Instant Authority

Introduction

You’ve got big ideas. Important ideas. Ideas that could change the world, given half a chance.

The possibilities keep you up at night.

And your ideas won’t let you rest. 

You might be a coach, consultant, executive, entrepreneur, or other subject matter expert who has a message that you’re passionate about sharing with the world. 

And you’ve decided that the best way to get the word out there and to make the biggest impact with your ideas is to write a book.

Welcome! You’re in the right place.

You probably write things like articles, presentations, and training materials on a regular basis — but you wouldn’t necessarily call yourself a writer. Certainly not a professional one.

Or maybe you have published books in the past, but you’re always looking for a better, faster, or easier way.

This book will help.

But why do you need another book about writing books?

After all, there are so many out there already.

Expert nonfiction books are huge right now — there’s a staggering amount of information out there about how to write one.

But there’s not so much information about how to write a really useful, helpful, practical book that connects with your readers emotionally — so they can’t help but be inspired by what you have to say.

I want to change that.

The problem is that far too many aspiring authors (people just like you!) start their books but never finish them, or find the process much more difficult than it needs to be.

You experience frustration, confusion, and delays. And every minute your work’s not out there, you know it’s hurting you and keeping the people you could help — your potential readers — from achieving their goals and dreams.

I get it.

But it doesn’t have to be that way.

Pro writers have learned how to overcome these roadblocks. They understand how to tell a good story, they know how to organize their knowledge into a format that makes it easy to understand, and they’ve built systems that work for them so they can get the writing done.

You can learn their techniques and build a system that works for you.

This book is all about getting the writing done (which is arguably the most important part of the process).

It’s also about getting you over the common hurdles around getting organized, which is a major challenge for most people.

Because you don’t want to write Just Any Old Book, right?

You want to write a book that makes a positive impact in your corner of the world.

A book that inspires people.

A book that really delivers on the amazing result you’ve promised your readers.

This book won’t help you with the how-to’s of self-publishing or traditional publishing, like creating your front matter or back matter, or formatting. Those topics are covered thoroughly elsewhere. I’ll share some resources that will point you in the right direction if you need them.

Instead, I’m going to face head-on the two biggest problems I see with most nonfiction book writing advice:

First, it doesn’t fix bland, boring, overly-formal or overly-technical writing that fails to inspire and motivate readers to act.

Second, it skips over one of authors’ biggest hurdles: organization, organization, organization! Because that’s by far one of the biggest challenges that nonfiction writers face. Lack of organization can hang you up for months or years.

So who am I to guide you through this process?

A Little About Me 

I’m a freelance writer and author, as well as a blogger, podcaster, and career-long teacher and trainer.

I’ve taught statistical demand forecasting, cookie baking, and rock ‘n’ roll guitar.

I’ve always been fascinated by powerful writing that entertains, inspires, and helps people make meaningful and lasting change in their lives.

I didn’t start out intending to be an author or ghostwriter. I thought that kind of writing was out of my reach since I didn’t have a journalism degree.

But I always wrote. People hired me to help them with anything — from small business marketing and training materials to resumes and even the occasional grant proposal.

Still, I didn’t think of myself as a writer.

I was always in training when I worked in the corporate world, creating courses or writing training materials. But my job title was trainer. I never would’ve called myself a writer back then.

Even though I’d spent decades connecting with audiences through music, stories, and words, and helping my clients and students do the same.

I love making dry, technical training topics fun, engaging, and memorable.

But even though I was writing stuff, I wasn’t really writing like a pro. Not yet, anyway.

My longtime dream was to build an online business, so I started blogging.

I dreamed that my writing could have the same impact as a great stage performance, right up to the standing ovation at the end.

So I studied with some of the best writers on the web. I practiced. And what I found was that there’s no need to reinvent the wheel with every writing project. Pro writers don’t do that. They use systems and rely on proven structures.

Soon, people started to notice my writing skills and asked if I could write for them. That started my freelance writing career.

