Exciting note: If this is your author summer, then my Summer Author Bundle is exactly what you need to make your book dreams a reality. The bundle closes June 30, so say yes to your book before it’s gone! Now on to this week’s blog post. 

As an entrepreneur, you likely know that writing a book is often the catalyst for business and brand growth. Maybe you’ve seen other founders write their book—and the incredible impact it’s had on their brand and business growth. 

You want to write a book and know it makes sense business-wise . . . but how do you write a book that aligns with your entrepreneurial vision? 

As a top nonfiction book coach and strategist, I’ve spent the past sixteen years helping aspiring authors write books that scale their brand and business. In total, I’ve directly contributed to well over one hundred books, including personally authoring, coauthoring, or ghostwriting eighteen. And over that time, I’ve uncovered a system that works. 

 
You can follow that step-by-step system in my course, Nonfiction Book School. In this article, I’ll break down the steps you need to add “author” to your title alongside “entrepreneur.” 

Step 1: Clarify your vision. 

You’re an entrepreneur, so you’re probably amazing at visioning. But you’re an entrepreneur, which means you may have limited time to devote to clarifying your big vision. 

 
One of the most important shifts I made in my business was setting aside time every year to create my life vision and overall business strategy. Clarifying your author vision, alongside your business and personal vision, is critical to helping uncover your “catalyst book”—the book that will help you go from point A (where you are today) to point B (where you want to go). You can use my free Life Visioning Guide to support this effort. 

Step 2: Create your book concept and outline. 

Many aspiring authors move way too quickly through the ideation and outlining stage, thinking they’ll write first and figure it all out later. Please don’t do this. It’s a recipe for an expensive editing bill and maybe a few cry sessions. 

Remember—this book journey isn’t just about the book. I mean, it is because books matter and you want to write the best darn book possible. But while the book itself matters, just as important are the items contained in a book concept and outline. These include the book’s: 

• Core message 

• High-level overview 

• Your ONE reader who represents a clearly articulated reader group (and potential secondary and tertiary reader groups) 

• Any considerations as you write the book (e.g., tone, approach, etc.) 

• Short chapter descriptions 

• Detailed chapter outlines 

Most of my clients end up with about fifteen- to twenty-page outlines, which may sound like a lot. But when you’re writing, you’ll be thanking the stars above and the sea below for this beautiful map you’ve designed to help you write. Because at its core, that’s what an outline is: a map. And the book concept: your compass. 
 
My clients normally spend about a month to a month and a half on the concept and outline stage, which I walk them through in my course, program, and coaching. 

Step 3: Calendar your writing time—and write your book! 

I smiled as I wrote the header to this section, because of course you need to write your book as you walk through a step-by-step explanation of how to write your book.  

I kid, but in all seriousness, you really do need to write the book. And you’ll be way more successful if you calendar out your writing time—meaning you block writing on your calendar—and show up consistently to get this book done. 

Neuroscientific research has found that our beautiful brains are dynamic, which means that we train our brains through habit. If you want to tap into writing flow regularly, you need to train your brain through consistency. When you show up every day, or most days, for your creative self, your brain will start to recognize the pattern of your habits and create new neural pathways to enable you to tap into flow faster. You may find that you struggle to eke out five hundred words the first week, but by the fifth week, you’re writing fifteen hundred words in one sitting. 

The authors I work with spend about four months writing their books, with an average of about two chapters per week.  

Step 4: Edit your book from good to great. 

As an entrepreneur, you know that nothing great happens alone. Whether you’re hiring a coach like me at the outset or working with an editor when your draft is done, your book will be its best with a team behind you. 

I urge you to approach the editing stage with humility. Especially if you’re a first-time author, chances are you don’t have an objective perspective about your book. A red flag for editors is an author who hasn’t worked with any professionals and on the intro call says something like: “My book is really solid. I just need someone to proofread it.” 

Editing takes place in four stages:  
 

• Developmental editing sometimes overlaps with what you might think of as coaching. But different from a coach, a developmental editor is in the draft with you, often editing as you write.  

• Substantive editing is that first heavy-lift revision that looks at structure, tone, flow, and other higher-level elements.  

• Copyediting is refinement at the word level.  

• Proofreading is fixing errors. 

With few exceptions, all books need to go through substantive editing, copyediting, and proofreading (usually two to three times). And I’m sorry to say this, but your friend with the English degree doesn’t count as an editor if they aren’t experienced. Book editing is a specific skill. You want a professional who knows what she’s doing. 

This process normally takes two to three months depending on the shape of your manuscript. 

Step 5: Publish and launch! 

There are many aspects to publishing, but for the sake of keeping it simple, here are the basics you should know. There are three types of publishing:  

• Self-publishing is when you manage the entire process yourself, with the support of professionals. 

• Hybrid publishing is when you work with an established publisher, investing financially in the production of the book. (Please note the word “established,” as there are a lot of not-so-great *cough cough* scammy *cough cough* hybrid publishers out there.) 

• Traditional publishing is when you get an agent who sells the book to a publisher; you’re still expected to invest financially in marketing. 
   

In my course and coaching, I walk through these in detail. There is no “right” pathway—it’s highly dependent on your book and goals. 

Once you’ve selected your publishing pathway, you’ll then move through production, and this experience will vary widely depending on the route you take. Many of my entrepreneur authors end up self- or hybrid publishing simply because of the time to market. They can get a great book out in eighteen months and start marketing it well before, already impacting the health and growth of their business long before they can truly claim author status. 

Keep in mind that the launch of your book starts well before the publication date. Most authors start working with a publicist as early as four to five months before the book is published. And it’s important to pour into the marketing phase and take advantage of this unique time to shine a light on your book, which will also shine a light on your business. I encourage you to celebrate this incredible accomplishment with a launch party—or a few parties! 

Step 6: Market for long-term business growth! 

Once your book has made it out into the world, the effort isn’t over. Many authors integrate the book into their business strategy, from sending the book to people they’d love to work with to including it in the foundation of their course or program. Most of my clients grow new revenue streams as a result of writing their book—the writing process leads them to clarify new frameworks, uncover clearer language, and connect with their readers (potential clients and customers) in a way that truly resonates. 
 
This book can become a shelf-stable business sustainability tool that enables you to make your author and business dreams a reality. 

If you’re an entrepreneur writing a book, what else would you like to know about? Share with me in the comments—I might write a blog post about it or record a podcast episode in the future!