Most people think a book has to be long and must take them quite a while to write. That’s not true. You can become an author by writing a short book fast, and there are many reasons you might want to do so.
I’ve self-published 12 books, all of them short. Most of them also were written quickly—in less than a few months (sometimes in less than a month). A few of them are available for wide distribution while some are not. The reasons for this vary as much as the reasons I wrote and published them.
Almost every week it seems I discover new short books of all types. Some look just like “real” books. They are perfect-bound paperback books. Others are saddle-stitched booklets, which means their binding consists of staples. Many of my books fall into the booklet category. I also have workbooks published in this manner.
Why would you want to produce a short book fast? Here are five reasons:
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You Want to Say You are an Author
If you have reason to claim you are an author now, not in six months or two years, a short book can prove just the solution you need. For example, a short book can help you get speaking engagements or coaching or consulting clients because it proves you are an expert in a subject area. I produced several short books for this reason.
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You Need a Book for an Event
There may be times when you want to sell a book at the back of the room when you speak or give one away. This can come in handy when you first begin speaking and aren’t getting paid for your talks. It’s also useful if you have a topic that lends itself to a workbook. Possibly, you just want to impress your audience. Or maybe you are going to a convention or conference and want to hand out something special. Short books, especially booklets, can be quite cheap to produce, and they can be printed in a day sometimes.
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You Want to Create a Product
Maybe you have a video or audio you produced, and you’d like to create a book to accompany it. No need for your magnum opus; a short book—even an eBook—will do just fine and enhance the value. Remember, a book is a product. If you have no products yet to sell off your author website, a short book fast fits the bill.
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You Want to Give a Book Away to Build Your Mailing List
Your mailing list is an essential part of your author platform. However, these days no one will sign up without reason—not even for a newsletter. You must give them something for free to get them to “opt in.” So why not create a short free book fast? This can provide just the incentive they need to his “subscribe.”
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You Want to Jump Start Your Writing
For many wanna-be authors, a “big book” is just…well…too big. If you feel that way, start small. Jump-start your writing and your path to authorship with something short. You might even write a chapter and publish it as a book. Do this for every chapter in your book. You’ll then have a lot of short books published. When you’ve finished, compile all those short books into that big book you dreamed of writing.
If you want to learn more about how to write a short book fast, check out these two posts:
Seven Ways to Write or Blog a Short eBook Fast
How to Write a Good Short Book Fast
Can you think of more reasons to write a short book fast? Share them in a comment below.
A book in less than a month… wow, excellent.
I see your point, but writing and publishing that fast runs the risk of errors, both grammatical and structural, that could have been avoided by revising and editing. You don’t want people to see those kinds of errors, especially if you’re an unknown writer, since they could ruin future sales and profits.
Jevon,
No errors if you use an editor and proofreader!This is something short…you should have time to revise.