How To Write A Book About Your Business: Surprising Tips

So you want to learn how to write a book about your business. That’s fantastic! Learning how to write a book about your business can help you increase your revenue, impact more people, and help others grow their own businesses.

Learning how to write a book about your business is a monumental avenue to grow your business, find new leads, and increase income (I mean, SelfPublishing.com even uses this method to grow to 8 figures).

After all, you have already created a vital business, and helping others would validate your trade and diversify it as well. Not to mention the fact that being an author increases your own authority by a significant amount (this is what Brianna Ruelas did when she decided to write a book).

Initially, she had no idea what to do. She knew she wanted to write a book and use it as a launching pad for a business, but beyond that, she wasn’t sure which steps to take…until she asked our team to help guide her in the right direction.

Now, she has a flourishing $4,000/month business—and that’s not including book royalties!

But how do you do this effectively? We’ve got some tips so you can learn how to write a book about your business. In addition to becoming an author, you would be marketing your business through a different venue. We’re talking win-win here!

How to write a book about your business: what’s covered

• Why write a book about your business?
• Articulate your book idea
• How do you write about your business?
• How to write a book about your business: example

Why write a book about your business?

Writing a book about your business helps you gain authority, reach potential customers, and obtain opportunities for speaking engagements.

In addition to this, why learn how to write a book about your business? Well, you can also capture more leads by using your book as a type of calling card and increase your credibility to both potential customers and others in your field.

This very blog is built on the back of a website that was started with a book. Chandler Bolt asked the same question, “How to write a book about your business?”

He decided to publish his first book at the age of 19 (a bestseller) and since, has built an 8-figure business from the process—all while using his book, Published. to make it more successful. You can do the same!

Pssst! Want to see some of our students’ books? Check out our library here!

Articulate your book idea

The first step in learning how to write a book about your business is articulating your idea. You may find it helpful to learn how to write a book about your business by pretending you are sharing your journey with a close friend. This will help you articulate your book idea, or what you want to spend your time writing about.

You have already experienced the step-by-step process of establishing your own livelihood (whether it is full time or a part time). Now all you have to do is explain what you did to grow your business, focused around a singular idea.

Here are some prompts to help you determine your book idea and concrete ways for how to write a book about your business:

• Brainstorm a random list of everything you remember doing when you started your business.
• Keep brainstorming! List everything you want to include in the book, and even things that won’t go in the book. If it crosses your mind, write it down. We’ll put all of that into a book outline later.
• List the your process in chronological order. This list is your reference point for an informal outline and table of contents.
• Ask, what are topics that you want to emphasize in your book? What do you wish you would have known when first starting your business? Most importantly, what will your readers gain from learning about your business? Let them learn from your mistakes and share in your successes.
• Make each topic a separate chapter, even if it is really short.
• Keep your paragraphs short. Incorporate bullet points that shoot straight to the core matter for easier skimming.
• Double check your lists to ensure you remembered to include everything that matters.

Once you have the gist of your content, you’ll be ready for the next step in how to write a book about your business.

How to write a book about your business?

You learn how write a book about your business by simply sitting down and writing, but these specific steps will help your writing time be profitable.

1. Look over your brainstorming notes

It always pays to have your notes handy in case there are items you forgot about that are beneficial to include.

Here’s a few things to keep in mind when going back over your notes:

• Are there any important pieces of information that didn’t make it into the outline?
• What bits and pieces of your notes can make your book more unique than others on the market?
• Is there anything you feel you need in your book that you didn’t include in the outline before?

Once you’ve got those notes, move on to the next step in how to write a book about your business.

2. Get feedback from friends

Tell a friend who doesn’t know much about business about your book. Notice the questions your friend asks because readers will most likely have the same questions.

These are very important to take note of because they’re what you’ll directly answer and address in your book. Take those questions and create sections in your chapters to answer them specifically.

3. Develop a writing time and habit

The best way you’ll get your book done is to form a writing routine that will enable you to finish your book faster. You can set a scheduled time each day to write and notify those around you that it is your time to work on your book.

These are our top tips for developing a writing habit:

• Eliminate distractions that will keep you from writing
• Find a writing space that’s 100% dedicated to writing your book
• Stick with it for the first few weeks to form a habit
• Find others who can keep you accountable

Forming this habit can be the hardest part of learning how to write a book about your business—especially because your business takes up a lot of time. Using these tips will help.

