Authority Self-Publishing

Should I Write a Book? 9 Reasons to Write It in 2023

You have a book idea, and you think it would resonate with enough people to justify putting the work into writing it. But you still have doubts .

So, you’re asking yourself, “Should I write a book? Or should I just write a blog post about this idea?”

Sure, you have good ideas, but ultimately, you need to separate the true diamonds from the less durable look-alikes. So, at some point, you’ll have to ask, “If I do write a book, what should I write about? ”

And “How do I know if this is going to be a good use of my time and energy?”

Because this is a serious commitment, and it will change you — most likely for the better, as you’ll see further on in this article.

So, how do you decide whether you should write a book ?

  • Why you should write a book?

Before you begin a book project, you need to be able to answer the question, “Why do you write?”

While you’re at it, answer the question, “Why does the idea of writing a book interest you enough to make you want to read this article?”

Your answers are important. So, for starters, be completely honest about them. Don’t try to guess as to which answer is the best one.

There is no “best answer,” here. It’s your answer that matters.

Your answer to the question, “Why do I write?” tells you what you ultimately hope to gain by writing, whether that’s one or a combination of the following:

  • Money (Don’t you dare feel ashamed if this is on your list)
  • A business you can run from home (or anywhere you want)
  • Recognition and respect (as a published author)
  • A greater understanding of yourself (what lights you up inside)
  • To share your knowledge and perspective with others
  • To prove yourself as a writer

Your answer to the question, “Why do I really want to write a book?” is probably some variation on your reason (or reasons) for writing anything.

But in case you needed another reason (or nine) to finally write a book with your author name on it, read on.

1. You’ll learn more about yourself.

2. you’ll learn how to write and self-publish a book., 3. you’ll create a stream of passive income., 4. you won’t have to regret not trying., 5. you’ll come up with more ideas., 6. you’ll stoke the fires of your creative genius., 7. you’ll become a published author., 8. you’ll become more confident., 9. you’ll accomplish more than you thought possible., should i write a book 9 reasons for writing your book now.

Writing books is an exploratory process, and it involves at least some degree of introspection (depending on the type of book you’re writing). You’ll get to know things about yourself that you haven’t yet fully processed.

Writing your book might remind you of something else you once intended to do but put on the back burner.

It might steer your life in a completely different direction (possibly one you intended to take years ago).

It’s difficult to express yourself in writing without noticing things you failed to notice (or think about) before.

Suppressed thoughts have a way of coming out during the writing process.

Things you told yourself like, “That doesn’t bother me,” might come to the surface as significant stressors or roadblocks in your life.

Writing your book may be the catalyst for a change you’ve needed to make but haven’t yet dared to.

Not only will you learn more about yourself, but you’ll also learn all about what it takes to write your book and get it ready for publication, so you can duplicate the process for your next books. You’ll also learn as you go, discovering how to successfully launch your book and market it to increase sales.

And the more you learn, the better author you’ll become and the more you can help new authors to do what you’ve done.

You might decide to help them as an author coach or as a virtual author assistant – performing necessary services (for a reasonable fee) to help them write books and prepare them for publication and launch day.

Maybe you won’t become the next Tony Robbins or J.K. Rowling, but you don’t have to sell as many copies as they do to bring in a nice supplemental income with your book royalties.

And the more books you write that your readers love, the more you stand to earn.

It’s not purely passive income since plenty of work goes into not only writing the book but keeping it visible on Amazon.

But even a few hours each week spent on effective marketing strategies can be enough to maintain a steady sales stream.

You don’t want to get to the end of your life and think, “I wanted to write a book, but I was too scared to try.”

It’s too easy to talk yourself out of trying something when, in the moment, you’re more afraid of failure than of the possibility you’ll experience regret in the future for not trying. Fear is often louder than the prospect of future angst.

But, honestly, which sounds less depressing?

If you want to write a book and you have a book idea you want to explore, the value of writing that book goes beyond how many copies you’ll sell or whether or not someone in Hollywood buys the movie rights to your story.

It’s about your doing something you want to do and not letting your fears hold you back. That alone can change your life for the better.

When you write a book, you become a fountain of new ideas — not only for future books but for book-related courses, websites , and other creative projects.

You might decide to go on a speaking tour or make it your goal to give a TED talk on a topic related to your book.

Who knows what writing one book could lead to — let alone more than one. You’ll have so many ideas, the real trick will be narrowing them down.

Those creative ideas don’t come out of nowhere, after all. In writing a book, you have to dig deep to bring your authentic self to the page. You don’t want to just regurgitate what others have said; you want to leave your unique stamp.

You have your own experiences and perspective to share, but if you feel nothing about what you’re writing, neither will your readers.

The fire behind your creative genius is your passion. Think of the things that bring out your strongest emotions; chances are that if you’ve come up with a book idea that excites you, it involves those emotions.

And this is good. If it evokes emotions in you, it likely will for your readers, too.

And once you’ve written this book and aroused the same emotions in your readers, you’ll probably want to write another book on an idea that excites you.

Or maybe your book will be the launchpad to other ideas that feed your passion and resonate with your fans.

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Learn How to Improve Writing Skills And It Will Change Your Life

There’s just something about seeing a published book with your name on it — either in digital or printed format.

If you’ve always wanted to hold in your hands a printed copy of a book you wrote, you can make that happen.

Other writers out there – some with less talent or with less time — have written and published books that are currently selling on Amazon and other online retailers, as well as brick-and-mortar bookstores. Why not you?

Once you’ve written a book and published it — without needing anyone else’s permission or approval — you’ll know you can do this.

You can write a book on your own, get it ready for publication, and get it out there as a brand new published book with your name on it.

You won’t be one of the many who say, “I’d like to write a book someday,” but who never do. Because you did it. And you did it well.

And you can do it again.

Who knows what else you’ll accomplish once you’ve climbed Mount Write-a-Book. The view is different from the top. You might decide on a different direction for your life, or you might see other mountains you want to climb.

And, well, you climbed this mountain, so how hard can the next one be?

Talk about becoming unstoppable. If any excuses come to mind, they won’t be nearly as loud as the voice telling you, “ Of course , you can do this. And you know you want to. It’s just a matter of when.”

And, just like writing a book, you’ll push through the fear and get it done.

The one making the decision is you.

Ultimately, you’re the one who will be spending the time and money writing and revising your book, so this is a decision you have to make yourself.

Once you do make the decision, though, nothing says you can’t enlist the help of others whose knowledge can help you write a book you’ll be proud of.

Don’t think you have to do this alone; the best books are made with more than one brain involved, even if only one person does most or all of the writing.

Supportive fellow writers and readers can be a tremendous help with the following:

  • Accountability (for weekly reporting of your progress)
  • Helping you nail down your book’s title and subtitle
  • Beta-reading
  • Spreading the word about your book’s launch day
  • Writing a review for your book
  • Helping you promote your book online

However many (or few) people you involve in your book project, though, your author name will be on the cover .

This will be your labor of love. So, don’t let the fear of rejection or of ridicule hold you back from creating something you’ll be proud to publish and to share with others.

Every new author is writing scared. Even experienced authors feel that trepidation when they undertake a new book project.

The ones who finish and publish their books are the ones who decide to use that fear rather than be ruled by it.

So, let your fear and your passion both propel you to write a book. And may your courage and creative energy influence everything you do today.

Before you begin a book project, you need to be able to answer the question, “Why do you write? ”While you’re at it, answer the question, “Why does the idea of writing a book interest you enough to make you want to read this article?” #writing #writer #book

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The Write Practice

How to Write a Book While Working Full-Time

by Jeff Elkins | 1 comment

I dream of a day when I can wake up, sip my coffee, write some morning pages, and then work on my latest novel until dinner. Unfortunately for me, and for many of you, that day is not today. How do we keep writing with a day job?

How to Write a Book While Working Full-Time

I’ve got kids and a house and bills, so I have to work full-time. Even so, over the past four years, I’ve published five novels, three novellas, and countless short stories .

Want to learn how to write a book from start to finish? Check out  How to Write a Book: The Complete Guide .

How to Write a Book While Working Full-Time: 5 Strategies

How do I write books while working full-time? You can manage a writing career with your day job too. There are five things I’ve had to do to make this a reality.

1. Figure Out Your Prime Writing Time

Some of us write better at five in the morning. We need those morning pages to get us going. Some of us write better at midnight, alone in the dark with our thoughts. But if you work full-time, when you write best may not be the right question to plan your writing schedule.

With forty hours of your week missing while you are at work, it’s important to figure out not only when you are at your best , but also when you are capable of giving time to writing.

Most days, I get up around 5:30 AM with the three-year-old. I then listen to the news or a podcast while I make him breakfast, and make myself breakfast, and take my wife coffee, and pack my four other kids' lunches. By 7 AM, I’m in the car starting my commute, which is forty-five minutes.

My job is difficult and requires focus. (I’m part of a team that builds simulations that imitate emotions, allowing professionals to practice difficult conversations.) I leave at 4 PM, get back in my car and drive home. Then we tackle whatever sport the kids are playing at the moment, and dinner, and bedtime routines.

My life is full.

I’m not complaining; I love every second.

I love making my kids’ breakfasts. I love bringing my wife coffee in bed each morning. I even love listening to books in the car during my commute. I love my job, the team I work with, and the simulations we create. I love watching my kids play sports and occasionally coaching their teams. I’m not complaining.

I am saying that finding writing time is difficult , which is why discovering your “prime” writing time is so important.

For those of us who work full-time, finding “our writing time” isn’t just about what feels best. It’s also about what works for our schedules.

If I had my way, I’d write from 9 AM to 1 PM. That’s when I’m at my best and most productive, but that time is dedicated to my job because my job pays the bills. Therefore, I write late at night, after my house is asleep. I have three hours from 9 PM to midnight.

That’s my “prime” writing time because that’s the only time I have.

This is a hard truth about how to write a book while working full-time. We’ve got to squeeze writing into the cracks of our lives. We need to figure out when it is possible and then guard those writing sessions as sacred.

2. Enlist the People You Live With

I have teenagers in my house and only one TV. It’s in the central space where we all congregate. Most nights, my writing time begins while the teenagers are still up and watching TV. But they know that when I open my laptop and put my headphones in, that I’m working and they shouldn’t bother me.

I’m available all day. At 9 PM, I’m writing. Even if we are in the same room, I’m writing.

Whether you are single with roommates or married with kids, it’s rare that our space is our own. Because writing time is precious, we need help protecting it.

Tell the people you live with your plan and ask them to help you stick to it. Tell them the time you plan to write and how much you hope to get down. That way, they’ll be allies instead of distractions as you work to meet your writing goals..

3. Commit to Giving Things Up

A coworker asked me this week if I’m keeping up with the new season of The Handmaid’s Tale . I was heartbroken that I had to say no. I then asked her to describe the episode to me, because I’m not going to be watching it any time soon.

Honestly, I would love to be watching The Handmaid’s Tale . I would love to watch every episode the day they drop.

But I know I can’t do that and write books, because I also work full-time.

You can’t work full-time, and watch all the TV shows everyone else watches, and go to all the fun places everyone else goes to,  and read all the books everyone else reads, and write your own books. Unless you have Hermione's Time-Turner, time doesn’t work that way.

You are going to have to give things up in this writing life. Come to terms with it now. It will make it easier when someone tells you how amazing the most recent episode of your favorite show is.

4. Push Yourself to Follow Through

My oldest son runs track for his high school team. For the past few months, he’s run as hard as he could at practice, but gotten close to the same time with each run. Every night he would come home exhausted and say, “I ran as hard as I could today. I just can’t break my personal best.”

Last week, his coach put him in a heat with runners faster than he is used to running with. The race was hard, but he was determined to keep up with the leaders. At the end of the race, he’d shaved thirty seconds off of his personal record.

My son thought he was working as hard as he could, but in truth, he was capable of more than he knew.

Writing is not unlike a sport. We practice. We work on our techniques as we expend creative energy. We also have “game time” when we put our effort into the world for others to view.

And like any professional athlete will tell you, we too are capable of more than we think we are.

As I mentioned, I write late at night because it is when I am alone. Often, after I write for an hour, my eyes will get heavy and my body will tell me I need to stop and go to bed. But I don’t stop. I get a glass of water and push myself for another forty-five minutes.

Even though my body tells me I should go to bed, even though my eyes sting and my head is fuzzy, I know I can squeeze a little more gas out of my tank. I’ve got another four hundred words in me that I can get on the page.

There are going to be times when your mind is not your friend. Your brain’s primary concern is the protection of your body. Therefore, when your energy is running low, your brain starts firing warning signals. Your eyes start to droop and your mind says, “Let’s just go lie down.”

But that’s not happening because your tank is on empty. It’s happening because you are closer to empty than your brain would like you to be. When you start feeling those warning signs, you need to push a little harder. You are capable of more.

Full confession, there are many nights when I’ve woken up after falling asleep at my laptop. I’ve just accepted that falling asleep on the keyboard is what it takes to write books and work fulltime.

5. Keep It in Perspective and Don't Get Discouraged

In high school, I pitched for my school’s baseball team. By “pitched,” I mean I threw slow and easy-to-hit balls close to the plate and then watched the opposing team crush those balls into the outfield while gleefully running around the bases. One night, I was put in as a relief pitcher, and I blew a strong lead and lost the game.

Afterward, I was frustrated and angry with myself. I remember telling my dad, a wise man who had many adages he’d repeat and that I still try to live by , “This is the worst. I’m the worst. And I hate it.”

Dad put his arm around me and said, “Listen, don’t sweat the small stuff. And remember, if you walk far enough away from it, it all gets small.”

Perspective is important.

Remember, writer of books who also has a full-time job: you have a full-time job .

You aren’t going to be able to keep up with writers who match your discipline and write full-time. They are going to write more words a day than you do, they are going to put out more books than you, and they are going to go to more conferences than you do, query more agents than you do, and hang out with other authors more than you do.

If they match your discipline, they will write faster than you do, because writing is what they do full-time.

Have some perspective.

You also aren’t going to write as fast as you want to. There will be nights when you can’t bring yourself to do it, nights when your “prime writing time” rolls around, and your laptop is waiting at the kitchen table, and your house is quiet, but all you can gather the energy to do is sit on the couch and watch an episode of The Handmaid’s Tale .

And that’s okay. Because you’ve worked a full day and did what you had to do to pay your bills. The world isn't over. You can write tomorrow.

Keep some perspective.

And there are going to be long seasons when you write and write and write, and then finally produce the book you’ve been sacrificing to make. And then you are going to put it into the world, hoping everyone will buy it and exclaim that it is the greatest thing ever written, hoping that they will tell everyone they know that they never need to read another story again because your story has ruined all other stories for them!

But instead, your story is going to be met with silence.

It’s going to be lost in the flood of thousands of books being published every year, and you’re going to be sad, and you’re going to want to pout and binge all of The Handmaid’s Tale in a weekend, and you're going to tell your partner that you will never write another word again. “Never! Never! Never!”

And all of that is okay.

Because in the end, you did something most people never will. You wrote a damn book , which in itself is winning.

Writing is not your full-time career; and until it is, you need to be honest about what you expect from yourself and keep your writing in perspective. Do what you are capable of and don’t get down on yourself for it.

Yes, You Can Have a Job and Write a Book

There may come a day when I can wake up, sip my coffee, write some morning pages, and then work on my latest book until dinner; but that day is not today.

Today, I work full-time.

But that doesn’t mean I can’t be a writer. It doesn’t mean I can’t publish great stories. I can. I am.

And if I can, you can too.

Do you have any tips for how to write a book while working full-time?   Let us know in the comments .

Today, we're going to practice the third strategy: push yourself. Take fifteen minutes to write at least three hundred words. Remember, you can write more than you think, faster than you think, and you can even write if you're not at your best. You can free write, or continue your work in progress. Whatever you choose, challenge yourself to write at least three hundred words before the timer goes off.

When you’re finished, share your work and word count in the Pro Practice Workshop (and if you’re not a member yet, you can join us ). Be sure to leave feedback for your fellow writers!

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Jeff Elkins

Jeff Elkins is a writer who lives Baltimore with his wife and five kids. If you enjoy his writing, he'd be honored if you would subscribe to his free monthly newsletter . All subscribers receive a free copy of Jeff's urban fantasy novella "The Window Washing Boy."

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How to Write a Book in 10 Simple Steps | Forbes Books Guide

Man Writing a manuscript

How many people think they have what it takes to write a business book? Thousands of writers have started books, but never finished. Writing a book can be overwhelming for many writers without authorship experience. Learn how to write a book in 10 simple steps with expert advice from Forbes Books .

1. Establish Why You Want to Write a Book

Why do you want to write a book? Before Forbes Books selects an author to be a member, we ask them to answer  this question. When you’re thinking about writing a book, ask yourself three questions .

  • Why do I want to write a book?
  • Do I have expert knowledge to share with the world?
  • What am I passionate about?

A business book is typically at least 40,000 words . This goal is difficult to reach without guidance from professionals. Forbes Books helps our members finesse, narrow, or expand their book topic to reach their goals. 

Are you writing for family legacy or would you like to entertain? For example, if you’re writing a book to leave for your family, selling books probably won’t be your biggest concern. 

However, if you’re wanting to influence readers and become an Amazon bestseller , your book needs to be structured for maximum engagement . This means using best practices, combined with new ideas to position your book to sell. 

As you could imagine, this is much harder than it sounds, but positioning your book to achieve maximum engagement is what we do.

In order to stand out from the crowd, you must offer your target audience something of value . Value can be in the form of pure entertainment or ideas that can improve your professional skills. 

2. Determine on an Overarching Idea for Your Book

Many of our authors are doctors, CPAs, business leaders, and CEOs. Before we even get involved, authors should already have an overarching (30,000 foot) view of what they’re wanting to write about. 

If you’re a medical doctor, write about how your specialty can help people become healthier. If you’re a CPA, consider how your skills can help people with financial literacy. Once you have your overarching idea, it’s time to conduct your research to hone in your title and ideas.

3. Conduct Research on Book Topic

Before you ever put pen to paper, you’ll want to be as prepared as possible with your knowledge and organization. Every great book started with hours (and hours) of research about the specific topic. There are two forms of research you’ll want to complete before writing a book. 

Competitor Analysis

If you’re a cardiologist that wants to share your insights into a healthy life, you’ll want to read similar content. For example, Google “ cardiologist recommended books ” and start reading as many books in your genre as you can.

Top Selling Cardiovascular books

We recommend looking for the type of content in each book and determining if you have similar knowledge. Look at the titles in each book and think about how you would structure your book based on other published authors. 

Reading books from your peers will help understand the major themes of their book. Look at the number of chapters, pages, and media they’ve used in their book, as well. This will give you an idea of how long your book should be. Furthermore, this will help you establish your writing goals. 

Market Analysis

After you’ve read enough books on your potential topics, it’s time to see how consumers are viewing your topic. We recommend you start with a simple Google search for the best or most popular books in your genre. For example, a cardiothoracic surgeon should type in something like “best cardiovascular surgeon books”. 

Top 24 cardiothoracic surgery books on Google

Google provides you with the most popular books in the cardiothoracic genre. Reading some of the best sellers will help you understand what separates the best from the average.  

Research Amazon b est sellers for your genre because Amazon is the most popular place in the world to buy books. We always recommend studying the top books to get an understanding of the titles, themes, cover design, and interior design.

If you look at the top four books for this genre, you’ll notice they’re all guides to understanding a specific topic. So, if you’re a heart surgeon and want to write a book, you’ll want to write some type of guide. 

Conducting market research is a must if you want to share your knowledge and sell books. For example, an autobiography in the cardiovascular genre isn’t going to sell enough to make an impact on your target audience.

Conducting market research and competitor analysis while maintaining other responsibilities can be difficult for business leaders. The Forbes Books marketing team boasts decades of combined experience in market research and competitor analysis. If you’re interested in learning more about how we can help, read our Digital Media & Engagement services page .

4. Create an Outline For Your Book

Creating an outline is one of those practices that may seem like it’s a waste of time. However, outlining is an essential step authors take for creating a retail-worthy book. Before you ever write one word in your book, write a rough outline. 

Many writers might think they don’t need an outline, but it’s important to ensure your organization is perfect. One common mistake we often see with new authors is the “ marathon middle ” of their books. Authors without detailed outlines make the mistake of front loading their content, instead of offering value throughout the book. 

woman speaking in front of male and female coworkers

What Types of Outlines Are Great for Books?

The most common outline used for authors is the Alphanumeric outline . Using this outline allows you to organize each chapter into Roman numerals, capitalized letters, Arabic Numerals, and lowercase letters. An Alphanumeric outline gives you a blueprint for each chapter and the sub topics inside them. 

Some people (like myself) do a better job of organizing their thoughts in an interactive way, such as a mindmap . Using a mindmap to outline your book will not only help you organize your book, but also can be more comprehensive. 

Using a mindmap in conjunction with an Alphanumeric outline provides multiple perspectives to hone in your content. 5. Emphasize a Conflict and Resolution To Provide Value

Every good book starts with a good story. Readers want to be conflicted and be touched emotionally by the story. People love stories with someone overcoming extreme adversity. Think about Forbes Books author, Andres Pira and how he went from being Homeless to a Billionaire . 

Andres’ story is incredible, but we have many other authors, like Mari Tautimes , who embodies resilience, persistence, and adversity. You can listen to Mari Tautimes’ life-lessons and how she overcame her circumstances to become a successful CEO on Forbes Books Audio . 

Forbes Books podcast with Mari Tautimes

There are three things you can do to set your book up for success. Remember, your introduction is your first impression and we only ever get one first impression. 

Get Your Readers’ Attention with a Great Hook

There are many things you can do to get your readers’ attention, but it depends on the writer’s voice, style, and purpose for their book. 

  • Use empathy to connect with your audience by telling them a personal story
  • Use unique statistics to prove your point and enlighten the readers
  • Start with a prolific quote that emphasizes your topic
  • Ask a question you think people are thinking about

Detail the Context of Your Book

After your hook, you’ll need to detail what separates your book from the rest. How do you bring tangible value to your audience? Your readers want to know exactly what you’re going to do for them, and they want it asap. 

The biggest thing to think about when writing a business book is how you can address a common problem people have. Readers need to know they’re going to get something they can use to better their lives. 

Highlight Your Keywords

Whether it’s the title, headings, or the content, you need to establish your keywords and highlight them in your book. This is more important if you want to publish your book online (ebooks, audible) because of Google Search . 

Regardless of how you want your book distributed, having a set of keywords you want to highlight will help organize your thoughts . Your keywords should be key topics that your target audience wants to learn about.

6. Establish a Writing and Reading Routine

One of the 20th century’s most prolific authors, Stephen King , once stated, “ If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that .”

Simply put, writers must be avid readers to gain new perspectives and knowledge that the public doesn’t have. Establishing a routine to read and write is the most important step you can take to be a successful writer. 

How do I create a writing and reading routine? Lay out your daily, weekly, and monthly schedule. Once you know your schedule, set out at least 30 minutes every day for reading . 

However, you don’t need to write every day to become an author. In fact, writing every day is a good way to burn yourself out before your book is finished. We recommend setting aside two to four  hours a week for writing . 

7. Create Writing Goals

There are two types of goals that writers should focus on; short-term and long-term goals . A long-term goal is set out over months or years, whereas a short-term goal is a daily or weekly goal. 

A great short-term goal to set is writing 1,000 words per week (4,000 words per month). Using short-term goals is the best way to ensure you’re not overwhelmed or discouraged by the lengthy process. 

