If you’re ready to pen your first expert non-fiction book, you have two options:
- Write it yourself
- Hire someone to either write it with you, or write it for you
The first option is best if you’re up for the time, work, and planning that goes into crafting a book. But you don’t have to do it all on your own. You can still impart your unique experience, knowledge, and point of view, while also leveraging the skills of a more accomplished writer.
Writing Your Own Book
The main reason to write your own book is if you have a burning passion to do it yourself. You might feel that letting someone else help or handle parts of it would potentially mar your own voice and enthusiasm.
However, in this case, you can still seek the help of an editor. You can plan and write the book yourself, and then hire someone to go over it once it’s finished and clean up any parts that need editing. The editor wouldn’t make any major changes, but simply polish your existing work.
Hire a Co-Author
Another option is to write your book together with a professional writer. You often see biographies or memoirs written this way, where on the cover, it will say, “Written with…” In this case, you provide the basic structure and ideas, and the writer helps you shape your ideas into well-written prose.
How much you write and how much your co-author writes depends on your agreement. For example, you could send them your writing and have them clean it up, like an editor who edits in real-time. Or, you could have regular meetings or Skype calls with the writer to explain your ideas, and have them do the actual writing.
No matter how you write it, the end result is a book full of your ideas but with the sheen of a professional writer.
Hire a Ghostwriter
If you don’t want to be so involved with the actual writing process, you can hire a ghostwriter. Again, the extent to which you write, or the ghostwriter writes is determined by you. You could give them an idea of what each chapter should cover, some notes from your own experience, and just have them create. Or, you could offer a detailed outline with some of your own writing, and have them fill in the gaps.
Even if you hire a ghostwriter, you can have final editing rights. Once they send the deliverables, you can look over the text to make sure it’s not missing anything. You can work out an arrangement with the writer where they agree to a certain amount of revisions if the final version isn’t perfect.
Remember that your book’s writing doesn’t have to be professional or perfect. Its purpose is to communicate your ideas in a way that is valuable and helpful to your audience. Perfection can be a creativity killer and trying to be too perfect can prevent you from getting your book done. Focus on writing so that it’s easy to understand, and so that the reader can actually use what they’ve learned.
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