2023

How to Write a Book [In 13 Steps]

How to write a book is a question that resonates with countless aspiring authors. Whether you possess an innate gift for writing words effortlessly or find yourself diligently honing your craft, the desire to share a compelling narrative is a common thread. Some aspire to craft the next best-selling fiction masterpiece, while others are driven to unveil their personal stories to the world.

Let’s explore the essential steps that pave the way for a successful journey into the world of writing:

  1. Create Your Space: Carve out a dedicated sanctuary for your creative endeavors.
  2. Find a Good Idea: Discover the spark that will ignite your narrative and captivate your readers.
  3. Plan and Outline: Lay the foundation for your literary venture with a well-thought-out plan.
  4. Conduct Research: Enhance the authenticity of your work by delving into the realms of knowledge relevant to your story.
  5. Begin Writing: Take the plunge and start translating your thoughts into words on the page.
  6. Seek Mentorship: Learn from seasoned individuals who can guide you through the intricacies of the writing journey.
  7. Define Your Purpose: Clarify the underlying motivation driving your desire to write.
  8. Embrace Constructive Criticism: Cultivate a receptive mindset and actively seek feedback to refine your craft.
  9. Join a Writing Community: Immerse yourself in a supportive network that shares your passion for storytelling.
  10. Build a Solid Foundation: Develop well-rounded characters, a compelling plot, and a vivid setting.
  11. Establish a Routine: Cultivate disciplined writing habits to maintain momentum.
  12. Engage an Editor: Enlist a professional to fine-tune your manuscript and ensure its polished brilliance.
  13. Design the Book: Pay attention to the visual aspects that complement and enhance your written work.

A few things of these steps will depend on your personal preference. But mainly, it is through a combination of these elements that you will find your process. You will figure out how to write a novel, a memoir, or whatever you are after. This step-by-step process is useful if you’re working on your first book. Let’s dive into these steps:

How to Write a Book in 13 Steps?

Writing a book is as fun as reading one, you just need to use the right tips and tools. Here’s how you can get started:

1. Your Space

Having a good writing space is proportional to good productivity. Learning how to write a book should begin before your pen even hits the paper. 

Find a place set aside that is just for writing and free from distractions. Having an entire room or office for this purpose is ideal, but not realistic for everyone.

Even if all you have is a little corner for your desk, make the space your own – whatever that means. Put up some photos or posters that motivate and inspire you.

If you thrive on simplicity, leave everything blank. Organize your supplies and ensure everything is in its place. This will allow you to get straight to writing each time, without having to search for anything.

Your space can also include music. Many writers draw inspiration, focus, and motivation from music. For some of you, music can be from your favorite artists. The rest of you can play the music specifically designed to calm and invigorate the human brain to help with the process.

Regardless of your preference, experiment with music and see how it can help you.

2. Start With a Good Idea

A good book will never come to fruition if you don’t have a good book idea to begin with. You can do something with any idea, but sometimes the idea isn’t enough for an entire book.

Sometimes what you’re looking at is more of a short story or a detailed blog post. Books are long, so knowing how to write a good book includes having an expandable idea.

If you’re not sure your idea is good for a book, try creating a bit of an outline for it. It doesn’t have to be detailed or fancy, but enough to tell you if you have enough to work with. 

Think about how the book will start and end, and see if you can expand the middle. For a novel, come up with your main plot points and ask yourself if they work. 

Once you are done, you can select the section/chapter to expand it with Squibler’s smart writer to have more depth to cover around the chapters.

For writing nonfiction books, start brainstorming chapter titles – do you have enough? 

Good ideas can come from absolutely anywhere. From a sentence in another book to a piece of conversation you overhear in a coffee shop.

If you aren’t getting hit with any inspiration, there are a few things you can actively do to try and get that spark: 

For Novels

  • Reinvent a scene from a book you like, making a side character the main character. 
  • Find some writing prompts and run with ones you like.
  • Create a backstory or history for the next stranger you see while out and about.
  • Purposely eavesdrop on public conversations around you and make answers for the pieces you don’t understand. 
  • Create characters out of the people in your life. Put those characters together and have them interact. 