A long-term goal would be to finish your manuscript in 10 months ( 40,000 words ) by using your weekly goals. Creating tangible and realistic goals will only help you stay locked in during your process.

Professional writing a business book

8. Establish an Editing Routine

Editing is the most time-consuming process of writing a book. Establishing a routine to edit is just as important as a writing routine. One of the major faults of many writers is they either try to edit too much or not enough. 

We’d recommend using tools, such as Grammarly , ProWritingAid , or Hemingway App for editing. 

Our recommendation is to edit weekly instead of editing every day you write. This will save you time, energy, and most importantly, keep you in the rhythm of writing. 

As writers, we believe it’s more important to write when your mind is right, instead of breaking up your train of thought. This will help with preventing writer’s block, as well. 

At Forbes Books, you’ll work with a professional editorial team to ensure your manuscript is well organized and free from error.

Person proofreading a manuscript

How Can You Amplify the Message in Your Book?

Many publishing companies encourage writers to give their business book manuscript to their friends and families. At first this seems like a great idea, but there are problems with this strategy. For example, do you know if your friends and family are a part of your target audience? 

It’s likely your business connections will bring greater feedback than your family and support your manuscirpt’s circulation. Try sending a book advance to the people in your business network. Word of mouth is by far the best form of amplification. Sending these advanced copies of your book will encourage your professional network to share your book and recommend it to others. 

9. Decide on Your Publishing Program: Which is Better?

There are three types of publishing for business books; traditional, self-publishing and independent publishing . Forbes Books offers an independent model, allowing our members to fully own and control their book. 

Traditional Publishing

  • No up-front costs to publishing
  • Professional publishers offer elite level promotion and publishing plans
  • Major publishers have authoritative media contacts for top-tier books only
  • Highest chance to get books in brick & mortar bookstores

Disadvantages

  • Around 1% of books get signed to major publishing houses
  • Lengthy process requiring lots of  oversight
  • Minimal creative control since publishers take the bill
  • No ownership of your book manuscript
  • Niche topics are much harder to get published
  • The publisher determines how the book is marketed to the public
  • Could take up 2 years to publish

Independent Publishing

  • Full ownership of your book
  • Customize all aspects of your book plan
  • Publish a book in less than 14 months
  • Complete marketing control 
  • Ideal for niche topics
  • Higher opportunity for profit than traditional publishing
  • Complete creative control
  • There will be higher up-front costs
  • Independent publishing has higher overall costs

Self-Publishing

  • More creative control than traditional publishing
  • Higher earning potential because you handle the entire process
  • No deadlines or gatekeepers telling you what you must do
  • The most time-consuming process out of the 3 types of publishing
  • Learning the book publishing process by yourself is very difficult
  • Hiring professional editors, PR firms, or other important professionals is very expensive
  • Unless you have professional connections, you’ll need someone to help market your book

10. Create a Book Promotion Strategy

Even after you write a manuscript and design a book cover, you still have to promote your book. Planning your book release brings on a whole new set of problems that can be overwhelming without professional help. 

According to our Sr. Director of Book Marketing & Promotions , not all types of promotion should start at the same time. For example, if you’re creating promotional content and updating assets online, you’ll need 6 months of promotion before the release .

However, there’s an entirely new campaign for selling the book as the release date gets closer. We recommend 6-8 weeks of active promotion before the release date to sell on online platforms.

Why Choose Independent Publishing With Forbes Books?

So there are pros and cons to traditional, self-publishing, and independent publishing. However, how many publishing companies are going to give you full ownership of your book? 

Forbes Books is all about giving our members full control over their projects while guiding them the entire way through. We offer multiple publishing plans for prospective authors to fit the busy life of a CEO. 

Independent publishing is a lot like self-publishing, except you’ll have access to some of the best editors, marketers, and PR. We not only give our members 100% rights to their book , but we nurture, guide, and ensure each book represents the best in business.

According to Quora , there are about 1 million books published in the U.S. every year . How many books have you heard of this year? Anybody can market a book and spend thousands with paid ads. 

Our focus at Forbes Books is quality book creation. We focus on starting each business book idea with the end goal in mind. This allows our team to create a Master Blueprint that walks each member through the process, step-by-step. 

The best part about this process is the level customization we offer each member. If you’re a CEO or business leader, you can count on Forbes Books to create the best possible book for you. 

If you’re interested in learning more about becoming an Advantage Media or Forbes Book’s author, reach out to our team today !

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How to Write a Book From Start to Finish

How to Write a Book From Start to Finish: A Proven Guide

So you want to write a book. Becoming an author can change your life—not to mention give you the ability to impact thousands, even millions, of people.

But writing a book isn’t easy. As a 21-time New York Times bestselling author, I can tell you: It’s far easier to quit than to finish.

You’re going to be tempted to give up writing your book when you run out of ideas, when your own message bores you, when you get distracted, or when you become overwhelmed by the sheer scope of the task.

But what if you knew exactly:

  • Where to start…
  • What each step entails…
  • How to overcome fear, procrastination, a nd writer’s block …
  • And how to keep from feeling overwhelmed?

You can write a book—and more quickly than you might think, because these days you have access to more writing tools than ever. 

The key is to follow a proven, straightforward, step-by-step plan .

My goal here is to offer you that book-writing plan.

I’ve used the techniques I outline below to write more than 200 books (including the Left Behind series) over the past 50 years. Yes, I realize writing over four books per year on average is more than you may have thought humanly possible. 

But trust me—with a reliable blueprint, you can get unstuck and finally write your book .

This is my personal approach on how to write a book. I’m confident you’ll find something here that can change the game for you. So, let’s jump in.

  • How to Write a Book From Start to Finish

Part 1: Before You Begin Writing Your Book

  • Establish your writing space.
  • Assemble your writing tools.

Part 2: How to Start Writing a Book

  • Break the project into small pieces.
  • Settle on your BIG idea.
  • Construct your outline.
  • Set a firm writing schedule.
  • Establish a sacred deadline.
  • Embrace procrastination (really!).
  • Eliminate distractions.
  • Conduct your research.
  • Start calling yourself a writer.

Part 3: The Book-Writing Itself

  • Think reader-first.
  • Find your writing voice.
  • Write a compelling opener.
  • Fill your story with conflict and tension.
  • Turn off your internal editor while writing the first draft.
  • Persevere through The Marathon of the Middle.
  • Write a resounding ending.

Part 4: Editing Your Book

  • Become a ferocious self-editor.
  • Find a mentor.
  • Part 5: Publishing Your Book
  • Decide on your publishing avenue.
  • Properly format your manuscript.
  • Set up and grow your author platform.
  • Pursue a Literary Agent
  • Writing Your Query Letter
  • Part One: Before You Begin Writing Your Book

You’ll never regret—in fact, you’ll thank yourself later—for investing the time necessary to prepare for such a monumental task.

You wouldn’t set out to cut down a huge grove of trees with just an axe. You’d need a chain saw, perhaps more than one. Something to keep them sharp. Enough fuel to keep them running.

You get the picture. Don’t shortcut this foundational part of the process.

Step 1. Establish your writing space.

To write your book, you don’t need a sanctuary. In fact, I started my career o n my couch facing a typewriter perched on a plank of wood suspended by two kitchen chairs.

What were you saying about your setup again? We do what we have to do.

And those early days on that sagging couch were among the most productive of my career.

Naturally, the nicer and more comfortable and private you can make your writing lair (I call mine my cave), the better.

How to Write a Book Image 1

Real writers can write anywhere .

Some authors write their books in restaurants and coffee shops. My first full time job was at a newspaper where 40 of us clacked away on manual typewriters in one big room—no cubicles, no partitions, conversations hollered over the din, most of my colleagues smoking, teletype machines clattering.

Cut your writing teeth in an environment like that, and anywhere else seems glorious.

Step 2. Assemble your writing tools.

In the newspaper business, there was no time to hand write our stuff and then type it for the layout guys. So I have always written at a keyboard and still write my books that way.

Most authors do, though some hand write their first drafts and then keyboard them onto a computer or pay someone to do that.

No publisher I know would even consider a typewritten manuscript, let alone one submitted in handwriting.

The publishing industry runs on Microsoft Word, so you’ll need to submit Word document files. Whether you prefer a Mac or a PC, both will produce the kinds of files you need.

And if you’re looking for a musclebound electronic organizing system, you can’t do better than Scrivener . It works well on both PCs and Macs, and it nicely interacts with Word files.

Just remember, Scrivener has a steep learning curve, so familiarize yourself with it before you start writing.

Scrivener users know that taking the time to learn the basics is well worth it.

Tons of other book-writing tools exist to help you. I’ve included some of the most well-known in my blog po st on book writing software and my writing tools page fo r your reference.

So, what else do you need?

If you are one who handwrites your first drafts, don’t scrimp on paper, pencils, or erasers.

Don’t shortchange yourself on a computer either. Even if someone else is keyboarding for you, you’ll need a computer for research and for communicating with potential agents , edi tors, publishers.

Get the best computer you can afford, the latest, the one with the most capacity and speed.

Try to imagine everything you’re going to need in addition to your desk or table, so you can equip yourself in advance and don’t have to keep interrupting your work to find things like:

  • Paper clips
  • Pencil holders
  • Pencil sharpeners
  • Printing paper
  • Paperweight
  • Tape dispensers
  • Cork or bulletin boards
  • Reference works
  • Space heaters
  • Beverage mugs
  • You name it
  • Last, but most crucial, get the best, most ergonomic chair you can afford.

If I were to start my career again with that typewriter on a plank, I would not sit on that couch. I’d grab another straight-backed kitchen chair or something similar and be proactive about my posture and maintaining a healthy spine.

There’s nothing worse than trying to be creative and immerse yourself in writing while you’re in agony . The chair I work in today cost more than my first car!

How to Write a Book Image 2

If you’ve never used some of the items I listed above and can’t imagine needing them, fine. But make a list of everything you know you’ll need so when the actual writing begins, you’re already equipped.

As you grow as a writer and actually start making money at it, you can keep upgrading your writing space.

Where I work now is light years from where I started. But the point is, I didn’t wait to start writing until I could have a great spot in which to do it.

  • Part Two: How to Start Writing a Book

Step 1. Break your book into small pieces.

Writing a book feels like a colossal project, because it is! Bu t your manuscript w ill be made up of many small parts.

An old adage says that the way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time .

Try to get your mind off your book as a 400-or-so-page monstrosity.

It can’t be written all at once any more than that proverbial elephant could be eaten in a single sitting.

See your book for what it is: a manuscript made up of sentences, paragraphs, pages. Those pages will begin to add up, and though after a week you may have barely accumulated double digits, a few months down the road you’ll be into your second hundred pages.

So keep it simple.

Start by distilling you r big book idea from a page or so to a single sentence—your premise. The more specific that one-sentence premise, the more it will keep you focused while you’re writing.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Before you can turn your big idea into one sentence, which can then b e expanded to an outline , you have to settle on exactly what that big idea is.

Step 2. Settle on your BIG idea.

To be book-worthy, your idea has to be killer.

You need to write something about which you’re passionate , something that gets you up in the morning, draws you to the keyboard, and keeps you there. It should excite not only you, but also anyone you tell about it.

I can’t overstate the importance of this.

If you’ve tried and failed to finish your book before—maybe more than once—it could be that the basic premise was flawed. Maybe it was worth a blog post or an article but couldn’t carry an entire book.

Think The Hunger Games , Harry Potter , or How to Win Friends and Influence People . The market is crowded, the competition fierce. There’s no more room for run-of-the-mill ideas. Your premise alone should make readers salivate.

Go for the big concept book.

How do you know you’ve got a winner? Does it have legs? In other words, does it stay in your mind, growing and developing every time you think of it?

Run it past loved ones and others you trust.

Does it raise eyebrows? Elicit Wows? Or does it result in awkward silences?

The right concept simply works, and you’ll know it when you land on it. Most importantly, your idea must capture you in such a way that you’re compelled to write it . Otherwise you will lose interest halfway through and never finish.

Step 3. Construct your outline.

Writing your book without a clear vision of where you’re going usually ends in disaster.

Even if you ’re writing a fiction book an d consider yourself a Pantser* as opposed to an Outliner, you need at least a basic structure .

[*Those of us who write by the seat of our pants and, as Stephen King advises, pu t interesting characters i n difficult situations and write to find out what happens]

You don’t have to call it an outline if that offends your sensibilities. But fashion some sort of a directional document that provides structure for your book and also serves as a safety net.

If you get out on that Pantser highwire and lose your balance, you’ll thank me for advising you to have this in place.

Now if you’re writing a nonfiction book, there’s no substitute for an outline .

Potential agents or publishers require this in your proposal . T hey want to know where you’re going, and they want to know that you know. What do you want your reader to learn from your book, and how will you ensure they learn it?

Fiction or nonfiction, if you commonly lose interest in your book somewhere in what I call the Marathon of the Middle, you likely didn’t start with enough exciting ideas .

That’s why and outline (or a basic framework) is essential. Don’t even start writing until you’re confident your structure will hold up through the end.

You may recognize this novel structure illustration.

Did you know it holds up—with only slight adaptations—for nonfiction books too? It’s self-explanatory for novelists; they list their plot twists and developments and arrange them in an order that best serves to increase tension .

What separates great nonfiction from mediocre? The same structure!

Arrange your points and evidence in the same way so you’re setting your reader up for a huge payoff, and then make sure you deliver.

If your nonfiction book is a memoir , an autobiography , or a biography, structure it like a novel and you can’t go wrong.

But even if it’s a straightforward how-to book, stay as close to this structure as possible, and you’ll see your manuscript come alive.

Make promises early, triggering your reader to anticipate fresh ideas, secrets, inside information, something major that will make him thrilled with the finished product.

How to write a book - graph

While a nonfiction book may not have as much action or dialogue or character development as a novel, you can inject tension by showing where people have failed before and how your reader can succeed.

You can even make the how-to project look impossible until you pay off that setup with your unique solution.

Keep your outline to a single page for now. But make sure every major point is represented, so you’ll always know where you’re going.

And don’t worry if you’ve forgotten the basics of classic outlining or have never felt comfortable with the concept.

Your outline must serve you. If that means Roman numerals and capital and lowercase letters and then Arabic numerals, you can certainly fashion it that way. But if you just want a list of sentences that synopsize your idea, that’s fine too.

Simply start with your working title, then your premise, then—for fiction, list all the major scenes that fit into the rough structure above.

For nonfiction, try to come up with chapter titles and a sentence or two of what each chapter will cover.

Once you have your one-page outline, remember it is a fluid document meant to serve you and your book. Expand it, change it, play with it as you see fit—even during the writing process .

Step 4. Set a firm writing schedule.

Ideally, you want to schedule at least six hours per week to write your book.

That may consist of three sessions of two hours each, two sessions of three hours, or six one-hour sessions—whatever works for you.

I recommend a regular pattern (same times, same days) that can most easily become a habit. But if that’s impossible, just make sure you carve out at least six hours so you can see real progress.

Having trouble finding the time to write a book? News flash—you won’t find the time. You have to make it.

I used the phrase carve out above for a reason. That’s what it takes.

Something in your calendar will likely have to be sacrificed in the interest of writing time . 

Make sure it’s not your family—they should always be your top priority. Never sacrifice your family on the altar of your writing career.

But beyond that, the truth is that we all find time for what we really want to do.

Many writers insist they have no time to write, but they always seem to catch the latest Netflix original series, or go to the next big Hollywood feature. They enjoy concerts, parties, ball games, whatever.

How important is it to you to finally write your book? What will you cut from your calendar each week to ensure you give it the time it deserves?

  • A favorite TV show?
  • An hour of sleep per night? (Be careful with this one; rest is crucial to a writer.)

Successful writers make time to write.

When writing becomes a habit, you’ll be on your way.

Step 5. Establish a sacred deadline.

Without deadlines, I rarely get anything done. I need that motivation.

Admittedly, my deadlines are now established in my contracts from publishers.

If you’re writing your first book, you probably don’t have a contract yet. To ensure you finish your book, set your own deadline—then consider it sacred .

Tell your spouse or loved one or trusted friend. Ask that they hold you accountable.

Now determine—and enter in your calendar—the number of pages you need to produce per writing session to meet your deadline. If it proves unrealistic, change the deadline now.

If you have no idea how many pages or words you typically produce per session, you may have to experiment before you finalize those figures.

Say you want to finish a 400-page manuscript by this time next year.

Divide 400 by 50 weeks (accounting for two off-weeks), and you get eight pages per week. 

Divide that by your typical number of writing sessions per week and you’ll know how many pages you should finish per session.

Now is the time to adjust these numbers, while setting your deadline and determining your pages per session.

Maybe you’d rather schedule four off weeks over the next year. Or you know your book will be unusually long.

Change the numbers to make it realistic and doable, and then lock it in. Remember, your deadline is sacred.

Step 6. Embrace procrastination (really!).

You read that right. Don’t fight it; embrace it.

You wouldn’t guess it from my 200+ published books, but I’m the king of procrastinators .

Don’t be. So many authors are procrastinators that I’ve come to wonder if it’s a prerequisite.

The secret is to accept it and, in fact, schedule it.

I quit fretting and losing sleep over procrastinating when I realized it was inevitable and predictable, and also that it was productive.

Sound like rationalization?

Maybe it was at first. But I learned that while I’m putting off the writing, my subconscious is working on my book. It’s a part of the process. When you do start writing again, you’ll enjoy the surprises your subconscious reveals to you.

So, knowing procrastination is coming, book it on your calendar .

Take it into account when you’re determining your page quotas. If you have to go back in and increase the number of pages you need to produce per session, do that (I still do it all the time).

But—and here’s the key—you must never let things get to where that number of pages per day exceeds your capacity.

It’s one thing to ratchet up your output from two pages per session to three. But if you let it get out of hand, you’ve violated the sacredness of your deadline.

How can I procrastinate and still meet more than 190 deadlines?

Because I keep the deadlines sacred.

Step 7. Eliminate distractions to stay focused.

Are you as easily distracted as I am?

Have you found yourself writing a sentence and then checking your email? Writing another and checking Facebook? Getting caught up in the pictures of 10 Sea Monsters You Wouldn’t Believe Actually Exist?

Then you just have to check out that precious video from a talk show where the dad surprises the family by returning from the war.

That leads to more and more of the same. Once I’m in, my writing is forgotten, and all of a sudden the day has gotten away from me.

The answer to these insidious timewasters?

Look into these apps that allow you to block your email, social media, browsers, game apps, whatever you wish during the hours you want to write. Some carry a modest fee, others are free.

  • Freedom app
  • FocusWriter

Step 8. Conduct your research.

Yes, research is a vital part of the process, whether you’re writing fiction or nonfict i on .

Fiction means more than just making up a story .

Your details and logic and technical and historical details must be right for your novel to be believable.

And for nonfiction, even if you’re writing about a subject in which you’re an expert—as I’m doing here—getting all the facts right will polish your finished product.

In fact, you’d be surprised at how many times I’ve researched a fact or two while writing this blog post alone.

The importance of research when writing

The last thing you want is even a small mistake due to your lack of proper research .

Regardless the detail, trust me, you’ll hear from readers about it.

Your credibility as an author and an expert hinges on creating trust with your reader. That dissolves in a hurry if you commit an error.

My favorite research resources:

  • World Almanacs : These alone list almost everything you need for accurate prose: facts, data, government information, and more. For my novels, I often use these to come up with ethnically accurate character names .
  • The Merriam-Webster Thesaurus : The online version is great, because it’s lightning fast. You couldn’t turn the pages of a hard copy as quickly as you can get where you want to onscreen. One caution: Never let it be obvious you’ve consulted a thesaurus. You’re not looking for the exotic word that jumps off the page. You’re looking for that common word that’s on the tip of your tongue.
  • WorldAtlas.com : Here you’ll find nearly limitless information about any continent, country, region, city, town, or village. Names, monetary units, weather patterns, tourism info, and even facts you wouldn’t have thought to search for. I get ideas when I’m digging here, for both my novels and my nonfiction books.

Step 9. Start calling yourself a writer.

Your inner voice may tell you, “You’re no writer and you never will be. Who do you think you are, trying to write a book?”

That may be why you’ve stalled at writing your book in the past .

But if you’re working at writing, studying writing, practicing writing, that makes you a writer. Don’t wait till you reach some artificial level of accomplishment before calling yourself a writer.

A cop in uniform and on duty is a cop whether he’s actively enforced the law yet or not. A carpenter is a carpenter whether he’s ever built a house.

Self-identify as a writer now and you’ll silence that inner critic —who, of course, is really you. 

Talk back to yourself if you must. It may sound silly, but acknowledging yourself as a writer can give you the confidence to keep going and finish your book.

Are you a writer? Say so.

  • Part Three: The Book-Writing Itself

Step 1. Think reader-first.

This is so important that that you should write it on a sticky note and affix it to your monitor so you’re reminded of it every time you write.

Every decision you make about your manuscript must be run through this filter.

Not you-first, not book-first, not editor-, agent-, or publisher-first. Certainly not your inner circle- or critics-first.

Reader-first, last, and always .

If every decision is based on the idea of reader-first, all those others benefit anyway.

When fans tell me they were moved by one of my books, I think back to this adage and am grateful I maintained that posture during the writing.

Does a scene bore you? If you’re thinking reader-first, it gets overhauled or deleted.

Where to go, what to say, what to write next? Decide based on the reader as your priority.

Whatever your gut tells you your reader would prefer, that’s your answer.

Whatever will intrigue him, move him, keep him reading, those are your marching orders.

So, naturally, you need to know your reader. Rough age? General interests? Loves? Hates? Attention span?

When in doubt, look in the mirror . 

The surest way to please your reader is to please yourself. Write what you would want to read and trust there is a broad readership out there that agrees.

Step 2. Find your writing voice.

Discovering your voice is nowhere near as complicated as some make it out to be.

You can find yours by answering these quick questions :

  • What’s the coolest thing that ever happened to you?
  • Who’s the most important person you told about it?
  • What did you sound like when you did?
  • That’s your writing voice. It should read the way you sound at your most engaged.

That’s all there is to it.

If you write fiction and the narrator of your book isn’t you, go through the three-question exercise on the narrator’s behalf—and you’ll quickly master the voice.

Here’s a blog I posted that’ll walk you through the process .

Step 3. Write a compelling opener.

If you’re stuck because of the pressure of crafting the perfect opening line for your book, you’re not alone.

And neither is your angst misplaced.

This is not something you should put off and come back to once you’ve started on the rest of the first chapter.

How to Write a Book Image 5

Oh, it can still change if the story dictates that . But settling on a good one will really get you off and running.

It’s unlikely you’ll write a more important sentence than your first one , whether you’re writing fiction or nonfiction. Make sure you’re thrilled with it and then watch how your confidence—and momentum—soars.

Most great first lines fall into one of these categories:

1. Surprising

Fiction : “It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.” —George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four

Nonfiction : “By the time Eustace Conway was seven years old, he could throw a knife accurately enough to nail a chipmunk to a tree.” —Elizabeth Gilbert, The Last American Man

2. Dramatic Statement

Fiction : “They shoot the white girl first.” —Toni Morrison, Paradise

Nonfiction : “I was five years old the first time I ever set foot in prison.” —Jimmy Santiago Baca, A Place to Stand

3. Philosophical

Fiction : “Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” —Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina

Nonfiction : “It’s not about you.” —Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Life

Fiction : “When I finally caught up with Abraham Trahearne, he was drinking beer with an alcoholic bulldog named Fireball Roberts in a ramshackle joint just outside of Sonoma, California, drinking the heart right out of a fine spring afternoon. —James Crumley, The Last Good Kiss

Nonfiction : “The village of Holcomb stands on the high wheat plains of western Kansas, a lonesome area that other Kansans call ‘out there.’” —Truman Capote, In Cold Blood

Great opening lines from other classics may give you ideas for yours. Here’s a list of famous openers .

