How To Write A Business Book

If you want to write a business book, then you probably won’t be surprised to hear that there are thousands of coaches, freelancers, entrepreneurs, CEOs, executives, managers, and business owners who also wish to put their thoughts to paper.

However, the vast number of people who want to write a book and the number of people who actually get down to it is very different.

The reason being is that writing a book is hard work and writing a good business book is even harder.

If you have a book you are itching to get out but are hesitant about starting or feel entirely overwhelmed by the task then you are in the right place.

Some of the things you might be considering are if all the time and effort even worth it?

And how much money you can actually make from a business book anyways?

Is it even an effective way to promote your business?

As you’ve probably discovered there are no quick and easy ways of writing a good book.

It will be a challenge from day one to put your thoughts on paper, organize your book, and, of course, to find the time to write.

If you want to make your book a reality then you have to commit to the task.

Remember it may seem daunting but just take it one step at a time. That’s the only way great things are made.

There are many freelancers, leaders, entrepreneurs, and business owners out there who would want to write a business book.

This is not surprising since writing a business book comes with many benefits.

Unfortunately, the number of people who get down to writing a business book and even sell more than just a handful of copies is minimal.

The reason for this is simple: It is not easy to write a book. What is even more challenging is writing a bestselling business book.

If you want to make that dream of writing a business book a reality, you must be prepared to take up the challenge and commit to the task.

Competition is stiff, with thousands of new books appearing in the market every year.

So, how do you write a business book that will stand out and become a bestseller? Keep reading to find out.

What is a Business Book?

Books in the business genre cover topics relating to the running, management, and financial aspect of a business.

They may also include books covering the growth and economic impact of businesses in different cultures and regions.

How to Approach Your Business Book: Elements to Consider

If you are interested in writing a business book, you need to have these four elements in place.

• A platform with a good following where you can actively market your book. Be it an email list, podcast, blog, website, social media account, or other.
• An incentive. There are many reasons to write a book, but the best one answers the question as to how the book will complement your revenue streams.
• Means of promoting the book. Have an established network to help get the book in front of the audience and convince them to invest in it.
• A great writer. You don’t have to be that excellent writer to write a bestseller book. You can hire a ghostwriter to help bring your ideas to life since it is the insights that matter.

Why Write A Business Book

The first stage of writing a book is understanding your motivation behind it.

• Why do you want to write the book?
• What is the objective?
• Do you want to help people?
• Do you want to further your own business goals?

Perhaps you want to leave a legacy.

I would suggest that before you start writing or even outlining that you first watch the brilliant TedTalk by Simon Sinek, where he talks about starting with the most important reason: ‘Why.’

Some of the questions you should ask yourself are:

• What drives you?
• What do you want to accomplish?
• Who do you wish to help?

These questions are good to keep you on the correct course, not only in writing your book, but in your business, and life as well.

Some other reasons you might want to write are that you’ve probably had your fair of false starts and failures. You can help others achieve their success in a much shorter time with a lot less stress.

Perhaps you’ve built a business out of nothing and want to show others how to do it.

There is no right or wrong ‘why’ but keeping attuned to your vision and your motivation will help to keep you motivated during the darkest hours when you feel like giving up.

What is a Bestseller Business Book?

Typically, a book is labelled as a bestseller when it sells a few thousand copies in a short time, say a week.

Others will define it as a book that has appeared on a published list of bestsellers.

Unofficially, a book becomes a bestseller when printed in the New York Times, Washington Post, USA TODAY, Publisher’s weekly, or the Wall Street Journal bestsellers lists.

Today, a bestseller may mean different things to different people.

But what we can agree on, whether your measure for a bookseller is how many copies it sells in the first weeks of its publication or its lifetime, a bestseller is simply a book that sells better than all the rest of its kind.

For your book to become a bestseller, as much as the element of luck plays a role in it, your book needs to be brilliant and tightly written.

To boost your chances with this, you might need to pay attention to these steps.

Your Unique Selling Proposition

Just as in your business, your book also needs a unique selling proposition.