For Nonfiction book

  • Ask yourself if there was an impactful time or experience in your past that you can draw from. 
  • Do you have any skills or knowledge that could be useful to others?
  • Have you made any grave, large-scale mistakes that others could learn from? 

With Squibler, you can expand and see the different versions of the idea in your mind with the smart writing tool. The multiple suggestions come with different plots with detailing on the tiniest parts in a hooking way. You can then decide to choose the best suggestion that suits your plot or the one that you find easier to make the reader hooked to the book. 

3. Planning/Outlining With a Book Writing Template

The more you write, the more your idea develops and evolves. If you are just starting, there are certain steps you can take into consideration as you go through the first stages of writing your book.

Even the most dedicated of pantsers know that some level of planning is mandatory to craft a book that is truly good and complete. Sitting down with a blank page and writing with nothing to go on has its advantages.

It gets your imagination flowing and you might end up creating a cool new character or setting. It is also fun to let go of all inhibitions and write with no expectations. 

But, rarely does this alone result in a cohesive, well-developed book.

Outlining comes in many different forms. A few writers will spend as much time outlining as they do writing the entire book. Others will only make a brief plan that they can change and rework easily and often.

As you learn how to write a novel you will figure out what works for you, but some elements of an outline include:

  • Predetermined plot points (usually between 2-4)
  • Chapter outlines and scene ideas
  • Character sketches (for fiction)
  • Information on relevant people to be included (for non-fiction)
  • Setting and location information
  • Relevant facts
  • General brainstorming

An outline of some sort is especially important if you want to write fiction because you need to know where your story is going.

Depending on the complexity, plot holes can run rampant if you’re not careful. Characters need to be properly developed and fleshed out.

Those who prefer an outline that is briefer may simply lay out their plot points, figure out the main characters, and go from there. There is no right or wrong way to outline, as long as it helps you know where the story will end up.

One of the best ways to plan and outline is to use a book writing template. Templates are flexible and will allow you to do as much or as little planning as possible. It starts by guiding you through each section or chapter. Using a template along with these steps will help you keep track of them all and make sure you’re doing everything in the right order:

nonfiction-book-template

Templates take the guesswork out of planning your book. It gives you a guide for each step and section, without limiting your creativity and individual process.

Moreover, with Squibler, you can use AI to develop your elements by adding descriptions and visuals. Then Squibler lets you seamlessly integrate them into your narrative as you create more chapters and scenes.

4. Research

Like outlining, the research process will vary depending on what exactly you are writing.

If you are writing a personal memoir or autobiography, minimal research will be needed. On the flip side, creative non-fiction or a true-crime piece will require extensive research. You will need to ensure that all details and events are correct.

Many stages of writing fiction also require large volumes of research. Historical fiction will need a great deal of physical accuracy – things like real events, people, locations, and dates.

Some novels explore a deeply emotional and/or physiological set of themes. For these, you will need to do research into the mind and behavior of certain conditions or types of people. 

The task becomes much easier with Squibler. If you want to describe the idea with the sense of taste, sight, smell, sound, or even touch, you can do so with its smart writer in Squibler’s editor. 

Even if you are not a fan of outlining and don’t do much of it, proper research is essential to creating a believable narrative. The subject matter will dictate exactly how much is necessary, but it’s always necessary. 

If you are stuck with a unique plot, use Squibler’s Ask Me Anything feature to assist with the expansion and diversity of your ideas. The AI will help you assist where your mind is stuck. 

5. Start Writing

Once you have done the necessary planning, outlining, and research, it is time to start writing your book. This part of the process will also look different for every writer.

Some prefer to write in strict chronological order and they don’t stray from it. They write the first page and go from there. Others will decide on their ending first and write the rest of the book towards that. Others still will jump right into the middle with the most dramatic and action-packed scenes, and work outwards from there.

There is no right or wrong way to do this. You may end up sticking to a certain style for every book you write. You may also find that a different approach works for different types of writing. Don’t be afraid to mix it up and do whatever works for you.

