The question above posted on Quora is one that most new non-fiction writers have. They’re experts in their chosen field, but they don’t know anything about the writing and publishing industry. In fact, that question is what led me to create the expert author 411 site.

When I wrote my first book, I was running a business which required my attention. I had to figure out how to get a high quality book written in a short time frame with a limited amount of hours to apply to the project. I got the book published in time to launch it at an industry conference but it wasn’t easy. Luckily, creating repeatable processes is one of my super powers. My author fast track programs are the results of taking my trial and error experience to create a step by step process that other authors could follow.

There are many types of non-fiction books and the writing steps will vary depending on the type. For example, writing a personal memoir will be different from writing a book about marketing on the internet. I’ve provided the high level outline below that I use when writing a non-fiction book that solves a problem.

  1. The very first thing you should do is determine why you want to write a book. Do you want to build credibility as an expert in order to get more clients? Do you want to share your personal prescription for success with others? Do you want to add the book as supplemental material for workshops or classes? Those are just a few of the reasons you might have.
  2. After you’ve determined your reason why, you’ll need to pick a topic and an audience. Start by identifying all of your areas of expertise. Make a list of problems that you could help someone solve. Identify who could benefit the most by solving those problems.
  3. If you pick a problem where you’ve already created some content such as articles, whitepapers, or blog posts you’re ahead of the game because you can use that material as a starting point for your book.
  4. Next, create an outline or mind map for your topic and start writing your first draft.

After you complete the first draft, you will do some self-editing, create your second draft, get it professionally edited/proofread, and send your book out to beta readers for feedback. Of course, after the writing has been completed there are many other steps required before your book actually gets published

non-fiction writing self-publishing
Linda Griffin
Linda Griffin

Linda Griffin is the founder of Expert Author 411. She believes becoming a published author will put any business owner heads and shoulders above their competition. Ms. Griffin is the author of two books: Maximum Occupancy: How Smart Innkeepers put Heads in Beds in Every Season and Book Smart: The Ninety-day Guide to Writing and Self-publishing for Busy Entrepreneurs, Business Owners, and Corporate Professionals. Both are available on Amazon at amazon.com/author/lindagriffin