One of your main dilemmas is going to be how to make your book different from all the hundreds of thousands of other business books out there.

I mean, you have ‘Good To Great’, ‘The 4-Hour Work Week,’ and the “Lean Startup’, to name a few. How can you improve on those?

You are probably good at what you do but so are those authors.

Think for a moment about how you can make your book unique and different from everyone else’s.

That’s not to say that some of your information can’t overlap with other books but you definitely need something different.

Perhaps you have expertise in a special niche or some fresh ideas you haven’t seen anywhere before.

Make sure that you write the book from your point of view and give it your perspective.

What makes you uniquely you. Is it where you come from or your background?

Everybody has a story to tell so don’t be afraid to put a little of your personality into the book.

Before You Start Writing Your Business Book

Most business books are written to help other people achieve their business goals so you must be passionate about helping others.

People who consume business books usually read a lot of them and they’ll know if you’re not putting your entire heart and soul into the project.

You have a responsibility to your readers as you would your clients.

Hold that responsibility as a sacred oath.

Ernest Hemmingway, the famous novelist, wasn’t too wrong when he said all you have to do is bleed on the page.

If you don’t know something don’t be afraid to ask someone else or do your research. This is your chance to learn something new as well. While you may be the authority on a subject, it’s okay not to know everything.

How Long Should A Business Book Be? 

The usual business book is around 200 to 300 pages which works out to between 50,000 and 6000 words.

However, this is just a guideline, of course, and there are both shorter and longer businesses book.

If you are planning to publish digitally rather than print, then you can even do a shorter e-book for around 10,000 words.

Don’t try and add extra sections just to hit some arbitrary word count if it doesn’t add value to the reader.

Your reader is like a bloodhound. They will instinctively know if you’re trying to fluff up the book.

Again it’s essential to consider your audience and why you’re writing this book.

A question to ask yourself is will busy entrepreneurs have the time to sit through a book that is 100,000 words long? Unless your book is extremely compelling, it is unlikely.

Make sure every sentence is impactful and leads you towards an insight for your reader.

They have trusted you with their time and for an entrepreneur, there is nothing more valuable.

Steps to Writing a Bestseller Business Book

Cracking the code of writing a mega-selling book is yet to be done.

Most times, this comes as a surprise to both the author and the publisher.

However, looking at all the successful books, certain traits are common in all of them.

As an author looking to sell more than a handful of copies of your business books, you need to pay attention to these themes and set your book for success.

Step 1: Planning

Before you start writing that book, you need to have a clear plan with an end goal in mind. You first need to ask yourself these questions:

• Why do you want to write that book?
• Who do you wish to reach with the book?
• What do you want to accomplish with the book?
• Why will the audience care about your book?
• How/what will success look like to you?

If you can strongly align your answer to these questions, you will have a strong foundation for planning your book.

The Why:

It is important to write your book with an end goal in mind.

• Why are you writing?
• Is it because you enjoy writing?
• To leave a legacy?
• To inspire others?
• To make money?
• To improve your authority?

Whether your ‘why’ is for one reason or several of them, you need to be clear on the goal before you set out writing.

The Who:

Once you are clear on the goal you seek to achieve with your book, the next question should be who you are writing it for.

Who do you wish to reach?

Who are you targeting as your audience, and why would they need to read your book?

What value will your book add to the reader’s life? What pains do your book wish to help the audience solve?

Put your audience in your head and write like you are having a one-on-one conversation with them.

Think about the knowledge they might have on the subject matter, the type of language they would prefer, and the questions they would wish answered. Figure out the actionable advice to give them and present it most logically.

Your focus shouldn’t be just what you want to share, but more on what the audience would actually wish to read.

The What:

You have answered the questions on the goal for your book and the reader.

The next thing is to address what the reader gains by reading your book.

Is it more knowledge, confidence, or a greater understanding of the subject? Does your book address a fear, solve a problem, or satisfy a curiosity? In other words, what do you talk about in your book, and why should the audience care?

Figure out the book’s primary objective, then figure out what to include.