You can divide your book outline into multiple sections inside the one template and then later work on the part that you want to expand. Having access to all the chapters (sections/scenes) inside the same editor makes the whole process a lot easier and faster. 

It will also be beneficial to the success of your book if you create a writing schedule. You may have a consistently full schedule, or you might have plenty of free time. Either way, setting goals and sticking to a daily process will help you finish the book in as timely a manner as possible. Keeping to a regular schedule and building good habits around it helps eliminate procrastination. 

Do this by setting aside some time to write each day. For some this may be two or three hours in the evening, for others, it might be 20 minutes in the morning.

Do something that works well with your schedule. Next, set a daily or weekly target word count. Start low and work upward if you find yourself exceeding it each day.

With Squibler you can set your daily goals, and then watch the progress bar on the screen as you write. The productivity numbers and bars increase motivation and help you accomplish your goal faster. 

daily writing goal bar on Squibler

Writing Tools

Writing a book is a fun process yet a big commitment. There are so many elements that can be overwhelming at the beginning. Fortunately, there is a novel writing software available that is helpful and takes your pressure off.

The actual writing of your book becomes easier if you use a program that is designed specifically for this purpose. Microsoft Word is the most common word processor, but it is not ideal for novel-length works. It is simplistic and linear which makes organizing chapters and scenes difficult. Trying to move things around or change the order will require a lot of scrolling, copying, and pasting. However, Squibler makes the work easier as it is designed specifically to write books. The AI smart writer inside the editor makes the work 50% easier when it comes to expanding, researching, or rewriting a section. 

Squibler

Luckily, several other options are much more suited to long-form writing. The best of them is Squibler.

Squibler is a simple but comprehensive tool specially designed for novelists. It has a basic interface that is easy to understand, but it is packed with features like smart writing, suggestions, automatic rewriting, and graphic design that will maximize your productivity.

It’s also the perfect program to use when attempting Nanowrimo. Their goal lines up with Nanowrimo’s concept of drafting an entire novel in a single month. A big idea but it is not impossible. 

Squibler's editor - User interface

One of the most powerful things about Squibler is its smart writer feature. Though it is artificial intelligence, it acts just like a customized Wikipedia assistant. Or, a secret top-notch professional writer who already knows and understands your plot, and works exactly the way you command it. With the smart writer, you can:

  • Expand an existing scene to add length and depth
  • Rewrite with specific instructions for example adding examples, summarizing, increasing intensity and the list goes on
  • Describe a scene with a sense of touch, taste, smell, sound, or even with a poetic metaphor
  • Visualize a scenario perfectly with images and videos that you can design and customize without any external help
  • And much more! 

Moreover, Squibler allows for an easy and seamless organization like no other tool. You can divide your work into multiple sections, each with a different plot, and work on them simultaneously. You can change the chronological order of your story or move a scene to a different chapter. 

For those who thrive on the outline, Squibler offers space for storing and organizing your notes and research right beside your editor. It is all built into one so your outline, side notes, ideas, all are to you as you write your book.

When you’re ready, Squibler offers excellent tools to assist in the self-publishing process if that’s what you decide to pursue. The formatting options are perfectly compatible with Amazon and Kindle; two of the top self-publishing platforms.

Editing

Editing is one of the most tedious, time-consuming, and often frustrating parts of the writing process. While it is entirely unavoidable, it is possible to make it easier.

Squibler’s Smart Writer

With Squibler’s smart writer, you can ask it to go through your content and remove all the grammatical, and punctuation errors just in one single command. 

Grammarly

For starters, there is Grammarly. Grammarly is an app that scans your work and checks for grammar. It will pick up basic mistakes such as missing or unnecessary commas, misused punctuation like periods and exclamation points, or misspelled words.