Step 4. Fill your story with conflict and tension.

Your reader craves conflict, and yes, this applies to nonfiction readers as well.

In a novel, if everything is going well and everyone is agreeing, your reader will soon lose interest and find something else to do.

Are two of your characters talking at the dinner table? Have one say something that makes the other storm out.

Some deep-seeded rift in their relationship has surfaced—just a misunderstanding, or an injustice?

Thrust people into conflict with each other . 

That’ll keep your reader’s attention.

Certain nonfiction genres won’t lend themselves to that kind of conflict, of course, but you can still inject tension by setting up your reader for a payoff in later chapters. Check out some of the current bestselling nonfiction works to see how writers accomplish this.

Somehow they keep you turning those pages, even in a simple how-to title.

Tension is the secret sauce that will propel your reader through to the end . 

And sometimes that’s as simple as implying something to come.

Step 5. Turn off your internal editor while writing the first draft.

Many of us perfectionists find it hard to write a first draft—fiction or nonfiction—without feeling compelled to make every sentence exactly the way we want it.

That voice in your head that questions every word, every phrase, every sentence, and makes you worry you’re being redundant or have allowed cliches to creep in—well, that’s just your editor alter ego.

He or she needs to be told to shut up .

Turning off your inner self-editor

This is not easy.

Deep as I am into a long career, I still have to remind myself of this every writing day. I cannot be both creator and editor at the same time. That slows me to a crawl, and my first draft of even one brief chapter could take days.

Our job when writing that first draft is to get down the story or the message or the teaching—depending on your genre.

It helps me to view that rough draft as a slab of meat I will carve tomorrow .

I can’t both produce that hunk and trim it at the same time.

A cliche, a redundancy, a hackneyed phrase comes tumbling out of my keyboard, and I start wondering whether I’ve forgotten to engage the reader’s senses or aimed for his emotions.

That’s when I have to chastise myself and say, “No! Don’t worry about that now! First thing tomorrow you get to tear this thing up and put it back together again to your heart’s content!”

Imagine yourself wearing different hats for different tasks , if that helps—whatever works to keep you rolling on that rough draft. You don’t need to show it to your worst enemy or even your dearest love. This chore is about creating. Don’t let anything slow you down.

Some like to write their entire first draft before attacking the revision. As I say, whatever works.

Doing it that way would make me worry I’ve missed something major early that will cause a complete rewrite when I discover it months later. I alternate creating and revising.

The first thing I do every morning is a heavy edit and rewrite of whatever I wrote the day before. If that’s ten pages, so be it. I put my perfectionist hat on and grab my paring knife and trim that slab of meat until I’m happy with every word.

Then I switch hats, tell Perfectionist Me to take the rest of the day off, and I start producing rough pages again.

So, for me, when I’ve finished the entire first draft, it’s actually a second draft because I have already revised and polished it in chunks every day.

THEN I go back through the entire manuscript one more time, scouring it for anything I missed or omitted, being sure to engage the reader’s senses and heart, and making sure the whole thing holds together.

I do not submit anything I’m not entirely thrilled with .

I know there’s still an editing process it will go through at the publisher, but my goal is to make my manuscript the absolute best I can before they see it.

Compartmentalize your writing vs. your revising and you’ll find that frees you to create much more quickly.

Step 6. Persevere through The Marathon of the Middle.

Most who fail at writing a book tell me they give up somewhere in what I like to call The Marathon of the Middle.

That’s a particularly rough stretch for novelists who have a great concept, a stunning opener, and they can’t wait to get to the dramatic ending. But they bail when they realize they don’t have enough cool stuff to fill the middle.

They start padding, trying to add scenes just for the sake of bulk, but they’re soon bored and know readers will be too.

This actually happens to nonfiction writers too.

The solution there is in the outlining stage , being sure your middle points and chapters are every bit as valuable and magnetic as the first and last.

If you strategize the progression of your points or steps in a process—depending on nonfiction genre—you should be able to eliminate the strain in the middle chapters.

For novelists, know that every book becomes a challenge a few chapters in. The shine wears off, keeping the pace and tension gets harder, and it’s easy to run out of steam.

But that’s not the time to quit. Force yourself back to your structure, come up with a subplot if necessary, but do whatever you need to so your reader stays engaged.

Fiction writer or nonfiction author, The Marathon of the Middle is when you must remember why you started this journey in the first place.

It isn’t just that you want to be an author. You have something to say. You want to reach the masses with your message.

Yes, it’s hard. It still is for me—every time. But don’t panic or do anything rash, like surrendering. Embrace the challenge of the middle as part of the process. If it were easy, anyone could do it.

Step 7. Write a resounding ending.

This is just as important for your nonfiction book as your novel. It may not be as dramatic or emotional, but it could be—especially if you’re writing a memoir.

But even a how-to or self-help book needs to close with a resounding thud, the way a Broadway theater curtain meets the floor .

How do you ensure your ending doesn’t fizzle ?

  • Don’t rush it . Give readers the payoff they’ve been promised. They’ve invested in you and your book the whole way. Take the time to make it satisfying.
  • Never settle for close enough just because you’re eager to be finished. Wait till you’re thrilled with every word, and keep revising until you are.
  • If it’s unpredictable, it had better be fair and logical so your reader doesn’t feel cheated. You want him to be delighted with the surprise, not tricked.
  • If you have multiple ideas for how your book should end, go for the heart rather than the head, even in nonfiction. Readers most remember what moves them.
  • Part Four: Rewriting Your Book

Step 1. Become a ferocious self-editor.

Agents and editors can tell within the first two pages whether your manuscript is worthy of consideration. That sounds unfair, and maybe it is. But it’s also reality, so we writers need to face it.

How can they often decide that quickly on something you’ve devoted months, maybe years, to?

Because they can almost immediately envision how much editing would be required to make those first couple of pages publishable. If they decide the investment wouldn’t make economic sense for a 300-400-page manuscript, end of story.

Your best bet to keep an agent or editor reading your manuscript?

You must become a ferocious self-editor. That means:

  • Omit needless words
  • Choose the simple word over one that requires a dictionary
  • Avoid subtle redundancies , like “He thought in his mind…” (Where else would someone think?)
  • Avoid hedging verbs like almost frowned, sort of jumped, etc.
  • Generally remove the word that —use it only when absolutely necessary for clarity
  • Give the reader credit and resist the urge to explain , as in, “She walked through the open door.” (Did we need to be told it was open?)
  • Avoid too much stage direction (what every character is doing with every limb and digit)
  • Avoid excessive adjectives
  • Show, don’t tell
  • And many more

For my full list and how to use them, click here . (It’s free.)

When do you know you’re finished revising? When you’ve gone from making your writing better to merely making it different. That’s not always easy to determine, but it’s what makes you an author. 

Step 2. Find a mentor.

Get help from someone who’s been where you want to be.

Imagine engaging a mentor who can help you sidestep all the amateur pitfalls and shave years of painful trial-and-error off your learning curve.

Just make sure it’s someone who really knows the writing and publishing world. Many masquerade as mentors and coaches but have never really succeeded themselves.

Look for someone widely-published who knows how to work with agents, editors, and publishers .

There are many helpful mentors online . I teach writers through this free site, as well as in my members-only Writers Guild .

Step 1. Decide on your publishing avenue.

In simple terms, you have two options when it comes to publishing your book:

1. Traditional publishing

Traditional publishers take all the risks. They pay for everything from editing, proofreading, typesetting, printing, binding, cover art and design, promotion, advertising, warehousing, shipping, billing, and paying author royalties.

2. Self-publishing

Everything is on you. You are the publisher, the financier, the decision-maker. Everything listed above falls to you. You decide who does it, you approve or reject it, and you pay for it. The term self-publishing is a bit of a misnomer, however, because what you’re paying for is not publishing, but printing. 

Both avenues are great options under certain circumstances. 

Not sure which direction you want to take? Click here to read my in-depth guide to publishing a book . It’ll show you the pros and cons of each, what each involves, and my ultimate recommendation.

Step 2: Properly format your manuscript.

Regardless whether you traditionally or self-publish your book, proper formatting is critical.

Because poor formatting makes you look like an amateur .

Readers and agents expect a certain format for book manuscripts, and if you don’t follow their guidelines, you set yourself up for failure.

Best practices when formatting your book:

  • Use 12-point type
  • Use a serif font; the most common is Times Roman
  • Double space your manuscript
  • No extra space between paragraphs
  • Only one space between sentences
  • Indent each paragraph half an inch (setting a tab, not using several spaces)
  • Text should be flush left and ragged right, not justified
  • If you choose to add a line between paragraphs to indicate a change of location or passage of time, center a typographical dingbat (like ***) on the line
  • Black text on a white background only
  • One-inch margins on the top, bottom, and sides (the default in Word)
  • Create a header with the title followed by your last name and the page number. The header should appear on each page other than the title page.

If you need help implementing these formatting guidelines, click here to read my in-depth post on formatting your manuscript .

Step 3. Set up your author website and grow your platform.

All serious authors need a website. Period.

Because here’s the reality of publishing today…

You need an audience to succeed.

If you want to traditionally publish, agents and publishers will Google your name to see if you have a website and a following.

If you want to self-publish, you need a fan base.

And your author website serves as a hub for your writing, where agents, publishers, readers, and fans can learn about your work.

Don’t have an author website yet? Click here to read my tutorial on setting this up.

Step 4. Pursue a Literary Agent.

There remain a few traditional publishers (those who pay you and take the entire financial risk of publishing your book rather than the other way around) who accept unsolicited submissions, but I do NOT recommend going that route. 

Your submission will likely wind up in what is known in the business as the slush pile. That means some junior staff member will be assigned to get to it when convenient and determine whether to reject it out of hand (which includes the vast majority of the submissions they see) or suggest the publisher’s editorial board consider it.

While I am clearly on record urging you to exhaust all your efforts to traditionally publish before resorting to self-publishing (in other words, paying to be printed), as I say, I do not recommend submitting unsolicited material even to those publishers who say they accept such efforts.

Even I don’t try to navigate the publishing world by myself, despite having been an author, an editor, a publisher, and a writing coach over the last 50 years.

That’s why I have an agent and you need one too.

Many beginning writers naturally wonder why they should share any of their potential income with an agent (traditionally 15%). First, they don’t see any of that income unless you’re getting your 85% at the same time. And second, everyone I know in the business is happy to have someone in their corner, making an agent a real bargain.

I don’t want to have to personally represent myself and my work. I want to stay in my creative lane and let a professional negotiate every clause of the contract and win me the best advance and rights deal possible.

Once under contract, I work directly with the publishing house’s editor and proofreader, but I leave the financial business to my agent.

Ultimately, an agent’s job is to protect your rights and make you money. They profit only when you do.

That said, landing an agent can be as difficult and painstaking as landing a publisher. They know the market, they know the editors, they know what publishers want, and they can advise you how to put your best foot forward.

But how do you know who to trust? Credible, trustworthy agents welcome scrutiny. If you read a book in your genre that you like, check the Acknowledgments page for the agent’s name. If the author thinks enough of that person to mention them glowingly, that’s a great endorsement.

If you’re writing in the inspirational market, peruse agents listed in The Christian Writer’s Market Guide . If you’re writing for the general market, try The Writer’s Market . If you know any published authors, ask about their agents.

The guides that list agents also include what they’re looking for, what they specialize in, and sometimes even what they’re not interested in. Study these to determine potential agents who ply their trade in your genre. Visit their websites for their submission guidelines, and follow these to a T.

They may ask for a query letter, a synopsis, a proposal, or even sample chapters. Be sure not to send more or less than they suggest. 

The best, and most logical place to start is by sending them a query letter. Query simply means question, and in essence the question your letter asks is whether you may send them more.

Step 5: Writing Your Query Letter.

It’s time to move from author to salesperson.

Your query letter will determine whether a literary agent asks to see more, sends you a cordial form letter to let you down easy, or simply doesn’t respond.

Sadly, many agents stipulate on their websites that if you hear nothing after a certain number of weeks, you should take that as an indication that they’re not interested. Frankly, to me, this is frustrating to the writer and lazy on the part of the agent. Surely, in this technological age, it should be easy to hit one button and send a note to someone who might otherwise wonder if the query reached the agent at all.

But that’s the reality we deal with.

So, the job of your one-page single-spaced email letter is to win a response—best case scenario: an invitation to send more: a proposal or even the manuscript. 

Basically, you’re selling yourself and your work. Write a poor query letter and an agent will assume your book is also poorly written.

Without being gimmicky or cute, your letter must intrigue an agent. 

Your query letter should:

  • Be addressed to a specific person (not to the staff of the agency or “To Whom It May Concern”)*
  • Present your book idea simply
  • Evidence your style
  • Show you know who your readers are
  • Clarify your qualifications
  • Exhibit flexibility and professionalism

*If you see a list of agents in a firm, choose one from the middle or bottom of the list. It could be that they get less personal mail than the person whose name is on the door. Who knows? That you single them out may make them see your query in a more favorable light.

For some great advice on writing a query letter, check this out: https://janefriedman.com/query-letters/  

  • You Have What It Takes to Write a Book

Writing a book is a herculean task, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be done.

You can do this .

Take it one step at a time and vow to stay focused. And who knows, maybe by this time next year you’ll be holding a published copy of your book. :)

I’ve created an exclusive writing guide called How to Maximize Your Writing Time that will help you stay on track and finish writing your book.

Get your FREE copy by clicking the button below.

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Confab With Me

Tips on writing a book – quora answer.

Here is my answer to the question, “What is the best way to write a book?” on Quora

It took me three years to write my first book, which included 10 revisions and several editing rounds. Here is my advice for the same

  • Decide what genre you want to write – fiction or non-fiction. If fiction, thriller, suspense, drama, horror, etc.
  • Decide who you are audience is – YA, Mature, Professional – knowing your audience is extremely important to ensure you can use the writing technique to arrest them in your storytelling mode
  • Decide whether you are going to write a Novel, Novella, Short stories
  • Write a rough sketch – while your story may evolve you should have a rough outline to help navigate your storytelling art
  • Build your characters – define your characters well. Build them as your work progresses
  • Define your plots – plot development is extremely important. Here is a link on Writing About Situations
  • Finding the right word – here is an article I wrote about it, which you may find helpful Finding The Right Words
  • Read and read, and read more – there is no shortcut to this. Read about the genre you are writing or about other genres. Take notes and see how the author builds a plot and describe situations.
  • Decide how you want to narrate the story – as the first second or third person
  • Get your grammar right – tense plays a very important role. You need to make sure the work is readable and has the right dose of maturity
  • If you can afford to use a book writing tool like Scrivener – it gives you immense flexibility for writing, formatting, and organizing your book. You can search across plots, organize by character and be ready for publishing
  • Lastly, create a blog. You can express your thoughts to the world and get instant feedback. Moreover, once you’re ready to publish you will need a user base. A blog is a good way to start the “Author in Making” Process

You can listen to my YouTube channel Here

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How to Use Quora to Write Your Next Book – Guest Post by Allen Taylor

Posted by Stephanie Chandler | Dec 15, 2015 | Blog , Past Events | 0

How to Use Quora to Write Your Next Book – Guest Post by Allen Taylor

Allen Taylor

Writers can come up with all sorts of ways to choose topics for books we want to write. From personal experience to keyword research, there are a myriad of ways to test the market, research the market, and write for the market. Even writers who aren’t market-oriented come up with creative ways to address the subject they want to write about. Now I’d like to share one other way savvy writers can find their next topic, research it, find experts to interview, and kick out their next title. It’s called Quora.

If you’ve never heard of it, Quora is the Internet’s most incredible question and answer website. Even better than Yahoo! Answers .

What makes Quora so incredible? That’s what the rest of this post is about.

How to Use Quora to Write Your Next Book

If you think about what goes into the writing of a book—research, interviews, data sourcing, organizing information—then this question should answer itself. But I’m not letting myself off the hook. Instead, I’ll share six powerful ways Quora can be your next great book writing tool.

1) Find a Topic to Write About

Chances are, you know what you want to write about. But even if you do, you can use Quora to hone your topic to a finer, more narrow topic. Here are a couple of ways to do that:

  • Ask a Question – It’s a question and answer site, so ask a question about a topic you want to explore. This will do a couple of things for you. First, it will help you gauge interest in the topic. If no one answers your question, then you know it’s a topic few people are interested in. Secondly, the answers you receive could give you plenty of fodder for research and digging deeper into your subject.
  • Subscribe to a Few Topics – Pick some topics in which you have an interest and subscribe to them. That way, you can see what questions others are asking. If you see a question someone else has asked that is getting a lot of response, then you know there’s another hot topic. It could be a potential book for you. Quora will ask you which topics you want to follow when you join.

2) Find Experts to Interview

It is easy to find experts on Quora for that is precisely what makes Quora the best question and answer website online. It is designed specifically to appeal to professionals and experts in practically every subject area. Once you follow certain topics, you can go to the home page for those topics and view the most viewed writers who post on those topics. For instance, here are the most viewed writers in the Law topic at Quora. You’ll see that the top Quoran in that topic is a lawyer by the name of Chris Gilley. He specializes in product management and legal technology. If your book touches on those topics, you can contact Mr. Gilley and request an interview.

3) Conduct In-Depth Research

Besides finding people to interview, it’s easy to conduct in-depth research on Quora because every topic knowledgeable people post about is covered in so many different angles. All you have to do is conduct a Google search on any topic and add “Quora” (without parentheses) to your search query. Here’s an example:

Google search query: publishing e-books quora

This search query reveals over 100,000 search results. The entire first page of search results show content on the Quora website, and most of the results on the second page do, as well. When I click on the first result, the Quora question, “What’s the best way to publish an e-book?” there are 62 answers. Imagine how much information you can find about your topic just by Googling for Quora content!

Now, I’m not saying you should end your research with Quora, nor do you necessarily have to begin there. But Quora is a rich source of information on many topics, and a huge amount of it is produced by expert-level sources.

4) Produce Content For Your Book

Besides answering questions asked by other Quorans, you can test content for your book by starting a Quora blog. If you go to your Quora profile, there is a button you can click on to start a blog. You can start as many Quora blogs as you want, but the reason Quora is a good place to start a blog about a particular topic on which you wish to write a book is because other Quorans interested in that topic can follow your blog and provide feedback on your posts. This will be tremendously helpful as you engage potential readers of your book.

Of course, you can always start a blog at Blogspot, WordPress.com, or set one up on a dedicated Web domain, but at Quora you won’t have to fiddle with themes, spend money on hosting, or search for an available domain name. Plus, your Quora audience is a tight group that you can target with your content without having to research keywords or expend a lot of time on search engine content just to find readers. The readers are already there, and if they are following the topic of your blog, you have a built-in audience.

5) Build Your Platform, Market Your Book

Marketing takes place long before your book is published. In fact, you should start marketing your book as soon as you start writing it. And with Quora, that’s precisely what you’ll be doing. It begins with your Quora profile. Mention that you are an author and tell your potential audience what topics you like writing about.

Next, answer the questions related to your topic of interest. Other people interested in those topics, asking questions—and answering them—related to your niche are potential readers, interview subjects, or partners in some other way.

Using Quora to write your book can focus your content toward an audience that is already defined by the question and answer platform. From there, it’s just a matter of turning that platform into your own personal tightly targeted author platform. Once you penetrate the niche market of Quora experts, you can migrate that audience to your external author platform on your website, author blog, and other social media.

6) Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn: Social Push and Pull

If you are active on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, you can connect your Quora account so that answers you post and questions you ask are automatically shared on your other social media accounts. This will draw your fans from other social media sites to Quora to follow you there. Anyone really interested in your topic will want to follow you anywhere you are posting expert-level information.

What Are You Waiting For?

Now that you are familiar with Quora, try using it to write your next book. You can use this social media site for finding topics, conducting research, finding suitable people to interview, and even marketing your next book.

Allen Taylor has been a full-time online content creator since 2006. He is a ghostwriter, blog content writer, and author of “E-book Publishing: Create Your Own Brand of Digital Books”, available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple’s iBookstore, and Smashwords. He hangs his hat at TayloredContent.com .

If you like this blog post, you’ll love our Author Toolkit with templates, worksheets and checklists for writing nonfiction . Check it out!

About The Author

Stephanie Chandler

Stephanie Chandler

Stephanie Chandler is the founder of the Nonfiction Authors Association and Nonfiction Writers Conference , and author of several books including The Nonfiction Book Publishing Plan . A frequent speaker at business events and on the radio, she has been featured in Entrepreneur, BusinessWeek, and Wired magazine. Visit StephanieChandler.com to learn more.

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How to Write a Book (with Tactics from Bestsellers)

What’s the secret formula to tapping into your creativity and writing a book? Some authors would tell you there is no single path to authorship , as every writer’s journey is unique. However, almost every bestselling author will have highly effective writing patterns and habits that help them reach their writing goals . In this post, we'll share some of their most commonly used tactics for starting and finishing a book.

How to write a book:

1. Start with a book idea you love

2. research by reading genre-prominent books, 3. outline the story, 4. write the opening sentence , 5. write the first draft, 6. set a schedule with achievable goals, 7. find a good writing space, 8. pick a "distraction-free" writing software, 9. finish your draft, 10. edit the manuscript, 11. publish your book for readers to buy.

There's a long, exciting road ahead. So let's get started.

ezyeeNi4g2I Video Thumb

The one thing you absolutely  need  to write a book is, of course, an idea. If you don't have that, you'll never get past the first page of your draft.

You may already know what you want to write about, or you may be at a total loss. Either way, you can settle on a “big book idea” by asking yourself a few simple questions:

  • What do I  want  to write about?
  • What do I feel is  important  to write about?
  • Who will want to read about this story/subject?
  • Will I be able to carry out this idea effectively?

Your answers to these questions will help you narrow it down to your best options. For example, if you have several different ideas for a book, but only one that you're truly passionate about and feel you can pull off, then voilà — there's your premise!

On the other hand, if you  lack  ideas, these questions should steer you in a firmer direction. Think about the kinds of books you love to read, as well as books that have made a significant impact on you. In all likelihood, you'll want to write a book in a similar vein.

Tools to help you find an idea

If you're grasping at straws, consider using creative writing prompts or a  plot generator  to get the ball rolling! You might stumble upon an interesting concept or story element that sparks a “big idea” for your book. (And if you're still uninspired even after trying these tools, you may want to reconsider whether you really want to write a book after all.)

Which writing app is right for you?

Find out here! Takes 30 seconds

Once you've found your big idea, the next step is to research your genre. Again, if you're writing the book you like to read , you already have a leg up! Reading books in your genre is by far the best way to learn how to write in that genre yourself.

But if not, you'll want to select a couple of representative titles and analyze them.  How long are they  and  how many chapters do they have ? What does the  story structure  look like? What are the major  themes ? Perhaps most importantly, do you think you can produce a book with similar elements?

