How To Write Every Day: Jerry Seinfeld And The Chain Method

The Chain Method, as it's come to be known, is Jerry Seinfeld's productivity secret--one of them at least!--but it is great for anyone who wants to engage in some sort of creative activity every day. What is it? I'll let Brad Isaac tell you.

When Brad Isaac was a young comic he asked Jerry Seinfeld if he had any tips.

[Jerry Seinfeld] said the way to be a better comic was to create better jokes and the way to create better jokes was to write every day. But his advice was better than that. He had a gem of a leverage technique he used on himself and you can use it to motivate yourself—even when you don't feel like it.

He revealed a unique calendar system he uses to pressure himself to write. Here's how it works.

He told me to get a big wall calendar that has a whole year on one page and hang it on a prominent wall. The next step was to get a big red magic marker.

He said for each day that I do my task of writing, I get to put a big red X over that day. "After a few days you'll have a chain. Just keep at it and the chain will grow longer every day. You'll like seeing that chain, especially when you get a few weeks under your belt. Your only job next is to not break the chain."

"Don't break the chain," he said again for emphasis. (Jerry Seinfeld’s Productivity Secret)

I've been using the Chain Method for a few months and have had great success with it. I printed off a calendar using MS Word, one that has the whole year on a single page, and put it on my fridge. Each day that I meet my writing goal I put an "X" through that day.

My goal is to have an unbroken chain of "X"'s. If something comes up and I do break the chain, I try not to get too discouraged. After all, life happens. I try to get as many unbroken links in the chain as I can and it turns the work into a bit of a game, a private challenge to myself.

If you're having trouble writing every day, give it a try. It's inexpensive, easy, and you just might be surprised how well it works.

(I first read about Jerry Seinfeld's Chain Method from Michael Haynes blog. Thanks Michael!)

Other links you might like:
- 7 Tips On How To Get Your Guest Post Accepted
- Amazon's KDP Select: The Best Long-Term Strategy?
- 3 Ways To Create Incredible Characters

Photo credit: t r e v y

7 Tips On How To Get Your Guest Post Accepted

Today Kristen Lamb blogged about how to get your guest post accepted. This got me thinking about what I look for in guest posts. (And, by the way, bloggers love guest posts!)

So, without further ado, here are 7 tips for how to get your guest post accepted.

1. Tell the blogger what you can do for their blog

You don't want to email someone who doesn't know you and ask them to do something for you. You wouldn't do this in the non-digital world (aka 'real life') so don't do it in the digital one either. If you do, your email will be classified as junk mail and promptly deleted. Instead, present the blogger with an offer, tell them what you can do for them.

2. Show you are familiar with the blog

If you're offering to write a post on spec don't ask the blogger to set you a topic, suggest something. Also, make sure what you suggest is within the subject matter of the blog. For instance, if the blog is about cooking, don't say you could write an article on how to get more pageviews a month. Yes, the blogger might be interested in receiving more pageviews, but a post about pageviews/SEO would be completely out of place for a food related blog.

3. Be patient, but not too patient

The more popular a blog, the more congested the blogger's mailbox. If you send off an email and you don't hear back within 24 hours, don't fret. They're busy, they'll get to it. If they don't, send a polite email about a week later mentioning your previous email. Chances are they meant to reply but something came up.

4. Be flexible

The blogger might not be interested in any of your suggested topics so make sure to mention that you're open to suggestions. (Don't expect the blogger to set you a topic, but be flexible.) Sometimes there is a topic the blogger wanted to write about but hasn't had the time and it's very close to something you've suggested.

Even after you and the blogger have agreed on a topic they may have their own ideas about what title they'd like to use and how long the piece should be. This can be irritating, but chances are the blogger knows what works best for their blog and getting the maximum amount of exposure for your piece will benefit you both.

5. Include a short biography and a link to your website 

Don't forget to include a short bio as well as a picture of yourself. If you've written a book, or are holding an event you'd like publicity for, ask the blogger if you can include that in your article.