List everything you would wish to include in your book from analogy, anecdote, techniques, theories, everything. Let your ideas flow as you list them down; you will cut them down later.

The How:

Your book is likely to be a success when you make a plan for it. This is where you look into everything from writing to marketing. Let us break this down.

• Writing schedule- Writing a book takes time, discipline, and effort. Set a writing schedule that you can realistically commit to daily, weekly, or monthly. Commit to specific times that work for you. Should you find some extra time to work on your book outside the scheduled time, the better.
• Book-length: Your type of book will impact the length of your book. On average, a page has between 250-300 words. A standard business book has 200 pages on average, translating to around 50,000- 60,000 words. However, it is still possible to publish a shorter book of between 30,000 to 40,000 words, and you can even go less with eBooks to between 7,000 to 10,000 words. Try to write as much as possible to cover the subject comprehensively, but don’t just add unnecessary words to hit the word count.
• Deadlines: Set your writing targets with deadlines on when you need to have achieved certain milestones. You can set a target date by which you need to have completed your draft and then break down the work to the number of words per day, week, or month.

The other option is to set a target on the number of words you will write per day, week, and month and work out the duration it will take you to complete the draft. Remember to factor in the time it will take to edit, proofread, and format your draft.

There is no standard timeline that defines how long it should take to write a book. The time you dedicate to doing it determines how long it will take.

• Outline: Make an outline for your book; it will greatly help direct your writing. Have a basic outline with a list of the chapters you will cover. You can have some bullet point listings per chapter to keep referring to so you don’t deviate from the subject matter.
• Marketing: You don’t have to start marketing your book immediately after you begin writing it, but you should think about how you will do it once it is published. Think about how you will attract the target audience and convince them to buy your book. You can start by exploring the avenue available to you at the moment, like your social media platforms, mailing list, or your blog’s following, and see how you can capitalize on that. Consider if you will need to invest in getting some marketing help.

Step #2 Marketing Your Business Book

This is traditionally the last step of the book writing process but I will challenge you to make it the first.

As a business owner yourself, you know the importance of marketing. Right? You don’t want to leave this till the end or treat it as an afterthought.

By starting a marketing plan and budgeting accordingly early you will have greater success when you launch the book.

Once you’ve decided to write a book, you should announce it on social media and let your audience hold you accountable.

(You can’t duck out of it if you’ve already announced your book is coming!)

Then update your audience on different stages of the book writing process as you finish them then celebrate those wins.

You can even let your audience shape the book by asking what they want to learn.

When it comes to the actual marketing, you have two types of marketing energies, time and money.

Start a fresh Google Calendar and plan out where and how you’re going to put your marketing energy. Are you going to spend your energy on social media connecting and posting?

Are you going to spend money on Amazon ads or guest posting on other blogs?

You’ll want to pick three marketing channels, preferably ones you’re already familiar with and push your book through those channels.

Many authors mistakenly try to market everywhere and hence get lost or push their book through channels they are unfamiliar with.

If you hate social media and don’t ever post there, it’s unlikely it will change with the publication of your book.

If you got a dollar of energy or a dollar of time to spend, you always want to spend it on your existing clients.

This usually means giving them a free digital or better yet a physical copy of your book.

Your friends, family, and present customers will bring you the highest rate of return because you maintain those relationships regularly.

They will be your evangelists, helping spread the word about your book, posting it on social media and telling their friends and their customers.

Next, you might want to consider who you know that might benefit from your book and target them.

This might be an old customer who you need to reengage or somebody you’ve met at a networking event or through some other business channel.

Not only can you discuss your book but some other business might appear as well. It’s a win-win.

You’ll want to have some type of book launch. You can either do a physical book launch or an online one.

(Hint: doing both can double your impact.)

If your audience is mainly online, you should do a Facebook Live event or a Hangout, but if you serve people in a specific area, have a physical launch where you read and sign copies of your book. Whatever you decide to do, make sure you promote it heavily beforehand.

Again, this is where the Google Calendar will come in handy.

Step 3: Content Creation

Writing:

Every author has a unique writing style. Some like to write in an organized order from the first chapter to the last one.