Find out what people are reading

You should also conduct market research on Amazon to determine the most  popular  books in your genre. If you want your book to succeed, you'll have to contend with these bestsellers. Go to the  Amazon Best Sellers page  and find your genre in the lefthand sidebar:

How to write a book: what you need to know about bestsellers in your category.

Then read those books' blurbs to figure out what really sells. What do they all have in common, and why might readers find them appealing? Does your book hold up to these standards?

Finally, think about how your book can offer something NEW. For example, if you're writing a psychological thriller, will there be a particularly sneaky  unreliable narrator , or maybe a  series of twists  that the reader never sees coming? If you're  writing a nonfiction book , do you have a unique take on the subject, or a particularly deep well of knowledge? And so on.

Going above and beyond is the only way to give your book a chance in today's hyper-competitive market. So don't skimp on the genre research, because this will tell you where the bar is and how you can surpass it.

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Before you write a book, you need to write an outline.

If you want to write a great story , you need to outline it first. This is especially important if it's your first book, since you need a solid blueprint to rely on when you get stuck! (Because believe us, you will  get stuck.)

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Use this template to go from a vague idea to a solid plan for a first draft.

So how do you go about creating that outline for your book? We actually have a  whole other post on the subject , but here are the essentials:

  • Pick a format that works for you.  There are so many different types of outlines: the free-flowing mind map, the rigorous chapter-and-scene outline, the character-based outline, and so on. If one approach doesn't work for you, try another! Any kind of plan is better than none.
  • Have a beginning, middle, and end.  Way too many authors go into writing a book with a strong notion of how their story should start... yet their middle is murky and their ending, nonexistent. Take this time to flesh them out and connect them to one another.  Remember:  the best books have endings that feel “earned,” so you should try to be building toward it from the start!
  • Consider your conflict points.   Conflict is at the heart of any good book  — it draws in the reader, conjures tension and emotion, and ultimately reflects the themes and/or message you want to convey. You don't have to know  exactly  where your conflict will manifest, but you should have a pretty good grasp of how it works throughout your book.
  • Get to know your characters.  If you haven't done much  character development  yet, your outline is the perfect opportunity to do so. How will your characters interact in the story, and how will these interactions demonstrate who they are and what matters to them?

If you'd like to outline your story directly in a writing app, we recommend using the pre-made templates in the free Reedsy Book Editor. Simply create your account with one click below and start creating the building blocks of your story — right away.  

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The Reedsy Book Editor

Use the Boards feature to plan, organize, or research anything.

Let's get into the actual writing and make a dent in your first draft . One of the most important parts of writing a book is  starting the story ! It's no exaggeration to say your first few pages can make or break your book — if these pages aren't good enough, many readers will lose interest, possibly never returning to your book again.

First off, you need an opening hook that grabs the reader's attention and makes it impossible for them to look away. Take a look at the first lines of these hit bestsellers:

“Mr and Mrs Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much.” — Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
“Renowned curator Jacques Saunière staggered through the vaulted archway of the museum's Grand Gallery.” — The Da Vinci Code
“If all the Saturdays of 1982 can be thought of as one day, I met Tracey at 10 a.m. on that Saturday, walking through the sandy gravel of a churchyard, each holding our mother's hand.” — Swing Time

All of these books fall into different genres, yet all their opening lines do the same thing: capture the reader's attention. You can imitate them by making a similarly strong, slightly furtive statement in  your  opener!

From there, your job is to maintain the reader's interest by heightening the stakes and  inciting the plot . You should also make the reader care about the main characters by giving them distinct personalities and  motivations . (Note that “main” is a key descriptor here; never introduce more than a couple of characters at a time!)

Of course, there are infinite ways to write your first chapter. You might have to experiment with lots of different opening lines, even opening scenes, to find the right balance — but it's worth the effort to set the stage perfectly.

If you struggle to write consistently, sign up for our How to Write a Novel course to finish your novel in just 3 months.  

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how to write a book - plot, story and theme arae like an iceberg

Many writers believe that the key to writing an amazing book is style: impressive vocabulary, elaborate sentences,  figurative language  that would make Shakespeare swoon.

We're here to dissuade you of that notion. While style is great (as long as your prose doesn't  start to become purple ),  substance  is far more important when writing a book — hence why you should focus primarily on your plot, characters, conflict(s), and themes.

Make sure your book is all killer, no filler

Of course, that's easier said than done, especially once you've already started writing . When you get to a patchily outlined section, it's tempting to  keep  writing and fill out the page with literary gymnastics. But that's exactly what this content is: filler. And if you have too much of it, readers will become frustrated and start to think you're pretentious.

This is another reason why outlining is so important. You need to KNOW your story in order to stay on track with it! But besides outlining, here are a few more tips for making substance a priority:

  • Every sentence must do one of two things — reveal character or advance the action.  This advice comes straight from Kurt Vonnegut, and it's 100% true: if a sentence doesn't accomplish one or both of those things, try removing it. If the passage still makes sense, leave it out.
  • Be conscious of your pacing.  Slow pacing is a symptom of excess description. If the events of your book seem to move like molasses, you're probably using too much style and not enough substance.
  • Use a writing tool to reduce flowery language.  Speaking of great American novelists,  Hemingway  is a fantastic tool to help you write like the man himself! Simply paste your writing into the app and Hemingway will suggest ways to make your prose more concise and effective.

Tell us about your book, and we'll give you a writing playlist

It'll only take a minute!

Keep readers in mind while writing

Want to write a book that people will  really  enjoy (and buy)? Well, this is pretty much the cardinal rule: you should always be thinking about your audience and trying to write “reader-first.”

For example, sometimes you'll have to write scenes that aren't very exciting, but that  serve the overall story arc . Don't rush through these scenes just to get them over with! Even if they don't seem interesting to  you,  they contribute to the reader's experience by building tension and preserving the pacing — and the reader deserves to relish those things.

Create 'fake' people who will want to read your book

When considering your readership, you should also  keep a proto-persona in mind  for marketing purposes. These are constructed personalities that marketers use to better understand their target customers. The more your book can cater to this hypothetical reader, the easier it will be to sell!

Maybe you're writing a true-crime account for zealous  true crime readers . Such readers will have pored over countless criminal cases before, so you need to include unique details to make  your  case stand out, and craft an extra-compelling narrative to engage them.

How to write book: Focus your writing time with a daily word count goal.

Let's move on to practical ways that you can improve your writing habits. Word count goals play a huge part in creating an effective writing process, especially if you're trying to finish your book  in a certain amount of time .

You should create word count goals for both your individual sessions and per week — or per month, if that's how you prefer to think about your writing output. For relatively novice writers, we'd recommend the following word count goals:

  • 500-750 words per day
  • 1,500-2,500 words per week
  • 6,000-10,000 words per month

These goals are based on a pattern of 3-4 sessions per week, which is reasonable for a beginner, but still enough to make commendable progress. Even if you only follow our  minimum  recommendations — 500 words per session at 3 sessions per week — you can still easily finish your book in less than a year!

Speeding up the writing process

If you're looking for how to write a book  as fast as possible , your word count goals should look a little more like this:

  • 1,500-2,000 words per session
  • 9,000-15,000 words per week
  • 35,000-50,000 words per month

The figures above adhere roughly to  NaNoWriMo , the event in which participants write an average of 1,667 words/day to complete a 50,000-word book in  one month . It's hard work, but it's definitely possible to write a book that quickly; hundreds of thousands of people do so every year!

But as any author who's done NaNo can attest, it's also a pretty grueling experience. Most authors find it exhausting to write such great quantities for so many days in a row — and they still have to  edit copiously  once they're done.

If this is your first book, make sure you take your time, set manageable word goals, and gradually build to bigger goals.

Use writing sessions to establish a schedule

Having a healthy writing routine is the only way you'll actually hit those word count goals — not to mention it fosters a better relationship with writing overall! To establish a healthy routine, ask yourself these baseline questions first:

  • When do I have the most free time in the day/week?
  • What time of the day do I tend to be most productive?
  • How can I space out my writing sessions effectively?
  • Will I realistically be able to balance my writing goals with other responsibilities?

The best way to set up your routine is to take advantage of your pre-existing schedule and natural patterns. So for example, if you already go to the gym on Tuesdays and Thursdays, perhaps the best time to write would be on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Or if you find yourself most creative late at night ( many of us do! ), you can plan late-night sessions over the weekend/before your day off, so you can sleep in the next day.

Ultimately, you just want a well-balanced writing routine that facilitates productivity, yet keeps you from burning out. If you find that writing for several days in a row is too much for you, space out your sessions more or try to shake things up by moving to a new writing space. If you can't keep up with your goals, it's okay to reduce them a little.

Yes, writing a lot is important, but it's not more important than your mental health! Remember that writing a book is a marathon, not a sprint, and that a consistent, healthy approach is absolutely vital. Here are some tips for making the most of your writing routine.

Don't skip more than one session in a row

Life happens, and sometimes you won't be able to make a planned writing session. However, unless it's a serious emergency, you should try to get back in the saddle for your next session. Otherwise, you'll lose too much progress and feel discouraged, which typically leads to skipping even  more  writing sessions, and eventually giving up.

Track your progress

Screenshot of the Reedsy Book Editor showing daily progress bars and an overall wordcount

With our free writing app, the Reedsy Book Editor , you'll see the numbers update automatically depending on your activity: you'll see how many words you added  and deleted on any given day. Depending on the overall goal you set for your manuscript, you'll also see your daily targets adjust depending on how much you've written so far.

Use a site blocker to stay focused

Distraction is the enemy of routine, and the biggest distraction in our modern world is the Internet. To that end, download a site-and-app blocker to use during your writing sessions so you won't be enticed by social media or adorable cat memes. We'd recommend  Freedom , as you can schedule block sessions in advance and even keep track of your productivity   within  the app.

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How to Build a Solid Writing Routine

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Another major component of how to write a book is  where  you write, hence why it gets a separate section. If you want to complete an entire book, you absolutely must find a calm, focused space for your writing.

This may be in your house, a coffee shop, a library, a co-working space — wherever you can work productively and without interruptions. It should also be a place that you can access easily and go often. Working from home is the most convenient option in this sense, but it may be difficult if you have family around, or if you don't have a designated “room of one's own” (i.e. an actual office, or at least a desk).

What does a good writing space look like?

Try out different locations to see what works for you. Indeed, you may find that you like to rotate writing spaces because it keeps you energetic and your writing fresh! But wherever you go, do your best to make the space:

  • Quiet  (noise-canceling headphones can be very helpful)
  • Clean  (no clutter, especially if you do chores to procrastinate)
  • Non-distracting  (nothing too fun around to tempt you away from writing; turn off your phone so other people won't bother you)
  • Your own  (cultivate a nice atmosphere in your home office with posters and plants, or simply take the same seat at your local café every time — truly carve out a “dedicated writing space”)

We've already talked about a few different pieces of software to help you with writing a book. But if you haven't found the right app or program yet, never fear — there's plenty more where those came from!

Book writing software is a topic we've actually  written an entire post about , but it's worth touching on a few of our favorite writing tools here:

Scrivener 🖋️

Scrivener is  the  downloadable writing software of choice for many writers, and for good reason: it has an exceptional interface and tons of useful features. You can outline chapters with its drag-and-drop system, create labels for elements you want to track, and use various templates to plan AND format your book. If you want to feel like a true professional, you can't go wrong with Scrivener — and it's even free to try for 30 days.

Or if you're not much for outlines because your thoughts are all over the place, Milanote can help. The super-flexible interface allows you to “mind map” just as you would longhand, and rearrange different sections as you please. When writing, you can see all your notes at once, so you don't have to stress about forgetting things. It's a very refreshing, intuitive way approach that's worth a try for all disorganized authors.

FocusWriter ✍️

Speaking of intuitive, what's more intuitive than simply writing on a piece of paper, no distractions — just like the old days? Meet FocusWriter, which allows you to do exactly that. The full-screen default interface is a sheet of paper on a wooden desk: no bells, no whistles, no distractions whatsoever. Seriously, this one will get you in the zone.

The Reedsy Book Editor 📖

We couldn't leave out one of the coolest word processing, editing, and formatting tools on the market! All jokes aside, the RBE lets you cleanly format your book  as you go,  so you can watch it take shape in real-time. You can also add sections for front matter and back matter and invite collaborators to edit your text. Plus you can toggle on goal reminders to make sure that you're on track with your writing schedule. Once you finish writing, you can export the files of your book. But don't take our word for it: you can try the RBE for free right here .

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Set goals, track progress, and establish your writing routine in our free app.

how to write a book: start writing and stay motivated

Getting into the groove of writing a book can be difficult. When there are a million different things to distract and discourage you, how can you keep going with your writing routine and finish your book?

Based on ours and other writers' experience, here are a few motivational strategies for you to try:

  • Make a list of reasons  why  you want to write a book.  Having a tangible reminder of your true purpose is one of the best ways to motivate yourself, so think hard: Do you want to send an important message? Reach a certain group of people? Or do you simply yearn to tell this particular story? Write down all your reasons and keep them as an ace in the hole for when your motivation dwindles.
  • Find someone else to write with you.  Getting a writing buddy is another great way to stay motivated! For one thing, you get some camaraderie during this process; for another, it means you can't slack off too much. So ask your writer friends if they'd like to meet up regularly, or join an  online writing community . With the latter, just make sure you exchange progress updates and proof that you're actually writing!
  • Reward yourself at important milestones.  Sometimes the best motivation is the prospect of treating yourself. If you respond well to this kind of motivation, set a goal, a deadline, and a reward for meeting it: “If I can write 10,000 more words by the end of the month, I'll go out for an amazing, fancy dinner with all my friends.” This kind of goal is also helpful because you can  tell  your friends about it, and that very act will hold you accountable.

For even more advice on how to staying motivated through the writing process, check out this Reedsy Live from author and writing coach Kevin Johns!

oUgIFXNapuQ Video Thumb

Don't give up

Remember how we said you'd inevitably get stuck? Well, that's what this step is all about: what to do when you hit a wall. Whether it's a tricky plot hole, an onslaught of insecurity, or a simple lack of desire to write, all writers experience setbacks from time to time.

There are countless ways to  overcome writer's block , from freewriting to working on your characters to taking a shower (yes, that's a legitimate tip!). However, here are some of the most effective techniques we've found:

  • Revisit your outline.  This will jog your memory as to planned story elements you've forgotten — which may help you find the missing piece.
  • Try writing exercises.  It's possible you just need to get the words flowing, and then you can jump get right back into your book. Luckily for you, we have a whole host of great writing exercises  right here!
  • Share your experience with friends.  This is another great role for your writing buddy to fill, but you can easily talk about writer's block with your non-writing friends, too. If you're struggling, it always helps to vent and bounce ideas off other people.
  • Take a  short  break to do something else.  Yes, sometimes you need to step away from the keyboard and clear your head. But don't take more than a day or so, or else you'll lose momentum and motivation.

Most of all, remember to take setbacks in stride and not let them get you down. As platitudinous as that might sound, it's true: the only thing that can stop you from writing a book is if you, well,  stop writing . So keep calm and carry on — every day brings new opportunities and you'll get through this.

Your aim at this point is not to emerge with an instant masterpiece. The quality almost always emerges in the edit.

how to write a book, step 14: get feedback

You can write all day, all night, to your heart's content... but if no one else likes what you've written, you might end up heart broken  instead. That's why it's crucial to request feedback on your book, starting early and from as many sources as possible.

Begin by asking your friends and fellow writers to read just a few chapters at a time. However, apply their suggestions not only to those chapters, but wherever relevant. For example, if one of your friends says, “[Character A] is acting weird in this scene,” pay extra attention to that character to ensure you haven't misrepresented them anywhere else.

Once your book is finished, you're ready for some more intensive feedback. Consider  getting a beta reader  to review your entire book and provide their thoughts. You may want to hire an editor to give you professional feedback as well. (Find out about the different types of editing, and which type your book might need,  in this post .)

Finally, it might sound obvious, but we'll say it anyway for all you stubborn writers out there: feedback is useless if you don't actually listen to it. Separate yourself from your ego and don't take anything personally, because no one wants to offend you — they're just trying to help.

You’ve persevered to the end at last: brainstormed, outlined, and written a draft that you've edited extensively (based on feedback, of course). Your book has taken its final form, and you couldn’t be prouder. So what comes next?

Well, if you’ve taken our advice about catering to your target readers, you may as well give publishing a shot! We have a  full guide to publishing right here  — and if you’re thinking about traditional publishing,  read this article  to decide which is right for you.

Get help from publishing professionals

Publishing is another rigorous process, of course. But if you’ve come this far to find out how to write a book, you can pretty much do anything! Invest in  stellar cover design , study up on  marketing , or start writing an  irresistible query letter  that will get you an offer.

Whichever route you take, one thing will remain true: you’ve written a book, and that’s an incredible achievement. Welcome to the 0.1% — and may the next book you write be even greater than the first. 📖

13/12/2019 – 15:33

thank you for helping me find a new way to write my book

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It's National Novel Writing Month. Here's how to finally write that book

Petra Mayer at NPR headquarters in Washington, D.C., May 21, 2019. (photo by Allison Shelley)

Petra Mayer

6 tips to help you write a book, from NPR's Life Kit.

Explore Life Kit

This story comes from Life Kit , NPR's podcast with tools to help you get it together. To listen to this episode, play the audio at the top of the page or find it here .

It's kind of a truism that everyone has a book in them, right? We all have some kind of story to tell. But it's equally true that a lot of us have those crummy little inner voices telling us it's never gonna happen. That we're not Real Writers. That no one cares what we have to say, or that we could never write an entire book. (Or, y'know, that we've only ever written fanfiction.)

November is National Novel Writing Month , or NaNoWriMo, so I decided to talk to some people who've both been there and done that, about how to shut those little voices up and get started on your book. Because the one thing I found out while talking to people for this story is that all you have to do to be a Real Writer is ... write. That's all. Just write. So here are six tips that'll help you set pen to paper (or finger to keyboard) and get going on your book.

1. Carve out some time to write, and then start writing.

Now, I bet a lot of you out there have said to yourselves, I'm gonna write my book someday .

"And someday tends not to happen in life," says Grant Faulkner . He's the executive director of NaNoWriMo. "And so you have to create the conditions to write."

I'm also betting most of you don't have, y'know, a perfect sunny nook where you can settle in with a cup of coffee, your favorite pen and your lucky troll doll and spend a few hours cranking out a chapter of the next great American novel. But what almost everyone has is what Faulkner calls "time confetti."

Time confetti is those little absent-minded moments, the little blanks in your day when you're not doing anything. If you use that time to write, "you can actually get a lot done," Faulkner says. He also, of course, recommends that you sign up for NaNoWriMo .

"One of the things that makes NaNoWriMo so successful for people in general is that we lower the bar of writing. So many people operate with a sense of perfectionism, and they let their inner editor get in the way of their words on the page. And NaNoWriMo is all about setting a goal and a deadline ... And that helps open the gates to your creativity, and lets you get the words out without trying to make them all perfect."

One way to do that? Try a word sprint. You get a prompt, and that prompt could be anything — a favorite family picture, a phrase, even just a single word. NaNoWriMo actually has a Twitter account devoted to word sprints that offers prompts like "something unreal" or "waited too long." And then, you just write — for five, 10, 15 minutes, you banish that inner editor, keep your hands on the keys or your pen on the page and let the words come.

Elizabeth Acevedo is one of the writers who found inspiration in NaNoWriMo — you might know her name; she won the National Book Award in 2018 for her young adult novel in verse The Poet X , and her new book is Clap When You Land .

She says she'll sit down at her computer, set a timer, and "for this hour you're just writing, so it's almost like a sprint." Then she might get up and take a walk, have a snack, sit back down and see how far she can get in another 30 minutes or so. "Here I am, I have to just get through this and it doesn't matter if it's good or not," she says. "I don't revise as I'm writing and I don't go back and reread pages. I kind of just plow ahead."

Just plow ahead. Words of wisdom!

2. Know that there's not one "right" way to write your book.

We need art right now. Here's how to get into poetry

We Need Art Right Now. Here's How To Get Into Poetry

But I hear you asking — how do I plow ahead? In which direction should I point this metaphorical plow? Should I have every plot point mapped out? Should I know every nuance of every character? Should I know how it's all going to work? Spoiler alert: No.

Grant Faulkner says some NaNoWriMo participants are planners. "They'll meticulously outline their novels ahead of time. And other people are pantsers. They just jump in and wing it. We also have a term that is very unique to NaNoWriMo, plantsers, and those are people who are in-between planning and pantsing."

But here's the thing — are you a planner? Are you a pantser? Are you somewhere in between? Who knows! Certainly, you don't have to know when you're starting out. Just try something and see what works for you.

But no matter how you go about it, says Acevedo, creating isn't easy. Maybe you missed your goal yesterday, and you've got double the work today. "And those days suck," she says. "But also, I think it's important to recognize that sometimes, like — you can't ghost your characters. You have to show up for them, or they won't show up for you."

That's it. Show up for your characters. Doesn't matter how you do it, as long as you do it.

3. Find your people.

Writers Illustrated: Q&A With Jeff VanderMeer, Author Of 'Wonderbook'

Author Interviews

Writers illustrated: q&a with jeff vandermeer, author of 'wonderbook'.

No matter how romantic it seems, you're not up in the garret by candlelight, scribbling away, alone in your genius. I mean, maybe you are — but in that case, maybe you're already beyond what we're trying to do here.

I called up my former NPR colleague Kat Chow , who wrote a memoir about grief and identity called Seeing Ghosts . She says it was a hard book to write. "It's nonfiction. But it's also about my family. It's about grief. But sometimes there are just so many distractions."

And when she was really stuck, if walking the dog or organizing the closet didn't help, Chow says she'd call up a friend with a different way of thinking. "Or I would talk to another friend who's writing a book. And it would kind of help me reset, or have to think through the issue with my book."

'Seeing Ghosts' Navigates The Melancholia Of Loss — Of People, Places And Identities

Book Reviews

'seeing ghosts' navigates the melancholia of loss — of people, places and identities.

You don't just have to stick to your friends. Chow recommends that you reach out to other writers, "whether they're potential friends or people whose work you admire, and try and form your own community so that you can have a writers group of people who can kind of talk through any issues that you're having with your book."

One way to find those people? Chow says that if she's just read something really great, she'll flip to the acknowledgements. "And I just love reading who these writers are thanking because oftentimes it's really thoughtful people, or it's books that have inspired them or helped them be better writers, or fellowships or writing centers that have provided support."

NaNoWriMo is also a good place to start looking for a community — they have a lot of local groups that meet every month. Or check with your local library to see what kind of writing events they host.

4. Read, read, and then read some more.

Read more books with these tips

How To Read More Books

I spend a lot of my day editing the freelance writers who review books for NPR.org — and when I'm working with someone new, there's one thing I always tell them. (Apart from no dang passive voice! ) And that's read . Reading helps you figure out what you like, and it helps you refine your own voice on the page.

But sometimes I get a little pushback — I'll hear something like, "I don't want to read other writers, because what if it influences me?"

"Influence doesn't mean that you're a copier," says K. Tempest Bradford . She's a sci-fi and fantasy author, and a writing teacher. "Influence doesn't mean that you're not you, you're not uniquely you — no matter what you do, you're always influenced by something, right? Because that's how culture works."

Your voice is always your own, because it's coming from you . But reading good writers can help you make your own voice better.

5. You will screw up, so learn to take criticism gracefully.

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Commentary: cultural appropriation is, in fact, indefensible.