6. Promote your blog post

The more exposure your guest post gets, the more people will visit your site, giving you more pageviews. So, after your piece is published, help the blogger promote it. Talk about your guest post on your blog. Mention it on your social networks (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, etc.)

If your post does well the blogger will want another one from you, giving you more traffic in return.

7. Be considerate

Google doesn't like it when the same content ends up on two different sites, so it's likely the blogger will ask you for exclusive rights to your piece. Because of this, it's important you disclose whether your guest post has been previously published.

Whoever you submit your work to, remember that every professional writer receives rejections. I know it's easier said than done, but try to look on them as a badge of honor. This is what a real writer does. Whatever happens, don't give up. You'll get there.

Good luck!

Other articles you might like:

Pixar: 22 Ways To Tell A Great Story
How to Write a Blog Post
How to Write a Horror Story

Libraries Look To Indie Authors As The Future

I love libraries. One of my favorite memories involves a library. I was as a kid, it was summer and very hot. I biked over to the library on my no-gear bike and sank into one of its absurdly comfortable, enthusiastically orange, chairs. I listened to the whir of the air conditioner and gazed in appreciation at all the books. As I drank in the stillness, for a moment it felt like a sanctuary.

I can't imagine living in a city without a library. I can't imagine there not being any more libraries! But that could happen.

Not only is library use down, but a few publishers--most notably the 'Big 6' (Random House, Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Penguin and Hachette)--are making it more difficult for libraries to buy books. The following is from a librarian from a "mid-sized library system in South Carolina" who wishes to remain anonymous. He writes:

Random House tripled the cost of all their books so, for me to buy a copy of a $7.99 backlist title now costs me $23.97. To buy a copy of Fifty Shades of Grey would cost you $9.99 - that same copy costs a library $47.85. Hachette, beginning October 1, will be increasing the price of their titles by an even greater margin from early accounts. Oh, and Hachette won't sell frontlist titles to libraries at all - we can only buy backlist (and very old backlist at that). Which drew the reply from Sullivan: “Now we must ask, with friends like these...?” I couldn't have said it better myself. (E-books in Libraries: They Still Don't Get It)

What are librarians doing about this? If Librarian X is any indication, they're getting angry and finding ways of procuring affordable, quality, material: they're turning to indies. Librarian X writes:

If you don't sell us your frontlist authors, what will happen in time is that other authors will show up who will take their place ... and the odds are that these others will be self-published or publish through a smaller publisher who doesn't view libraries as enemies. Speaking personally, I don't buy e-book titles from any of the Big 6 any longer. Why bother? I can buy titles from smaller publishers and authors for less than $10 through OverDrive and, in my studies of my circulation figures on those titles, they circulate just as well as the more expensive ones. Why should I care? With my purchasing decisions, I'm buying more titles and showing a return on investment far sooner. My boss is happy and I'm more than pleased to be doing my part to twist the knife even if only a little. (E-books in Libraries: They Still Don't Get It)

This could be a marvelous opportunity for indie authors. Joe Konrath, one of the first and most well-known indie authors, has put together a proposal. He writes:

Blake and I are willing to sell our entire ebook catalog to the Harris County Public Library, and to any other libraries that are interested, under these terms:

1. Ebooks are $3.99

2. No DRM.

3. The library only needs to buy one ebook of a title, and then they can make as many copies as they need for all of their patrons and all of their branches.

4. The library owns the rights to use that ebook forever.

5. The library can use it an any format they need; mobi, epub, pdf, lit, etc. And when new formats arise, they're’re free to convert it to the new format.

In short, the library buys one copy, and never has to buy it again. (Ebooks For Libraries)

.  .  .  .

I've ... gotten lots of emails from authors who want to offer libraries the same terms.

