When I wrote my first book in 2005, I wanted to be the next Zig Ziglar. I had no idea that over the next five years in addition to speaking for Zig and his employees (“Bobby Minor brought a message that opened my eyes in a significant way.” ~Zig Ziglar, Motivational Speaker and Author”) three times as a result of writing my book, that I would also coach people all over the world on how to take that book that is inside of them and bring it to life. You can only imagine what it felt like the day I had my first copy in my hands. My heart was racing and pounding as the Fed Ex truck pulled up and the delivery man ran up to my door and handed me an overnight envelope containing my first copy of my book “Dream Big, Win Big!”. I ripped open the envelope and couldn’t believe I had my first copy in my hands only 87 days after I started writing! What an awesome feeling, I’m now a published author!
That’s right, from the day I wrote (typed) my first word to the day I had my first copy in my hands it only took 87 days. I had one friend of mine in the professional speaking industry tell me that not only was my book better than any first book he’d ever seen it was better than 90% of the books he’d seen period! I didn’t have anyone coach me, teach me, or hold my hand in anyway. I did it using my God-given instincts. Since then I’ve learned so much more and made some incredible connections in the publishing industry that only take what I know to the next level.

What I did in 87 days (that’s no hype or fluff) without the help of anyone you can do in even less time if you are coachable, teachable, and trainable. I’m not talking about writing just any book and throwing something together. I’m talking Barnes & Noble quality, something you would be proud of. As a matter of fact, all of the books I’ve helped people with are available through all major retailers like Barnes & Noble, Border’s, and Amazon.
When I come across people that have written their own book or are in the process of writing one I see three major mistakes most of them make. I’ll list the three mistakes first and then break them down afterwards.

Here are the three biggest mistakes most authors make:

1. Cut corners too much and don’t invest enough money in producing a professional product.

2. Spend too much money and overpay for services they could have gotten done much cheaper.

3. Try to jam too much information into one book instead of planning on writing multiple books.

Probably the biggest mistake I see made is people that actually have a story to tell but try to do it using such a boot-strap model that it ends up looking very cheap and poor in quality. This is especially true when it comes to the cover. Everybody knows somebody that thinks they have graphic art skills or can dabble in Photoshop. I’m begging you, pleading with you, don’t do your cover yourself and don’t let your 12-year old nephew do it either. This is the first thing people see when they pick up your book or view it online. Unless you want your credibility and the credibility of your book to be tarnished, hire someone that has experience creating eye-catching book covers. This can be done without having to take out  a second mortgage if you know the right people.

The next mistake I see almost as much is people paying way too much to publish their book. They either pay a vanity publisher a crazy amount of money to help them do things they really don’t need help doing (because they don’t know any better), they overpay for design work, or pay much more than is needed to have someone walk them through the process. I spent less than $1,000 total on Dream Big, Win Big! and that included my first 100 copies. If anyone includes marketing in any package you pay for keep in mind that your number one marketing vehicle is you.

Lastly, another big mistake I see made is trying to cram everything about everything into a single book. Ask yourself this one question, “what do I want people to walk away with after they read my book?” Pick a single theme and build everything around that theme. If you have more than one idea or more than one thing you are passionate about, write a book about each. Whatever you write about you will be perceived as the expert on that topic. There’s nothing wrong with being viewed as an expert on multiple things.

Here’s the bottom line. You don’t have to be college educated or have any previous writing experience, it doesn’t have to take two years to get it done, and most importantly, you don’t have to drain your life savings to write that book you’ve always wanted to.

Share