Hi! New and needing help.

Hello everyone. I have an idea for a book and plenty of material to get me going but no idea about the various processes that are available. Do I need to complete the book first and then send to publishers, or can I send an overview and excerpt of the book seeking assistance in writing it? I have never written or attempted to write a book before, so I could do with all the help available.

Are their websites that provide relevant information and guidance? Any books people would recommend that would help me?

The book itself will be non-fiction. The theme is my spiritual path up to now, with all the ideas, experiences and growth I have attained. It is not so much an auto-biography but using my life as an example for my spiritual philosophies.

The unique angle of this book would be that I am only 26, and I really would love to write a book that appeals to my age group and younger because they can relate to me. I am completely regular, i'm not living in a commune, I play football and get drunk sometimes, but I have been blessed with an insight and perspective that is unique and original and i'd love to be able to share these insights and my experiences and hopefully inspire some of the younger generations into a different way of thinking about themselves and their lives.

Thank you for reading!

Hello, and welcome to the forum.I may be wrong, but I think you should first write the book. Polish you work until it shines, make sure your spelling and grammar are correct.

While you are at it, check out publishers who handle Christian works and read through their guidelines and submission rules.

Welcome to the forum! That's good advice from Zada.

Thank you very much for your replies. I just found a website that offered the following advice for a non-fiction book...


How to Publish a Book: Approaching Publishers

Don't write the book yet. If you don't find a taker, you don't want to have wasted your time writing an unsaleable book. And if a publisher does express an interest, he might want to make suggestions about the way you write the book - perhaps a different kind of treatment from the one you originally envisaged, or a format to fit an existing list. If you'd already written the whole book, you would have to do an extensive rewrite.

Preparing a Proposal
Make an outline of the whole book.

1. Set down your title. The publisher might want to change it, but for the purposes of the proposal you need a working title. Make it as snappy as you can. Raising Funds for Charity is more effective than Organising Successful Events to Raise Money for Charitable Projects. It would fit the spine of the book better, too.
   
2. Write down the first chapter heading, and set out underneath it, briefly, all the points you'll deal with in that chapter.
   
3. List all your chapters in this way, then juggle them into a logical sequence. This will give you the skeleton of your book, the bones on which you'll build the meat.
   
4. Type the outline neatly in single spacing, like a letter - this is a document, not a working typescript. Indicate the proposed overall length of the book (its 'extent'). If illustrations are appropriate, say whether or not you can supply them. The publisher will advise you if he prefers to make arrangements for illustrations himself.
   

On a separate sheet of paper, type out:

• A short, concise explanation of the book's proposed purpose and area of interest.
  
• Why you believe there's a need for it.
  
• What market you see for it.
  
• What competition there is.
  
• Why you believe your book will be better.
  

~

Dear Mindatrisk,
I would suggest that you just write your book. Do not worry about publishers, or money, but just write it from your heart and your story. The chances of getting rich from it are slim, but getting it published can be done and there you are with the work you have done in book form. Not many books are best sellers. But lots of books are written from many hearts and their words are published and out there to be purchased.

Go for it. You will not be sorry.

Love,
Betty