The problem is organization. We need someone to act as a liaison between publishers and libraries to run something like this on a big scale. And I believe that person should be paid. How big a job this will be, and how much of a cut they deserve, can be discussed in the comments section. But indie authors need to come together to offer libraries their books, and dealing with 9000 different library systems would be a full time job. (E-books in Libraries: They Still Don't Get It)

If you're interested in either selling your books to libraries or in helping to organize this gargantuan undertaking, head on over to Joe's comment section.

Of course you don't need to organize to sell your books to libraries, or even to bookstores! Just approach the library and find out what their procedures are.

Whatever you decide to do, best of luck! :)

Other articles you might like:
- 3 Ways To Create Incredible Characters
- Amazon's KDP Select: The Best Long-Term Strategy?
- Save The Cat! The Importance Of Sympathetic Heroes

Photo credit: Paul Lowry

3 Ways To Create Incredible Characters

I love Joanna Penn's blog over at The Creative Penn. After writing one post today about the business of writing (Amazon's KDP Select: The Best Long-Term Strategy?) I was happy to read something about the craft of writing. As I read, ideas popped into my head, points I needed to keep in mind as I begin a rewrite of my latest story. So, for better or worse, here are 3 ways to create incredible characters:

1. Create a detailed backstory for each of your main characters
Readers want to know that you know the details, the minutia, of the fictional world you've created. You don't have to tell readers the entire backstory--in fact it's best if you only reveal the minimum needed to carry the story along--but you need to know it.

Why? Well, for starters, it will keep you from contradicting yourself (hair blond in one scene, black in another, a name spelt differently in different places, and so on), and it will give you a deeper understanding of your characters.

Nowadays when I begin a story I create a file for character names and descriptions and another for general world history. Character biography sheets are great aids (here's another, and another). There are also character tests and quizzes you can use. Your characters backstories don't need to be extensive, you just need to give them enough verisimilitude to bring them to life on the page.

2. Be mean to your characters in order to create change
In Changes, Harry Dresden finds out--surprise!--he has a daughter and that she is in mortal danger. Harry turns his life inside out to save her life. He does things he swore he never would, things that would, if he did them to achieve another goal, mark him as a bad guy. Jim Butcher takes Harry through a character arc so extreme that, if it were written by someone less skilled, he could have made the character unbelievable. Broken him. As it is, Jim Butcher succeeded in rejuvenating the series and taking it, at least for a time, in a different direction.

How did Jim Butcher do this? He gave Harry something that meant a great deal to him (a child) and then took it away (the child was to be ritually sacrificed). Find out what your characters want, what they would die for, and take it away from them--or give it to them and arrange for them to lose it.

I know it's hard to create wonderful characters that are real to you and then make horrible things happen to them, but you have to. The struggle against odds, against the bad guy, against injustice, and so on, that's what makes us root for a character, it's what makes us want to see what happens in the end.

3. Show who your characters are through action
You've heard this before: Show, don't tell. I believe sometimes telling is just fine, especially if you want to move from point A to B quickly. That said, just as in real life, what your character does shows a reader what kind of a character they are. What would we think of Harry Dresden if he discovered he had a daughter in mortal danger and he shrugged his shoulders, told us how devastated he was, and then went to drink (warm) beer at McAnally's? On the other hand, what would we think of Harry if he did everything conceivable, no matter how ethically dubious, to save his child from being killed?

How characters react to the challenges you present them with, how they reach their goals, that tells a great deal about a character. But you all know this. If a person tells you one thing and does another, which are you going to believe?

4. Learn from what you like
I've used Harry Dresden as an example of a well-written character. Harry lives. (He even has a Twitter account!) Perhaps you love the Dresden Files as much as I do and perhaps you don't. It doesn't matter. Choose your favorite book, or books, put on your editor's hat, and study how the author made you care about her characters. Perhaps you love them, perhaps you hate them, study how they shaped their characters to be what they wanted.

Well, that's it! There is a lot more to say about character development, but I need to go and practise what I preach. :) Good writing everyone!

