My Writing Fastlane

[mws87]

I am re-quoting your post, @mws87, because you have really inspired me!
I have already transferred my rep to you for your advice and I am very happy to have joined this amazing forum


Thanks to you I changed my purpose for my book #4.
My previous plan for book #4 was, as I said a couple of days ago, to write a novel with a dandy main character.
But now I am focused on a different project.

As you adviced me, I decided to set aside ( for the moment ) the project of this dandy novel to start writing a " how to " book for my next project. In particular, I am going to write a book for farmers in which I explain an innovative agricultural technique I already use with good results on my own.
I knew this technique from the Internet and from a book, but there are very few sources ( especially in English language ) which talk about it... in fact it's almost unknown. So I think my book will fulfill the golden rule of ENTRY.

Furthermore, it's gonna fulfill the golden rule of NEED too. ( In fact when I think of this project I hear MJ's voice in my head: " Stop chasing money. Start chasing needs " ) .
Why?
Because this technique enable farmers to save water, money, work and time. So I think the need does exist. Moreover it's a very environmentally friendly technique and it works fine with no chemical products.

This time my plan is to write the book not only in Italian language but in English too, because I want to conquer the US market ( and therefore the whole world ) .

So these are the road trip stages I thought:

- Writing the Italian version of the book before the end of August. Absolutely no delay admitted.
- Writing the English version before the end of September.
- Publish globally before the end of the year ( but this point doesn't depend only on me ).


Now I have 4 questions for the forum:

a) As you may see from my posts, my English maybe is not so good to write a book. Should I outsource the translation on could I do it by myself?
b) I guess most of you on this forum are from the U.S.A. As I previously said, my goal for this book is to 'attack' the US market. In your opinion on which aspect of the technique must I focus more on? The ecological one? Or that it make save you money, work and time?
c) Which pre-publish marketing could I do?
d) Is it better to change my pen name, since I'm gonna start a very different genre?

Wow, thanks man. I appreciate the kind words. Keep in mind there are tons of guys on here who know far more than I do! But, that's where implementing mixed strategies works. Having multiple minds and perspectives in one place is great!

My stand on your questions:
A) unless you're fluent, I would outsource translation for an English version. Your English seems good, but American readers take grammar pretty seriously.

B) why not do both? I will tell you this: California has a serious drought right now. The media is taking it and turning it into full-force fright fest. If you could implement strategies to help people save water, it could be a big tjing! Of course you want to demonstrate how you can help others save time and money as well, everyone wants time AND money.

C)you can do all kinds of things man, setup a YouTube account explaining your book, make a few landing pages with different copy to create a funnel and see which does best. Start blogging with little aspects here and there.

D)you're going to get tons of mixed answers on this. Authors use different pen names for various reasons. It kind of comes down to preference and what your goals are. Using one pen name could be a problem if you have all sorts of material on several different topics, or it could help out.

 

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[Frankie Relax]

I have just finished and reviewed the Italian version of my book, almost one month before the deadline I scheduled in this post: https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/threads/my-writing-fastlane.60449/page-2#post-466100

Now I have to begin the translation into English.
Since the cost of a professional translation is quite high and it's over my budget ( about 1700$ ) I am thinking to do it on my own, altough it is gonna take time and effort.

What do you think about it? I know time is king but its cost is too high for my current budget... moreover it could be a nice challenge to make me improve my English.

 

[Frankie Relax]

I have just finished and reviewed the Italian version of my book, almost one month before the deadline I scheduled in this post: https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/threads/my-writing-fastlane.60449/page-2#post-466100

Now I have to begin the translation into English.
Since the cost of a professional translation is quite high and it's over my budget ( about 1700$ ) I am thinking to do it on my own, altough it is gonna take time and effort.

What do you think about it? I know time is king but its cost is too high for my current budget... moreover it could be a nice challenge to make me improve my English.

Well, I definitively decided to translate the book on my own.

But I think I would need some kind of online 'correct English checker' . Googling around I found this one: http://www.reverso.net/spell-checker/english-spelling-grammar/.
But it doesn't seem so accurate. Do you know a better one?