Since then, I’ve written for Jon Morrow, a million-dollar blogger, and for Copyblogger, one of top blogs on the internet. I’ve also written guest posts for some really high-profile sites like Lifehacker and Write To Done. I’ve been a ghostwriter for some top marketing bloggers, and I’ve also helped small businesses gain traction for some pretty incredible ideas.

I’ve used the same system you’ll learn in this book to write many thousands of words over the years, including viral blog posts, online courses, and ghostwritten books. I used this to write one online course per month, the equivalent of an 8,000-10,000-word ebook every month for about three years.

I’ve also shared it with my clients to help them get unstuck and finish their own books.

So why am I sharing it with you now?

The truth is, I’m passionate about the power of words. I’m dedicated to helping you to make a positive impact, to get your book out of your head and into the world where it can start making a difference.

Before we go any further, will you make me a promise?

For the love of everything that is holy, promise me that you won’t approach writing a book about your life’s work like you’re trying to build a new wheel out of a boulder with a hammer and chisel.

Instead, learn the proven approaches, frameworks, systems, and skills that will help you start and finish strong.

Come in with a plan. 

Build a customized system that works for you.

Learn the tricks that give your writing emotional impact.

Start with a structure that’s proven to be effective. (Yes, you read that right.)

All creative work has a structure. That includes songs, paintings, blog posts, infomercials, and all types of books. There are infinite possibilities and variation within these structures — and you might not notice the structure at all —but it’s still there.

My mission is to help you write an amazing book that establishes you as an expert and grows your authority so that your perfect people seek you out 24/7.

I can help you put ideas together in a clear and concise way. I can teach you how to make an emotional connection, one that’s needed even if you’re teaching rocket science. I can help you become an authority in your field. This book will give you the exact step-by-step process I use.

And why does that matter?

It’s all about finishing, baby.

With a system to guide you, you’ll feel a sense of relief. You’ll make faster progress because you’ll see a clear path forward. You won’t have to figure it out on your own, because you’ll know exactly what steps to take.

You’ll finally get organized. You’ll have a solid plan so that you can confidently write a solid rough draft that’s ready for editing and publishing. A draft that you can be proud of.

I’ll help take the mystery out of the process of writing a well-written, authoritative book by busting some common myths that might be holding you back.

You’ll discover how to streamline the process so you don’t waste years of time or cause yourself misery with major rewrites (and possibly never finishing as a result).

You’ll learn how to write so that you captivate your readers to keep them engaged throughout the entire book.

Finally, you’ll inspire your readers to take action so they benefit from your book’s big promise — that one thing that will help them achieve a goal that’s dear to them — and then pound down your door to work with you more.

Most importantly, you’ll boost your credibility and authority by finally finishing your life-changing book without losing your mind or ten years of your life.

And once your book is finally done and out there in the wild, you’ll:

Attract your perfect readers 24/7

Be recognized as an expert in your field

Open up amazing new professional opportunities & PR benefits

You’ll learn a framework that applies whether you plan to self-publish or traditionally publish. I’ll give you the whole process. This is exactly how I write a book for myself or for a client.

I’ll give you the resources you need to accomplish your goals and the confidence that it’s possible for you.

So don’t waste another day. Get your message out there. Start helping your people.

How To Get the Most Out of This Book

We’ll start out getting your head on straight when it comes to planning, organizing, writing, and finishing your book. You might have some misconceptions that are holding you back. We’ll bust those myths from the very beginning.

Next, we’ll look at the high-level planning process, and I’ll show you how to get all your thoughts, ideas, and materials organized.

You’ll learn how to create a solid plan — one that will work for you — and get the writing done.

You’ll find action steps (called Let’s Do This) at the end of each chapter that will help you know exactly what to do and in what order. I’ll also be giving you resources and exercises to walk you through step by step.

You’ll also find a lot of myth busting (called Taking Out the Trash) because I love quashing conventional wisdom.

