I listened to an audio a couple of weeks ago, and what I heard was kinda funny. The recording was of John Reese and Jonathan Mizel talking about creating an online business.
And one of them (I think it was Jonathan) told a story about how one of his students called him up and said "I finally finished my Book! It’s Perfect!"
And so Jonathan asked "That’s great. How long have you been working on it?"
"Two Years," he replied.
Ugh.
And just today, I listened to a recording that Perry Marshall sent me of an interview with a guy who took 10 months to write his bodybuilding book.
Okay, so I’ve got a few things to say about that.
First, what the heck are these guys doing that it takes so long to write a book?
(It really shouldn’t take so long, unless you’re writing fiction, which you’ve got to ‘make up’ along the way. A non-fiction book — in particular a how-to book — should be filled with stuff you already know. It’s in your head already! Writing the book is just the act of organizing the info, and putting it into words.)
Second, KUDOS to you for staying motivated and getting the job done…eventually.
I’ve read a few posts on my blog about this too, where people have started books and haven’t finished them. Or they ask how to stay motivated.
Well, I learned of an idea recently, from my friend and mentor Eben Pagan, that might help you. (Eben’s the same person who runs the Altitude business coaching program. An Amazing system, if you want to build your business to the $10 million level. http://www.MarkPrefers.com/altitude)
So what did Eben say about Motivation to write an ebook?
Well, he told me that what he does, at the start of every ebook project, is first come up with the name and concept.
Okay, that’s a given.
But what he does next is something that I used to leave until the very end.
He designs his book cover.
So why does Eben recommend making the book cover at the beginning?
It’s because when you’ve got a cover, the book all of a sudden becomes REAL.
And so not only does he design his cover, but he prints it out and tapes it to his wall above his desk.
SEEING the book every day is what motivates him to continue to move forward with his project.
And I want to suggest that you do exactly the same thing.
Like NOW.
Here’s an easy way to do it. Now, understand that this little process is not going to result in a beautiful 3d cover, like you see on most sales pages. I’m not going to suggest that you hire an artist, or that you even invest in Photoshop or some other cover generating software.
Not now, at least.
What you’re going to do right now is make a simple, motivating 2d cover to put up on your wall.
Here’s how.
(You should have your title and subtitle to do this.)
Go get my Ebook template. The one I offered free here:
http://www.BigBucksEbook.com/freetemplate
Open up the document in Microsoft Word and turn to page 2, which in that document is a Title Page.
This exact page format used to be my REAL cover page for all of my books, and still is for some.
So that’s what we’re going to do now.
Replace the text "Title Goes Here" with the name of your book.
Replace the text "Subtitle Goes Here" with your subtitle.
Adjust the font size and font face however you like. And for our purposes now, you can delete the disclaimer, too. (It doesn’t need to be on this prototype.)
Now, go over to http://www.Dreamstime.com or http://www.iStockPhoto.com and search for a photo. Both sites have very powerful search features, so search for what you want.
Now, the photos cost only a dollar, but both services will allow you to have a "comp" image — which is an image just for placement and testing purposes — for free. Just right-click on the image you want, and choose copy.
I recommend you invest the dollar, though, so you don’t have any logos or watermarks on top of your photo (you want the inspiration to come shining through!)
However you get the image, paste it right into the ebook template, and delete the image that’s already there.
You can drag the corners to resize it. And of course, if you know how to use a photo editing program, you can crop it as well.
Okay, now here’s the most important part.
Do you see where it says "Author Name"???
PUT YOUR NAME THERE!!
Do that now…and then pause for a moment and think about what that means for you to be an AUTHOR.
Amazing, isn’t it? YOU, an author!
Make any other small tweaks or changes you’d like to make on this page, and then print it out. Just the one page.
Tape it to your wall, above your desk.
Congratulations.
It’s real.
Yes, you’ll make a prettier cover later, if you want to. But my Triumph of the Stupid ebook cover is done exactly this way.
But for now, having this cover above your work area is going to have a profound effect on you.
I really don’t want to get a phone call from you in two years telling me that you’ve finally finished your book. I think you can do it 30 days.
Maybe less.
One of my best took me only two days.
And that was over 50 pages long, plus three supporting bonus books as well.
But that’s the kind of thing that will be possible for you in my ebook course. You’ll not only learn how to create an ebook with the marketing built right in, but you’ll also discover how to write your ebook FAST.
You’ll know what to write, and how to write it.
And it will be EASY for you.
And fun, too.
More to come in the next few days.
For now, go make your cover. Print it out. And then let me know that you’ve done it, and what’s different for you.
This really works!
To Your Success,
–Mark Widawer
P.S. If you don’t have my ebook template yet, go get it. It’s free for you (at least for now).
http://www.BigBucksEbook.com/freetemplate
-M