Book Summary: Write Your Book On The Side by Hassan Osman

Key Thoughts

Write Your Book on the Side is a free and great step-by-step guide from beginning to end on self-publishing a book. Though some of the chapters are very specific to selling on Amazon, it has many tips and suggestions to help publish a book in general. Recommend this quick read if you are already writing and planning to publish a book but finding it too overwhelming (like me).

Summary

Building momentum and setting aside time every day is the main factor that will help you write your book. The conventional idea of a book need not scare you. You can write a short book which is around 10-12 thousand words.

Choosing a topic can be tricky, but not if you use the Four Circles Method. Think of it as four intersecting circles (Venn Diagram), each circle for a focus area

1. Interest → Ideas you enjoy and not forced to do (hobbies and past times)
2. Experience → Areas with some experience. Please don't mistake this for Expertise (We will build it as we write the book)
3. Market → Popular topics, and there are books already.
4. Job Related → Optional circle. If it's related to your job, you have an added advantage of using networking capabilities.

With a list of options to write from, start narrowing down to be more specific. Look within yourself, things worth sharing, read other similar book reviews and forums to get ideas. It would be best to build a clear picture of the target audience and what outcome you will get your reader.

The title and subtitle must grab the potential reader's attention and clearly explain the outcome to them. Be very specific, define the audience and must contain relevant keywords so that it comes up when searching for the topic. Ask feedback from multiple places, including friends and family, social media, surveys, etc.

Now starts the more challenging part; Writing the content. To make it easier, split into three parts → Introduction, Main Body, and Conclusion. Try and outline the different topics and chapters. This works as a guideline when starting the main content.

Write every day to build momentum. Dump your thoughts first and then edit later. Find fixed times to write, take down notes anytime they come to you, and don't get pulled into fancy tools. All you need to write is a text editor.

For editing, formatting, and cover design, consider hiring a professional if you are not already into it. To anyone looking at the book will also get the feeling that you are serious.

Launch the book on multiple platforms. This book details specific processes and strategies for selling on Amazon. You can also look at other publishing options like Leanpub, Gumroad, etc.

Yes, you are right; you don't need a publisher. The whole idea is to self-publish the book!