You can also plug it into Squibler’s editor by installing the Chrome extension. Grammarly also offers some other integrations with MS Office, Windows, or Mac Applications. It also comes with a premium upgrade available. This upgrade unlocks a list of additional features:

  1. Advanced punctuation checks
  2. Context and sentence structure analysis
  3. Vocabulary enhancement suggestions
  4. Genre-specific style checks
  5. A plagiarism detector that scans more than 16 billion web pages

All of this demands manual work so it can be time-consuming. You can use Squibler’s Ask Me Anything smart feature to do all the editing, checks, and proofreading for you, and save 90% of the time.   

Hemingway Editor

Grammarly focuses on your grammar and overall structure, and Hemingway scans for readability. It focuses on:

  1. Adverbs. It suggests keeping adverbs to a minimum if you use them at all.
  2. Passive voice. It also suggests using minimal passive voice.
  3. Complex phrases. It highlights words or phrases that are complex and suggests using a simpler alternative.
  4. It highlights sentences that are hard to read. This can include run-on sentences and those that are too long or wordy.
  5. It goes one step further and highlights sentences that are very hard to read. The basic “hard to read” sentences can sometimes be left alone when tone or style is taken into consideration. These “very” hard-to-read sentences should not be ignored.

Improving these five things makes for better readability. It gives your writing a good flow and allows readers to more easily understand what you are saying. 

The online Hemingway editor is free to use, but it also offers an upgrade. For one payment of $19.99, you can get several bonuses. 

All these tools offer a way to get a fresh set of “eyes” on your work that will often pick up the small things that you missed. However, rather than dealing with multiple editors, it is better to stick to one that offers all of these features together. Squibler is your way to go; with its smart writing features, incredible visualization, exampling, expansion, and description techniques, it dominates all the editors and tools. 

6. Write a Book with a Mentor

There are few things more valuable than learning from professional writers who have already made it. Whether you have never written a book before, or are a seasoned writer looking to enhance your skills, there are many ways a mentor of some sort can help you through the process of writing:

  • Receive consistent and honest feedback. These people aren’t here to sugarcoat anything.
  • Accountability. A mentor will help you create realistic goals and set a practical schedule. They will also keep you accountable for meeting these goals by pushing you through those bouts of writer’s block and lack of motivation
  • Support. Being a writer isn’t an easy life and it involves plenty of rejection and frustration. You will have someone who understands exactly what you are going through and can reassure you in the darkest moments.

There are a lot of successful, published authors out there who are more than happy to help out aspiring writers and those who need some guidance. There are a few different ways you can seek out a mentor:

  • Through local writing programs in your town or city – start with libraries.
  • Some college/university writing courses offer mentorship programs.
  • Some online forums/websites exist for this purpose.
  • Reach out to the author if you have someone specific in mind.

7. Know Why You Want to Write a Book

All of the book-writing software in the world can’t tell you why you want to write a book. Only you know exactly why you’re writing. And knowing why is one of the most important steps.

On the surface, it may seem like a no-brainer. However, if you ask yourself, you may find you struggle with the answer.

Spend some time discovering why you are writing your book.

  • Are you sharing a personal experience?
  • Are you an expert in something?
  • Do you want to help people?
  • Do you want to tell an epic story?
  • Is there a deeper message you want to share?

Knowing why is crucial to seeing your book through to the end.

New York Times Bestselling author Stephen King puts it simply: “A story should entertain the writer, too.”

If you don’t generally enjoy what you’re doing and if nothing is driving it, you will eventually lose interest and motivation. Knowing why keeps you going and drives your determination to get it done. It will make the difference between a good book and a great book. 

Use a Book Writing Template

If you’re struggling with ideas or motivation, it is helpful to take a look at a book writing template for help. Templates will have guides, suggestions, and ideas for each chapter or section of the book.

It can help you dive into your story and figure out where it’s going.

This general fiction template will work to get you started on a novel in any genre or style.

When you know why your readers will also know why. If your book is written without passion or drive, a reader will be able to tell. They may leave it a bad review or not even finish it all.

When your readers can tell why you wrote your book, they will be invested. When in the hands of the right audience, they will share your passion. The right readers will love and embrace your message.