Others may choose to start from random sections and then put them in order later on when they are done with the writing. Just go with what works for you.

Focus on getting your book ideas down on paper and not necessarily having a perfect draft.

There will be plenty of time to proofread and edit the draft once you are done writing.

If anything, you will find that you will be more objective and spot any mistakes quickly when you edit your work a couple of weeks later.

Editing your previous work before getting started on new chapters also helps get you back to the writing flow; it is a lot harder to start with a blank page.

You will still need to go through the editing process again once the book is completed.

If you still want to write your back but can’t commit your time to it, you can go with a ghostwriter.

You share your ideas and the tone you need to have on the book with the ghostwriter, and they work on the content. Once they are done writing the book, you pay them off and publish it under your name and with all the rights.

The ghostwriters are well experienced in the industry, and although their services attract an extra cost, they are keen on quality and timelines. Go with the one you are most comfortable with since you will constantly communicate with them to effectively deliver your ideas in the tone and style you want.

Editing

The editing part of book writing is a critical one. This is the phase where you go through the chapters of your first draft, reviewing them for perfection. You can either choose to self-edit or outsource editing services. As you edit your work, you need to keep this in mind:

• Ensure there is consistency in the tone, style, and format throughout the book to avoid having a disjointed feel.
• Have the audience and your intended purpose in mind. Cut down any overly complicated sections and those that don’t add anything new and of value.
• Check the copy for clarity and conciseness. Reinforce your points with confidence but don’t over-explain the details

While it is helpful to ask a colleague or a friend to go through your book and give an honest review before you can publish it, having a professional editor review your draft is the better option. Some authors choose to go with different editors to handle different aspects of the book. It is essential to get clarity on the level of editing that each offers before engaging them. These can be:

• Copy editor- Who tidies up your copy by working on inconsistency, grammatical, and phrasing errors. They also make recommendations on the weak sections that you can improve on.
• Developmental editor- Engaging a developmental editor early on in the writing process is recommended. The editor helps with structuring your ideas, style, phrasing, and advice on ways to make your book more engaging. Some people may find these editors overly critical, but their role is to push you to deliver a saleable book.
• Line editor- The editor goes through your entire book line for line. They focus on checking for tone, clarity, and flow to eliminate repetition and badly-structured sentences.
• Manuscript editor- A manuscript editor reviews your completed draft and provides actionable advice on how to better it for publishing. Their suggestions can run from minor edits from proofreading to an in-depth edit if necessary. Their expert advice is worth considering before going ahead to publish.

Proofreading

No matter how experienced an author is, they can still make some typos and errors in the copy. The publishing software can also change some characters or input a spacing error. Therefore, you must take time to proofread your manuscript before and after publishing, and if possible, outsource a professional for this. Even when you have had an editor go through your draft, you need to proofread as editors only focus on what their package covers and will hardly proofread the draft for errors.

Choosing a Title

The two most important elements that draw people to your book are its title and the cover.

Don’t rush into deciding on these two.

Coming up with a unique book title isn’t easy, so you will need to do lots of research on this.

Most popular business books have a long but very specific book title, with a strapline underneath that tells you what stand to gain from reading the book.

Choose a title that tells your readers exactly what your book is about.

Some book titles can be trademarked, but you cannot copyright them. This means it is also possible to settle on a book title similar to another. However, this can affect your book sales negatively if your book shares the same title with a well-known author or a bestseller.

Cover Design

It is important to note that most readers judge a book by its cover.

Take time to design it if you are self-publishing, but if you are working with a publisher, they will most likely come up with a cover design for you.

You can check out sites for free customizable cover templates for eBooks like HubSpot.

Endorsement and Blurb

A book’s back cover is what convinces most people to buy it.

It would help if you had a blurb telling potential readers what your book is all about and the problem it will solve for them.

On the other hand, its front cover is the reason why people pick the book up. An endorsement from a well-known author or an industry influencer can help boost readers’ confidence in buying your book.

Others

Having a contents page for your book is important, regardless of the type of book it is.

