Writing a book?

Question

I am thinking of writing a book of my life experiences. My parents emigrated from India in the 1960s and so live by their Eastern traditions. I was born in England and went through the usual education system and am now a graduate. I have found it difficult at times to fit in both the eastern and western cultures. I would now like to write a book outlining my experience and difficulties I had in this, and I am sure, a lot of asian youngsters had the same difficulties as me and this book would prove to be an interesting read to them, in that they can relate it to their own difficulties.

The problem is that I know nothing about book writing. How do I go about it? How long would it take for the book to come on the 'market'? How do I make sure that I am using the proper English grammer? Is there a website that I can go to which outlines the steps involved in writing a book? Finally, how can I tell that my book will be profitable or is it just a gamble that I have to take?

Answer 1

Go to http://www.write-choiceservices.com/ and contact Tim. They helped a friend write a book.

Answer 2

Hi Manjinder, I am a writer and editor (with over 25 years experience) so I know what it's like from both sides.

What you want to do sounds great, though getting into the writing business is very hard indeed -- most people don't realise how tough you have to be to be a writer. Don't give up the day job!

From your question it's clear to see that you can, at least, put words together in understandable sentences. This is a good start, I'm not being condescending -- you beat the last two authors I had to read without even starting, they were virtually illiterate.

The way to write is to write. As someone else said, you need to write for yourself and just do it. You can make a plan, you can do rough outlines, you can find all the photos that you might want to use, remember all the important stories and the lessons they teach ... BUT, at the end of the day, you have to write.

Don't worry about style or spelling or grammar at the beginning, just get the words down, get your thoughts on paper (or computer, whatever). If you use a computer switch off the grammar checker (computers are stupid, they don't know anything about grammar) and do without the spelling checker as well, they will just distract you from the job in hand.

You write it, then you put it aside for a few weeks. Ignore it.

Then you go back and be a reader instead of a writer. Make notes, jot down where things haven't worked, where you need to expand things, notice the spelling mistakes, the grammar errors. Then go through and correct it. And print out another fair copy -- and put it aside for a couple of weeks.

Then do it again. (You can switch on the spelling checker now, but make sure it is set for the country you are in -- don't use the US spelling checker for UK work and vice versa.)

After a couple of drafts you will now be in a position to go to someone else. Not a publisher or an agent, not yet, but find online (or offline) writing groups and critique groups. These people are not your friends and should give you an *honest* appraisal of the quality of your work.

You have to listen to what they say. If one person says "this bit didn't seem right" but you're happy then you can ignore them. But if two or three people say the same thing then there will be something wrong that needs correcting.

By the time you've gone through this process for a while (and at least a year has passed) you may be ready to start submitting t agents. You will need an agent for an autobiography.

You need to get the Writers & Artists Yearbook which lists all the agents. You find the ones that deal with autobiographies, it will say what they want (an outline, a couple of chapters whatever) ONLY SEND WHAT THEY ASK FOR. If you do anything else they will reject you instantly.

If you do not present yourself as a professional, they will reject you instantly. These people get hundreds and thousands of manuscripts sent to them every year, the only way they can whittle down the numbers is by using every possible error to reject. Even misspelling the company name on the envelope could result in rejection.

An agent will take you on IF (and only if) they think they can sell your book to a publisher. The agents know the market and if they don't think they can sell it they will not take you on.

A quick word on vanity publishing: If you want to waste your money, then go ahead and use a vanity publisher. But do not think for one instant you'll make any money by self-publishing. These people will flatter you and tell you you're a wonderful author because they want your money. If you want flattery rather than truth, then go ahead.

This is one of the toughest businesses you can get in to, it is not for wimps. You will have your ego battered, and receive rejection after rejection after rejection -- potentially hundreds of them. A friend of mine, who is now a successful author, spent 15 years trying to get published and wrote 20 books that weren't accepted. He's now had 4 novels published and has 3 more in the pipeline.

You can't tell if a book will be profitable, but you don' really take the gamble, the agent and publisher do. If you find an agent then you'll stand a good chance of getting published. It could take a year to go from "got a publisher" to "here's the book".

After all that, if you still want to try, then good luck!

Answer 3

Never set out to write a book for profit - it is very rare that you will make any money, let alone get published - write because you love to, not for cash.

That said, it sounds like you have a good starting point - there's certainly a market for this type of book.

You need to decide key points, such as is it going be fiction or non-fiction, what is the plot (if it is just a string of things that have happened to you it might not make interesting reading for those that don't know you) and who are your main characters (are you going to have a first person narrator, or example?)

Because you are starting from the very beginning, and because every writer works differently, I would suggest just getting some ideas down on paper and seeing how it flows. Find some similar books and read those - to get you into the frame of mind, but no plagiarism please! And try to find a writing club near you. It can be daunting to read your unpolished work in front of strangers but assumming you find a good group of like-minded people to experiment on with your writing, they should be able to help you a lot, and will be more truthful than family and friends!

