“Book Engineering” Project

If you have seen a high-rise building being constructed, you probably don’t have an idea of what it will finally look like. Only the project engineer has the big picture.

The same is true with writing a book. A book project is like an engineering project. The person who’s job it is to manage the book project knows what it will look like in the end. Usually, the editor or publisher fulfills this role. But certain writers with strong opinions or a unique perspective of the world can actually assume this role.

For beginning writers, it is my professional opinion that somebody else should perform this role. Somebody should say, We’re going to write a book about moneymaking (or some publishable subject). That person, the book project manager, knows what will be written, but he won’t be doing the writing. That is the job of the writer.

For writers embarking on a 100,000-word book project, the hardest part is delegating the role of book project manager to somebody else. Making a judgment that something is impossible to do is assuming the role of project manager. If you want to write a book, you will have to let go and let a better person do the job. Somebody optimistic is better.

2010
05/14
CATEGORY
book projects
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Understanding Word Count

Word count is a metric used by publishers and editors. In fact, you will usually get a writing assignment with only two parameters: the topic and the word count.

Most of the time, of course, the target reader is implied because writers and publishers usually cater to a certain reading public. The deadline is also fixed for periodicals and probably for books as well because publishers usually have a target number of titles planned for their publishing calendar.

Interestingly, we can gauge a writer’s writing skill by how much he can produce in a given period of time (i.e., word count within a given number of calendar days). It’s a metric every writer should be aware of because it’s the language every editor and publisher speaks.

2010
05/14
CATEGORY
publishing metrics
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Writing a Book Online

A casual reader has good reason to be skeptical of the idea that anybody can write a book. “My ideas won’t sell” is the typical response that holds them back.

To that I say: You are thinking ahead of yourself by assuming that a publisher or editor will not be interested in what you have written.

With literally thousands of posts online, forum posters have already done a lot of writing. For most, what is needed is an editor (or publisher) who would take whatever they have written and focus their writing into something publishable.

Once you can accept the idea that you can indeed write a book, you can open up possibilities for yourself. Of course, when I said anybody can write a book, I didn’t say everybody can become a J.K. Rowling or a Dan Brown. That is a different proposition altogether.

What I merely said is that writing a book is not as difficult as we imagined. With the internet and online publishing, it is very easy for a person who is frequently online to actually produce a book. Most of us are not aware of the process because our writing is not intentional and a book is not our intended outcome.

I’m just pointing out what may not be obvious. I’m just an observer who’s telling aspiring writers of the possibilities.

2010
05/14
CATEGORY
writing
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2 comments