Earma Brown asked:


What’s blocking you from releasing your significant message in a book this year? For many, an unfinished manuscript is the culprit. No worries; read this article to finish strong and sell sooner than you imagined.

Don’t make the simple mistakes that blocked many of us for years. A wildly successful book could be in your near future. But you’ll never know if you don’t complete and release it to the world.

To make sure you finish strong and your book garners all the attention it deserves, start with correcting the simple book writing mistakes below:

Mistake 1 Failure to make the editor’s cut.

Many inexperienced writers are in love with their words. They can’t bear to part with the long wordy prose in their manuscript. Shorten your stories and examples. Use the popular question answer format. Ask a question in the heading; then answer it in the text. Most audiences are busy and respond better to this easy direct style.

Solution: Go ahead you can do it. Edit your book and cut anything not necessary to support your thesis (main central point). Editor cuts make your book concise, easy-to-read, and compelling for your readers. They will reward you by reading it and telling all their friends about your easy to read helpful book.

Mistake 2 Failure to submit one’s writing to a professional editor

First time authors settle for the easiest opinion to get (their family and friends). Always get a professional opinion of the final edition. Someone not blinded by love and concern for your feelings will tell you the truth about your wordiness or grammar mistakes. They’ll help you weed out passive constructions like, “there is”, “is”, “has”, “begin or start”. A professional editor will energize your writing by limiting the “ly” adverbs that tell instead of show. A good editor will spot your tense changes.

Solution: Invest in your book to make it the best it can be. Make it your goal to paint a picture that your readers respond to with their emotions. Professional proofreading pays off with more book profits.

Mistake 3 Failure to know your audience.

Aspiring authors gather all their extensive knowledge and write a book. They often fail to consider the audience they will serve. Write for a specific audience. Top selling books focus on one topic for one audience at a time. Your audience waits for the easy to read and easy to implement solutions you provide in your book. Save them time and money, make life more enjoyable, help them profit; they will love you for it.

Solution: Today choose one or two of your audiences; prepare a profile of their needs or problems. Keep it close to your book writing station. With a targeted market, you’ll write a book for an audience that’s looking for solutions.

Mistake 4 Failure to sizzle your title to sell well.

Titles set the stage for your potential audience. They either work to grab your reader by the collar and pull them in for the read or they don’t. Top titles create excitement, anticipation and enthusiasm for more. You want your titles to express the heart and passion of your book or be ‘the match’ that ignites your reader’s interest in reading your important message.

Solution: Develop this valuable skill and you add magnetic pulling power and punch to all your marketing documents including your front book cover and chapter titles that will get your message read. Remember, don’t stop at your book cover title, sizzle your chapter titles, headlines, bullets and sell more.

Mistake 5 Failure to focus on one main topic.

Top selling authors focus on one main topic. They make sure each chapter supports that subject. If you scatter your focus, you’ll come across as unorganized, long winded, and boring. Your readers may find your book hard to understand.

Solution: Instead of an encyclopedia type book, chunk your information into modules, segments, chapters or parts. In each segment, offer plenty of detail to make it useful to your reader.

To continue with these book writing mistakes could mean your book never reaches the audience for which it was designed. On the other hand, you could finish strong and put your book into the hands of those waiting for your easy to read solutions. Don’t make them wait any longer. Go to your destiny; write and complete a wildly successful book.