Posts Tagged ‘how to publish a book on real estate investing’

How to Publish a Book on Real Estate Investing, Part 2

Saturday, October 6th, 2007

As I mentioned in part I of this topic, it was Aaron Shepard’s book, “Aiming at Amazon,” thatpushed me over the top. At that point, I decided I was going to finish my book, Fix em Up Rent em Out, and publish it, no matter what it took. Everything else was going to be on hold until I finished the book. I worked almost every night for about 4 weeks, on about 2-3 hours of sleep. I started to resemble a zombie from “The Night of the Living Dead,” but I finished the book.

Formatting the book, and making it look like a professional work, required learning another area of expertise. Books like “Perfect Pages” by Shepard and Microsoft Word Manuals were my Bibles. Then, I had to find an copy editor, and give him 6-8 weeks to do his job. And, I located someone to do a cover.

Finally, submitting the files for printing at Lightning Source proved to be another hurtle for me. It took me several tries to submit it the way they needed it for printing. Like anything, the first time you do it irs hard. The second time will be a piece of cake.

Starting a publishing company was another aspect of the process that took time. Not difficult, but you must follow exact procedures and do a lot of running around. I plowed ahead by getting the legal documents to file with the state, setting up bank accounts and purchasing ISBN numbers.

I say this just to show you what you can expect. I think writing a book about your experiences in real estate is a natural next step for someone who has paid their dues and learned the ropes. Who better to describe the hard lessons you have learned than you?

I found that just the exercise of putting your thoughts and experiences on paper, even if you never sell a book, is a worthwhile experience. Its empowering. It broadens your horizons. It makes you draw on sources of power and inspiration that you may not have known that you had.

Remember, an expert is just a regular person who has written a book!

UPDATE

For more information on self publishing, check out my book Carve Out Your     Niche.

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How to Publish a Book on Real Estate Investing, Part 1

Friday, October 5th, 2007

Let me warn you, writing and publishing a book is like eating a giant piece of beef jerky. It’s rewarding, but it takes more time than you think.

Now that I am in the final stage of this long process, for my book Fix em Up Rent em Out, I can pass along my experiences by writing and self- publishing a book. (As a 2012 update, I have recently published a second book entitled, “Carve Out Your Niche,” which describes how to self-publish and promote a book.)

My initial thought was to write a book about what, to me, was a rewarding real estate experience. I wanted to inspire others to get started in the real estate investing, and to share the shortcuts and to point out the pitfalls of the business.

But, I wanted to do it the same way that I did real estate investing, by learning all aspects of the process and doing it all myself.

The actual writing of the book took 2-3 years in starts and stops. I did most of the writing late at night when my wife and kids were asleep. There were long stretches of time, between periods of writing, when I didn’t think I would finish. At times, doubts crept in and I wondered if I really wanted to publish a book.

What finally convinced me to finish was a book I read entitled “Aiming at Amazon” by Aaron Sheppard. The old way of publishing a book was to print off thousands of copies to reduce the per unit cost, then sell them at bookstores and workshops. The new way, that Sheppard describes, is to sell the books through web bookstores like Amazon.com and to have the printer only print books as they are needed.

Part II of “How to Publish a Book on Real Estate Investing” will follow in the next blog posting.

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