Other links you might like:
- Writing Resources
- 7 Common Self-Publishing Fears And How To Banish Them
- Amazon's KDP Select: The Best Long-Term Strategy?

Photo credit: dorena-wm

Amazon's KDP Select: The Best Long-Term Strategy?

Last week I discussed how Kris Rusch, in her weekly business column, urged writers to prioritize their writing and only check sales of their books once a month. She also called Amazon's KDP Select program bad for writers and laid out why. She writes:

The million words are under my control. The number of sales, once a book is released, is not under my control. Not when you look at the worldwide market, at all of the distribution channels. I can get the work out there, then I have to trust it to sell.

Write more. Fret less. Stop watching your sales numbers. Beat my million words this year.

As you can imagine, this created a terrific discussion in the comment section. Dean mentioned this on his blog but, since I was on vacation at the time, I didn't read it. I have now, and want to share a few of the comments with you. I don't feel right posting an entire comment without the author's permission, but I'll post enough of it that you can get the gist of what is being said. (Also, I've embedded a direct link to the comment in each subtitle, below.) If you'd like to go directly to the comments section and read them for yourself, click here: Watching The Numbers, Comments.

Two main, and interrelated, discussion threads developed, both centered around questions. First, should writers spend most of their time writing as opposed to, say, marketing? Second, is using Amazon's KDP Select program the best long term strategy? Kris says yes to the first and a resounding no to the second. Here's why:

1) Writing versus Marketing

Kris: Writers should write what they like, not write what they believe will sell.
This was what kicked off one, sometimes heated, conversation:

Writers should write what they want to write even if no one wants it. Because the latest break-out book is always a surprise. We readers never know what we want until we see it. (That was in response to William Ockham.)

Blanche: Writers need to eat

It’s easier not to worry about your sales numbers when you have a day job or when you’re established enough to have enough income saved up that you don’t depend on them for rent.

I went into this year with four months of income saved up, and I’m very good with money. I’ve done the best I could with what I had. I made budgets and I stuck with them, even when it looked like I had more money that I could spend. I saved it. But it doesn’t matter how much you save when your sales dry up and they don’t revive. When they keep getting worse. At some point, there’s just not going to be enough money.

This is just the beginning of Blanche's comment, it is truly excellent. If you are a writer trying to make ends meet, you need to read this. It won't provide any answers, but it'll show you you're not alone.

Kris: We've all been there

Unfortunately, Blanche, what you’re going through happens to all writers at various stages in their careers. Sales drop off for unknown reasons. Read Lawrence Block’s essays. He couldn’t sell a book into traditional publishing for (I believe) two years, after years and years of making a living at writing. I’ve gone through those downtimes. Other writers have too. Back when we taught the Master Class, we had writers participate in a role-playing game that showed them the ups and downs of a freelancer’s career. There are always periods of no money, periods of too much money, and almost no periods of steady money.

I wish I could be more encouraging than that. The key is to get a part time job to go through the lean times and to keep writing. You’re right to have only one career–writing–but sometimes you must support it with supplemental income. If you read back through my blogs, you’ll see that I considered doing the same thing as recently as six or seven years ago. It happens. It’s hard.

Again, this is just the start of Kris' answer and the rest is absolutely worth reading.

That was an interesting exchange but it soon transformed into an, at times, heated debate about the thorny question of whether Amazon KDP Select was worth the price of exclusivity.

2) Is Using Amazon's KDP Select The Best Business Strategy?

Here is what Amazon's KDP Select offers writers:

1. Your ebook is available exclusively on Amazon for 90 days.
2. You have the right to promote your ebook for free for 5 out of the 90 days.
3. Your book is automatically enrolled in the Kindle Owners Lending Library from which Prime members can borrow one book per month.
4. You are paid for each time your book is borrowed from the Kindle Owners Lending Library. The payment varies from month to month, depending upon how many books are borrowed, but typically is a little over $2 per borrow, so it’s pretty close to the royalty generated from selling an ebook for $2.99.
5. The most recent change is that KDP Select enrollment allows you to earn 70% on ebooks sold through Amazon’s new Indian store. (From: KDP Select – Worth the Exclusivity?)

