Have you ever dreamed of writing a book? In today’s episode, we learn from Chandler Bolt that publishing your own book doesn’t have to be a dream. In fact, it can become a realistic goal that you can achieve in less than 90 days. – Here’s your step-by-step guide to make it happen.

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Chandler Bolt on How to Write and Publish a Book in Less Than 90 Days:

Chandler Bolt’s number 1 advice: If you’re writing a self-help book you need 2 things, does the reader believe they can do the thing, and are they equipped to do the thing. Any book needs this 1-2 punch.

There are 3 sections in Chandler’s book, we are going to cover the first section in today’s episode.

Section 1: Laying the Foundation

Looking for Your Why

You need to define “why” from a reader’s perspective and “why” from the writer’s perspective. This is where you need to focus on why are you writing this book and how is it going to fit in with what you are doing.
The 3 main reasons for writing are Impact, Income, or grow your business or a combination of any of these.
Get clear on why you are doing this and write it down and keep it in front of you to come back to throughout the entire process. This is for motivation and for clarity! Having clarity will keep you from going down rabbit trails and focusing on the wrong things.
Think of 1 person who is your reader and write to that person. Start the chapter almost as it is a letter to that person. What does that person want to hear? Do they want you to be funny? What tone of voice works best for this person?

Limiting Beliefs for Authors:
• I don’t have time.
• Who’s going to read it
• I’m not a good writer
• What is people hate it
• What if it fails
• What if it succeeds
You do not have to know everything about your topic you just need to know a little bit more than your reader. Do not let the “imposter” syndrome keep you from writing your book.

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Chandler Bolt’s techniques for writing a book:

Cater to your strengths.

  1. Mind map and brain dump everything you can think of on the topic
  2. Turn the mind map into an outline, group ideas into section then to chapters
  3. Write or speak the book 1 chapter at a time. Start with chapter 1, mind map, outline and then write it and repeat this process chapter by chapter. If you happen to speak better than you write then speak the chapter and transcribe it instead of writing.

Chandler’s 2 rules:

  1. You cannot edit while you write
  2. You cannot work on more than 1 book at a time. Chinese proverb “If you try to catch 2 rabbits you will end up catching zero”.

Once you’ve got your mind mapping and outlining done, do you recommend writing it all down as quickly as possible or scheduling it out with an hour a day?

One of Chandler’s books was written in 1 week and he stuck with the method of mind map, outline then write with each chapter.

Chandler’s 2-fold hack:

  1. Accountability partner: this can be a friend who will hold you accountable to make sure you finish your book. So be careful who you choose and make sure it is a person who will actually keep you on track!
  2. Public accountability: Going public on your goals will hold you accountable and get you to finish on time. Self-Publishing school asks its writers to choose their end date take a picture with the date and post it on social media.

Once you are done writing should you self-edit?
We recommend a verbal read-through after the draft. Actually, read it out loud. This will make the book better. After this hire a professional editor, they will make your book so much better!
Reedsy or Upwork are great freelance platforms to find editors.

“When you pass your book off to someone with a fresh set of eyes you are giving your book the chance to reach a level that you cannot reach on your own.”

Having an editor makes the difference from having a good book to having a great book!

Best practices for the title and the cover:

The title needs to instantly tell people what the book is about and whether or not its for them. List out 20-50 title/subtitle options and record yourself explaining the book to someone else. The title and subtitle will be in your explanation. Focus on this before being clever or funny.
The cover is a billboard for your book. A good cover needs to do 3 things:
1. Grab attention
2. The title needs to be easy to read and in the top 3rd of the cover
3. Combo of the cover and title/subtitle needs to give the prospect an instant understanding of what the book is about and if the book is for them or not.
When should you be working on creating a title and cover?
LAST
If you don’t have the rough draft done, then don’t work on anything else. You must have the rough draft done first. Nothing else matters until this is done.

Chandler Bolt’s final thought:

“If you wait for all the lights to turn green before leaving home, you will never get started on your journey to the top”
– Zig Zigler

Everyone thinks there will be a magical day where all the stars align, and everything is perfect and this is when they will start writing a book. – this will never happen, you just have to get started and make the time!

Resources Mentioned in this Episode:

▶ Read the book: Published
▶ Chandler’s company site: Self Publishing School
▶ Editor Websites: Reedsy  ,   Upwork

Are you planning on writing a book? It’s time to go public! Share your estimated release date in a comment below.