Tips for Writing A Book
Part 3
This is the last article in a three-part series on steps to writing a book. I will repeat the first paragraph for anyone just reading this series.
This Columnist is often asked how to write a book from potential authors. As an author of 13 books, I have my own strategies that I have used for many years. My 13th book was published in December, 2023. I had a very successful book signing at the Merriweather Library. The title of the book is “My 45 Year Journey Teaching African and African American History in the Home, School, and Community.”
Eva M Doyle
The one thing that I would like to stress is that most people do not write a book due to procrastination. It is always tomorrow when they will write a book. Time is moving quickly, and it waits for no one. One of my favorite quotes from the Bible comes from Ecclesiastes 9:10 that says the following: “Whatever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device nor knowledge, nor wisdom in the grave.” This verse emphasizes the importance of diligence and wholehearted effort in our earthly endeavors, for there will be no opportunity for work, planning, or wisdom, in the afterlife.
This is one reason why I wanted to write this series of articles. I hope to encourage someone with the desire to write a book to just do. There are many books at the library and information online on how to do it. I have met people who have written beautiful poetry or who have great ideas and keep them in a desk drawer waiting for tomorrow.
Books don’t have to be long. If you have a passion about an issue or want to share it with the public, I encourage you to do it. If you visit any library you will find hundreds of books or even thousands. You will also find books that were written years ago. When I first started writing the column Eye On History, I found much of my research in books that were written in the 1700s, 1800s, 1900s, and they had great information in them. The rare book room was a great help. In order to use it you must make an appointment and show identification. I found a series of almanacs about the early history of Buffalo that were written in the 1800s. They helped to write about the Underground Railroad in Western New York.
My 12th book called “Eye On History” is in the Buffalo and Erie County Library. People can borrow it and read it anytime. My goal is to write more books in the coming years if God allows. I want to write a recipe book. This may surprise my readers. I have original recipes that I want to share. I already have an idea for a cover of the book!
If you decide to write a book keep the following in mind:
You can either self-publish your book or try to find a publisher. You might want to check out a book called “Writer’s Market.” You can find it at the library. It gives tips on publishers and how to get started.
Keep in mind that if you decide to self-publish your book it means that you will have to do everything. This includes either illustrating yourself or finding an artist to do it. You can write it without illustrations. You will have to pay all expenses and find ways to get it out to the public. I self-published my first several books. They have been successful. However, it was a lot of hard work.
In illustrating my 13th book, I used a lot of black and white photographs of events in my career as an educator and historian. It worked very well. If you see my book, at the end there are several photographs with highlights of my work. Photographs appear throughout the book with captions explaining each scene. This required me to go through a number of pictures to select the ones that I wanted to use in the book.
I designed the cover myself with red, black and green colors from the African liberation flag. You can order my book “Teaching African American History in the Home, School, and Community” on Amazon.
There is so much more to write on this topic. However, I hope I have encouraged someone to take the opportunity to write a book. Perhaps, in the future I will do a follow- up article with information on how to get your book publicized. Good Luck to all potential authors!!