Finally, when you are near the completion of your first draft and if you are feeling confident enough, send some sample chapters off to agents (or publishers - agents will charge a fee for negotiation - usually 10% - but will get you a better deal) to get some feedback (use The Writers Handbook or the Writers and Artists Yearbook for contacts - check carefully what genres they work in before sending anything) - most might be negative (it's a tough market) but you don't get anything if you don't try!

Answer 4

There are a great many things here to consider. Speaking as a publisher and editor (Manuscript Publishing [e-mail]) I would always advise that you first write your experiences down and then think about the outcome. A great many people start off with writing but gradually subside. It is hard work but truly there is nothing like it for the pleasure it gives one. As a publisher I feel there is a market for such a book but I would need to see at least three chapters as would any publisher.

Start by simply making notes of the years, age of characters and places that you need to describe to form an outline. Slowly expand these until you have a plot plan and then fill in the gaps with the experiences and events that you want to mention. Don't worry at this stage about where these events come in the book. Get it down on paper (or screen) and re-assemble the details later.

It takes around 2 years for a book to come from its initial outline to publication. It can take another 2 years to find a publisher! To self-publish would take around 4 months if you are realistic about it.

We have a new course coming out in May 07 'How to write and publish your memoirs' . If you are interested you can email me [e-mail]

Answer 5

You've got an incredible theme to start with. I have written a childrens novel and I'm telling you the key is, don't worry about what will speak to the masses, don't worry about sidestepping things that would bore or offend people, and don't worry about how you'll publish it. Sit down with your pencil and paper (I never type, I have to write) and write. Write the facts, and your feelings, and what you relate it to. I don't agree with making structures or outlines before you start, like they teach you in high school, because that's too rigid and it's only going to conform wha you have to say into categories. Free flow of emotion is what you need as a writer. You can always go back and cross out and re-do later. For now you really just want to get everything down on paper, freely, and out of order if you have to, because you can go put it all in sequence later. What is important is that you capture everything and get it down while you're still young and it's all fresh in your mind. Then, after that's done, you'll need generally a writing portfolio with snippits of different things that showcase your writing style. For your kind of book I don't know though, I would search publishing companies online, or go to a bookstore and look at books in your same genre and see who they used as a publisher. Then contact them with your idea and see where it goes. But for now the most important thing is completing your work, and don't worry about anything else for now or that will affect your writing. Good luck! I would definately buy a book like that.

Answer 6

It sounds like a good premise for a book, but might be better to write it as fiction, then you could change bits of your story if you wished, and add in interesting things from other people. Try to think of a plot - something that happens to your main character.

When you have written a rough outline, or the first couple of chapters, you need to start contacting publishers - the tip about going to a bookshop and looking to see who published similar books is a good one. If they take you on, they will check it for grammar, spelling etc. If you want to get someone else to check it over before that, contact a proofreader, like me!

Answer 7

Write it for yourself first. The publishing world is very hard to break into and it is ultimately a huge gamble. But if it needs to be written, write it.
There are a fair few books and even dvd kits that can help with structuring books; websites abound too. But write from the heart first and foremost.

Answer 8

I choose a sturdy e book, purely like i might choose a sturdy action picture. My huge variety one rule is, if it makes me cry, that's exceeded my attempt. i admire books that make me experience as though the characters and their circumstances are genuine. i decide to ignore that i'm even interpreting. a sturdy e book is one that keeps you up into the early hours of the morning. you finally end up crying, shaking in concern or excitement. those are the books that are "epidermis breaking" in my opinion. So some human beings might love Twilight, different's hate it. as long because it made somebody, someplace get those chills and goosebumps, that's seen a sturdy e book in my head. properly-written does not neccessarily propose it has to have huge vocab and maximum of info you do not even know what's happening, to me it purely skill that the author is conscious what he or she is doing with their tale. Oh properly, i'm rambling, so i will end. yet unquestionably, a sturdy e book has to seize you by the hair and throw you right into a international you on no account knew existed and leave you awe-struck and perplexed while that's over.

Answer 9

I attended a seminar on how to write. And it was mention about writing about your own life story, but in your life story you have to include every member of your family, relatives, friends etc. then it can happen to you what had happened to others that when you're writing something about other members of your family it can be enterference to their privacy, you're only creating discrepancy.
also when writing your life story book, I don't think people would be interested. I'm sorry but . . did you buy Bill Clinton story book ,, or Princess Diana's book ? I like them , but I didn't waste my money.
I think you can write for your own legacy, but your privacy will be revealed.

Answer 10

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Answer 11

If you want to write an autobiography, that's brilliant, in order to do this though, get a book from the library, it will show you what to do and how to lay it out.