Expert: Susan Rand - 6/26/2011

Question
I'm thinking of writing a book. The problem is I have no idea how.

Do you have to have someone write it for you?

How do you get it published and how do you know if you're getting paid right?

Answer
Hello Joyce:

So you want to write a book, great! Start this way:

1. Decide what you want to write about.
2. Will your book be a novel or non-fiction?
3. Do you have the necessary drive, determination and patience to sit in front of your computer for the months, or even years it takes to write a book?
4. If that seems daunting to you, why not first try a short story?
5. Have you ever taken courses in writing, or studied any writing books?

No you don't have to have someone write it for you, unless you are hopeless at writing and are willing to pay a ghost writer to write your book.

This is waaaaay too early to be worrying about publishing - you don't even know if you can write it yet!

When you have done all the above, and made the decisions, come back and ask more questions.

I hope this helps. If it does, a nice rating would be greatly appreciated. I am proud of my high scores over 1900 questions.

Thank you for writing!