In this day of age, millions of people from all walks of life are writing books. Some of them have written books before, while others are looking to write their first book in their lifetime. As you look deep in your heart and imaginations to create stories and tips that people will benefit from and enjoy reading, you've got to ask yourself this defining question: "Why do you want to write books?" 

Writing books is a tough job but a time-consuming task to accomplish. Of course you enjoy writing and reading other people's writing. But writing books takes a lot of passion, determination, time, creativity and imagination. It's a mental and technical thing to do. Not everyone has a book in them, and not everyone has all the time in the world to write more than one book. But if you feel deep in your heart that you can make the sacrifices to be a successful author, writing books is worth learning the capabilities and benefits of it. 


First of all, you have to feel the desire to write books. If you love writing about things you feel people enjoy reading and you spend a considerable amount of time doing so,  you  should set your mind to make stories out of the things you write about. Don't feel the desire and then doubt yourself. Have the confidence that you want to write books to readers. What makes a powerful book is a passionate and confident writer. 

Secondly, you've got to have free time to write your book, especially if you feel it's going to impact readers. Whether you're working at your job or business or you're at home taking care of your children, you should set a time range during the day between when you start writing and when you stop writing. If you are to wake up at 5 am in the morning and don't have to work until noon, set the time range between the time you finished eating your breakfast (the start time for writing) to the time you go to work. Also, if you have time to burn, you should take advantage of it by writing your book. In other words, be determined to spend time writing in any way possible. You'll feel good after you finish writing for the day. 


Thirdly, you may want to let your creativity and imagination take over your writing. When writing a first draft, let your imagination flow on the keyboard and don't worry about making grammar or character/scene development mistakes. You write without putting any doubts on how your book will turn out. This is called free-writing. When you believe you are finished with the book, you then start to arrange the development of the characters and scenes, breaking the story into chapters and working on the characters' action, behaviors, and emotions. Re-read the book to check for the development of the scenes and characters. This process makes an author comfortable with the book's progress when dealing with it. 

Now you have completed your book! Does this mean you can publish it? If you publish your book, there's a chance people will read the book and find themselves too irritated to finish the book reading. They get confused with the character development, grammar, sentence & paragraph structure issues. Readers love to enjoy the adventures you present to them and they can't experience them if they get conscious with those issues. So they can't advise other people to check out your books. They also can't visit your website to see what services you offer. Therefore, it's best to have a professional read and review your books, edit them, and tell you what your strengths and weaknesses are. It's better to have a perfectly written book than to have a published book that attracts no audience and doesn't produce any royalty. 

Fourthly, you may want to get a beta-reader for your books. A beta-reader is someone who critiques your books and tells you what areas to improve on. Beta-readers are writers and editors who have been in the writing industry for a range of years. They can be found on social networking websites such as Facebook and LinkedIn and in writing groups where you live. It's good to network with them and build relationships with them because they'll help you become stronger writers. 

As both an author and editor, I know that editing your own books is an impossible task to take care of. The mind only imagines stories as you write them, only to think the book is ready for self-publishing. The truth is you need a professional editor. How do you choose an editor, you ask? You should choose an editor who is capable of going through each paragraph, sentence, and word of your book. An substantive editor makes changes to paragraph and sentence structure to make the book flow along, so the reader can easily follow along without any confusions. Also, you should choose an editor who can build a connection with you and your book, will understand what your book is about, and will do the best job with getting it ready for publishing. An understanding and experienced editor makes an attractive book. 

Lastly, you're all ready to your book to the world. Just target your audience, set up your prices and royalties, and publish it to the world. Promote your book to your friends and family, strangers, other authors, and readers of your chosen genre. Let the success flow in.  
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Raphael T. Harlan is the author of three e-books, including "Water Rate Challenge" and "The Woman of Greatness and Inspiration: A Tribute to My Mom." He's also the founder and executive editor of Raphael T. Harlan Books. He provides editorial services for e-books of all fiction genres and non-fiction genres such as memoirs, "how-to's" and "self-help." Raphael is passionate about giving authors the best services and guidance for their books and writing journeys. One mark in an single e-book makes the world go around.  




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