In addition to this, here is a list of templates that you get for free with Squibler’s subscription:

  1. General fiction
  2. Self-help
  3. Historical 
  4. Memoir
  5. Non-fiction
  6. Romance
  7. Fantasy 
  8. Mystery
  9. Action, adventure, and comedy

And the list goes on! 

Writing Templates on Squibler

8. Don’t Fear Criticism

So many writers never put their work out there for fear of rejection and negative reactions. This is where many writers get stuck and never advance in their writing career.

Don’t be afraid of criticism. Seek tough and thorough critique from good writers who know their stuff is one of the best ways to improve your skills. They can give you writing tips that matter.

In fact, in addition to not rejecting criticism, you should seek it out. Send your writing to friends and tell them to be brutal. Post your work online and ask for complete honesty. When posting online, be strategic.

There are multitudes of platforms and communities for you to choose from. Some will get readers for your work with no problem, but most of these people won’t have any technical knowledge.

If it’s real criticism you are after, look for a strong and active community of other writers. Of course, you don’t have to tolerate disrespect or any comments that are overtly cruel or demeaning but do not shy away from good quality criticism.

If you doubt a certain piece of your writing, you can always explore tons of scenarios around it with the Squibler. You can expand a current plot, rewrite from a different perspective, and indulge your senses with the art of magic words by Smart Writer.

9. Be Part of a Community

Mentors can offer great support and advice. Proper constructive criticism will help you see your flaws and improve your skills.

In addition to these things, many writers benefit from a writing community. This will differ from mentorship and criticism as it isn’t always just about you and your work.

Writing communities exist locally and are accessible in person, or there are plenty of online spaces available if you prefer to stay at home. Perhaps you will do a little of both, but either way, a good writing community is essential to thriving as a writer.

Writing groups are a place to get some good feedback and criticism, but it is also a chance for you to both get and give support in other ways. Meeting and/or talking with a group regularly will help you feel less alone as a writer.

You will see other writers experiencing similar struggles, and you can help each other through them. You can give advice as well as seek it.

It is also quite possible that you will forge solid friendships with some fellow writers. You can help each other through difficult parts of the writing process, such as brainstorming and research.

In addition to helpful criticism, it can also be a place to get some positive feedback. Other successful writers can read your work and tell you what is good about it. This can be just as necessary as criticism in building confidence and recognizing your strengths.

10. Make Your Book Next Level with a Quality Foundation

Knowing how to write a book is one thing. Writing a good book is a whole other game. Anyone can put some words together and call it a book. However, learning how to write a good book is a process.

If the book you’re writing is a novel, you can’t ignore the most important elements of the story: plot, characters, and setting. They are essential skills to gain for fiction writers learning how to write a novel.

Even in a nonfiction book, however, you’re still crafting a narrative. What you’re saying may be a hard fact, but you’re still toying with the characters and plot. You’re still creating an image in your reader’s mind.

Before you do any significant amount of writing, you must become familiar with these essential elements of a good book. Even if you are fervently against outlining, you still need to know what you’re doing.

There’s no easy way to write your book. No matter how you slice it, writing a bestseller will take hard work.

Characters

Much of creating and developing characters comes with experience. But, there is still a lot to learn before trying it for the first time. Here are the things to consider when writing a good cast of characters:

  1. Understand the difference between round characters and flat characters, and how to use each effectively.
  2. Understand the difference between static and dynamic characters, and how to use each of these to your advantage.
  3. Regardless of type, a character needs to be relatable to be likable. Knowing how to create a relatable character helps you become deliberate about writing an unlikable character.
  4. Give your characters deep thoughts, strong opinions, and realistic flaws.
  5. Get inside the character’s heads. This can be done with a character development sheet. Some also conduct “interviews” with their characters, and craft responses based on what they already know about the personality.

This list only scratches the surface. Writing strong, effective, and relatable characters is a true craft. It will take plenty of practice and lots of rewriting to get it done properly.

With Squibler, you can create multiple characters and set them aside next to your chapters and main editor. Then later, you can seamlessly integrate them into your plot as you work around different chapters and sections. 

