and that will take you a while to understand, that may not be suitable for a fast writing project. You may need to consider that more of a long-term background project instead.
That said, interviews with experts can be used to get all the information you need to create a non-fiction book on a topic you’re unfamiliar with. With perhaps both of your names on the cover. Such “joint venture” books are common. This interview with Steve Scott, a hugely successful independent author offers great advice on a wide number of topics. What’s of particular relevance to you at this point in the process is how to choose topics that greatly increase your chances of being successful with short books.
- Start with a big, popular topic. If you can’t think of one, then browse Amazon and even book stores for ideas. If you’re already familiar with the subject, all the better. However if you can get up to speed quickly then that can work too.
- Remember that people really want things to be quick and easy, so if you’re offering a solution, the quicker and easier it is for the reader (and the more you can broadcast this, even in the title of the book), the better.
- Then split this huge topic (in his case: habits) and break it up into micro-topics. Again, trying to offer a quick and easy solution. For example: 10-Minute Digital Declutter: The Simple Habit to Eliminate Technology Overload.
- A micro-topic is deep rather than wide. Importantly, if you’re writing multiple books on a related topic, over time you fully cover the subject, and also the more books you publish the more they help promote each other. This helps build up a series and a brand.
- If you can be topical, more the better. Let’s say a new type of diet has become popular, if you can ride the coattails of that popularity with your own book (because people are going to be searching for the name of the diet), that can help bring in sales quickly.
- If you’re building out an entire information-publishing funnel (courses, consulting… ) then think about how your books fit into that, and how they will help to introduce new customers to you.
- Don’t just copy what other people are writing about, even if you’re writing on a very similar subject. Put your own unique spin and personality on it. This is easy if you’re already familiar with the topic.
- The more you know your audience and your competition, the more likely you are to write something people want to read.
A good rule of thumb for shorter books is between 15,000 to 25,000 words, although 10,000 is an option too if you can’t get to 15,000. However, if the word count strays too low (5,000 words for example) it really ends up as more of a blog post than a book, so may not be the right medium for what you’re publishing.
So like the vast majority of non-fiction books, it’s either a reference, or it helps solve a problem. Or, it may even be a crash course in the subject (which is another kind of reference). Now, the length of the book does depend on how quickly you can write of course, but as you’ll discover there are other ways to create a book quickly if you’re not a fast typist.
