The Best Way to Start Writing Your First Book

Do you want to spend months writing your book … only to have no one buy it?

Then, sure, outline and put your head down and write, like the “experts tell you.”

It’s bullshit.

The truth is: The market is flooded with shitty books, and nobody wants to read your shitty book.

If you don’t test your book idea, assume nobody will read it. I say this from experience. I had what I thought was a funny idea, Mein Trump. I put my head down and wrote and expected sales.

Nobody bought it.

The solution? Treat your book as a startup.

(Here’s an excerpt from my new book: You Are An Author: So Write Your F***ing Book.)

“Once you decide to write a book, where the hell do you start?

Remember: I was 22, clueless, and only had the courage to start because I was unemployed. I was overwhelmed.

So I started with what I knew, what I was already doing. A tiny step.

I wrote my typical, weekly, NFL betting column, but added one thing: Some poorly-written “copy” (I hate that word, but that’s what marketers would have called it) asking people for their email addresses.

(ALSO: Interested in learning how to transfer from smart, dedicated fan to rational sports bettor? Email [matthewruds@gmail.com] with the subject “book” to get free advice on how to start betting on sports, from psychology to money management to picking winners.)

I collected 46 email addresses in three weeks, wrote articles (potential book chapters) for them, asked for feedback, listened, implemented feedback, and just generally gave a shit about the first people to give me a chance.

I wrote an outline, on which articles had turned into book chapters, banged out the book in less than a month, edited it, got the cover done, pushed some buttons on Amazon, and, boom. My book was available in paperback and digital.

It was out there, on Amazon, like all other books. I went on a celebratory trip with a friend to Dubrovnik and Split (Croatia), and Budapest.

Sitting on the floor in my chairless hostel room in Dubrovnik, I sent an email to my list telling them the book was out, attaching a chapter preview, offering them a 50% discount, and I went out to have fun.

When I returned to Prague, I sent personalized direct messages to about 500 of my ~850 Twitter followers offering a discount. It was tedious, but only took a day.

I haven’t done anything to market the book since, yet I’ve made $8,881.70.

It seemed so haphazard; lazy even, and I didn’t get why it had worked so well. But I’ve finally realized what I did right. Most people treat books like books. I had treated my book like a startup, accidentally.”

Why did that work?

I stumbled into a topic that had a big need, so my book sold. Your book may or may not hit. The only way to know is to test beforehand.

1. Find where your most-interested readers hang out online.
2. Write something they want.
3. an article
4. reddit/Quora/Facebook group post/Tweetstorm/email
5. ANYTHING
6. Do they respond emotionally?
7. if so, move on
8. if not, try again, seeking to hit a different chord

Once you strike an emotional chord, keep writing articles, outline as you go, write more, treat articles as chapters — and once you truly know people will buy, read and recommend your book … write your fucking book.

This can be done with fiction, a la Andy Weir and The Martian — initially published as a series of articles with cliffhangers.

And of course, it can be done with nonfiction.

Write, publish, listen, pivot, repeat.

Still waiting to write that book?

Learn more about making a living writing at writersshouldntstarve.com, and in my book.