Beyond just keeping you on your deadlines, having a writing group or an accountability partner is helpful in another really important way — they can provide perspectives that aren't your own, and tell you when you've gotten something wrong.

And you will get something wrong, because you are a squishy human being and not a perfect, novel-producing artificial intelligence. Maybe your prose is clunky, maybe your character depictions are kinda cardboard, or stereotypical, even a little bit racist, and you didn't do the work to make them real people.

Which is something to think about, especially now.

The publishing industry has always had a serious diversity problem — but things have really been blowing up recently over issues of cultural appropriation, of white writers profiting off the stories of other cultures.

And that leads to the huffy, bordering-on-bad-faith flounce that you see in some corners of social media: Well I'm white, so I guess I can't write about anything .

"It's not that people are going to yell at you or be mad if you write characters who are outside of your culture, outside of your race or other major identity trait," says K. Tempest Bradford. "What people yell about and what starts causing fights is when writers do it badly."

Bradford teaches workshops through Writing the Other , aimed at helping people not do it badly. The first thing to do, she says, is ask yourself why you want to include a particular character in this story. Is it because you want more representation? That's fine."But sometimes the impetus is, 'I want to have this character of color because I heard that they're trendy.' And that's ... let's not do that."

It's not that you should never write outside your own experience, Bradford says — but you should know why you're doing it. And you should make sure people from whatever group you're writing about have had a chance to tell their own stories for themselves before you jump in.

And once you've written something, she says, "get some sensitivity readers and some other people who are from that group to talk to you about it." Writing the other is a collaborative process, Bradford says — it involves research, discussion, bringing other people into your work. And despite all that, you might still get something wrong. We all make mistakes.

So, learning to accept criticism with grace and humility — whether it's from your writing group or, god forbid, angry folks on Twitter — is an important part of the writing life, and one people don't often think about.

6. Believe that you are a Real Writer.

Making art is good for your health. Here's how to start a habit

Making Art Is Good For Your Health. Here's How To Start A Habit

I wanna go back to something I was thinking about earlier — that dumb, depressing and persistent thought: I could never write a whole book. I can't crank out 2,000 words a day. I'm not a Real Writer. I asked my guests to weigh in on that.

"I think that someone who's storytelling from a place of urgency and is attempting an original way of documenting the human experience, I think that's a writer," says Elizabeth Acevedo.

"If you write, you're a real writer," says Grant Faulkner. "And I think you need to embrace the term 'being a real writer,' and call yourself a real writer, and believe in that, because that will give you power on the page."

Still don't believe me?

"Anytime some guy's like, well, you're not a real writer unless you [do] X, I'm going to say that they're full of hooey," says Tempest Bradford. "Unless they're saying, well, you're not a real writer unless you write."

Whether it's poetry, fanfiction, letters to yourself, even a description of two squirrels fighting in the yard — if you write, if you tell a story, you are a Real Writer. That's all you gotta do. Just write. And you'll find yourself, little by little, writing your book.

Camp NaNoWriMo

NaNoWriMo's word sprints

NaNoWriMo monthly groups

Writing the Other

K. Tempest Bradford recommends:

Writing the Other , Nisi Shawl and Cynthia Ward

Steering the Craft , Ursula K. Le Guin

The Wonderbook , Jeff VanderMeer

Kat Chow recommends:

Writing Tools , by Roy Peter Clark

Bird by Bird , Anne Lamott

If you have a life hack you'd love to share, give us a call at 202-216-9823, or email us at [email protected] . Your tip could appear in an upcoming episode.

If you want more Life Kit , subscribe to our newsletter .

The audio portion of this story was produced by Andee Tagle

  • Life Kit: Life Skills

More From Forbes

Why do so many founders and ceos write books.

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Why do so many CEOs and founders write books? originally appeared on Quora : the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world .

Answer by Steven Spatz , President of BookBaby, on Quora :

Writing and publishing a book is an important goal for many CEOs, and it’s no secret why.

Publishing a successful and well-written book can raise your visibility and garner you positive media coverage for your company, product, or service. It lends authority and credibility. And publishing a book can even tangibly help your business in that it can serve as a tool for both recruitment and sales. In this sense, a published book is like the ultimate business card.

But CEOs with literary aspirations would be wise to consider this fact: book writing isn’t for everyone.

In fact, if you’re thinking about writing and publishing a book, it’s important to ask yourself a few questions before you dive into the process, just to ensure you’re not setting yourself up for failure or disappointment. Here are some of the key ones to think about.

1: Why am I writing a book?

If you answered, “To make lots of money,” then writing a book likely isn’t for you.

In short, the chances of you   getting rich   from publishing one book are extremely slim. A vast majority of writers who publish books through traditional means barely break even on their advance – which, most of the time, is a loan, not a payment – and the indie market is notoriously competitive. Only a handful of books, published either independently or traditionally, make meaningful amounts of money in any given year – a low number considering that thousands of books are published each year.

It’s better, instead, if your aim is smaller and more measurable, like taking your business or life in a new direction, getting onto some podcasts to share your message, or attracting a handful of qualified clients.

That said, CEOs write for a variety of different reasons that aren’t monetary. Some write to advance a social cause. This is often the case with retired executives embracing an opportunity to focus their time on an issue that holds deep philanthropic resonance for them.

Others write purely to provide value for the reader. Jack Welch, who ran General Electric from 1981 to 2001, shared the history of his time at the helm in his book Straight From The Gut, offering remarkable insight in the process. Howard D. Schultz, chairman and CEO of Starbucks, designed his book, Pour Your Heart Into It, as something of a textbook for aspiring CEOs. It’s full of actionable lessons that business leaders can implement into their work right away, like the importance of prioritizing quality, instilling discovery in customers, and cultivating loyalty.

Ultimately, each of these CEOs had worked out exactly why they wanted to write a book before they started. This is key to success, as it allows you to purposefully identify what you’re working toward, and whether that goal is realistic or genuine.

2: Why are you the best person to write this book?

This question is equally important as the preceding one. It amounts, essentially, to a marketing question: what about you makes you the most compelling and marketable author for this topic or idea?

Are you an expert in the topic? Have you conducted interesting and essential research on it? Are you telling a story that you’re intimately familiar with or overly passionate about? You’re more likely to write an engaging book that you can convincingly and effectively promote if you are.

Will you be totally unable to write an intriguing or compelling book if you’re not an expert on the subject, or if you’re not initially passionate about the topic? Not necessarily. But writing books is difficult, and this level of interest or insight will make the process easier. It will also increase your credibility with readers - and that, when it comes to selling your book, is critical.

3: Am I prepared for the writing process?

Many CEOs, somewhat unfortunately, underestimate exactly how hard writing a book is. There are a variety of challenges, including:

  • Time.   Writing is a hard-won skill, accrued through daily practice and diligence. To write a book, you’ll need to write every day, multiple hours a day, for many months.
  • Humility.   Many CEOs fancy themselves better writers than they actually are. The truth is, most business leaders are great communicators, but giving a good speech or writing a great memo isn’t the same thing as writing a book.
  • Planning.   Whether you’re writing a novel or a work of nonfiction, the effectiveness of your book writing process - whether or not it takes you years or months to complete your book - hinges on planning. Many new authors just dive in, but this is a mistake. You need to outline, storyboard, and map out the logical trajectory of the writing before you start writing - and this is hard. The first step is identifying your key ideas. When I wrote my book, The End, Now What? , I distilled the concept down to three key ideas that I wanted to flesh out succinctly. They guided me throughout the writing process:
  • Writing, publishing and selling a book is a personal and unique journey. Like snowflakes, no two projects are alike.
  • Self publishing is like being the CEO of your own personal publishing company: you have the responsibility and freedom to make every decision.
  • With every book there are six critical decision points that will determine its success.

4: How do you plan to publish this book?

Of course, the publishing logistics are important to consider, too.

Namely, you need to decide if you’re going to publish through a traditional publishing house, or if you’re going to go the self-publishing route through a company like   BookBaby . If you’re planning to seek out a traditional publisher, you’ll need to take time to find an agent and write a book proposal. And you’ll need to be prepared to send out query letters and attend meetings before you write more than the first chapter or two. Plus, you have to research who you’re going to approach—quite a project in itself.

If you decide to go the self-publishing route, then you can go ahead and write your book, but you’ll have more work to do at the back end. Make sure you’re familiar enough with   the pros and cons of traditional versus self-publishing   and that you’re prepared to be flexible, you may set out on one route and find the other is a better fit for you and your business.

At the end of the day, if you’re a CEO and you think you might want to write a book, before you dive into the process, ask yourself and seriously think about the questions above.

If after that critical self-reflection, you’ve determined that, yes, you are committed to writing a book, here are a few key pieces of advice to remember as you proceed through your journey:

  • Commit to it.   Writing a book is no different than preparing and executing on a product roadmap, except it’s your own personal product. Make this into a business goal.
  • Remove your ego.   Every book is going to receive some criticism. Enter into the process knowing that your writing will not please everyone.
  • Identify who your target audience is.   Simply saying that your potential readers are “everyone” is a recipe for disastrous results. Visualize the people who will most benefit from your thoughts, words, and ideas.
  • Don’t be afraid to get help.   Whether to write it, edit it, publish it, or promote it, there’s no shame in hiring experienced pros to produce a great book.
  • Don’t skimp on an editor.   It’s the same advice I give every single author. CEOs have a lot riding on the final product, and editing is an investment with the best possible ROI.

There’s more, of course, but this should give you a workable place to start. Now good luck!

This question originally appeared on Quora - the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world. You can follow Quora on Twitter , Facebook , and Google+ . More questions:

  • Books : What books should CEOs read?
  • Reading : Why are so many of the world's most successful people avid readers?
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16 Practical Tips For Anyone Who Wants To Write A Book

If you want to write, you've got to read.

Gyan Yankovich

BuzzFeed Staff

writing a book quora

Writing more is a popular, and very great, New Year's resolution, so we decided to ask BuzzFeed staff to share their best advice for aspiring writers, and check out what Quora users had to say too.

1. keep a journal by your bed and record your dreams as soon as you wake up..

writing a book quora

"I know it sounds weird, but if you wake up in the middle of the night and remember a dream, write it down ASAP — just a few key words, nothing too crazy. Keeping track of your dreams can help inspire new ideas and things to write about." — Hannah Loewentheil

2. If you want to write fiction, read a lot of fiction.

writing a book quora

"There's nothing that inspires me to write more than reading a really, really well-written book. The most recent book this happened with was The Goldfinch . The prose was so engaging and unique that my brain was exploding with new ideas. I'd finish a chapter and scribble down a ton of thoughts, sentences, and concepts that I'd never thought of before, and I still refer back to my favorite parts when I'm feeling a little stumped." — Terri Pous

3. Dedicate your commute to thinking of new ideas and playing with sentences in your head.

I don't know if there's some kind of scientific reason behind it, but some of my very best ideas have come to me on long train journeys. In the past I would let these daydreams pass by, along with the landscape outside the window, but now I record these thoughts in the Notes app on my phone — when caught in the right mood I've ended up typing out pages and pages.

4. Get yourself into the habit of writing something every day.

writing a book quora

"A thing that my creative writing professor would always drill into us is the need to write every day. You might write for hours on some days, or as little as five minutes on other days. That's fine. The most important thing is getting into the habit of writing everyday, until not doing so feels strange." —Walford Campbell

5. And set achievable writing goals for yourself.

writing a book quora

"Have a writing goal that you want to meet each day or week." — Anthony Rivas

6. Remember that your first draft is a draft, and shouldn't be perfect.

I love this Medium article from Jamie Lauren Keiles on drafts and constantly refer back to it when I'm feeling overwhelmed by the thought of starting a new piece of writing. In it she writes, "the crappiest first draft is still better than the imaginary story you are withholding in your head," which makes me feel so seen I'm compelled to drop everything and write every time I read it.

7. When it comes time to start editing your drafts, try reading your writing out loud.

"Reading your work out loud will help you catch so many mistakes. From awkward phrasing to missing words to typos and comma splices, and everything in between." — Delaney Strunk

8. If you're looking for a way to get your creative juice flowing again, considering reading and following the advice of The Artist's Way .

writing a book quora

"One of the greatest things I've ever done was complete Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way . If you're not familiar, there are three main principals: 1. Write three full, loose-leaf pages every morning. This can be anything you want (e.g. stream of consciousness, stories, venting, or journaling.) 2. Go on an 'artist date' every week where you do something related to your art completely by yourself. 3. Read the weekly essay (there are 12 in total) and complete the tasks at the end.

I recommend this to every writer I meet who is struggling with any sort of creative block. Since completing it last year, I must have purchased at least a dozen copies for other people." — Christian Nilsson

Get it from Amazon for $11.55 .

9. Or simply keep a journal that you write in every day.

writing a book quora

"Journaling has been my most helpful daily exercise in flexing and strengthening my writing muscles. Not only do I get to write about my favorite topic (me), but I also get to do my favorite thing in a safe space, where I'm less focused on writing perfect sentences and more concerned with simply putting words down. Over the years, I've found that simply creating loose and imperfect narratives of my days has helped remove the fear from the storytelling process. On an unrelated note, journaling is also therapeutic, relaxing, and a good way to keep track of life's moments over the years. Win-win-win-win!" — Michelle No

10. Find writing prompts online and try writing short stories around them.

writing a book quora

You can find writing prompts on Instagram and Reddit . Most of the prompts on these pages are geared towards speculative fiction writing, so would be a great resource for anyone interested in writing for that genre.

11. If you're feeling stuck for inspiration, physically go outside and find it.

writing a book quora

If you don't know where to start writing, take a walk and see what/who you come across. If you're struggling to pull an imaginary location from your head, grab a notebook and head somewhere that might suit your scene, then record everything you can see, hear, and smell.

12. Listen to podcasts when you need help writing realistic dialogue.

writing a book quora

When it comes to writing dialogue, a common piece of advice is to listen to and record your own IRL conversations, so you can later take note of the way real people structure sentences, pause, and ask questions. An alternative to this suggestion is to listen to podcasts whenever you need reminding of how people speak in the real world.

13. Read a book about the craft, like Stephen King's On Writing .

writing a book quora

When I first decided that writing a novel might be something I'm interested in attempting, I scheduled drinks with a friend who has had two novels published to get some advice. One of the first suggestions she had was to read On Writing , and after reading it, I would happily offer the same advice to every aspiring writer.

Get it from Amazon for $11.07 .

14. If you're creating characters for your work, pretend to interview them before you start writing them in to the story.

"Spend the most of your time focusing on your characters and character building. Not only should you interview your characters, but pay attention to aspects like the beliefs and occupations that your characters have. If your character is a cop, why did he become a cop? What made him chose this path? What’s your characters belief about money, religion, the opposite sex? Once you have this information you can use it against them in your plotting. If your characters are great they’ll last far beyond the moment when your reader has finished the piece or closed the book." — Barry Mcdonald

15. And don't limit yourself to just one writing medium.

writing a book quora

"Try writing, and reading, and talking to people about what it's like to write for games, graphic novels, short stories, microfiction, haiku, novellas, and screenplays. You never know if what you'll find fits your style and passions and experience. You'll gain invaluable experience and new perspectives either way." — Danny Wadeson

16. Don't get caught up in finding your ~literary voice~ and just try writing like you speak.

"Taking on a writing project can feel extremely daunting, but I think a lot of that fear stems from the fact that people think they have to sound like A Writer. You don't need to be Maya Angelou or F. Scott Fitzgerald — we already have their writing. The best way to write something that's unique and genuine is when it comes from your own voice. Don't get caught up in fancy prose or profound musings if that's not you. You want people to come away from your piece feeling like they've just had a conversation with you. Your voice is meaningful just the way it is." — Tom Vellner

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Book Marketing for Self-Publishing Authors

Home / Book Marketing / How to Use Quora to Increase Book Sales

How to Use Quora to Increase Book Sales

One thing many authors with a website struggle with is getting traffic or fans to go to it.

They write excellent content…

They post it on social media …

And nothing…

The same could be said about authors without platforms.  If you aren't proactively trying to drive traffic to your book sales page, then you need to get going.  Today's Amazon platform is very crowded, and no longer can you just depend on Amazon to send all of the traffic to your book. There are just too many mouths to feed.  But where do you begin?

Well in this article, I am going to introduce to you a platform that has generated over 1,000+ visits to my website, and gotten over 76.7K views of my material in as little as three months.  I'll also show you how it directly increased a fiction author's book sales as well.

It’s super easy to use, and the best part is that it’s totally free.

It’s called Quora .

In this article, I will show you:

  • What is Quora
  • How Can Authors Use Quora: Both Fiction and Non-fiction
  • How to setup a Quora account the right way
  • Setup, Search Tactics, Up-votes…Oh my
  • How to Perform Quora Searches for your Market
  • How to write Quora Responses that Convert
  • What I don't like about Quora…5 months later

Table of contents

  • Quora for Non-Fiction
  • Quora for Fiction Writers
  • For Your Website
  • Create a Quora Account
  • Find Threads and Topics – Where Your Fans Go
  • Writing Your Response
  • Getting Your Answer To The Top: Get Upvotes!
  • The Good About Using Quora
  • The Not So Good About Quora
  • Lessons Learned and How to Succeed

Back in the day, there were websites like Ask.com, or Yahoo Answers, where people could post questions, and other users could answer them. Using a voting system, the best answers would rise to the top and stay there for others to read who have the same question.

However, over time, many of these sites closed down, stopped accepting new questions, or got punished by Google. With Google punishments, these other sites no longer show up on Google searches, or if they do, it’s rare.

However, one question/answer website that has remained and is currently thriving in Google’s world is Quora.

Now, I know what you might be thinking: “Oh yay, another social networking site to spend more of my time on.”

But unlike social media where your posts quickly disappear in less than 24 hours only requiring you to re-post something else over and over and over again, Quora answers are public for a significant period of time.

When you post an answer to someone’s question, your answer stays on that page indefinitely. Furthermore, Quora is indexed in Google. So, people typing in that question into Google search have a good chance of stumbling on that question and your answer.

How Can Authors Use Quora

Whether or not you are in fiction or non-fiction, your fans and readers are asking questions. You, as the author, need to be able to recognize what kind of questions your fans might ask…or better yet, what kind of questions lead to more sales.

This should probably be a little easier than fiction because most non-fiction is about a question.

How do I lose weight? How do I stop smoking? What happened in 1824? How do I learn…?

I think you get my drift.

Find questions that pertain to your market , and give the best answer. You’ll not only help out your target market, but you'll also be seen as an authority.  Furthermore, you can drop a link to your book, or website and increase your engagements and ultimately your conversions.

For Fiction, it is a little trickier, but still well worth your time.

In most cases, people don’t just jump on and search for random book titles . Instead, they will talk about famous books. The strategy with Quora for fiction is that you find popular books that are in your genre and look for those questions.

Toby Downtown of Solarversia.com did an excellent job of recognizing that those who loved the book “ Ready Player One ” would love his book “ Solarversia .” If you don’t know, “Ready Player One” is one of my favorites as well as Pat Flynn’s and will become a movie soon at the helm of Steven Spielberg.  So, you might not have heard of it yet, but soon, it will be a big deal…and early adopters like Toby will reap the benefits.

Quickly going to Quora and typing in the search phrase “Ready Player One” there are hundreds of questions dealing with this one book. Here are some JUICY questions for Toby to answer so as to get his book, name, and authority in front of his target market:

  • http://www.quora.com/I-loved-the-book-Ready-Player-One-by-Ernest-Cline-Can-anyone-suggest-a-book-that-is-similar-in-nature
  • http://www.quora.com/Are-there-any-great-books-involving-video-games-besides-Ready-Player-One
  • http://www.quora.com/Which-actors-should-play-the-characters-in-Ready-Player-One-the-film-adaptation-of-the-book-by-Ernest-Cline

With each of them averaging around 200-400 views over the past couple of months, you can quickly see that answering these questions is probably worth the 10 minutes it would take to write a well thought out answer.

Besides, those are some excellent questions for an author to answer…and drop a link to their own book as well.

So, giving Toby an advanced copy of this article, and giving him a nudge, he created this reply and got some excellent results from just a couple of minutes of answering that one question.

Furthermore, he got the following tweet from someone he never knew.I've got a Starbucks coffee card that says that if someone would take the time to tweet their appreciation, they are also the kind that would drop a great review.

And THAT is a double score and is, therefore, my kind of marketing effort.

Was it successful? You bet.

While linking back to your book in Quora can be a direct way to make sales, sometimes the best strategy is the long one.  In this case you can link back to your website, and hopefully through your excellent content, you keep them there and get them on your email list.

That's what Scott did over at Best Survival at https://bestsurvival.org/ .  Answering questions, it becomes very easy to see why he's an authority in outdoors survival tactics, and equipment.

Better Keywords & Categories Fast

See why over 47,000+ authors and publishing companies use and love Rocket to help them sell more books.

First, you’ll need to create your account . You can use your Facebook, Google+ or email to do it.

However, once you have signed up, you need to take your time and put together a great profile that will convert. The information you place on this profile should be geared towards the type of questions you intend to answer.

If I want to drive the right kind of traffic to my website on Science Fiction, then I need to have a profile that reflects this.

For example, let’s say there is a Quora question about Science Fiction Military books and I respond with an epic answer.

If my profile says “Dave Chesson – Hair Dresser” it won’t hold as much weight as in “Dave Chesson – bestselling author in the Science Fiction genre and master of the universe” – these are both made up…in case you were wondering, only He-Man and Chuck Norris are the masters.

Your profile has to reflect the type of questions you intend to answer. This includes:

  • Profile picture
  • Description
  • About You Section
  • Knows About Section

So take the time and think about what your target market would like to see if they checked your profile out.

While in your dashboard, if you navigate to the top left, you'll see a search box. Here you can type in your genre, questions or particular keywords. Once you hit enter, Quora will find a slew of questions that meet your requirement.

Once you have answered a couple of questions in a particular category, you will start to notice that Quora users will request for you to answer their questions as well…which is nice.  This is a good sign that you are being seen as an authority on the subject.

You won’t believe how many questions exist in your particular genre and how easy it is to answer them.

This is where most people on Quora make the biggest mistake.

Usually people who respond, just type something in really quick and move on.

But, to get people to take your answer seriously, and click on your links, you need to write out a well thought out response that provide real value.

So, take your time and think out your response.

Another thing is to treat it like a blog post.

Many people who stumble on Quora searching for an answer will quickly scroll through the answer options and choose one or maybe two to read.

It is for this reason that you need to structure your response so that it is appealing to their eyes. Thus, you need to make your response stick out.

You can do this by performing the following:

  • Use the Header Tags : Just like a blog post, I use a header tag for my sections of the post. Do the same for your answer on Quora.
  • Use Bold and Italics : Help to make certain parts stick out. Make these words things that would catch someone’s eyes like “free” or “the best”.
  • Use Bullet Points and Numbered Lists : Also known as unordered lists and ordered lists. These stick out when people scroll and help to organize information quickly. Very structured, very clean.
  • Upload a Picture : Pictures are the best way to makes your answer stick out as compared to the other ones. But be careful! Quora doesn't allow memes or any picture that doesn't offer obvious assistance to the question .  Make sure to check out my lessons learned below on how this can hurt you if you aren't careful.

Here is are a couple of examples of my Quora responses, employing exactly these things:

What do you think? Did I nail it?  If so, then an upvote is always appreciated 😉

So make sure you spend some time on your answer. It will be a big part of whether or not you will succeed with this tactic.

