Hello Author,
Now that you shifted into being and not just becoming an author, it's time to write this book. For most people, this is where the overwhelm of “I don’t know where to start kicks in.”
But I am here to give you the exact first lesson that I give all of our Soul Sparks Press authors when they start working with us.
This is the exact blueprint to start your book before you write a single world and its going to frame the way you think about your book.
Whether this is your first book or your 100th book this approach should always be your starting point and i am excited to share it with you
Lets get started.
Hi friend, I am Deepika Sandhu, the CEO of Soul Sparks Press and I am here to tell you that starting a book can feel very daunting at first.
Not what you want your future book coach and publisher to tell you but for most people this is 100% true.
This was certainly true for me.
When I started HUIM I had never written a book, started them yes, never finished one. I had no training in writing other than one stanford extension course. Other than that it was just me articles, blog posts, captions, that was it.
So how was I ever going to take a blog post of 500 - 700 words and transform it into a 50,000 word book.
No clue.
But the popular advice at the time was to start with an outline.
Having some structure for your book is important but this is not your starting point, at least not at Soul Sparks Press.
I like to start our authors with the Spark Starter Blueprint. This is our signature approach to how you start the writing and doesn’t start the way you might expect.
Rather than dive into an outline on the chapters and the situations and circumstances that will the pages, we start with tapping into the energy of the book.
Who is your ideal reader? Are they young? Are they old? Do they have a family? Do they live alone.
What does that reader need from you? Is it hope, inspiration, a step by step approach they can follow, to be seen in your words or just learn something new.
And what is that sensation or feeling you want that reader to have when they finish your book.
You have not written a single word for your book and I am asking you what a future reader is going to feel when they are done reading it.
Wild i know but tapping into the energy of your future reader and what they will experience from reading your book cultivates the energy you wish to exude from the pages you will write.
And tapping into that energy helps bring your book alive.
So imagine the reader for a moment. Maybe they are reading your book while sitting on a beach in mexico, maybe they are sipping a latte at a cafe in Paris or maybe they are reading on the sidelines of their kids soccer game in Indiana.
When they finish what is the feeling and sensation you hope they are experiencing?
Is it inspiration?
Do they feel ready to make a change?
Is it that they felt seen in your words?
Motivated?
Ready to live a different way.
Whatever it is…
Once you know your ideal reader, what they need and what they will feel from your words, I want you to think of the promise of your book.
What is it that your book is going to give them? What will they walk away with that only you can give them?
Think of this as an all encompassing sentence to describe your project. An elevator pitch of sorts on what your book is about.
You may have an idea formulating already. Which is great, but I want to break this promise into a few pieces for you so you can really consider it. First the promise of your book, this sentence, should have three key elements: 1) the genre of the book you are writing 2) What is the scope covered in your book and then finally the promise, what are you giving the reader when they are done.
Genre refers to where you would find the book in a book store - fantasy, romance, fiction, self help memoir, etc.
Scope refers to the time period that your book takes place. Is it a six month period of time, is it your childhood years, maybe it is a decade. It is hard for most books to cover your whole life so its always better if we can hone into a time period.
And finally, the promise, what is this book all about. What will the reader get from this book.
Here is an example:
Genre: Memoir
Scope: Personal growth / One year of time
Promise: Learn to love stillness; leave the hustle behind
A memoir of how living with sloths for a year helped me learn to love stillness and leave the hustle behind.
It’s your turn to put pen to paper and think about your single sentence. Just like your ideal reader, your single sentence should feel fun, light and exciting. It should get your juices flowing about all your book can be.
Now you have the two foundational pillars that fuel all the energy that is going into your book.
But our soul sparks press starter blueprint doesn’t stop there.
We also want you to consider what success means for you and your book.
When your book is out in the world, what would make you feel that your book is a success?
Is it book sales? Is it making a best sellers list? Winning an award? Maybe 2 awards? Is it being invited to speak on a stage about your book? Being interviewed in media? Or perhaps it is more clients coming into your business?
Whatever it is, I want you to get clear on success.
I will tell you success may look different than what you might expect. For Soul Sparks Press author Chet Hirani, his book launched him into paid speaking, more corporate clients and a new podcast. For Erica baccus it was being an expert on end of life decisions and being interviewed on over 20 podcasts for her expertise.
What is it for you?
Spend sometime thinking about what you would love to happen for you.
Now you have a taste of the blueprint - who you are writing for, what you are promising them and what this book will unlock for you. There is much more to it and the link to the entire blueprint is in the show notes or at our website.
Take the time to complete the blueprint fully and when you are done I want to hear your answers. I want to know all that comes up for you. I want you to grab the link to my calendar in the show notes or on our website soulsparkspress.com and tell me what came up for you. Come chat with me. It will be fun! We get to become friends! And we get to talk about bringing this dream, this energy, this success to life. Now how fun will that be.