Setting up characters on Squibler

Plot

Just as important as the characters, is the plot. At its core, the plot is the sequence of events that take place in your story. But, the plot has to be written well for the book’s success.

Like character development, plot development takes time and practice to learn. It is a good idea to read up on some basic elements of plot development, though, before attempting it on your own.

  1. Plot and story structure go hand-in-hand. Familiarize yourself with the different types of story structures.
  2. An appropriate setting is essential to a good plot
  3. Every plot needs conflict. There are no exceptions to this.
  4. Point of view must be determined – different points of view have their list of benefits and drawbacks.
  5. Learn the basic stages of each plot: Exposition, development (rising, inciting, and falling action, complications, increased tension), and resolution.

Again, this list is not exhaustive but it is a good place to start if you’ve never written through an entire plot before. These terms and ideas are ones you will become increasingly familiar with as you embark on your book-writing adventure.

With Squibler, you can develop an in-depth outline of your book and then divide it into chapters and sections to work on later. Once you have the outline in front of you as different chapters, you will have a clear demonstration of the plot. Later, with the Smart Writer, you can take assistance from AI to nurture your storyline into its best form. 

Doing all of this manually is tough but the task becomes significantly easier with Squibler, an AI book writing tool, simultaneously working alongside you and your editor. How good it is to have an impeccable assistant with 24/7 availability as you write? 

Setting

Even in a story that is more focused on the characters or events, writing books with a strong and atmospheric setting is always important.

Help the readers to understand your world without going overboard on the detailed descriptions. Finding that balance can be tricky.

Some tips for creating a good setting:

  1. Time is a construct we all live by and therefore, it needs to be accounted for in your story. The time of year is as important as the city where your story takes place. The time of day is often important in certain circumstances. Elapsed time also needs to be explained. Do you jump ahead for two months? This needs to be known to the reader.
  2. Geographical location is, of course, essential information. Be as specific as possible. “America” isn’t good enough – you’ll need to include the state and probably the city.
  3. Think about creating a mood and atmosphere. The setting can have a significant impact on the way your characters feel or perceive things.
  4. Include all the senses. The setting isn’t just about how a place looks. Consider how it would smell, sound, and feel to the touch. What are the tastes like? Is the city famous for a certain type of food?

Elements of Nonfiction

Nonfiction writers would be wise to take in all of the above advice. Even when telling a true story, it’s still a story and you want it to read well.

In addition to these elements of good storytelling, however, there are important factors that all nonfiction books should take into consideration.

  • Provide a solution to a problem. People read fiction for fun and entertainment. Nonfiction serves a specific purpose in their life. Make sure you are giving them what they’re looking for.
  • Include actions they can take. You may be an expert on the subject at hand, but people can only do some much with straight information. Ensure your book contains straightforward steps they can take toward the goal you are encouraging.
  • Be transparent. If you are writing something from personal experience, share your entire experience and be honest about it. Be open about your failures and how your readers can learn from them. This will build trust and show them that it can be done.
  • Be authoritative. When someone spends their money on something, they want it to be worth it. Don’t attempt to write about something that you don’t have all the necessary knowledge on – and experience if applicable. If you have relevant credentials, make sure your readers know this, it will help them trust you.

11. Establish a Routine

Producing a good quality piece of work in a reasonable amount of time is not something that just happens. You need a plan to establish a routine.

Analyze your current schedule and figure out how much time you can dedicate to your writing sessions each week, and each day. If you are serious about finishing your book and need to change your current schedule to accommodate it, then do that to the best of your ability.

Once you have carved out some time, start dedicating the time to writing. It is best to stay as consistent as possible. Write at the same time every day and make it a writing habit. Soon, this routine of writing will become natural and it won’t feel like a struggle or a burden.

It is also a good idea to set some manageable goals for yourself. Taking your schedule and allotted writing time into consideration, create milestones for your book. This can take several different forms:

  • Commit to writing one chapter per week
  • Commit to completing your first draft by a certain date
  • Set a certain word count for each day

These are just a few examples. Whether you measure the goals by word count or deadlines, it will help you stay motivated and on track. The best thing to do is start easy and work your way up.