If your book contains terms that readers may be unfamiliar with, consider having a glossary as well.

If your plan is to sell the book through bookshops or have it in libraries, you will need to have an International Standard Book Number (ISBN), a unique number used to identify your book. An ISBN is not a legal requirement, and if you are selling your book via a digital format, it is not necessary.

Step 4: Publishing

When your manuscript is well written, edited, and proofread, you get to the publishing stage. You can go with several options here, each with its pros and cons.

1. Traditional/ commercial/ conventional publishing

When publishing your book through a publishing house, you or your agent submits your manuscripts to the publisher, who then decides whether they will publish it or not. Most first-time authors take this route to shield themselves from the financial risk. When the publisher is confident that the book will sell many copies, enough to cover their costs and make them some extra money, they purchase it from you and pay you an upfront fee.

Pros:

• You get an advance on royalties depending on the terms agreed upon.
• The publisher edits, formats, proofreads, designs cover, publishes, and even helps get your book out there.
• The publisher is invested in the book and will push to generate maximum sales.

Cons:

• Getting your manuscript accepted by the publisher isn’t easy.
• You have no control over publishing timelines.

2. Self-publishing

Self-publishing is a popular option these days, especially for writers with a large social following or a strong profile. The author publishes independently, handling editing, formatting, proofreading, printing, distribution, and marketing. The author bears all the financial costs and risks.

Pros:

• Cost-effective
• Relatively easy to do
• Some websites offer free digital formatting for eBooks.
• You can choose to print your books on demand (POD).
• The author keeps 50-70% of profits on book sales and still retains all rights to the book.

Cons:

• The author pays for professional editing, formatting, proofreading, and design services.
• Less visibility compared to traditional publishers.
• The author meets all upfront costs.

3. Hybrid/subsidy/author-assisted publishing

This type of publishing lies in between traditional and self-publishing.

The main difference is that the author subsidizes the publishing cost, but all the other services that a traditional publisher offers remain the same.

Any author that chooses to go this route must be keen on the terms of the contract pertaining to the royalties, rights to the book, and the exact role the publisher plays in helping get your book out there.

Pros:

• Much of the work in editing, formatting, proofreading and designing is done by the publisher.
• Publisher applies for the ISBN on your behalf and helps get your book to the book shops.
• Some subsidy publishers offer marketing services.

Cons:

• There are many scammers (vanity publishers) operating as subsidy publishers.

Step 5: Planning Your Launch/ Marketing

The book launch and marketing is the last stage in making a bestseller business book. You are finally done publishing the best business book, but how do you get it out there to the target audience?

If you are publishing through a large traditional publisher, they are likely to take up the book’s marketing. However, if you are self-publishing, you will have to do this yourself. So, how do you launch your book?

Think about assets like networks, relationships, capital, and existing expertise platforms that you can leverage on.

Effective book launch and marketing strategies will vary from writer to writer, depending on their individual goals.

However, the best strategy in marketing a book is positioning it in such a way that the audience clearly understands your book has what they need. Market the solution to the problem that is right in front of the audience, with your book as just a delivery mechanism.

There are several ways you can market your book.

For starters, build awareness about it long before you get it published to get people excited about it, send out some chapter previews, post snippets, offer exclusive discounts on pre-orders, and set a countdown leading to the launch date.

If you wish to sell the book through your website, dedicate a landing page where you get to tell the audience about it.

If you have a mailing list, include a link on the signature or footer to the landing page with the book’s details.

Consider creating a blog post and if you guest write for a blog, make sure you mention your book therein to get people invested in it.

Utilize social media with short snippets on the book and reviews that show your audience why investing in your book is a good decision.

Be passionate about the book’s subject, so much so it naturally comes up in conversations but not as a sales pitch.

Where your budget allows, hosting a launch event would be the climax.

Invite those who made it possible to publish the business book, potential clients, local media, and anyone interested in buying your signed copies and promoting the book.

As New York’s bestselling author and entrepreneur Dr. Gary Chapman said, bestselling business books are perennial, so you never stop launching. You have to keep talking about your book for a long time.

