Where does your content come from?

Part 2 the letters and words that end up making pages that end up making, oh you get the idea.

Part 2

We established a bit in Part 1 so let’s look further into the Why and How of book making. If you are wondering if there will be any Where and Who, the answer is yes! But it’s too long for a title.

If you’ve read this far then you probably still want to make a book. Hopefully you’ve found answers in the questions above and are clearer on why. Next we are going to ask about how you will make the book. Not the physical manufacturing, we will get to that but creating the content that will go in the book.

There are a lot of different ways writers get to the book they want to or in a few cases need to make. To make the book, you need content and demand. Ideally, you have both! But it’s ok if you don’t.

Do you blog a-lot? If so, then you might have a lot of content. If you blog on a topic often you will have built up a fair amount of content. The blog posts could be the building blocks to a book. Do you make lengthy posts on Instagram or other social media? Again, this content could be turned into a book with the help of an editor. Maybe you write in private, on Word or Sheets, or even pen and paper. Maybe you write and you just can’t help yourself! With all these scenarios you ideally have built up content you can use to make a book.

Those questions speak to where your content is coming from. There’s the where part. Let’s think about demand next. That blog you have, do you have a sizable mailing list from it? Do your Instagram posts get a lot of likes and interactions? Do you have a newsletter with a lot of subscribers? If these questions seem beside the point to you you should know that info is a key part in a book proposal. Nothing stands out to an acquisitions editor like 75,000 followers on Instagram. That translates to 75,000 the book can be marketed to, already built in. Even if you have a mailing list of 250 people that list, that amount, gives you an idea of the demand you already have for your content.
Sometimes I get asked about making a book by someone who has, “Just always wanted to write a book.” One of the first things I ask them is how much content they have. If they don’t already make some content then they really need to think about putting that passion somewhere else.
Before we talked about the practical book. Let’s look at that in the prism of Part 2. Maybe you have a group of clients that you teach or advise. The book could become part of the deal that you make with those clients. Basically, “Your X comes with a free book.” Or, the book is an upsell at events. Churches need curriculums. Businesses need guidebooks. Someone, somewhere on these teams has to take the bull by the horns and make it into a book. This content could come from past events, documents, interviews, sermons, who knows what you will find when you go digging into an organization.

All of these have this in common. A book is a vessel that solidifies your ideas into a statement, a physical product. Let’s keep going! We will have a book in no time.