You can follow along, completing steps as you go, or you can read through start to finish and then circle back.

Either way, commit to yourself that you’re going to do this. Block out the time in your schedule. Sit your butt down in the chair and do the work.

And please — highlight away! Take notes, write in the margins and turn down those page corners if you’ve got a hard copy. Then send me your photos. There’s nothing I love more than a well-used book!

When you’re all done, I want to hear from you. I’m dying to see what I’ve inspired you to create. It’s what gets me out of bed in the morning.

Finally, a warning.

You will find the occasional colorful cuss word sprinkled throughout this book. That’s just how I roll. If that offends you, this might not be the book for you. Feel free to choose another one. No harm, no foul.

Are you ready? Let’s go!

Next Up …

Have you ever wondered what the mindset of a successful author looks like?

1

Writing That Makes an Impact

You want to write a nonfiction book that makes a life-changing impact on your readers and leaves the world a better place.

The problem is that too many books and courses gloss over the how to actually get the writing done so it changes lives part.

They might stress blocking out time in your schedule and doing quick brain dumps to get your words out onto the page. Don’t get me wrong, that stuff is important, and we’ll definitely talk about it. But it’s not the whole story, not by a long shot.

Especially since organizing all of those brain dumps is one of the biggest challenges authors face. And once you’ve organized everything, you still have to add that extra emotional punch that lights a fire under your readers so that they actually take your advice.

Other conventional wisdom tends to focus more on helping you share your expertise but less on connecting emotionally with your readers (no matter how boring your topic is). They don’t teach you how to write powerfully.

Writing powerful nonfiction that moves your readers to take action isn’t a talent that you’re born with or not: it’s a skill you can learn.

Once you do, you have the power to make a greater impact in the lives of your own readers. The positive effects compound, and you’ll leave the world a better place than you found it.

After all, why would you invest all your time and effort to write Just Any Old Book?

Taking Out the Trash

Myth: The things you fear, the ones that hold you back from finishing your book, are real obstacles that you can’t do anything about right now.

Truth: You can break through your fears and misguided thinking and finish your book with the right information, approach, and support.

So What Do I Mean by Impact?

Readers buy your book because you’ve promised to help them learn or achieve something that they really want. You’ve made a promise to them that’s irresistible.

After that, if you’ve done things right:

Your book becomes one of your audience’s favorites on your topic.

Readers follow you and talk about you and your work.

You get e-mails and reviews full of stories about how your book helped them.

Yours is the first book your readers reach for when they get stumped.

Your book becomes the one that always gets recommended.

You get quoted as an expert.

Your authority grows seemingly overnight.

But how do you get to that point? Because that’s where we all want to be, right?

After all, what good is a nonfiction book that leaves readers in the same place they started once they’ve finished it?

Not much good at all.

You don’t want to write the book that no one buys. You also don’t want to write the book that people start reading but never finish. What a waste of time and effort!

I want to prevent your book from falling into the oblivion of being Just Any Old Book.

But before we get into all the details of shaping your words in an organized and impactful way, I want to make sure you’re in the right frame of mind to get started in the first place.

I want you to have a solid foundation for success.

You might believe some popular myths about writing a nonfiction book. These misconceptions can hold you back. They can keep you from finishing your book — or even starting it in the first place. We’re going to bust those myths in Chapter 2, so that doesn’t happen to you.

But first and most importantly, I want to make sure that your fears aren’t stopping you in your tracks.

Fear #1: I don’t have enough time to write a book unless I put the rest of my life on hold.

Is time your biggest constraint?

If so, you’re not alone. It is for most of us.

You might be worried that getting your book written and published will consume your whole life. That you’ll have to sacrifice quality time with your family, any rest and relaxation, or all fun activities until it’s done.

So you keep putting it off, telling yourself that the timing is just not right now, but it will be on some unspecified day in the future.

The Maximum Impact Method that you’re going to learn in this book breaks the process of writing a book into small, doable steps and