Kris: Bargain hunters don't become loyal readers

[B]argain hunters are rarely long-term clients of anything except the bargain store. Wal-Mart has done hundreds of studies of this. It’s found that customers who shop at Wal-Mart want the lower prices, not the brand names. So if the brand doesn’t show up at Wal-Mart, the discount customer buys something similar.

Good point! Or so I thought ...

Lisa: Amazon KDP Select helps sell books. Period.

My novels priced at $2.99 and $5.99 after a free run have helped me to sell in the one thousand to four thousand dollar range in the months following the free run.

And yes, sales on the rest of the books in my series which have never gone free and are not in Select, pick up dramatically after a free run.

So a free run can positively affect the sales of all books in a series and enable a new self-publlished author a chance to make real money. There is nothing bargain priced about my books. I sell several hundred (and one month broke a thousand) of my titles.

Very impressive! What is the key to success? Lisa offers that it is discoverability. She writes:

Discoverability is key.

Select, if used correctly, can assure your book is in several of those short stacks on the front row. Hot new releases, also boughts, best sellers in your genre, popularity, Koll Lending Library, suggested for you, and emails of the top ten best sellers they send out to genre buyers.
The chances of making these lists goes up when releasing a book through the Select program. Making any of these lists increases sales because suddenly a reader has your book in front of them at full price after the free run.

If my emails are any indication, I’m building up a loyal fan base for both my series. Select does help bonafide buyers “discover” books after a free run because now they’re on the lists.

Kris: Amazon's KDP Select is a way for Amazon to promote its brand
Kris wasn't responding to Lisa when she wrote this, but I thought it was instructive:

Of course we’ve explored Select, and saw it for what it is: a way to promote Amazon’s brand. That a few writers are making money on it is good for them. But Select benefits Amazon more than it benefits anyone else. Not that that’s a problem: Amazon has the right like all of us do to improve their business. But it is something that writers should realize.

Breakaway: KDP Select Works
Breakaway knows a thing or two about marketing and he holds that Select works not because those who download the book for free reading it, love it, and search out your other books but because it gets your book in front of the eyes of people who do buy books. He writes:

Those who claim (in the few comments I did read, as well) that most people won’t read the freebies are 100% correct. Those who do search in the bargain bin will probably always search in the bargain bin, I agree as well. Those who use this as a mark against Select fail to understand the true power of Select. I recently gave away 26k books in 4 days. I don’t expect most who downloaded it for free to ever read it. That is not the goal. I use their bargain bin mindset, to utilize the promotional power of the Amazon algorithms and their calculation of free ebooks, to boost my books in the catalog/store shelves/bestseller lists/popularity lists on Amazon… TO GET MY BOOK IN FRONT OF THE EYES OF THE PEOPLE WHO DO BUY BOOKS, via the bestseller lists. THAT is how I use Select free promotions, to great effect. Not to Konrath or Grisham effect, but to enabling me to make 2x more monthly than I did at my highest-paying job ever, with less than 10 books published total, publishing my first book in March of 2012. That is success in my eyes, even if not compared to a Konrath, a DWS, or others.

 That is just a small part of Breakaway's comment and the rest is well worth reading.

Kris: The flaw in Select

[H]ere’s how it happens. The writer writes a very good book. He puts it up on Select, gets great word of mouth, and gets lots of other readers from Amazon/Select to find/read his book. Then they go to other books by the same author.

Here’s the problem. The book is what’s causing the growth in sales, not Select. If the writer used Select as a tool, and then dropped Select after 90 days and went to other markets, the writer is using Select correctly. But if the writer says the sales are because of Select, and then throwing everything into Select, the writer is making a mistake.