4. Finish fast and with fault

When learning how to write a book about your business, worry about grammar later (please do worry about it later—editing your book is important) so you complete your first draft.

I recommend just plowing through in order to finish your first draft faster. After all, “done is better than perfect.” Plus, you can’t edit a blank page. One of the biggest indicators of success for aspiring authors is finishing your first draft.

5. Choose a publishing platform

If you are going to learn how to write a book about your business, you will also need to learn how to publish it. You can publish your book through more than one platform.

Here are a few publishing platforms you can use:

• Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing
• Barnes and Noble Press
• IngramSpark
• Lulu

There are other self-publishing companies out there, but these are the top recommended when learning how to write a book about your business and get it out into the world.

Another thing to keep in mind when choosing your publishing platform is that KDP and Barnes and Noble offer free ISBNs (only for distribution on their channels), while IngramSpark does not.

However, we recommend our students buy unique ISBNs so you can distribute on multiple platforms in the future.

6. Read each chapter aloud

This may be the most simple tip for how to write a book about your business, but it’s a crucial one. You can do this to yourself or even to others to see how it flows and to see what questions or suggestions your listeners may have.

The reason for this is because you can often catch a lot of issues like your style, flow, or even sentence structure when reading aloud that you won’t catch if you read it in your head.

This is a great way to proof and self-edit your book. Writing is a skill to develop, and this can help you do so. If you want to learn how to write a book about your business that’s as close to flawless as possible, read it aloud.

7. Just keep writing

Until you have covered everything important, just keep writing. It’s the best way to write faster and finish your first draft.

Don’t think about anything else and just write. When you start worrying about your book or how it’ll be received, cast the thoughts aside and get back to it. You’ll never publish a book if you can’t finish it. Finishing is, well, pretty crucial if you want to successfully learn how to write a book about your business.

8. Proofread and revise

The next step for writing a book about your business is to proofread it and revise…until you can’t stand to look at your book any longer. Make notes in areas you want to change or you want your editor to pay special attention to.

A great way to do this is to type “TK” into the text of your document so you can later do a search and find all “TK”s in your manuscript. This will only bring up those areas for you to rewrite or proof because “TK” doesn’t appear next to each other in the English language.

9. Get feedback on the whole book

Ask people to give you feedback on the full book. This is also known as the beta reading process or less commonly, the alpha reading process. The idea here is to have others give you direct and raw feedback about your book and what you can do to make it better.

Here are some questions to ask people giving you feedback on your book:

• Was everything clear and easy to understand?
• What was your biggest takeaway from it?
• Did you find any parts boring or slow?
• What other feedback do you have that I didn’t ask?

Doing this will help ensure your published product is the best it can be for new readers.

10. Let it sit

When you feel like you are done, don’t look at your manuscript for days, maybe even a week or two. Then go back with fresh eyes. You will find more errors to fix!

The reason for this is to separate yourself from your work. The longer you’re away from your own work, the easier it is to determine its flaws, which will help you write a better book overall.

11. Publish

When you believe that your book is at its best, it is time to publish. Search for the advantages and disadvantages of the publishing options and make your decision.

Obviously, I’m a big proponent of self-publishing a book, but you can check out this blog post about the differences between self-publishing vs traditional publishing.

From there, you can prepare a launch party and gather your launch team. Upload your book and congratulate yourself. Exciting days are ahead!

Bonus: things to consider

Now that you learned these steps for how to write a book about your business, here are a few things you’ll want to think about throughout the process.

How long do I want this book to be?

For writing a book about your business, we recommend you write between 20,000 – 50,000 words (you can read our blog, how many words are in a novel, for more insight on this).

Any shorter, and it won’t give your readers all the information they want or expect. More than 50,000 words and you run the risk of boring your readers or giving them too much information.

This is also known as overwriting, and you want to make sure your book is a clean, concise, and as helpful as possible. Part of learning how to write a book about your business means settling on the perfect word count.

Do I want multiple formats of a book?

Publishing your book in different formats can help you reach a wider audience.

