Two weeks to my last birthday in September, a thought crept up in my mind, and I blurted it out to my husband, “Babe, do you think it’s possible to launch my book on my birthday?”
“Everything is possible to them that believe,” he replied, laughing.
“Come on, I’m serious.”
“I am too, but you have to be serious about it. It’s just a few days to your birthday,” he replied.
I had planned to write a book titled 101 Simple Ways to Spice Up Your Marriage.
Initially, I wanted to make it a blog post. But then I thought, people can read blog posts and forget about all the ideas in the post.
But if they have it as a book on their table, bookshelf or devices, they’ll be motivated to open it and apply the ideas in the book.
Believe me when I say I’m one of the best procrastinators on earth. But the thought of having a birthday dinner and a book launch excited me. So, I got to work.
Even though the two weeks weren’t exactly a walk in the park for me, I achieved my aim. I wrote, published, and launched my book on my birthday!
I had a beautiful celebration. It was my best birthday ever. The turnout was impressive and my book was well received.
As a matter of fact, some people started reading before leaving the party.
Let me state however that the volume of your book will determine the time required to get it ready.
I’d written a novel of more than 200 pages for six months before and another for two years (although I procrastinated a lot), but this book I launched is about 60 pages.
However, the goal of this article is to help you write your book in as little time as possible.
So, no matter the volume of the book you intend to write, you’ll find the tips in this post very useful.
How to Write and Publish Your Book Within Two Weeks
1. Be clear what you want to write
You must know what you want to write about.
I don’t necessarily mean the title, but the general idea of your book.
You don’t need to have a perfect title before writing a book.
Just be clear about the message you want to pass across in your book.
2. Set a deadline
I was able to achieve my goal was because I sent out an invitation for my birthday dinner and book launch even before the book was ready.
So, I knew I had no choice than to produce a book I wanted to launch if I didn’t want to embarrass myself.
Working under pressure works for a procrastinator like me, I suppose.
Have a deadline for your work if you want to be productive.
If you’re self-disciplined, this is going to benefit you greatly.
If you have problems with meeting your set deadlines, perhaps you need to put in place consequences for not meeting your deadlines.
Having a deadline helps you to work with a sense of purpose and urgency.
3. Write out an outline
Write out the outline of your book on a paper – introduction, the title of each chapter, conclusion etc.
If it’s a novel, make a draft of the plot.
This will guide your writing.
I write easier and faster when I write an outline of whatever I want to write, even blog posts.
Also, making an outline of your book content makes it real to you. It makes your idea more concrete. And this motivates you to get to work.
4. Don’t be rigid
While it’s good to have an outline, you don’t necessarily need to follow it rigidly.
Write as you feel inspired.
It’s okay to write the fifth chapter before the second chapter.
Don’t restrict yourself. Just flow.
5. Find a place to write without distractions
I wrote the introduction of my book within one hour in the library.
Settle for an environment that helps you to write without distractions but don’t limit yourself to an environment.
You can write anywhere.
I write in the library, at home, on a trip etc.
6. Write when you’re most alive
Take advantage of the time of the day when you’re most alive to write.
It could be early in the morning, late in the night, during the day or midnight.
Although you might need to write at every available time if you’re working towards a deadline.
I’m writing this article in the middle of the night with some toast and coffee.
Writing is such a solitary career. I keep wondering why there are millions of books on the planet considering the efforts and resources it takes to produce a book.
Writers deserve their dues, honestly.
7. Do away with distractions
For many of us, phone and TV are our greatest distractions apart from kids.
I was able to write my introduction within one hour because I put my phone aside.
It’s amazing how much we can accomplish when we focus on a task per time.
Multitasking is not always a smart way to be productive.
While some people write better when they listen to music, I find music very distracting.
Note your distractions and do away with them if you want to finish your book on time.
8. Dig out relevant resources
Have you at any time written a content related to any of the topics of your book?
Perhaps a blog post, a review, a video, a draft, a social media post, anything at all.
Dig it out and use it!
For me, it was blog posts. I’d written a lot of content related to some of the points in my book.
All I did was edit and add more content to them.
It really saved me a lot of time and effort.
9. Know your style
I don’t know about you but for me, I realize that writing with a pen and paper makes writing much easier than typing on my PC.
It might seem like double work but it works for me because I write as it comes to my mind. I write without any inhibition and without minding my errors.
When I later type on my PC or with my phone, I’m well able to expand and edit whatever I write on the paper.
Many studies have established the many benefits of old fashioned handwriting over computer typing.
Some people flow better when they type on their PC.
You know yourself, settle for the style that works for you.
10. Keep errors to the barest minimum to make editing fast
Self-publishing isn’t an excuse to have annoying errors in your book.
You need to use the service of a professional editor(s) to make your book as error-free as possible.
There’s no perfect book but errors must be kept to the barest minimum.
I know editing is hard work, so I made sure my book was devoid of many errors, so that my editors wouldn’t have a hard time working on my book.
My efforts paid off because they (two of them) edited my book in less than 24 hours.
I made the job easy for them.
11. Decide on the type of publishing
A lot of writers prefer digital publishing because it’s cheaper, easier to produce and sell than hard copy.
Some people love the flipping of pages and the smell of paper books, so they don’t like reading soft copy.
Thank God for Amazon. You can upload your book there and apply for print on demand.
It takes the stress off you as a self-publisher.
I had to publish some copies in a publishing house as I couldn’t meet up with the terms of Amazon print on demand because of time constraints. I needed some copies for launching.
12. Have a marketing strategy
This is the most important thing to do aside writing a book.
As a matter of fact, it’s what will make your book a success.
Anyone can write a book, but not everyone can sell a book.
You need to have a strategy on how to get your book into the hands of your target audience.
This is where being a self-published author gets tough because you have to blow your trumpet by yourself.
It’s one of the downsides of being a self-published author.
But then, using traditional publishers doesn’t necessarily guarantee the success of a book.
Traditional publishers also say that it’s easier for your book to sell if you already have an audience.
So, somehow, you still have to promote your book yourself.
If you’re a writer, you should be ready to promote your book. Don’t write what you cannot promote.
As you write, make plans for your book promotion.
There are no ‘best writers’ there are only ‘bestsellers’.
Be ready to sell.
I hope these twelve tips will help you to write and publish your book without procrastinating, so you can achieve your dream of being an author.
Good luck!
