The last type of nonfiction writing we are looking at is the book.

Books

Traditional nonfiction books usually start at about 30,000 words or around 80 pages of standard spaced typewritten pages. If you go over 100,000 words, it is considered a giant in the book world and works out incredibly expensive in terms of publishing or self-publishing. These days, readers tend to aim for books that are between 30,000 and 50,0000 words so keep those numbers in mind when you write your book.

If you decide to self-publish your book, keep the following in mind:

A manuscript of 30-50,000 words will give you the net return for the time and effort it costs, not to mention the money.

If your subject is complex, break it down into a series of books rather than pushing it all into one.

The reader will dictate the book size, not you. Ask yourself how long they are likely to hold it for – big books are not comfortable! Are they going to read it on the train on the way to work? Is the subject one that will improve their lives? Put yourself in the place of the reader when you write.

Even self-publishing costs money. Do your homework and shop around for the best price; sometimes you get a better price for more copies but be aware that not all will do this. Also, remember that a publishing house will charge you for the work they do to get your book published. Your manuscript should be edited professionally before you hand it over – either do this yourself or hire a professional otherwise the publishing house may refuse the manuscript.

Also, the publishing house is not going to have anything to do with any book promotions, signings, material, advertising or anything else that relates to marketing and promotion. They may offer it to you at a fee but self-publishing is all about doing most of it yourself.

Writer Types

There are a few book writer types in the nonfiction world:

Ghostwriters – will take a job writing a book for another person whose name will go down as the author.

Biographers – usually ghostwriters.

Experts – those who have a professional background or personal experience that they can write on.

Researchers – interested in one specific subject and write about everything they find out.

Most nonfiction writers are either ghostwriters, employed by someone else, or are writing based on their own expertise in a specific area. This is where your best chance for success lies, in writing about what you know. don’t forget about the personal life experiences that come under the category of expert- no-one else has the same personal experiences as you. Keep that in mind and you will see that most writers are experts in many fields – go back through your own life, pinpoint an area or two where you could be considered an expert and start examining what you know to determine what type of nonfiction work you are writing – an article - long or short, a project or a book.