Your Target Market

Just like you would target your clients, you need to target your book audience.

Are you targeting someone just beginning a business or more experienced entrepreneurs?

Your target will also likely define your tone and voice. It may be even useful to write out your avatar.

• What do they do on a daily basis?
• What are their interests and hobbies?
• Where do they work?

Picture them in your head as you write.

As creepy as it may sound, you should have a conversation with them as you write.

Think about what would help them and what actionable advice they need.

One of the most rewarding aspects of writing a book is that it will get read by thousands, hundreds of thousands, if not millions of people around the world. It is a great piece of evergreen marketing content that you can use over and over again.

When you write a book you should consider it is a global tool that can be read by people in many different countries.

Well beyond the actual book sales, your ideas in the book will spread and people will email their friends about it and post on social media as well as connect with you in person.

No matter what you do in your life, you’ll always be a published author.

It will get you more clients, get you speaking engagements and allow you to sell with ease.

This is a large burden to bear and many authors love to write because they are introverts who don’t need much social stimulation but if your ideas a good then people will want to connect with you and get your advice. You should be prepared and embrace it and look at it as a privilege.

No matter what way you decide to publish a book whether it is through a traditional publisher or you will publish it on Amazon you will have to be prepared to do the marketing for it.

Don’t expect some large publisher or marketing agency to swoop in and save the day for you.

A common complete about traditional publishing is that authors have to do the bulk of the work promoting their own books.

With the industry in such a state as it is now marketing staff to been cut and publishes have to make strategic decisions what how many resources they put into a book.

That means unless you are Elon Musk or Sheryl Sandberg you will likely have to do most the marketing for you.

That doesn’t mean that traditional publishers can open doors that would normally be shut to you but you need to do most of the heavy lifting and you need to take the lead on marketing for yourself.

Outline Your Business Book

Before you start writing, I strongly encourage you to create an outline of your book first.

This will keep your book on track and will help you meet your goals and write the best book you can.

To write an outline, start with the chapter title and then three main points about what you want the reader to learn in that chapter.

The outline will help you clarify and focus each chapter, cutting out the unnecessary fluff.

This doesn’t mean that you can’t deviate or change your book as you go along.

As you think of new material, if it’s good enough, it, of course, needs to go into the book, but at least an outline will help you frame your book in a way that will keep you from getting lost and feeling like you want to abandon the entire project.

Writing Your Business Book

Now that’ you’ve defined your why, know your audience, and figured out what type of book you want to write, you have to actually write the book.

Everybody writes a little differently.

Some like to write using a linear fashion from start to finish while others like to jump around from chapter to chapter.

You should know (if you haven’t figured this out already) that your first draft will be less than perfect, so don’t get discouraged if you don’t feel like it’s a masterpiece.

Great writers become great by reworking their material over and over again.

After you finished writing the first couple drafts give your book to some business people that you trust to give you good honest feedback and then incorporate that feedback into your writing

Being a published author of the business book in your field will increase your chances of getting some paid speaking gigs that can pay you thousands of dollars – and that’s just to start.

The fact that you’ve written an in-depth book about something shows how knowledgeable you are and speaking at events is an excellent way of raising your profile but leads to more business and often increases your price.

Final Thoughts On Writing A Business Book

It is important to remember that what works for one writer may not work for another; everyone is different.

However, one fact is undeniable: to launch a bestseller business book, you must first write a bestseller.

You have seen our description of a bestseller; what is your idea of a bestselling business book? Engage with us in the comment section and let us know.

Writing your book may seem like a daunting task but if you just do one step at a time, you will carve out a pathway to success.

One helpful trick is to announce publicly that you’re writing a book and then allow that social pressure to do the rest!

If you do manage to finish your business book, you’ll find that not only will it give you great financial rewards but you’ll feel a sense of accomplishment.

Imagine seeing the cover, the page is and sharing your thoughts and ideas with the rest of the world.

There is truly nothing like it.

Further Reading

Hiring A Book Editor

10 Best UK Business Books

How To Become A Better Writer

How To Research Your Book