If you set a crazy and unrealistic goal, it will only serve to discourage you when it is repeatedly not met. If you can easily meet the first goal, increase it a little bit. For example, aim for a higher word count or try for two chapters each week.

Thankfully, with Squibler, you can set your daily and chapter goals and see the progress bar fill up as you write. This keeps you motivated and also scheduled for the process. 

Progress in daily writing goals bar

12. Hire an Editor

Even the best writers in the world need an editor. Whether you are operating on a huge budget or almost nothing at all, an editor is a necessary expense.

It doesn’t matter how much of the editing process you go through yourself, your work will always need another set of eyes. Even the best book-writing software won’t catch everything.

If you want to save some money, try handing your entire manuscript to friends and beta readers first. They can help you weed out the last of the grammatical mistakes. Good readers may also be able to help you with more complex things like sentence structure and plot holes. Don’t send the editor your first draft or even your second draft – this will cost you too much money. 

Once this is done, the editor will have less work to do. This will cost you less money, but you still need to hire them.

Every so often, the odd grammar mishap will slip through the cracks. Most of the time, this is easily forgiven. However, if a single book is riddled with misused punctuation and terrible wording, it will not do well.

The best-selling books are clean, polished, and professional. Hiring an editor will not only make your current book better, but they will help you learn how to write a good book.

If you pay attention to their corrections and critique, you can make yourself better next time. You will, in the process, become a better writer.

However, with Squibler’s AI features, you can skip this task with the smart writing feature. Think of Squibler as you have an editor and proofreader available 24/7 with you all the time, who can check and proofread as you write. You can rewrite the text based on how you want it to be; shorter, intense, examples, and more.

Smart Writer

13. Find a Good Designer

In addition to needing an editor, recruiting a solid designer is essential. Unless you are one yourself, don’t neglect to find a designer who can create a solid, customized book cover for you.

A  beautiful, eye-catching book cover will bring in more sales than some people realize. That cover is the first thing that catches someone’s attention. It’s what entices them to flip it over and read the synopsis. Without giving them that urge to flip it, you won’t have readers. First impressions matter. For this reason, it’s advisable to find a professional designer who knows what they’re doing. 

The book cover is more than just the image you choose to put on the front. There are many elements of a book cover for example a book title, and summary, and they all need to be considered:

  1. The book title
  2. The book’s subtitle (if applicable)
  3. Author name
  4. Front cover main design/image
  5. The layout of the back cover  – Can include a synopsis, author info/photo, reviews/endorsements/praise for the book or author
  6. The spine
  7. Inside flaps (if applicable)

A good designer will come up with a suitable, high-quality, and captivating image for the cover. They should be able to create something unique and specific to the book itself. But, they will also need to arrange the other elements of the cover in a way that is aesthetically pleasing and logical.

Once you have chosen a designer, don’t be shy about speaking up. Even the best designers won’t get it right the first time, every time.

If you don’t like the image, tell them why. If the font isn’t working for you, say something. Your designer is there to work with you to make the book perfect. Trust their experience, but voice your opinions. At the end of the day, it is still your book.

Luckily, with Squibler, you don’t need to hire someone. Instead, you can design everything yourself just with one command to the AI tool. In the Visualize feature, explain how you want the design, and what details to include and it will create exact or even better copies for you. You can always alter the design as many times as you want based on your instructions to take it to perfection. 

Here is an example. The Visualize feature made use of the highlighted text and turned it into a visual image based on the scene.

Visualize highlighted text into an image

7 Things to Consider Before Writing a Book

Here is a quick roadmap to help everyone get started (we’ll later break this down into additional steps to make it more detailed):

Space and Time

Whether at home or elsewhere, in the morning or at night, allocate a dedicated writing space and time to work on your draft. When it comes to space, the first place you think of may not be your best option. Quietness, comfort, and accessibility matter here.

Setting up your Comfort

Put together the tools you’ll need in your work setup to write your book. Along with the basics, include items such as a neck pillow or cushion to make the entire process as comfortable as possible.