The writer isn’t crediting his good work, and isn’t believing in it, letting it grow over time. Sure, he jumpstarted it, and then he’s driving around the neighborhood and never seeing the world. If readers on Select are buying it in large quantities, then it stands to reason they’re discussing it with readers not on Select. Those readers will want the book and won’t be able to get it causing a loss of sales.

And that’s what I’m arguing against. Essentially writers are crediting Select when, in fact, it’s their own work that continues to bring in the readers–not the platform.

I'm stopping there. This is the best discussion of KDP Select I've seen and it just keeps going! Again, you can join the fun here:  Watching The Numbers, Comments.

If you don't read Kris' weekly business post on the business of writing, you're mission out. And don't forget to read the comments, often the blog post is just the beginning.

Cheers!

Update: PG has a great post about Amazon's KDP Select program over at The Passive Voice Blog: KDP Select – Worth the Exclusivity?. A lot of great comments, too.
PG also recommended: Risks and Rewards of Kindle Select Publishing

Other articles you might like:
- How To Start A Blog
- How To Build A Platform: Why Every Writer Needs A Website
- Writing Rules! Advice from The New York Times

Photo credit: Unknown

A Creative Shift Is As Good As A Vacation

Today I wanted to pass along the link to: Why You Need A Creative Shift Instead Of A Vacation, As Explained By Joss Whedon. It seemed appropriate, especially as this is (sigh) the last day of my (very fun!) vacation.

Perhaps that's true. Perhaps all one needs is a creative shift--write a humorous short story between 100,000+ word fantasy sagas, paint something. Learn to knit. Although I do think a creative shift can rejuvenate our muse, sometimes there really isn't anything like getting away from one's daily routine and traveling somewhere you've never been.

Like Portland! :)

Other articles you might like:
- Want Help With Editing? Try Free Editing Programs
- 8 Tips For Blogging Success
- Are You Writing The Right Book? 5 Ways To Find Out

Writing Rules! Advice from The New York Times

So far my vacation has been delightful! It's my first time in Portland and I'm sure it won't be the last. The food has been villainously great, Powell's Books was completely and utterly amazing. If you're any kind of bookworm, it's heaven. The place is enormous, I actually got lost! (They gave me a sticker, 'I got lost in Powell's'! It was great to know I wasn't the only one.)

After I get back I'll post some pictures of Powell's and other notable destinations. Today I'm visiting Voodoo Donuts. I went by yesterday but the line up would have reached from one end of a stadium to the other. A couple of public events had just let out, so I hope the line will be shorter today. They're open 24 hours (imagine, 24 hours!) so I'm confident I'll have consumed their dark delights before coming home.

In the meantime, here's a link to an utterly fantastic article from The New York Times by Amanda Christy Brown and Katherine Schulten: Writing Rules! Advice From The Times on Writing Well.

I hope you all are having an amazing weekend!

Other articles you might like:
- Learning Story Structure: Deconstructing a Novel
- The Key To Success: 3000 Words A Day
- Want Help With Editing? Try Free Editing Programs

Photo credit: Uniquely Portland Oregon.
(This site has a great description of Powell's Books and many more pictures.)

Save The Cat! The Importance Of Sympathetic Heroes

I love Blake Snyder's book Save The Cat so I was delighted to read Elizabeth Craig's blog article on the subject. When I first came across the book I wondered about the title. It seemed like an odd choice for a book on screenwriting. Here's how Wikipedia describes it:

The title Save the Cat! is a term coined by Snyder and describes the scene where the audience meets the hero of a movie for the first time. The hero does something nice—e.g. saving a cat—that makes the audience like the hero and root for him. According to Snyder, it is a simple scene that helps the audience invest themselves in the character and the story, but is often lacking in many of today's movies. (Wikipedia, Blake Snyder)

Elizabeth Craig writes:

Snyder said that it was incredibly important for your audience (he, naturally, means filmgoers, but it works for readers) to like or at least pull for your protagonist. He casually mentions the importance of making your protagonist do something likeable in one of the first scenes of your film/novel.

