Monday’s planning tip for authors

All too often, authors approach the various tasks involved in planning, writing, promoting, and profiting with a blank slate. They waste resources, like time and money, painfully reinventing the wheel. Instead, they should be studying the successes of others. This was one of the important takeaways from last Friday’s interview with Milana Leshinsky, author of Coaching Millions.

During our interview, Milana candidly admitted that, after she decided to write Coaching Millions, she reread T. Harv Eker’s Secrets of the Millionaire Mind: Mastering the Inner Game of Wealth which she had previously read with great interest. This time, she reread, studied, and analyzed Harv’s book, not so much from the “contents” point of view, but the structure and presentation of the book’s ideas–and what he did after he wrote his book.

The 5 major points she identified became the foundation of not only her writing plan, but her business plan.

Where I found my inspiration
Milana’s emphasis upon “modeling” a book that she really liked reminded me of the two books that influenced me so much when wrote Looking Good in Print–the first of my 37 books. Out of the hundreds of books I owned at that point, 2 had the most influence:

• Richard Bolles’ What Color Is Your Parachute? Subtitled, A Practical Manual for Job Hunters and Career Changers. I was impressed by Richard’s ability to “talk to me” through his book. I remember thinking: “How could anyone write so clearly and informally–and keep me grinning–while discussing such an important topic? Richard’s book also encouraged me to engage my readers visually as well as verbally, with questions, cartoons, sidebars, tips, and resources that has contributed to his book’s more than 30 years of success.
• Jan V. White’s, Editing by Design. In a similar way, Jan V. White’s Editing by Design inspired me to try to communicate a design philosophy as simply and entertainingly as possible. I marveled then, as now, about Jan’s ability of discuss design techniques without sounding “intellectual,” and I still love the ability of his rough, hand-drawn drawings to drive home important points.

Who are the models for your career?
So, before proceeding further planning your book, ask yourself: What are your favorite books? and Who are our favorite authors? But, take the question even further.

• Don’t just read their books, study their books.
• And, don’t just visit their websites, analyze their websites!

Take the time to read between the lines. Make a list of the specific things you like about their books and websites. Then, “reverse engineer” what you like, seeking to understand how they did it, so you can copy their best techniques for yourself. There’s no reason you can’t profit from the successes of others, not by “copying” their techniques, but by adapting their techniques to your specific goals and resources.

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Published & Profitable’s Author Interviews offer members access to the inside stories of today’s most successful business and self-help authors, as well as Content Maps of their books.

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