Hey there bosses! Welcome to episode 25 of The Create & Prosper Podcast.
In today’s episode, I am taking you behind the scenes of my newest book Win at Freelance Writing that will be available on April 22, 2020 on Amazon Kindle and Apple iBooks!
Win at Freelance Writing is now LIVE on Amazon Kindle.
Buy it here as an eBook or as a paperback.
In this episode, I talk about:
- How I came up with the book idea
- Why choosing a focused niche idea for your book is so important – and how my mastermind reminded me of this!
- Where I plan on distributing the book
- Lessons on writing a book from start to finish
- Plus why your book doesn’t need to be 500 pages to make the cut!
If you would like to be on my email list of friends who get reminders about the book launch date and plus an exclusive giveaway, enter your name and email at this link – https://www.subscribepage.com/freelancejumpstart
Build an online business with the right tools – www.geenonterah.com/tools
Find the full transcript for today’s episode below.
Episode 25 Edited Transcript
Hey bosses, it is April 1 2020, as I’m recording this 25th episode of the Create and Prosper Podcast and I want to personally welcome you to the show.
Yesterday, I was thinking has been three weeks since we had to self-isolate due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
I can’t believe it’s been three weeks already, but the time is moving quickly. And like I said on my episode last week, I’m hoping and praying that this ends quickly for all of us,so that we can get back to some kind of normalcy.
But I’m not complaining.
I’m so grateful for every little bit of time and life that I have.
I’m enjoying with my husband and my son right now. I’m so grateful for all these moments.
Even though there’s a lot also going on around us. I feel like it’s a time to be grateful.
One of the things that this self-isolation period has actually allowed me to do, believe it or not, is finish up a book I’ve been meaning to write for a really long time.
I’ve started this book many times.
But finally, during this season of being at home,I’ve had some extra free time to actually finish this book.
And today’s episode is all about that I’m actually going to be taking you behind the scenes of writing my first business book.
Although this is not my absolute first book, this is the first book I’ll be putting on Amazon, Apple iBooks as well as other platforms I will discuss in this episode.
I’m also celebrating the fact that this episode is my 25th episode! Twenty-five whole episodes of this podcast.
That is about half a year’s worth of podcast episodes assuming I post once a week!
Thank you to all of you who take the time to listen to this podcast. Thank you for those of you that have taken the time to leave me a review.
In fact, I really enjoyed this review from Felicita@92244.
She wrote: “Gee is brilliant. Her podcast is jam-packed with helpful information. Her lively vibe is so positive and powerful and her laugh is infectious. Definitely worth listening to.”
Thank you so much for that really sweet review. I really appreciate it.
I inherited that laugh from my mom; so you have her to thank for that!
Let’s jump into talking about the book.
If you follow me on Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram, you might have seen the book cover I unveiled for my new book Win at Freelance Writing yesterday.
The book will be launching on April 22, 2020.
Choosing the topic for the book
The idea for the book started a long time ago. As a solo-entrepreneur, I wanted to write a book for my fellow solo entrepreneurs. But the idea was too broad.
As someone who has worked to focus on a niche over the last year or so, writing a book on solo entrepreneurship was just too broad and unfocused. And my mastermind let me know that it was!
I later decided to write a book on freelancing since I had been both a social media manager and freelance writer. That ended up being too broad as well.
The gals in my mastermind reminded me of this fact: since I had been working to build a brand around making a living with your writing, it would make sense for me to focus on freelance writing and not just be “wishy-washy” about the topic.
Even now, you search for the phrase “freelance writing”, my videos come up in search.
I have had people specifically refer to me as a freelance writing expert – even though I have never called myself that.
So it just made sense that the book would focus on freelance writing so I could continue to attract those people who want to create a freelance writing career.
It turns out this was a brilliant idea because as soon as I decided to go deep and not wide, I got 3 more ideas for books for freelance writers.
So I am glad to announce that Win at Freelance Writing will be Book 1 in a series of four books I plan on writing specifically for freelance writers. So I ended up writing the book to focus on helping people make their first 1000 to $5,000 per month as a freelance writer and it felt great!
And herein lies a lesson about your brand and messaging – if your messaging for your brand is broad, unfocused and unclear, you will not attract the right clients to you.
I have made that mistake before in my business.
So writing the book on freelance writing felt so good, it felt so authentic because I felt like I had just so much to say to people that aspire to make money as freelance writers. I am about 95% done with the book right now and should be done with the final tweaks and edits over the next week or two.
So if you’re deciding on a book topic to write about, choose a focus and go deep. instead of choosing a broader focus, and then confusing everybody – pick a niche, a focus and go deep with it.
Writing the book
Before I started this book, I wrote an outline for the ideas I wanted to develop. Inspiration is wonderful but organized inspiration is better.
Write an outline for your book. Once you pick your book topic, write down 7, 10, 12 or 20 topics you want to cover in your book. From that list, develop each idea into a chapter.
This is exactly what I did.
Once the outline was done, it was time to write the book.
I use timers to help me focus on work. And I used timers to write this book.
I would sit down, set a timer for thirty minutes or an hour and then write.
During this period, I would focus on writing and block out social media or any other distraction.
These focused bursts of work were helpful in moving the book along.
My goal was to write 20,000 to 25,000 words for this book.
I hit very close to it at about 17,000 words and I am grateful!
Your book doesn’t have to be super long
Your book does not have to be 500 pages to be called a “book”. In fact, there are some long books I’ve read that could have been boiled down to a few pages.
So don’t get caught up in how long your book is.
Win at Freelance Writing will end up being around 85-90 pages and I am okay with that.
If you choose to write a book, long enough to get the message across to your reader and nothing more. There is nothing more annoying than reading a book that never gets to the point and is full of filler and fluff.
Where do I plan to distribute Win at Freelance Writing?
Writing the book is just the first step, my friends! After you write, you have to distribute it and more importantly, you have to have a promotional plan.
I will talk about my book marketing plan in another podcast episode.
But today, I want to talk about which platforms I will be distributing this book on.
Of course, Amazon is a larger than life company and anybody writing a book today would be crazy not to put their book there.
So yes, it is going on Amazon Kindle.
I also plan on publishing on Apple iBooks.
Two other platforms I am researching are Kobo and Barnes and Noble Nook.
These are all eBook platforms and I am planning on being on all of them.
I also know that not everybody reads eBooks.
So I plan on having Win at Freelance Writing available as a physical book as well as an audiobook.
All of this is a lot of work but it is good work.
Like I said before, writing the book is just the first step!
Conclusion
So there’s a rundown of the behind the scenes of my first business book that is going out into the world.
Question for you – do you plan on writing a book any time soon?
Let me know in the comments below!
