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How to Write a Non Fiction Book

Are you an expert on a subject that would interest a large number of people? Do you have first-hand

experience or knowledge that might benefit, profit, amuse, intrigue or inspire others? Have you set up

and run a successful business? Built your own house? Walked round the coast of Britain? Prospectedfor gold in the Andes? Perhaps you're already thinking about writing a book, but don't know where to

begin.

Assessing your Idea

Before you commit yourself to the project and all the hard work it will involve, ask yourself:

Is the subject big enough for a book?An Encyclopedia of Houseplant Care would be.How to

Water Your Aspidistra wouldn't.

Would the subject interest a wide enough readership to make it a commercial proposition?

Books do get written and published on some pretty obscure topics, but they're usually intended

for a specialist market. It depends on how wide a readership you want to reach, and on whetherit's mainly profit or prestige you want. It also depends on finding the right publisher for your

subject. Many publishers might want AnA-Z of Microwave Cookery, but few would take on, for

instance,Advanced Theory of Semi-Conductors.

Will the subject attract the book-buying public as well as library stockists? The biggest potentialsales are in books on self improvement (both physical and psychological), health, food and diet,

leisure activities and hobbies. Do-it-yourself titles sell well, andbookson cookery and

gardening waltz off the shelves. 'How to' books are in constant demand, especially those thatshow how to make or save money.

You've Got a Suitable Subject- So How do you Tackle it?

First, break it down into manageable sections. The prospect of getting 30,000 words or more down onpaper can be pretty daunting. Split into ten or twelve chapters of 3,000 words, it loses much of its terror

- you can think of it as a series of articles.

Divide your subject on paper, then, into ten or twelve sub-themes. These will form your chapters.

Under each sub-theme heading note all the information you already have relevant to that section. Note

any obvious gaps in the information. You'll have to do some research to fill those gaps.

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Writing for the Non Fiction Market

The range of non-fiction books is almost limitless. If you have any kind of specialist knowledge, think

about putting it to use in print. The following are just a few of the areas you might look at.

Educational Writing

You don't have to be a teacher to write educational material. Teaching experience helps, certainly, in

preparing course material or textbooks, but the most important requirement is skill in communication.

English Language Teaching

The English language is taught all over the world, not only to children but to people of all ages. Most of

this teaching is done with storybooks, not textbooks. Some of these are original stories, but many areadapted from modern novels and from the life stories of famous people.

Reference Books

These can be a good publishing proposition because they're steady sellers. There are reference books on

every imaginable subject, from wild flowers to monastery sewerage systems.

The Religious Press

Book publishers and magazines catering for all religious denominations need inspirational andeducational material. Most of the religious publications in the UK are related to the Christian faith in its

various denominations. You'll find publishers of religious material listed in the Writers' & Artists'

Yearbook and The Writer's Handbook.

Travel Books

Successful travel writing involves much more than descriptions of journeys and exotic locations, orquoting from brochures and guide books. A travel article or book should:

Provide insight into people's lives and culture. Create a sense of atmosphere.

Bring a place to vivid life through details rather than generalities.

Get the facts right, but treat them imaginatively.

Be descriptive without being overloaded with superlatives, clich and flowery adjectives.

Copywriting

Copywriting for business can be very lucrative. The main areas are advertising and direct mail. To get a

feel for what's needed, stop skipping the adverts and binning your 'junk' mail. Somebody has been paidto write all that material, and paid very well. Maybe you could do it, too, and develop a useful sideline

or even a new career writing copy designed to sell products and services.

Technical Writing

To be a successful technical writer, you need many of the qualities and skills of an investigativejournalist. You need to know how to sift essential information from masses of data, then present that

information in terms that are easily understood by the people who need it.

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How to Publish a Book: Approaching Publishers

Don't write the book yet. If you don't find a taker, you don't want to have wasted your time writing an

unsaleable book. And if a publisher does express an interest, he might want to make suggestions aboutthe way you write the book - perhaps a different kind of treatment from the one you originally

envisaged, or a format to fit an existing list. If you'd already written the whole book, you would have to

do an extensive rewrite.

Preparing a Proposal

Make an outline of the whole book.

1. Set down your title. The publisher might want to change it, but for the purposes of the proposal

you need a working title. Make it as snappy as you can.Raising Funds for Charity is more

effective than Organising Successful Events to Raise Money for Charitable Projects. It would fit

the spine of the book better, too.2. Write down the first chapter heading, and set out underneath it, briefly, all the points you'll deal

with in that chapter.3. List all your chapters in this way, then juggle them into a logical sequence. This will give youthe skeleton of your book, the bones on which you'll build the meat.

4. Type the outline neatly in single spacing, like a letter - this is a document, not a working

typescript. Indicate the proposed overall length of the book (its 'extent'). If illustrations areappropriate, say whether or not you can supply them. The publisher will advise you if he prefers

to make arrangements for illustrations himself.

On a separate sheet of paper, type out:

A short, concise explanation of the book's proposed purpose and area of interest.

Why you believe there's a need for it.

What market you see for it. What competition there is.

Why you believeyourbook will be better.

Approaching a Publisher

Look through the publishers listed in the Writers' & Artists' Yearbookand The Writer'sHandbookandlist those who specify an interest in the kind of book you plan.

Next, check with Booktrust to see what other books on your topic are currently on the market, and if

any are due to be published in the near future.

Decide which publisher looks like the best prospect. Find out the name of the editor responsible for the

type of book you want to offer, either by looking on their website or by ringing the switchboard. If theoperator doesn't know, ask to be put through to the editorial department fornon-fiction books. Ask

there for the appropriate name, and check the spelling. Don't try to discuss the book on the phone

unless you are specifically asked to do so - all you want is the right name so your proposal will reachthe right person.

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