Apart from the comfort of space, you also need the comfort of writing. Look for editors and tools that are easy to use and work through. AI tools are of great help in this phase. Squibler is one of them. It is a smart writing tool and editor where you can not just take the assistance of artificial intelligence but also catalyze your thought process with smart suggestions, templates, drafts, and ideas about your plot. 

Develop a Schedule

Having a writing schedule is key to setting deadlines, lining up collaborators, and meeting other deliverables in a timely, systematic manner.  With writing tools like Squibler, you can set the deliverables for your milestones. This way, you can have a personalized schedule with insights into your progress. 

Choose a Theme

Decide on the main idea of the whole book, whether it’s a creative writing piece or an autobiography.  Write what’s not been published. For inspiration, research published books and expert opinions on your subject.

Squibler offers ready-to-work templates like fiction, non-fiction, romance, biography, and more to ease this phase of book writing. The outline is the ‘skeleton’ that structures your book.

The task becomes 50% easier with Squibler’s ready-made drafts and templates. These templates also enhance your thought process when you use the smart writing tool within Squibler’s editor. 

Block the Distractions

Eliminating disturbances can go a long way in keeping you focused on your draft. Put your phone on silent mode or switch it off, set an alarm, and turn off the internet (unless needed) to write distraction-free. However, it’s also important to take breaks from time to time after a writing session.

Focus on Writing

You might start imagining the perfect cover design while still writing the first chapter of your book, or you might start daydreaming about how you’ll be giving out signed copies at your local café to your raging fans. Don’t do that. When writing, focus only on writing. There’s enough time for the rest.

Break it Down

Decompose your book into small, manageable phases. This will take away the overwhelm of writing, prevent burnout, and give you time to do other things. With the pre-defined sections inside Squibler’s existing templates, you are all set to take over.

Final Remarks

There are so many things you need to learn and a lot of skills that new writers must develop. Following the simple steps outlined here will get you started, but the learning never stops.

Many writers have gone before you and come out as successful authors with these steps. Some things are proven to be effective, but in the end, it’s largely going to fall on you to develop a writing style and process that works for you.

Seek help, listen to advice, and read up on what works, but the best thing you can do is start writing. Put some words down and go from there.

There will be a lot of trial and error involved, but at some point, you need to just do it. You can research the process all you want, but you’ll never figure yourself out if you don’t get to work.

As you write, you will figure out what you like. You will decide what order you want to do things in, and you will learn which tools and writing software work best for you. This will make your second book easier. 

Once you find your flow and do it a few times, you will have your insight to share with others. The world of writing is constantly evolving, and anyone who has written anything – big or small – has valuable experience to share.

FAQs

Here are questions that most aspiring writers ask:

1. Can anyone write a book?

The short answer is: Yes, anyone can write a book. You can write a book if you’re self-motivated and have decent writing skills. All you need is a solid story, determination, and a publisher who would be willing to get it to the market. You don’t require a special license or permission from any organization to start preparing a draft.

2. Can I get rich by writing a book?

The short answer is yes. But you need months and years of consistency and hard work to make that happen. Here are other ways to make good money off of writing a book if you are just starting:

  • Form linkages: Connect with film producers for opportunities to repurpose your book into a movie or TV series. Furthermore, look for guest speaker prospects on podcasts, YouTube channels, and talk shows to reach a wider potential readership.
  • Self-publish: To earn more, quicker, choose self-publishing over traditional publishing. However, this would entail doing all of the heavy lifting yourself, such as printing, marketing, and publishing.
  • Publish frequently: An author of five books is most likely more well-known than the author of a one-hit-wonder. To earn more, publish often. You can write 2-3 self-published books per year.

In the end, success and money are proportional to the hard work that you do.

3. How much does an author make per book?

An author’s earnings depend on the royalty rate, advanced offers (for traditional publishing only), audience size, and book marketing opportunities.

In general, self-published authors earn 40%-60% in royalties per book versus traditionally published authors, who typically make around 10%-12%.

Josh Fechter
Josh is the founder and CEO of Squibler.