So what’s the point of writing a Quora answer if it sits at the bottom and no one reads it?

Well, it turns out that there are a couple of ways to get your Quora to the top, and the best way is through upvotes.

The Upvote buttons are the little boxes at the bottom of answers.

When people like your answer, they will click this box, and you will receive a +1 – sort of like Reddit. The Answer with the most upvotes will usually rise to the top.

To get more upvotes, make sure you provide an excellent response. Follow what we discussed above and ensure your response is ordered and structured for those that skim.  Also, be sure to select a proper picture so as to catch their eyes and make your answer stand out.

Another way to get more upvotes is to share it with your friends and family or post it on your social media. Doing this, you can easily get 5-10 upvotes, which in most cases will get you the #1 ranking.

Like I said above, Quora has been a GREAT boost of traffic for me. Just check out those numbers.

The above picture is of my Quora Analytics showing how many people have seen my Quora answers in as little as three months. Not bad right.

But does that translate into visitors of your site or book sales page? You bet!  Check out the picture below of my Analytics account for Kindlepreneur.com.

That's the number of people who read my Quora answer and then clicked on a link that sent them to my site – which I strategically place in my responses. Looking at the Bounce Rate and the Average Time on Site, I would say this is a good kind of traffic.

Plus, I'm not the only one to see that.  Nick Loper, the master behind Side Hustle Nation podcast and a good friend of mine saw similar results as well as improved engagement from that form of traffic.

Now, I will admit, to build that amount of traffic I spent a lot of time on Quora.  To reach that level, I had reserved a couple of hours a week so as to be able to answer questions and keep a constant presence.  But, looking at the results above, I'm pretty sure it was a wise investment of my time.

I wrote the above information five months ago.  I never like to just “jump into anything” and then immediately post initial success because, in marketing and self publishing books , we all take our lumps and learn from mistakes.  Sometimes our initial efforts seem too good to be true…and they end up not being that great.

So, let me take a moment and tarnish Quora for a little.

It is true that the information above is correct, but here is the long term look at what that effort did for me, my sites, and my books.

I learned that Quora gives new questions a lot of love, but will quickly let your answer sink to the bottom over time.  This is good and bad.

The good news is that it allows new and fresh answers to see some popularity – so don't get distraught if someone has already answered the question.  The bad news is that it will cause your work not to have as much of an ROI over time 🙁

After two months of working on Quora, I stopped.  When I stopped, I saw the number plummet.   So, it isn't truly a passive source or asset – although still more passive than social media.  At least my Quora posts provided traffic for months while my post on Facebook lasts for 24 hours.

Also, I had many of my posts removed by Quora – OUCH! Quora is very sensitive about the pictures you post and while the pictures I posted were well within their compliance requirements, someone had reported them and the appeals process takes almost a year (competitor? probably).

For example, below is a screen capture of them telling me that they removed my answer because I need to “disclose my affiliation” to Kindlepreneur.com.

Ummm…..okay?

So, much of my hard work has just ‘disappeared.'

This doesn't mean I don't love Quora as a strategy.  It's perfect for those without a platform looking to build authority and gain new traffic.  It's also a good source for those who do have a platform and want to find a quick and easy way to start developing sustainable traffic.

But here are the things you should keep in mind as you put forth effort:

  • Keep with it and keep answering.
  • Ensure you use your time wisely and answer questions that you actually know how to answer.
  • You'll find better conversions when you answer questions that are asked by your TRUE target market.
  • Be careful with pictures.  They are super helpful but as of right now, Quora is a little illogical.
  • Placing pertinent links in the answer to your website or book are vital for this strategy to actually provide you with success.

Like with any type of marketing strategy, all platforms and strategies have their pro's and con's.  But the thing that separates the successful from those who fail is that success comes to those that keep trying until it works.

If you decide you want to work on Quora, then put forth a full effort.  Don't just answer a question and then complain it didn't work.  Don't just answer a couple of questions in one day and stop.  Set aside some time, work with it, experiment and find out what works.

As you can see, Quora can be a powerful way to get a source of passive traffic to your website or book's sales page.

Just sit down for a couple of hours, set up a targeted profile, and answer some questions.

Just start writing.

It’s that simple.

And while you’re at it, check out my profile and follow me so as to see exactly how I got those high click rates and learn by example as I go through navigating Quora and its many opportunities.

Also, if you post a Quora answer, let me know in the comments!  I'll make sure to hop on over, check it out, and drop you an upvote.  Again, a little extra something for you crazy peeps who read all the way through to the bottom of this ginormously long, Moby Dick sized post.

Dave Chesson

When I’m not sipping tea with princesses or lightsaber dueling with little Jedi, I’m a book marketing nut. Having consulted multiple publishing companies and NYT best-selling authors, I created Kindlepreneur to help authors sell more books. I’ve even been called “The Kindlepreneur” by Amazon publicly, and I’m here to help you with your author journey.

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7 kindle keywords: use all 50 characters or not, how to choose the right kindle keywords and reach more readers, book trailers: how to make them in 6 easy steps, sell more books on amazon, amazon kindle rankings e-book.

Learn how to rank your Kindle book #1 on Amazon with our collection of time-tested tips and tricks.

36 thoughts on “ How to Use Quora to Increase Book Sales ”

I’ve been answering questions people ask me on Quora for some time now and did not know you could include a link. I’ll be giving that a try. Thanks again for yet another informative post, Dave! Keep up the good work!

Quora keeps deleting my answers. I will answer a question about Twitter marketing (because I wrote this book: https://amzn.to/30z98ih ) and if I include a link, It is gone.I guess I could get organic views if someone is intrigued enough to google the book I mention in my credentials.I usually enjoy your advice, and am currently using your AMS advertising course (just waiting for Amazon to save those 998 keywords!), but this is one blog post I disagree with. I have Quora in my “Time Suck” bookmark folder.Maybe you were there for the golden days of Quora when they made it easier on promoters.Thanks,Melanie

What a great idea to enhance photography with Fashion of Photography. Love it most . Keep it up. Thanks

This is in truth enormous promotion technique. Thanks for sharing nice through

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NEERA MAHAJAN

Search here …., how new writers should use quora.

Last week I checked  Quora  seriously for the first time. Those of you who don’t know,  Quora  is a knowledge-sharing site where you can ask any question and let people provide advice and expert tips.

I had dismissed the platform, thinking it is for the gossipers and bored people who had nothing better to do. Imagine my surprise when I dug in and read a few responses on the topic I was researching at the moment.

Quora has come a long way since its inception in June 2010. Three hundred million unique people visit Quora each month. They ask questions; provide answers to the ones they could, and follow either the people or the topics they are interested in. They also help edit answers either factually or in the form of opinions making the experience more like a lively and exciting discussion between like-minded people.

Why should new writers consider Quora?

Unlike the specialised sites where experts write articles on topics they select, Quora is driven by seekers who want their queries answered. The responses are direct and mostly by those who have some knowledge and experience in the field.

Take, for example, the question:  How do I make my fantasy novel less clunky?  Click on the link, and you will find 29 responses: some short, some very detailed. The response by Jennifer Quail has received 750 upvotes. Upvotes are the way the readers rank the quality of the answer earning the writer a reputation.

Benefits of writing on Quora

Although you will not get paid to write, Quora could be an excellent platform for new writers. Here are five ways new writers can benefit from Quora.

1. To practice as a new writer

If you are new to writing and don’t know where to start, Quora is an easy platform. Even before you blogging or begin writing articles on online magazines, you should start writing on Quora and build your writing muscle. You can do shorter pieces to start with, and can eventually launch into long-form articles.

Just start with anything. When you write regularly, your grammar and spellings will begin to improve. If you ask specifically, many people will edit your piece and even help you with your grammar. 

2. To be a part of a big writing community

I believe the most significant benefit of Quora is to be able to make acquaintance with other writers which ultimately might lead to a lasting friendship.

Unlike other places where writers hang out, such as Medium, Goodreads, Facebook communities, etc., Quora allows you to connect with other writers and learn from them directly. You can ask direct questions and get specific solutions to the particular issue you are facing, whether it is bringing traffic to your blog or how to make the antagonist of your novel a three-dimensional character.

3. To stay up-to-date with the writing industry

There is so much going on with the writing industry at the moment that it is hard to keep up-to-date. What is happening with traditional publishing since the COVID crisis? Should or should you not consider publishing on Kindle? What are your options for self-publishing? How to market your book yourself? Any questions you want to be answered, rather than searching on Google, try asking at Quora, and chances are you will find genuine people with first-hand experience responding to your query. You not only save time searching the answer on the internet but also get to know how other writers like you are doing.

4. To build a reputation and personal brand

If you are writing, chances are you want to be known as a writer. Quora is the best place for new writers to build a name for themselves. You can do so by responding to the questions people are asking. It will take much less time to respond to a problem than writing a blog post or a whole article. Write good, helpful, and well-thought answers from your own experiences, and you will get noticed. Over time you will build up a following as well as a name for yourself on a platform that is much informal and easy to use.

5. To drive traffic to your website or blog

Once you’ve built up your reputation, you can use your answers to direct traffic straight to your website. Quora allows you to link your website when you are answering a question. If your answers get noticed, you will mark a rapid change in your traffic.

Quora is an excellent platform for all off-page SEOs (search engine optimisation). When you will create links to your website you will drive organic traffic to it. This is one of the most popular features which most of the experienced Quora users use.

Initially, read everything you are interested in Quora. Once you get the hang of the platform, start asking questions. If you find an item you can answer, respond to it. It doesn’t matter your responses initially are bit awkward or short. You will get good eventually. You will find that you can write an article-length response to some questions, which will not only help the person who asked the question but many others who will read it.

But eventually the person who will benefit most from your article length response is you, yourself.

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how to get a humanitarian reassignment with af

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AF Humanitarian Reassignment and Deferment Program

The Humanitarian Reassignment and Deferment Program, run by the Air Force Personnel Center (AFPC), assists active-duty Airmen in resolving severe, short-term problems involving a family member while Airmen continue to meet the needs of the Air Force. A reassignment or deferment is a one-time action to resolve a critical problem with a family member, normally 12 within months. The definition of 'family member' is limited to spouse, child, parents, or other persons actually residing in the household who are dependent on the Airman for more than half of their financial support. For more information, Airmen can chat with a personnel specialist live on myPers . Click on the Humanitarian/EFMP link under 'Assignment Programs' on the active-duty myPers Assignment landing page, hover the mouse cursor for 30 seconds and a chat window will appear.

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Air Force Humanitarian Assignments

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The Air Force Humanitarian Assignments Program was established to assist members in resolving severe short-term problems involving a family member. The program allows placement of the military member at the closest location to where the family member concerned resides to provide the family member maximum support, consistent with the manning needs of the Air Force.

For the purposes of this program, the term "family member" is limited to spouse, child, father, mother, father-in-law, mother-in-law, the person in loco parentis or other persons actually residing in the household who are dependent for over half of their financial support. Stepparents can qualify as a family member if they meet the basic criteria for in loco parentis.

In loco parentis refers to one who exercises parental rights, duties, and responsibilities. This condition must exist for a minimum of 5 years before the member's or spouse's 21st birthday, or before entry on active duty, whichever is earlier. Requests based on in loco parentis status must include affidavits from all parties (to include other family members, neighbors, or family friends) stating the details of the custody, control, care, and management of member or spouse. They must also have copies of any documents that may have been created at the time establishing in loco parentis status and relating to the custody, control, care, and management of member or spouse. NOTE: The mere presence of a person in the home for a number of years, during which time he or she exercised a degree of custodial but not parental responsibilities does not constitute in loco parentis. In order for the child to have been in the care and custody of one acting in place of the parent, the parent cannot have also been in the same home (unless the parent was mentally incompetent).

Emergency or ordinary leave should be used first as a means of easing family hardships or problems before applying for humanitarian reassignment.

The situation must be able to be resolved in a limited period of time (one year or less). All Air Force personnel must be able to respond to any contingency wherever and whenever called upon to do so. Permanent or prolonged deferment from reassignment cannot be considered. If a reassignment or temporary period of deferment is approved, the member must thereafter (following the deferment period) revert to worldwide assignable status. If the problem cannot be resolved within a year, humanitarian discharge consideration is more appropriate.

Eligibility Criteria

Members can apply for a humanitarian reassignment or deferment if they meet all of the following conditions:

  • They have a documented and substantiated short-term problem involving a family member. (See see above for the definition of a family member for the purpose of the humanitarian reassignment program.)
  • The problem is more severe than that usually encountered by other Air Force members with a similar problem.
  • The member's presence is absolutely essential to alleviate the problem.
  • The problem can be resolved within a reasonable period of time (normally 12 months).

Humanitarian Conditions Usually Warranting Approval

The approval authority will normally approve a humanitarian reassignment or deferment under these conditions if a vacancy exists at the new duty station if a PCS is involved ; however, this list is not all-inclusive.

  • The recent death (within 6 months) of the member's spouse or child, including miscarriages of 20 weeks or more gestation time. Humanitarian reassignment is normally approved on the death of a child or stepchild under the age of 18 who is living in the member's home at the time of death. Reassignments made under this provision will be considered on a case-by-case basis in order for the member to receive extended family support or to relocate to the closest available base to the burial site. The overall consideration will be the needs of the Air Force; however, every effort will be made to ensure the member is provided an assignment as close to the area of support as possible, within their AFSC.
  • The member has a serious financial problem not the result of overextension of personal military income (such as loss of primary home of residence where member or dependents currently reside or possessions through fire, theft, or natural disaster) and will suffer a substantial financial loss unless his or her presence or continued presence can be ensured. It must be shown the problem cannot be solved by leave, correspondence, power of attorney, or by any other person or means.
  • The member is serving an unaccompanied OS tour, and his or her spouse abandons their dependents. It must be shown it is not possible for the dependents to join the member at the OS location when an accompanied tour is authorized and that the member's presence is necessary. The assignment location under this provision will be based on the needs of the Air Force.
  • The terminal illness of a family member (see paragraph above for definition of family members for the purpose of humanitarian reassignment) when death is imminent within two years. A doctor's prognosis of terminal illness must be fully supported and substantiated by clinical data. In such cases, your presence is considered essential regardless of the availability of other relatives to assist.
  • An authorized state or local agency places a child in the member's home, and deferment is necessary to comply with state or local laws to complete the final adoption.
  • Reassignment or deferment is essential in establishing or operating an effective family advocacy program according to AFI 40-301,  Family Advocacy . Documentation from the base Family Advocacy Officer is required.
  • Sexual abuse and assault of the member's dependent when it has been fully substantiated, and it has been determined by the appropriate medical authority that remaining in the area where the incident occurred would be detrimental to the health of the dependent.

Reasons Humanitarian Applications Are Disapproved

The approval authority will not approve applications for reassignment/deferment if the problem might exist for an indefinite period of time or the request is based on one of the following circumstances:

  • A desire to provide emotional or domiciliary support to a parent or parent-in-law due to age, non-terminal or chronic illness, or recent death in the family.
  • A terminal illness of a step-parent, unless they qualify as a family member (see above definition for the purpose of the humanitarian program.
  • Problems associated with childcare arrangements.
  • Psychoneurosis (such as various psychic or mental disorders characterized by special combinations of anxieties, compulsions, obsessions, phobias, and motor or sensory manifestations) resulting from family separation incident to military assignment.
  • Normal pregnancy, possible miscarriage, breech birth, Cesarean section, or RH blood factor.
  • The existence of a housing shortage or home ownership problems.
  • A financial problem, to include bankruptcy, resulting from over-extension of military income.
  • A financial or management problem related to off-duty employment, the spouse's employment, private business activities, or to settle an estate.
  • Passport or visa problems involving newly acquired dependents in the overseas area.
  • Threatened separation, a divorce action, or the desire to pursue child custody.
  • The problem existed or was reasonably foreseeable at the time of latest entry on active duty without a break in service or prior to departure on PCS. A7.10.12. A consecutive PCS or deferment based on the continuation of the same circumstances.
  • A request based on the medical condition of the Air Force member. (Contact the local patient affairs office for information about reassignment based on a military member's medical condition.)
  • Requests for PCS deferment will not be considered for members who have not been selected for reassignment.

Assignment/TDY Restrictions

If the Humanitarian Assignment/Deferment is approved, the TDY (Temporary Duty) assignment authorities will not select members for involuntary TDY exceeding 30 calendar days while the deferment is active. If granted a reassignment, members will not be reassigned PCS (permanent change of station) for at least 12 months from date arrived station. A deferment will initially restrict members from PCS or involuntary TDY for a maximum of 12 months. The initial period of assignment restriction for humanitarian reasons may be extended at the member's request provided the total period does not exceed 18 months. If a terminal illness is involved, deferment may be extended up to 24 months. Requests for such extensions must substantiate that:

  • Every possible effort has been made to overcome the problem.
  • The condition warranting assignment restriction still exists.
  • The problem can be resolved within the extended period of assignment restriction.

For complete information about the Air Force's Humanitarian Assignments Program, see. Air Force Instruction 36-2110, ASSIGNMENTS , Attachment 7 offers complete information about the Air Force's Humanitarian Assignments Program.

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Humanitarian assignments considered for Airmen in time of need

Humanitarian assignments considered for Airmen in time of need

Photo By Kat Bailey | No single reason exists why a humanitarian reassignment or deferment might be... ... read more read more

Photo By Kat Bailey | No single reason exists why a humanitarian reassignment or deferment might be approved. It might be a terminal illness, death of a spouse or sexual assault of the Airman's child. The Air Force’s Personnel Center views each request with compassion and empathy, giving it careful consideration. (U.S. Air Force graphic by Kat Bailey)   see less | View Image Page

JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-RANDOLPH, TX, UNITED STATES

Story by kat bailey  , air force's personnel center.

how to get a humanitarian reassignment with af

Today’s American Airmen do the impossible every day. They pursue their mission with excellence and integrity to become leaders and warriors, providing help to a world in need. However, even Airmen need help at times, especially if an acute problem occurs with a family member. The Humanitarian Reassignment and Deferment Program, run by the Air Force Personnel Center, assists active-duty Airmen in resolving severe, short-term problems involving a family member while Airmen continue to meet the needs of the Air Force. “The spirit and intent of the program is to place the Airman at the closest location to where the problem exists,” said Kimberly Schuler, Chief, Humanitarian Assignment Policy. “Typically, a reassignment or deferment is a one-time action to resolve a critical problem with a family member within a reasonable period of time, normally 12 months.” The definition of “family member” for the Humanitarian Program is limited to spouse; child; parents, to include in-laws and stepparents; person in loco parentis; or other persons actually residing in the household who are dependent on the Airman for more than half of their financial support. “We often get asked about siblings,” Schuler said. “That’s always a tough one because siblings aren’t within the scope of the definition of ‘family member.’ However, if the sibling is terminally ill, we’ll look at the request as an exception to policy.” In a case that requires a long-term solution, an Airman would have to look at other options, she said. “The Humanitarian Program is a temporary solution to a short-term problem and the Air Force is unable to consider a permanent or prolonged deferment.” The Comptroller General has ruled that the Air Force cannot make moves at government expense based solely on humanitarian reasons. The reassignment or deferment must be to meet Air Force mission needs in addition to helping the Airman. Therefore, a valid vacancy must exist at the gaining base and the Airman must meet retainability requirements for a permanent change of station. Schuler’s team in AFPC’s Military Assignment Programs Branch, along with a team of six case managers in the Assignment Support Section and 11 Total Force Service Center Assignment Technicians processes approximately 1,000 requests annually to expedite assistance to Airmen in need. Humanitarian reassignment or deferment is not limited to a single reason. Circumstances can include the terminal illness of a family member, the death of an Airman’s spouse or child, the sexual assault of the Airman’s spouse or child, or issues involving a serious financial impact such as the loss of property through fire or natural disaster. “The reason doesn’t have to fit into a box,” Schuler said. In each situation, the AFPC Medical Review Board or the AFPC Administrative Law Office reviews requests for verification of clinical data submitted with an application or for the verification of legal documentation. Careful consideration goes into the adjudication of each request, as these Airmen are normally in a crisis and deserve the most compassionate eyes possible on their situation. “It’s not just personnelists making the decision,” Schuler said. “It’s a whole system of checks and balances. The entire team looks at the whole-person concept. We look at each situation as if we were in that Airman’s shoes and view the circumstances with empathy and kindness.” Missing documentation can delay the process, which is normally about two to four weeks. Schuler said the more supporting documentation the Airman can provide about every aspect of the situation, the better, as it paints a clearer picture of the scope of the problem. Burden of proof is on the member to prove that their situation is more than what an average Airman is going through. “Everyone has a tipping point, so we weigh everything—everything—happening in that Airman’s life to determine the best course of action,” she said. Currently, 2,916 Airmen are directly benefiting from humanitarian assignments at bases across the Air Force. However, if the Airman’s application does not meet the threshold for an approval under the Humanitarian Program, the case managers take the extra step to research if the Airman may be eligible for another alternative assignment option. “Perhaps the Airman can apply for a Base of Preference or a follow-on assignment,” Schuler said. “Or maybe they don’t meet the requirements right now, but if something changes, they can reapply. We try to manage their expectations and provide resources instead of just simply saying, ‘Denied.’” Schuler’s team is also working on improvements to the application process to make it more intuitive. Two efficiencies they would like to implement include a “delivery” status bar, visible to customers in the virtual Military Personnel Flight, and a defined set of statuses with detailed explanations of the application process. To help Airmen navigate those resources, Schuler’s team hosts recurring webcasts on the Humanitarian Reassignment and Deferment Program. The next webinar (https://conference.apps.mil/webconf/Humanitarian) for all Airman is scheduled for Sept. 27 at 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Central Daylight Time. Additionally, Airmen can chat with a personnel specialist live on myPers (https://mypers.af.mil/) about the humanitarian program between the hours of 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. CDT. To access the chat feature, click on the Humanitarian/EFMP link under “Assignment Programs” on the active-duty myPers Assignment landing page, hover the mouse cursor for 30 seconds and a chat window will appear. For more information about Air Force personnel programs, visit myPers (https://mypers.af.mil/). Individuals who do not have a myPers account can request one by following these instructions (http://www.afpc.af.mil/myPers). – 30 –

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HUMANITARIAN/EXCEPTIONAL FAMILY MEMBER REASSIGNMENT/DEFERMENT PROGRAMS

The following information is provided to help you better understand the subject programs and what, if any, options are available if you desire consideration under either program.

HUMANITARIAN REASSIGNMENT/DEFERMENT PROGRAM : This program is designed to assist you in providing assistance to your extended family when short term problems arise that are not resolvable without your presence. Situations that warrant approval of a humanitarian request include those based on the terminal illness of an extended family member (siblings do not normally qualify), financial hardship not as a result of overextension or misuse of your military pay (i.e., loss of home/possessions through fire/theft/natural disaster), to complete adoptions, recent death of a spouse or child (member must apply within 6 months of death), sexual abuse/assault of a dependent, child abandonment, or to establish/operate an effective family advocacy program. Our tasking under this program is to place you at the closest location to the family member(s) in need. Retraining may be utilized to accomplish this.