You can consider formats such as:

• eBook
• Paperback
• Hardcover
• Audiobook

Each of these book variations comes with its own pros and cons. For example, if you choose to distribute an audiobook, you’ll have to learn how to make an audiobook. Publishing eBooks also comes with its own set of rules.

Ultimately, it’s recommended to publish a version of each in order to maximize your audience, but do what works best for you.

What should I title my book?

How you title your book plays a large role in the readers you attract, so it’s important to put thought into your title/subtitle.

A book about a business is a niché market, so make sure that your title makes the topic clear. For example, The Craft Fair Vendor Guidebook lets the reader know that the book is a guide about being a craft fair vendor.

The subtitle, Ideas to Inspire, adds another element to the reader’s expectations. The cover’s photograph shows a booth with handcrafted jewelry, another clue.

In your book’s description, clearly explain what type(s) of business you will cover. Try writing your book’s description before writing the book. This is an important tip in how to write a book about your business.

It’s like a “thesis paragraph” to keep yourself focused. You can keep revising the overview to fit the book as it develops. Also, that gives you more time to decide if the description is its absolute best before uploading it onto your publishing site.

Spell out examples of how your business practices can be applied to other ventures. The more crossover applications, the more people will be interested in your book.

If you searched for a book about someone else’s business, what details did you want to learn? Cover these topics in your book and then some—bonus points for how to write a book about your business if you use a unique take on them.

How to write a book about your business: example

Since it is often helpful to know how someone else did something, I will share my story. I had always wanted to write a book but thought it would be a novel since I read lots of fiction. It remained just a dream.

Meanwhile, I started wire-wrapping healing crystals to make jewelry. I opened an Etsy store and started selling jewelry and related items at craft fairs and holistic health expos.

After I thought of a way to make portable folding jewelry cases from children’s art kits, I wanted to share my idea with other jewelry vendors.

I posted pictures in my Rockin’ Crystals Etsy store and briefly considered making a brochure to sell. Then I thought, “A brochure? I need to write a book!”

Brainstorming process

I searched online for craft fair books to see what was available. I already knew how difficult it was to find pictures of displays that worked well for a temporary situation like a craft fair, so my book was going to help fill that void.

With a background in education and library, I had a lot to learn about starting and operating a home-based business. I wrote my book to help the other newbie business entrepreneurs.

Far from being a business expert, I focused on my own experience because I did qualify as an “expert” regarding my personal business. You are an expert in how to write a book about your business.

I had taken pictures at every craft fair and learned how to use photo editing apps like Photofy and WordSwag. The photos were what made my book flow. They reminded me of what was involved in the craft fair business.

Attending events

After I decided to learn how to write a book about my business, I attended events with a different perspective. I needed examples beyond jewelry, and other vendors were happy to let me photograph their displays. I wanted the principles in the book to apply to a variety of products.

I started with publishing on Amazon and released Kindle and paperback versions. Fortunately, it is free to upload and free to revise. As a former English teacher, I revise and revise and revise.

Each time I think that I am done, that the book is the best of my abilities, I think of something that would improve the book in my mind, even if nobody else would notice the difference. And there I go again!

My book has 97 color photographs, and I was beyond frustrated working with Kindle Create. The final file usually wouldn’t upload. I asked for advice in the KDP Community Forum.

Another author explained a way to upload the Kindle book that worked fairly painlessly:

• Save the Word file as Web Page, Filtered
• Find the HTML document (wherever you’d saved it)
• Right click on it and send to a Compressed (zipped) folder
• Find a folder with the same name that contains your photos
• Drag in into the Compressed (zipped) folder
• Use the Compressed folder for uploading the digital book on KDP

I expanded the paperback versions with Barnes & Noble Press and IngramSpark. This was after numerous revisions with Amazon KDP. The digital version of The Craft Fair Vendor Guidebook has had fairly steady downloads with Kindle Unlimited.

The paperback sales have been significantly better through Amazon compared to anywhere else. My book about my business has outsold my other books.

This may be because many people would like to have their own business and want to learn what to do. They would like to read about your business, so let’s get that book written. Future business owners are counting on you!

How to write a book about your business: take your next step

Now that you know how to write a book about your business, it’s time to take your next step in your author journey. Use our free Book Outline Generator to get started!