This sounds incredibly simple (and is incredibly simple), but I’d never thought of it in such a concrete or deliberate way before.

.  .  .  .

But you want readers to at least pull for your character. You don’t want them to give up on your book. So, Snyder’s advice is to throw in a scene that displays the protagonist in a good light….early.

So, when readers are trying to decide if they want to invest their hard-earned free time with your character for the next few days or week, we’re giving them a reason to stick with them.

Before reading this book, I’d definitely thrown in a scene or two with a softer Myrtle at some point in the mystery. But usually it wasn’t near the start of the story.

Excellent advice! Red the rest of Elizabeth Craig's article here: Save the Cat

Other articles you might like:
- John Locke Paid For Book Reviews
- Tips For First Time Writers
- 19 Ways To Grow Your Twitter Following

Photo credit: Unknown

Away On Vacation!

I am off on vacation! A short vacation. I'll still blog--I've been squirreling posts away so I don't have to sit in my hotel room typing while my friends are off exploring the city. One thing I am going to do--or at least that I'm going to try to do--is treat this time away from my desk as an opportunity to see how easy it is to blog from the iPhone 5. (Not mine, a friend's. I haven't taken the plunge yet!)

I'm a bit of a foodie who loves street meat so I'll be prowling the city sampling the wares of food trucks and, generally, looking for good eats.

Before I go, let me leave you with a link to a terrific article by Joanna Penn: Lessons Learned From 1 Year As A Fulltime Author Entrepreneur:

I am seriously happy in my new life, but there have been some real challenges and lessons I’ve learned along the way that I wanted to share, as well as some action points if you’re considering making a similar move.

As ever, I just try to share honestly with you guys so I hope this helps you on your journey. I’d love to hear from you so please leave a comment at the end of the post with your thoughts and ideas.

Cheers! Hope you all have a fantastic weekend. :)

Other articles you might be interested in:
- The Key To Success: 3000 Words A Day
- Learning Story Structure: Deconstructing a Novel
- Branding: Not As Painful As It Sounds

Photo credit: kaoruokumura

7 Common Self-Publishing Fears And How To Banish Them

From Copyblogger.com:

You keep telling yourself that you will write an ebook someday … just not yet. And it’s almost certainly the case that one of the seven common fears in this article is holding you back.

Staying stuck isn’t any fun, so let’s get right to it …

Fear #1: I’m not ready
This is the biggest worry I hear from bloggers: I’m not ready.

All too often, the bloggers saying this are more than ready.

They’ve been blogging for six months, or a year, or longer.

Or they’re subject matter experts.

Or they’ve been writing for years or even decades.

Even if the longest thing you’ve written so far is a blog post, you probably are ready (or at least a lot closer to ready than you think).

Tip: Pick a date when you will begin your ebook, however unready you feel. Put it in your calendar.

Fear #2: I don’t know what to write about
This fear comes in two forms:

I have no ideas at all
I have so many ideas, I don’t know which to pick

The best way forward is to ask your audience.

Give them a list of your potential ideas and ask them to vote on their favorites. Even better, ask them what they’re struggling with, using open-ended questions.

Tip: Though open-ended questions are always best, you can use SurveyMonkey to run a multiple choice survey — it’s free at the basic level, and quick and simple for your audience to use.

Great advice! Here are the rest of the fears:

Fear #3: Nobody will buy it

Fear #4: It won’t be good enough

Fear #5: I don’t understand the technology

Fear #6: I don’t have a big list

Fear #7: I hate the idea of marketing

To have your fears dispelled, read Ali Luke's entire article: How to Beat 7 Common Self-Publishing Fears.

Other links you might enjoy:
- Want Help With Editing? Try Free Editing Programs
- The Key To Success: 3000 Words A Day
- John Gardner: You Aren't Fooling Yourself, You Really Can Do It

Photo credit: Yuliya Libkina