EXCEPTIONAL FAMILY MEMBER REASSIGNMENT/DEFERMENT PROGRAM (EFMP) : This program is designed to ensure your dependents receive any special medical or educational care they require at your present and projected accompanied assignment locations. Enrollment in the program is mandatory, however, reassignment or deferment under the program is voluntary. Enrollment is accomplished by the EFMP office located in the medical treatment facility at your base of assignment. Once you are enrolled, the AFPC medical staff will load an Assignment Limitation Code Q into PDS. When you are selected for reassignment, this code generates a printout at base level notifying the local EFMP officer that the availability of services for the exceptional family member(s) needs to be coordinated prior to you proceeding on the assignment.

Regrettably, we do not have the resources to let you know whether services are available for your exceptional family member prior to your selection for assignment. In order for the system to work as it is designed, you are selected for assignment first, then services are coordinated at base-level (medical treatment facility to medical treatment facility) via processing of an AF Form 1466. If it is determined services for the exceptional family member are not available at the projected location, it is your responsibility to submit an application IAW AFI 36-2110, Atch 7, if you desire consideration under this program.

If you are enrolled in the EFMP and selected for reassignment to an overseas location, the following options apply:

a. If selected for a long tour regardless of volunteer status and dependent travel is denied based on nonavailability of special education services (or any medical service that impacts the child's ability to be educated, i.e., speech therapy, occupational therapy), you will be released and the assignment canceled. This is mandated by public law, not Air Force policy. However, if a pinpointed assignment is made available, and you were selected as the most eligible nonvolunteer, you will be required to proceed to the pinpointed assignment. (NOTE: A pinpointed assignment is an alternate location identified by the command surgeon as having available services. It is the resource manager’s decision whether or not manning supports diverting you to the alternate location.) If you have been selected as the most eligible nonvolunteer and the assignment is to a split-tour (remote) area, where the unaccompanied tour length is 15 months or less and dependent travel is denied, you are required to proceed unaccompanied.

b. If selected for a long tour as a volunteer and dependent travel is denied based on nonavailability of general medical services, you may request release from the assignment through the appropriate resource manager.

c. If selected for a long tour as the most eligible nonvolunteer and dependent travel is denied based on nonavailability of general medical services, you may volunteer for a short tour. If there are no current or projected short tour requirements available, you will be required to serve the unaccompanied tour length at the projected overseas location.

Under both programs, deferment is normally for a period of 12 months. You may apply for an extension if the problem continues to exist, however, extensions are normally only for a 6-month period, except in the case of terminal illness of a parent, in which case you may receive a 12-month extension (total deferment not to exceed 24 months).

When you are reassigned under the Humanitarian Program, you are deferred from reassignment and extended TDY (in excess of 30 days) for 12 months from date arrived station. Reassignment under the EFMP defers you from selection for PCS for 12 months, but does not provide for deferment from extended TDY. If you are reassigned under EFMP and require deferment from extended TDY, you must submit a separate application for such consideration. If approved, the Humanitarian/EFMP Assignments Branch will direct the requesting MPF to update DAC 44 for a specified period (not to exceed 12 months).

It's important to understand reassignment/deferment consideration under these programs is not automatic. The member must submit a formal application for consideration IAW AFI 36-2110, Atch 7. Additionally, these are not base of preference programs. Humanitarian reassignments are driven by the location of the reason for the request, while EFMP reassignments are driven by needs of the Air Force and availability of special services.

REASONS HUMANITARIAN APPLICATIONS ARE MOST OFTEN DISAPPROVED

The approval authority will not approve your application for reassignment or deferment if the problem might exist for an indefinite period or you base your request on one of the following circumstances:

·          Threatened separation, divorce action, or the desire to pursue child custody.

·          A single parent’s desire to make or facilitate either short or long-term child care arrangements.

·          Psycho neurosis (such as various psychic or mental disorders characterized by special combinations of anxieties, compulsions, obsessions, phobias, and motor or sensory manifestations) resulting from family separation incident to military assignment.

·          Climatic conditions or geographical areas adversely affecting a family member’s health, and the problem is of a recurring nature (for example, asthma, allergies). An exception to this is when continued presence in such an environment is clearly life threatening.

·          Normal pregnancy, possible miscarriage, breech birth, cesarean sections, or RH blood factor.

·          The existence of a housing shortage or home ownership problems.

·          A financial problem, to include bankruptcy, resulting from over extension of military income.

·          A financial or management problem related to off-duty employment, the spouse’s employment, private business activities, or settling estates.

·          Passport or visa problems involving newly acquired dependents in the overseas area.

·          A desire to provide emotional or domiciliary support to a parent or parent-in-law due to age, nonterminal or chronic illness, or recent death in the family.

·          The problem existed or was reasonably foreseeable at the time of latest entry on active duty or prior to departure on PCS. For airmen, reenlistment, without a break in service, is not the latest entry on active duty.

·          A consecutive PCS or deferment based on the continuation of the same circumstances.

·          A request based on the medical condition of the Air Force member.

·          To receive preferred medical treatment when adequate treatment is available at the current or projected PDS.

·          If you falsified or omitted information on an AF Form 1466. Unless your presence is essential, your dependents will return to the CONUS and you will complete the overseas tour length prescribed based on your status.

REASONS WHY EFMP APPLICATIONS ARE MOST OFTEN DISAPPROVED

·          The approval authority will not reassign or defer you for the following circumstances:

·          Reassignment from the CONUS to overseas for the sole purpose of establishing an EFMP.

·          Reassignment based on the availability of a free or lower cost program in an area other than where you are currently assigned (unless significant financial hardship is being incurred).

·          Your dependent is in an institution, unless institution officials certify your frequent and regular visits will benefit your dependent, or if admittance to or retention in the institution requires establishing, continuing, or renewing, state residency.

·          The disability is due to a short-term illness or injury, or when the prognosis for complete recovery is satisfactory without the benefit of reassignment or deferment.

·          Climatic conditions or geographical areas adversely affecting a family member’s health, and the problem recurs and the environment is clearly life threatening.

·          Reassignment in order to establish or continue an EFMP based on the availability of a preferred or optimal program in an area other than where currently assigned when adequate facilities or services can be, or are provided. Also, you can not have an EFMP deferment to pursue a preferred or optimal program.

·          If you caused or contributed to the commission of an AF Form 1466 violation, either by falsifying or omitting information. Unless your presence is essential, your dependents will return to the CONUS and you will complete the overseas tour length prescribed based on your status. 

GOVERNING DIRECTIVES: The following Department of Defense and Air Force directives and instructions apply to Humanitarian and EFMP assignments and deferments:

DODD 1010.13 DODD 1315.7 DODD 1342.12 DODD 1342.14 AFI 36-2110 AFI 36-3020 AFI 40-301

HUMANITARIAN/EXCEPTIONAL FAMILY MEMBER PROGRAM FAQ

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September 28, 2017 at 8:10am

Air Force's humanitarian assignments

By Kat Bailey, Air Force Personnel Center Public Affairs Comments

how to get a humanitarian reassignment with af

No single reason exists why a humanitarian reassignment or deferment might be approved. The Air Force’s Personnel Center views each request with compassion and empathy, giving it careful consideration. Photo credit: Kat Bailey

how to get a humanitarian reassignment with af

Today's American airmen do the impossible every day. They pursue their mission with excellence and integrity to become leaders and warriors, providing help to a world in need. However, even airmen need help at times, especially if an acute problem occurs with a family member.

The Humanitarian Reassignment and Deferment Program, run by the Air Force Personnel Center, assists active-duty airmen in resolving severe, short-term problems involving a family member while airmen continue to meet the needs of the Air Force.

how to get a humanitarian reassignment with af

The definition of "family member" for the Humanitarian Program is limited to spouse; child; parents, to include in-laws, and stepparents; person in loco parentis; or other persons actually residing in the household who are dependent on the airman for more than half of their financial support.

"We often get asked about siblings," Schuler said. "That's always a tough one because siblings aren't within the scope of the definition of ‘family member.' However, if the sibling is terminally ill, we'll look at the request as an exception to policy."

In a case that requires a long-term solution, an airman would have to look at other options, she said.

"The Humanitarian Program is a temporary solution to a short-term problem and the Air Force is unable to consider a permanent or prolonged deferment."

The comptroller general has ruled that the Air Force cannot make moves at government expense based solely on humanitarian reasons. The reassignment or deferment must be to meet Air Force mission needs in addition to helping the airman. Therefore, a valid vacancy must exist at the gaining base and the airman must meet retainability requirements for a permanent change of station.

Schuler's team in AFPC's Military Assignment Programs Branch, along with a team of six case managers in the Assignment Support Section and 11 Total Force Service Center Assignment technicians, processes approximately 1,000 requests annually to expedite assistance to airmen in need.

Humanitarian reassignment or deferment is not limited to a single reason. Circumstances can include the terminal illness of a family member, the death of an airman's spouse or child, the sexual assault of the airman's spouse or child, or issues involving a serious financial impact such as the loss of property through fire or natural disaster.

"The reason doesn't have to fit into a box," Schuler said.

In each situation, the AFPC Medical Review Board or the AFPC Administrative Law Office reviews requests for verification of clinical data submitted with an application or for the verification of legal documentation. Careful consideration goes into the adjudication of each request, as these airmen are normally in a crisis and deserve the most compassionate eyes possible on their situation.

"It's not just personnelists making the decision," Schuler said. "It's a whole system of checks and balances. The entire team looks at the whole-person concept. We look at each situation as if we were in that airman's shoes and view the circumstances with empathy and kindness."

Missing documentation can delay the process, which is normally about two to four weeks. Schuler said the more supporting documentation the airman can provide about every aspect of the situation, the better, as it paints a clearer picture of the scope of the problem. Burden of proof is on the member to prove that their situation is more than what an average airman is going through.

"Everyone has a tipping point, so we weigh everything -- everything -- happening in that airman's life to determine the best course of action," she said.

Currently, 2,916 airmen are directly benefiting from humanitarian assignments at bases across the Air Force. However, if the airman's application does not meet the threshold for an approval under the Humanitarian Program, the case managers take the extra step to research if the airman may be eligible for another alternative assignment option.

"Perhaps the airman can apply for a Base of Preference or a follow-on assignment," Schuler said. "Or maybe they don't meet the requirements right now, but if something changes, they can reapply. We try to manage their expectations and provide resources instead of just simply saying, ‘Denied.'"

Schuler's team is also working on improvements to the application process to make it more intuitive. Two efficiencies they would like to implement include a "delivery" status bar, visible to customers in the virtual Military Personnel Flight, and a defined set of statuses with detailed explanations of the application process.

To help airmen navigate those resources, Schuler's team hosts recurring webcasts on the Humanitarian Reassignment and Deferment Program. The next webinar for all airmen is scheduled for Sept. 27 at 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Central Daylight Time.

Additionally, airmen can chat with a personnel specialist live on myPers about the humanitarian program between the hours of 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. CDT. To access the chat feature, click on the Humanitarian/EFMP link under "Assignment Programs" on the active-duty myPers Assignment landing page, hover the mouse cursor for 30 seconds and a chat window will appear.

For more information about Air Force personnel programs, visit myPers. Individuals who do not have a myPers account can request one by following the instructions on the Air Force's Personnel Center website.

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U.S. Aid to Ukraine by the Numbers

Here’s a look at the assistance the United States has provided for Ukraine’s defense and the political debate about whether more should be sent.

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Four men wearing dark clothing in a wooded area.

By Michael Crowley ,  Eric Schmitt and Helene Cooper

Reporting from Washington

Since Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the Biden administration has sent more than $75 billion in cash and equipment to the country for its defense. Most of the aid has gone to Ukraine’s military operations, keeping its government running and addressing its humanitarian needs.

Without it, Ukraine would at best struggle to fend off Russia’s army — and might collapse altogether. But now, as Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, visits Washington , the future of U.S. aid is in grave doubt.

President Biden says Ukraine needs a major new infusion of cash and equipment that only Congress can approve. But many Republicans object to pouring more taxpayer dollars into the faraway conflict and are insisting that Mr. Biden make concessions on unrelated U.S. border security issues for their support.

Here’s a look at what aid the United States has sent to Ukraine and the political debate about whether to continue that support.

How much military aid has the U.S. given Ukraine?

The United States has provided more than $44 billion in military assistance for Ukraine since the war started, more than the next four largest contributors — Germany, Britain, Norway and Denmark — combined, according to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy.

Throughout the conflict, the Biden administration has been cautious about providing weapons to Kyiv, fearing it would escalate the conflict with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia.

But first with shoulder-fired Stinger antiaircraft and Javelin anti-tank missiles, and later with HIMARS — High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems — and Patriot antimissile batteries, more advanced weapons flowed to the front lines in 2022. The Pentagon has also sent more than two million 155-millimeter artillery shells, the ammunition staple of this war.

The administration dropped its last reservations to major weapons systems this year, sending long-range missiles, called ATACMS, which the Ukrainians used in October to strike a helicopter base.

The White House also agreed to dispatch Abrams tanks and allow Western allies to send U.S.-made F-16 fighter jets, although the 31 tanks have yet to see battle and Ukrainian pilots are still training on the planes and are not expected to fly combat missions until next year.

What other kinds of aid has the U.S. sent?

Nearly 40 percent of American aid to Ukraine has been for nonmilitary purposes. That includes spending for humanitarian needs such as housing refugees and direct economic support to keep Ukraine’s government functioning.

Since January 2022, the United States has sent Ukraine $26.4 billion in financial assistance, which includes direct budgetary support to the country’s government. With its economy crippled by Russia’s invasion, Ukraine relies on its backers to maintain basic services like schools, hospitals and fire departments.

The United States has also provided $2.7 billion in emergency food assistance, health care, refugee support and other humanitarian aid, according to the Council on Foreign Relations .

While the United States is by far the world’s largest military supporter of Ukraine, the European Union’s financial support, at $79.1 billion, dwarfs the U.S. financial contribution, according to the Kiel Institute. And Germany alone has provided nearly as much humanitarian aid as Washington has, at $2.6 billion.

Will the U.S. send more assistance?

Some Republicans argue that the United States should not spend billions of dollars on a faraway conflict when unmet needs exist at home, with many pointing to high numbers of undocumented migrants crossing the U.S. border with Mexico. Former President Donald J. Trump has criticized American aid for Ukraine, saying in July that Mr. Biden was “neglecting America’s vital interests” while “needlessly and dangerously leading us into World War III” with Russia.

Appearing on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday, Senator J.D. Vance, Republican of Ohio, called it “preposterous” to think that Ukraine could eject Russia from every inch of its territory and said that more “blank checks” from the United States were unlikely to turn the tide. “What is $61 billion going to accomplish that $100 billion hasn’t?” Mr. Vance asked.

And the new Republican House speaker, Mike Johnson, has insisted that any Ukraine aid package be tied to strict border security measures opposed by many Democrats. Even some hawkish Republicans who have in the past criticized Mr. Biden for not doing more to support Ukraine now say that additional aid should be linked to difficult U.S. border issues.

“I will not vote for any aid until we secure our border,” Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, said on CNN this month. He added, “I’m not helping Ukraine until we help ourselves.” Mr. Graham has long been among the leading voices in Congress calling for more aid to Ukraine.

How has Biden responded?

In a speech last week imploring Congress to pass additional funding for Ukraine, Mr. Biden defined American support for Ukraine as a critical national security imperative.

“This cannot wait,” Mr. Biden said in remarks at the White House just hours before the vote for the $111 billion bill, which would have provided about $50 billion in security assistance to Ukraine, more for economic and humanitarian aid and another $14 billion toward arming Israel in its war against Hamas.

Mr. Biden said Americans should take pride in helping Ukraine, for almost two years, to blunt the invasion and occupation plans of Mr. Putin.

Even before the vote for additional funding for Ukraine failed , Mr. Biden called it “stunning that we’ve gotten to this point in the first place.” He accused Republicans in Congress of being “willing to give Putin the greatest gift he could hope for.”

The president also said he was prepared to offer “significant compromises” on border restrictions — a key Republican demand.

Has the flow of weapons stopped?

Administration officials have warned that the United States will run out of money to support Ukraine by the end of the year unless Congress approves more.

But Pentagon aid to Ukraine is not likely to run completely dry. The Defense Department is still doling out $100 million to $175 million worth of arms, ammunition and equipment from Pentagon stockpiles every week or so.

The department has been forced to shrink the size of the regular military shipments from its inventories to make the remaining $4.8 billion in authority to draw down from military depots last longer. But Pentagon officials caution that only $1.1 billion is left to replenish those stocks.

Pentagon officials say they could stretch out of the shipments to last through the winter, when the pace of fighting is expected to decline. And there are still billions of dollars of orders for new weapons and equipment that will be delivered directly from manufacturers to Ukraine over the next several months.

But the uncertainty surrounding the U.S. funding, and whether European allies could pick up the slack, has already caused havoc with Ukrainian war planning as commanders say they are rationing artillery rounds.

Michael Crowley covers the State Department and U.S. foreign policy for The Times. He has reported from nearly three dozen countries and often travels with the secretary of state. More about Michael Crowley

Eric Schmitt is a national security correspondent for The Times, focusing on U.S. military affairs and counterterrorism issues overseas, topics he has reported on for more than three decades. More about Eric Schmitt

Helene Cooper is a Pentagon correspondent. She was previously an editor, diplomatic correspondent and White House correspondent. More about Helene Cooper

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IDF fires artillery shells into Gaza as fighting between Israeli troops and Islamist Hamas militants continues on Oct. 12, 2023.

Middle East crisis — explained

The conflict between Israel and Palestinians — and other groups in the Middle East — goes back decades. These stories provide context for current developments and the history that led up to them.

U.N. Security Council calls for expanded humanitarian aid in Gaza, as U.S. abstains

Becky Sullivan

Becky Sullivan

Michele Kelemen 2010

Michele Kelemen

how to get a humanitarian reassignment with af

The symbol of the United Nations is displayed outside the Secretariat Building at U.N. headquarters. John Minchillo/AP hide caption

The symbol of the United Nations is displayed outside the Secretariat Building at U.N. headquarters.

After days of protracted and slow-moving negotiations, the United Nations Security Council has approved a resolution calling for "urgent steps" to allow expanded aid into the Gaza strip, as the territory faces a spiraling humanitarian crisis from weeks of Israeli bombardment. But lacking unanimous support for an immediate pause to the fighting, the resolution stopped short of calling for a cease-fire.

The final vote on the resolution, which was drafted by the United Arab Emirates, was 13-o. The United States abstained from the vote, as did Russia.

Friday's vote had originally been scheduled for Monday, but it was repeatedly delayed to allow for negotiations over the final text of the resolution in an effort to get the U.S. — Israel's strongest ally on the international stage — to agree not to veto.

In the end, the wording approved by the Security Council was watered down compared to earlier drafts of the resolution. Previous drafts had called for a "cessation" or even a "suspension" of hostilities, which the U.S. objected to. Negotiators ultimately settled on language that called for creating "the conditions for a sustainable cessation of hostilities."

"We know this is not a perfect text. We know only a cease-fire will end this suffering," said Ambassador Lana Zaki Nusseibeh of the United Arab Emirates, the sponsor of the resolution, in remarks ahead of the vote. "Often in diplomacy, the challenge is meeting the moment in the world we live in, not in the world that we want," she added.

Inspecting aid into Gaza

Another sticking point in negotiations was whether the U.N. itself should inspect the trucks that are entering Gaza to deliver desperately needed aid. Israel currently inspects these convoys to make sure there are no weapons being smuggled in for Hamas.

The U.S. has been working to get Israel to accelerate the pace of these inspection, but the Biden administration has been wary of a new U.N. resolution further complicating what is already a complicated situation.

"There are still serious and widespread concerns that this Resolution as drafted could actually slow down delivery of humanitarian aid by directing the U.N. to create an unworkable monitoring mechanism," said U.S. spokesperson Nate Evans on Thursday. "We must ensure any Resolution helps and doesn't hurt the situation on the ground."

The final language of the resolution does not call for a new inspection regime. Instead, it asks the U.N. secretary general to appoint an aide coordinator for Gaza.

how to get a humanitarian reassignment with af

Aid trucks enter through the Kerem Shalom crossing from Israel into the Gaza Strip on Dec. 18. The Security Council's vote on a new U.N. resolution to spur desperately needed aid to Gaza went through intense negotiations around two issues important to the U.S. — a reference to a cessation of hostilities and putting the U.N. in charge of inspecting trucks. Hatem Ali/AP hide caption

Aid trucks enter through the Kerem Shalom crossing from Israel into the Gaza Strip on Dec. 18. The Security Council's vote on a new U.N. resolution to spur desperately needed aid to Gaza went through intense negotiations around two issues important to the U.S. — a reference to a cessation of hostilities and putting the U.N. in charge of inspecting trucks.

Friday's resolution also called for "the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages" and urged the provision of enough fuel into Gaza to meet all humanitarian needs, a long-running sticking point for Israel, which says Hamas could steal fuel for its combat effort.

Prior to Friday, the U.S. had vetoed Security Council resolutions on Israel and Gaza since the conflict began in October, most recently earlier this month, when American officials said a resolution had been rushed and ignored U.S. diplomatic efforts. The U.S. had also objected to resolutions that did not explicitly condemn Hamas.

The humanitarian situation in Gaza

In Gaza, some 85% of Gaza's population have fled their homes and crowded into shelters and tent camps in the territory's south as Israel has continued to expand its ground operation. Much of northern Gaza has been flattened or damaged by airstrikes, including hospitals, schools, places of worship and thousands of homes.

More than half of households in Gaza are experiencing "severe levels of hunger," according to a recent report by the World Food Programme . On average, Palestinians in Gaza have access to less than two liters of drinking water per day, the report found.

A growing number of international voices have expressed concern that the Israeli military is not taking enough steps to limit harm to civilians — including, increasingly, the U.S., which has sent officials to Israel this week to encourage leaders to dial back the intensity of its Gaza operation.

Criticism of Israel's ground operation has redoubled in recent days, even among Israelis, after the Israeli military admitted that its own soldiers had shot and killed three Israeli hostages in Gaza, who were shirtless and waving a makeshift white flag in an effort to be rescued.

Israel's military says hostages waved a white flag before being killed by a soldier

Israel's military says hostages waved a white flag before being killed by a soldier

This week, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin arrived in Israel to urge leaders there to downscale the war effort to more targeted operations that reduce wide-scale harm to civilians.

The attacks on Israel by Hamas fighters on Oct. 7 killed 1,200 people and kidnapped hundreds of others, Israel says. Israel's military says more than 130 Israeli soldiers have been killed in the ground offensive.

An estimated 129 people are still being held captive in Gaza, according to the Israeli prime minister's office. At least 20 of them are thought to be dead.

More than 20,000 Palestinians have been killed since Oct. 7, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza, which does not differentiate between combatants and civilians but says the majority of those killed have been women or children.

The accounts of freed Israeli hostages add pressure to save those still in captivity

The accounts of freed Israeli hostages add pressure to save those still in captivity

U.S. defense secretary presses Israeli officials on protecting civilian lives in Gaza

U.S. defense secretary presses Israeli officials on protecting civilian lives in Gaza

State Of The Union

State Of The Union

Moderate Democrats Urge Joe Biden To Pressure Israel To Change Its War Strategy

Posted: December 23, 2023 | Last updated: December 23, 2023

A group of moderate House Democrats with national security backgrounds has urged President Joe Biden to pressure Israel to shift its military strategy in Gaza, citing the rising civilian death toll and humanitarian crisis.

They expressed concern that the current campaign may fail to eradicate Hamas and could exacerbate the situation.

Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken expects Israel to transition to a more targeted operation, decreasing harm to civilians. (Trending: Judge Announces Historic Ruling In Jeffrey Epstein Case)

The Democrats pressed that the Gazan death counts and humanitarian disaster are “unacceptable, not in line with American interests, nor do they advance the cause of security for our ally Israel.”

“We also believe it jeopardizes efforts to destroy the terrorist organization Hamas and secure the release of all hostages.”

“We know from personal and often painful experience that you can’t destroy a terror ideology with military force alone. And it can, in fact, make it worse,” they wrote.

“Accordingly, we urge you to continue to use all our leverage to achieve an immediate and significant shift of military strategy and tactics in Gaza.”

“It’s clear that the conflict will move and needs to move to a lower-intensity phase,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.

“I hope we can get to a good place,” Blinken said.

Pressure is mounting for another cease-fire and discussions about a pause in fighting, including a potential prisoner swap, are ongoing.

Additionally, the Biden administration is reportedly working to stifle international efforts for accountability in Gaza.

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  • International

December 20, 2023 Israel-Hamas war

By Tara Subramaniam , Jack Guy, Aditi Sangal , Maureen Chowdhury , Elise Hammond and Tori B. Powell , CNN

Our live coverage of Israel's war with Hamas has moved here.

Gaza residents face "toxic" combination of disease, hunger and lack of hygiene, WHO chief warns

From CNN’s Akanksha Sharma

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus attends a press briefing at the World Health Organization headquarters in Geneva on December 15.

The head of the United Nations' health agency on Thursday warned of the “toxic mix of disease, hunger and lack of hygiene and sanitation” faced by people in Gaza as he called for an immediate ceasefire in Israel's war with Hamas.

"Gaza is already experiencing soaring rates of infectious disease outbreaks. Diarrhoea cases among children aged under 5 are 25 times what they were before the conflict," he said. "Such illnesses can be lethal for malnourished children, more so in the absence of functioning health services. We need a ceasefire now."

Tedros' comments come amid multiple calls from UN agencies for a pause in fighting to help relief efforts in Gaza.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned Thursday that intense fighting is impeding efforts to assist people in Gaza. He called for “conditions to allow for large-scale humanitarian operations” to be "reestablished immediately.”

On Wednesday, the World Food Programme said half of Gaza's population is starving and residents are often going entire days without eating. Meanwhile, UNICEF warned Tuesday that children and families “are not safe in hospitals” in Gaza as the enclave’s wider health care system teeters on the edge of collapse. 

UN vote: President Joe Biden said Wednesday the United States is still working through  whether to support a UN Security Council resolution  that calls for a halt in Gaza hostilities to allow more aid into the enclave after a vote on the matter was pushed to Thursday.

Last week, the wider UN General Assembly voted to demand an immediate ceasefire, in a rebuke to the US, which has repeatedly blocked ceasefire calls in the Security Council.

Blinken calls out countries that have not demanded Hamas surrender and "stop hiding behind civilians"

From CNN's Jack Forrest

Blinken speaks during a news conference on Wednesday, December 20, at the State Department in Washington, DC.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called out countries on Wednesday for not demanding that Hamas surrender its arms.

“What is striking to me is that even as, again, we hear many countries urging the end to this conflict, which we would all like to see, I hear virtually no one saying – demanding of Hamas that it stop hiding behind civilians, that it lay down its arms, that it surrender. This is over tomorrow if Hamas does that. This would have been over a month ago, six weeks ago, if Hamas had done that,” Blinken said during a news briefing at the State Department. “How can it be that there are no demands made of the aggressor and only demands made of the victim,” he said.

The secretary of state noted that “understandably, everyone would like to see this conflict end as quickly as possible,” but, he observed, “if it ends with Hamas remaining in place and having the capacity and the stated intent to repeat October 7th again and again and again, that’s not in the interests of Israel, it’s not in the interests of the region, it’s not in the interests of the world.”

Asked about the growing death toll in Gaza, Blinken reiterated calls for the fighting to "move to a lower-intensity phase."

"We expect to see and want to see a shift to more targeted operations with a smaller number of forces that’s really focused in on dealing with the leadership of Hamas, the tunnel network, and a few other critical things," he said. "And as that happens, I think you’ll see, as well, the harm done to civilians also decrease significantly.”

Blinken’s comments come as the UN Security Council  continues to negotiate  a resolution calling for a suspension in fighting and encouraging more humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, and as the United States’ support for the motion remains unresolved.

CNN’s Becky Anderson, Michael Williams, Kevin Liptak and Jennifer Deaton contributed to this report.

UN secretary-general warns "intense fighting" is impeding life-saving aid to Gaza

UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned Thursday that intense fighting is impeding efforts to assist people in Gaza. 

“Intense fighting, lack of electricity, limited fuel & disrupted telecommunications severely restrict the @UN 's concerted efforts to provide life-saving aid to people in Gaza,” Guterres wrote in a  post  on X, formerly Twitter.

Guterres called for “conditions to allow for large-scale humanitarian operations” to be "reestablished immediately.”

Israel says it uncovered "substantial, elaborate" network of tunnels used by Hamas in Gaza City

From CNN staff

The Israeli military released videos it says show a network of tunnels in the center of Gaza City.

The army said it uncovered the network after securing operational control over Palestine Square, a plaza in the city's center. The videos purport to show a series of tunnel shafts and access points leading underground.

In one video, a camera descends a long ladder before proceeding along a narrow, arched hallway to reach a blast door.

In a different video, a camera descends a long spiral staircase into another tunnel. In one clip, a passageway to the tunnel network, hidden behind an electricity box, is identified.

Several of the tunnel shafts appear to have been demolished, which the Israeli military said had been done by Hamas fighters.

In a briefing with journalists, Israeli army spokesperson Lt. Col. Peter Lerner said the tunnels were a “substantial, elaborate network of interconnected command control positions.”

“What we're doing today is revealing layer by layer the extent of Hamas’ terror tunnel network. It is the most expensive, expansive construction project ever to exist in the Gaza Strip,” Lerner said.

Within the tunnels, Israeli forces found food, water, electric infrastructure, and communications capabilities, Lerner said.

It is not possible for CNN to immediately verify all the Israeli military’s claims.

Father of hostage mistakenly killed by Israeli forces in Gaza accuses Netanyahu of cowardice

From Tamar Michaelis and CNN's Andrew Carey

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu chairs a Cabinet meeting in Tel Aviv on December 17.

The father of one of the hostages killed by Israeli troops inside Gaza has accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of cowardice for failing to call him or visit him to express condolences.

Avi Shimriz, the father of 26-year-old Alon, who was captured by militants from Kfar Aza on October 7, was speaking to Israel’s Channel 13 News following the disclosure of new details about how his son, and two other men, were killed.

 “The prime minister doesn’t dare to make a call. He hasn’t called and he wouldn’t come here,” Shimriz said, drawing a contrast between Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who he said had called him twice.

Netanyahu did visit Wednesday with the mother of another of the slain hostages, Iris Haim, who lost her son Yotam in the same incident.  

Shimriz expressed deep frustration over learning that Israeli soldiers had managed to kill the Hamas fighters holding the three hostages and get so close to gathering intelligence that could have saved them. 

“It demonstrates how big the miss is […] There is a screw-up here, a serious one,” he said. “The shooter should not have opened fire, and if he is a proper fighter, he should have known that you only pull the trigger once you are certain it is a terrorist.”

He said commanders had failed to tell soldiers there could be hostages in the area and said that photographs of the hostages should have been circulated so soldiers might recognize them.

But he acknowledged that troops in the field faced difficult circumstances.

“I cannot complain to our troops because they have encountered different situations where [Hamas] tried to ambush them and they suffered losses. I don’t want another such incident on my conscience,” he said.

US weighs backing UN resolution on Gaza as Israel proposes a deal to pause fighting. Here's the latest news

President Joe Biden said the United States is still working through whether to support a United Nations Security Council resolution that calls for a halt in Gaza hostilities to allow humanitarian aid.

Biden, who was asked by a reporter Wednesday when Israel should move to a less intensive phase of its conflict with Hamas, pointed to the negotiations at the UN as a reason not to give a firm answer.

"We’re negotiating right now at the UN the contours of a resolution...a resolution that we may be able to agree to," he told reporters in Milwaukee. "That's still going on," he said. "I'll be happy to talk to you after that."

Biden's comments suggest US support is still an unresolved matter inside the White House.

Earlier, a vote on the matter was pushed to Thursday.

Meanwhile, Hamas' political chief is in Egypt for talks. The visit comes after Israel proposed a pause in fighting in exchange for the release of about 40 hostages , although an Israel official said they were not near a deal yet.

Here are the latest headlines:

  • On the ground: Videos published Wednesday show heavy air strikes in the Jabalya area of northern Gaza, and the Hamas-controlled health ministry said at least 46 people were killed in the area. Also, several videos from the Rafah area of southern Gaza show a series of powerful explosions, including several close to the Kuwaiti hospital. Journalists in the area say the explosions were caused by Israeli airstrikes and that several people were killed . The videos, which have been geolocated by CNN, show extensive damage to what appears to be a residential building.
  • US pushes for lower intensity in conflict: The conflict between Israel and Hamas “needs to move to a lower intensity phase,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday. Blinken’s comments echo what Biden administration officials have told Israel privately, CNN previously reported, which is that the US wants Israel to shift to a lower-intensity phase of the war in the next several weeks.
  • Israel-Lebanon border conflict: There were fresh exchanges between the Israeli military and Hezbollah across the Lebanon-Israel border. Hezbollah said it targeted Israeli military helicopters with surface-to-air missiles and also launched attacks on several other locations along the border, including Margaliot, near the town of Kiryat Shmona. The Israeli military said artillery and tanks struck several locations in Lebanon in response to incoming fire.
  • Israel opposes new budget for UN relief agency: Israel will oppose bringing forward the annual budget for the UN agency that carries out humanitarian work in Gaza, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said bringing forward the budget from 2025 to 2024 would be precedent-setting and dangerous, “especially in light of the evidence of Hamas using the organization's facilities as terrorist infrastructure.”
  • Humanitarian aid: At least 165 humanitarian aid trucks crossed into Gaza on Tuesday, Israeli authorities say. The trucks were previously inspected at Israeli crossing points, the government said. The UN’s World Food Programme said Wednesday it had been able to organize a convoy of aid from Jordan to cross into Gaza via Israeli territory — the first time an aid convoy has reached the besieged strip via that route since October 7. 

Israel and Cyprus close to deal on maritime corridor to get goods to Gaza, Israeli foreign ministry says 

From CNN's Caitlin Danaher and Tamar Michaelis

Israel and Cyprus have come a step closer to agreeing on the creation of a maritime corridor that would allow goods to bypass Israel on the way to Gaza, the Israeli foreign ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

The maritime corridor would allow “the direct transfer of humanitarian aid and goods to the Gaza Strip," the statement said.

If the corridor goes ahead as planned, it would be the first time Israel has eased its sea blockade on Gaza since it was imposed in 2007 when Hamas took control. 

On a diplomatic trip to Cyprus, Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen along with Cypriot Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos visited the port of Larnaca, which is situated around 370 km (230 miles) northwest of Gaza. It is expected to be the starting point of the corridor, according to the statement. 

Cohen said the goods will be subject to a security inspection at Larnaca that will be carried out “in coordination with Israel.” 

The corridor could be used as an axis for the transfer of humanitarian aid in the coming weeks, Cohen added. 

The minister stressed that the creation of the maritime corridor to Gaza will “help Israel's economic disengagement from the Strip.”

Effectively fighting terrorism does not mean "flattening Gaza," French president says

From CNN’s Joseph Ataman in Paris

French President Emmanuel Macron said Wednesday that combatting “terrorist groups“ cannot mean “hitting civilian populations.”

He was speaking in an end-of-year interview with French broadcaster France 5. 

“We can’t let the idea be accepted that fighting terrorism effectively would mean flattening Gaza or indiscriminately attacking the civilian population and to cause civilian casualties,” he said. 

The fight against Hamas and other “terrorist groups” in the Middle East concerned countries beyond Israel, Macron said. But the security response to terrorism should not include massive destruction, "including civilian infrastructure and hitting civilian populations.”

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how to get a humanitarian reassignment with af

The Humanitarian Reassignment and Deferment Program, run by the Air Force Personnel Center, assists active-duty airmen in resolving severe, short-term problems involving a family member while...

The Humanitarian Reassignment and Deferment Program, run by the Air Force Personnel Center, assists active-duty Airmen in resolving severe, short-term problems involving a family member while Airmen continue to meet the needs of the Air Force.

Airmen can access humanitarian program application guidelines and submit their request online by accessing MyPers. Their application then travels from the Airman's commander's office to AFPC's Total-Force Service Center, which forwards a pre-screened packet to Surgnier's staff.

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT ASSIGNMENTS Welcome to the Active Duty Assignment home page. This page will provide enlisted personnel critical information about various assignment programs, career fields, special duty assignments, and links to other resources related to enlisted assignments.

Click on the Humanitarian/EFMP link under 'Assignment Programs' on the active-duty myPers Assignment landing page, hover the mouse cursor for 30 seconds and a chat window will appear. For more...

Members can apply for a humanitarian reassignment or deferment if they meet all of the following conditions: They have a documented and substantiated short-term problem involving a family member. (See see above for the definition of a family member for the purpose of the humanitarian reassignment program.)

No single reason exists why a humanitarian reassignment or deferment might be approved. The Air Force Personnel Center views each request with compassion and empathy, giving it careful consideration.

Answer. Normal processing time for a Humanitarian request is one week from the date the request is received in AFPC/DPAPO; for Exceptional Family Member Program requests, two weeks is the average. However, many factors affect the process. When the request arrives at AFPC it is first staffed to either the AFPC medical or legal staff for review ...

r/AirForce • 2 yr. ago AirplaneLover1995 Humanitarian Assignment Question Good morning all! Does anyone have some background on how long a humanitarian assignment takes to process? I am currently on a one year short tour and was notified that my father has about 8 months to live due to cancer. I am submitting the MPF paperwork today.

The member must submit a formal application for consideration IAW AFI 36-2110, Atch 7. Additionally, these are not base of preference programs. Humanitarian reassignments are driven by the location of the reason for the request, while EFMP reassignments are driven by needs of the Air Force and availability of special services.

Sept. 20, 2017 Humanitarian assignments considered for Airmen in time of need . The Humanitarian Reassignment and Deferment Program, run by the Air Force Personnel Center, assists active-duty Airmen in resolving severe, short-term problems involving a family member while Airmen continue to meet the needs of the Air Force.

However, even airmen need help at times, especially if an acute problem occurs with a family member.The Humanitarian Reassignment and Deferment Program, run by the Air Force Personnel Center, assists active-duty airmen in resolving severe, short-term problems involving a family member while airmen continue to meet the needs of the Air Force ...

r/AirForce • 9 yr. ago pearsonownz Humanitarian Assignment Questions My father is in the advance stages of prostate cancer, and we have recently received the news that he has 12-18 months left. I would like to apply for a humanitarian assignment.

r/AirForce • 6 yr. ago peeps9285 Humanitarian Assignment time frame/experience Quick question.....for those of you who have applied for a humanitarian assignment, how long did it take to get approved? My wife and I are mil to mil and applied for one last week. It was referred to BPO that day. Just wondering what the average time frame is.

Humanitarian Reassignment Process. Hey there, I have a pending humanitarian reassignment request due to my mother's terminal cancer diagnosis. I was told that my request is "in the last tier before you're provided with a final decision, but that it could still take up to 4 weeks for a decision to be made" by someone from the TFSC.

By order of the Secretary of the Air Force, this Department of the Air Force Guidance Memorandum (DAFGM) immediately implements changes to DAFI 36-2110, Total Force Assignments. Compliance with this guidance memorandum is mandatory. To the extent the guidance memorandum's directions are inconsistent with other Department of the Air Force

What other kinds of aid has the U.S. sent? Nearly 40 percent of American aid to Ukraine has been for nonmilitary purposes. That includes spending for humanitarian needs such as housing refugees ...

Friday's vote had originally been scheduled for Monday, but it was repeatedly delayed to allow for negotiations over the final text of the resolution in an effort to get the U.S. — Israel's ...

A group of moderate House Democrats with national security backgrounds has urged President Joe Biden to pressure Israel to shift its military strategy in Gaza, citing the rising civilian death ...

But as diplomatic efforts continue, the humanitarian crisis in the besieged strip worsens with each day. Nearly 20,000 people have been killed by Israeli military action in Gaza since October 7 ...

writing a book quora

All you need to know about Quora for Book marketing

  • Do not promote your book directly on your response or comments. You will either get downvotes or your account might get suspended.
  • Do not write lengthy answers unless and until a question requires so. Use bullet points and also highlight the important section of your answers to attract immediate attention.
  • Use correct grammar and punctuation. You are an author; proofread what you post and post what you’ve proofread.
  • Use different forms of content. It’s not always necessary to write answers and post them. You can share an article from your blog, share podcasts, or even upload infographics.
  • Answer only when you feel users will find your answer useful.
  • If you’ve written fiction, take the writing aspect of novels and engage writers from that angle. For instance, select topics like creative writing, writing, and the likes and you will find questions like How to write romantic conversation. If you’ve written a romance fiction, quote a dialogue from your book and redirect them back to your book’s sales page. Choose a relative topic accordingly and be there with your answers.
  • Acknowledge users who have take time to comment on your answer.

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Aravind, works as a publishing mentor at Notion Press. His articles help aspiring writers realize their dream of becoming a published author. He has several years of experience in the publishing industry and has researched on digital media and the future of print-publishing. He is an active mentor for a community of writers to educate and guide them toward writing a book that sells.

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Hello there! Thank you for sharing information about Quora Bookmarketing. It is really very helpful to me, Authors and Digital Marketers

IMAGES

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  2. Are you writing a book?

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    writing a book quora

VIDEO

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  2. Writer और Author में क्या फर्क है|?Difference between Author and Writer |Writer vs Author

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  4. How to write A perfect book review in just 5 steps

  5. Importance of DAILY ANSWER WRITING

  6. Art of Answer Writing

COMMENTS

  1. Quora

    We would like to show you a description here but the site won't allow us.

  2. I really want to write a book... : r/writing

    Figure out your story, characters, and setting first. Make sure that all makes sense and "works'. Don't write until you have a chapter by chapter outline. The other thing you need to recognize is that writing a novel sized piece of work is a long slog. You'll have to return to the effort over and over.

  3. What I Learned From 3 Months of Writing on Quora

    · Nov 19, 2021 -- 11 Photo by Thought Catalog on Unsplash For the last 3 months, I've felt like an absolute crazy person for publishing on Quora every single day.

  4. Should I Write A Book? (9 Highly Compelling Reasons You Must)

    To share your knowledge and perspective with others To prove yourself as a writer Your answer to the question, "Why do I really want to write a book?" is probably some variation on your reason (or reasons) for writing anything. But in case you needed another reason (or nine) to finally write a book with your author name on it, read on.

  5. How to Write a Book While Working Full-Time

    This is a hard truth about how to write a book while working full-time. We've got to squeeze writing into the cracks of our lives. We need to figure out when it is possible and then guard those writing sessions as sacred. 2. Enlist the People You Live With.

  6. How to Write a Book in 10 Painless Steps [Free Guides Inside]

    Step 1: Start With Why Step 3: Outline Step 4: Rough Draft Step 5: Self-Editing Step 6: Professional Editing Step 7: Cover Design Step 8: Formatting Step 9: Launch Step 10: The Book Is Just The Beginning I want to save you a ton of time and many headaches, so let's dive into how to write a book.

  7. Write Your First Book With Our 10-Step Guide

    In order to stand out from the crowd, you must offer your target audience something of value. Value can be in the form of pure entertainment or ideas that can improve your professional skills. 2. Determine on an Overarching Idea for Your Book. Many of our authors are doctors, CPAs, business leaders, and CEOs.

  8. How to Write a Book: 23 Simple Steps from a Bestseller

    Part 1: Before You Begin Writing Your Book Establish your writing space.

  9. How to Write a Book: Complete Step-by-Step Guide

    Written by MasterClass Last updated: Mar 2, 2022 • 5 min read A step-by-step guide can help new authors overcome the intimidating parts of writing a book, allowing them to stay focused and maximize their creativity.

  10. Tips on Writing a Book

    Tips on Writing a Book - Quora Answer June 18, 2020 Shantanu Baruah 4 Comments Here is my answer to the question, "What is the best way to write a book?" on Quora It took me three years to write my first book, which included 10 revisions and several editing rounds. Here is my advice for the same

  11. How to Use Quora to Write Your Next Book

    1) Find a Topic to Write About Chances are, you know what you want to write about. But even if you do, you can use Quora to hone your topic to a finer, more narrow topic. Here are a couple of ways to do that: Ask a Question - It's a question and answer site, so ask a question about a topic you want to explore.

  12. How to Write a Book (with Tactics from Bestsellers)

    3. Outline the story. You don't have to structure it as a rollercoaster, but your outline should look something like this. If you want to write a great story, you need to outline it first. This is especially important if it's your first book, since you need a solid blueprint to rely on when you get stuck!

  13. It's National Novel Writing Month. Here's how to write a book

    Just write. So here are six tips that'll help you set pen to paper (or finger to keyboard) and get going on your book. 1. Carve out some time to write, and then start writing. Now, I bet a lot of ...

  14. HOW TO WRITE A NOVEL OR SERIES, A QUORA QUESTION

    Answer: I think about the story. I envision a scene, a character, his perspective, his goal, the problem, the solution. I mull it over. I obsess over it. It consumes me. I see it all. I hear it...

  15. Why Do So Many Founders And CEOs Write Books?

    Answer by Steven Spatz, President of BookBaby, on Quora: Writing and publishing a book is an important goal for many CEOs, and it's no secret why. Publishing a successful and well-written book ...

  16. 16 Practical Tips For Anyone Who Wants To Write A Book

    1. Keep a journal by your bed and record your dreams as soon as you wake up. http://@ little.willowisp / Via instagram.com "I know it sounds weird, but if you wake up in the middle of the night and...

  17. How to Use Quora to Increase Traffic and Sell Books

    Conclusion. As you can see, Quora can be a powerful way to get a source of passive traffic to your website or book's sales page. Just sit down for a couple of hours, set up a targeted profile, and answer some questions. Just start writing.

  18. How new writers should use Quora

    Here are five ways new writers can benefit from Quora. 1. To practice as a new writer. If you are new to writing and don't know where to start, Quora is an easy platform. Even before you blogging or begin writing articles on online magazines, you should start writing on Quora and build your writing muscle. You can do shorter pieces to start ...

  19. writing a book quora

    If you can afford to use a book writing tool like Scrivener - it gives you immense flexibility for writing, formatting, and organizing your book. You can search across plots, organize by character and be ready for publishing; Lastly, create a blog. You can express your thoughts to the world and get instant feedback.

  20. All you need to know about Quora for Book marketing

    Book Marketing on Quora Best Practices. For better reach and engagement, follow some of the best practices for book marketing on Quora. Do not promote your book directly on your response or comments. You will either get downvotes or your account might get suspended. Do not write lengthy answers unless and until a question requires so.

  21. Advice for Writing a Mathematics Book : r/math

    I don't mean to be rude, it's just that writing a book is usually something that comes later in a mathematician's career. More power to you! Do it for the love of it. That's a great motivation. I think you'll find that the act of explaining concepts in the format of a book will go a long way in solidifying your current knowledge.