 

[mws87]

Well, I definitively decided to translate the book on my own.

But I think I would need some kind of online 'correct English checker' . Googling around I found this one: http://www.reverso.net/spell-checker/english-spelling-grammar/.
But it doesn't seem so accurate. Do you know a better one?

Honestly, you may be better off having a human check the translation. I wouldn't rely on software as most translators give you the "bare bones" translation, meaning the English translation may look as though it was just generated via software versus actual writing and context may not hold very well. Just my opinion.

 

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[ChickenHawk]

Honestly, you may be better off having a human check the translation.

I agree with this. Even in Microsoft Word, the grammar/spellcheck will want me to change something to make it incorrect. Maybe if nothing else, you could hire a college student (preferably an English or journalism major) to double-check and mark up anything that's incorrect or doesn't make sense.

 

[Frankie Relax]

Thank you for your replies, @mws87 and @ChickenHawk !


Maybe I could hire someone on this forum...

 

[GiroudJD]

Thank you for your replies, @mws87 and @ChickenHawk !


Maybe I could hire someone on this forum...

You can find really cheap, and really good, translators on oDesk (well, Upwork it's called now), provided you can take the time to wade through all the crappy applicants you'll find...

 

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[Frankie Relax]

Quick update.

The Italian version of the book has just been published and now I am pushing it with press releases. I am also working on completing the translation ( yes, with some delay, I know it... ) .
In the meanwhile I created a blog and opened a twitter account, in order to advertize the English version... before it is released!

 

[Frankie Relax]

The English version is finally out!
Just gotta keep pushin' with the promotion!

Until now, I did giveaways to gardening and agriculture influencers, set up accounts on twitter and pinterest and made the introduction available for free ( this is a strategy I copied from MJ ) .

 

[Frankie Relax]

I'm giving up

Hitherto I sold less than 10 books and nothing seems to change. In spite of the promotion I set up on social medias, the emails I sent to influencers, the ads on reddit and twitter, etc.

So I am thinking about the reasons I am not selling and I figured out what's the problem, but it is a sort of heresy in this forum. Yes, today I'm gonna blaspheme.

THE IDEA WAS WORTHLESS.


I think so for 3 main reasons:

1. It's really hard to sell a book nowadays, especially a non-fiction one. Because few people are willing to pay for informations they could easily search for free on google. So the actual 'book' idea was a bad one.

2. Moreover, a very few people seems interested to the topics I describe in my book, ie to grow plants with no irrigation needed. I thought there was a strong need but I was wrong.

3. The two most effective technique to grow plants without water I describe in my book are quite known for expert farmers, but completely unknown for the general public, because there were written only two books about them. The first one was published about 40 years ago and its author died in the early 80's , while the second one is available only in French. Thus, writing it in English, I thought I had no competitors.
Anyway, keep in mind I invented nothing and just copied them, following one of the main advice by MJ.
But, right now, I believe the lack of competitors was actually not a good thing, but just the indicator the book was COMPLETELY useless.


So, to resume, I wasted 10 months of my life for a worthless idea I had. I still believe the marketing part was managed quite well: I created a brand, wrote catchy headlines, built a strong presence on social medias and connected to influencers. So the only thing I have to think is that the idea was worthless.

I will keep on promoting my book until the end of this month and then I am going to start a new project, hoping to have a better idea!

 

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[mws87]

So I am thinking about the reasons I am not selling and I figured out what's the problem...


1. ...few people are willing to pay for informations they could easily search for free on google.

2. Moreover, a very few people seems interested to the topics I describe in my book, ie to grow plants with no irrigation needed. I thought there was a strong need but I was wrong.

3. The two most effective technique to grow plants without water I describe in my book are quite known for expert farmers, but completely unknown for the general public...

Take a moment to analyze what you wrote in that quoted post. . .

1. Yes, this is true. So why even bother writing it to begin with? Remember, adding value isn't piling on loads of easily-attainable information for a quick buck. I'm not saying you were money chasing or anything, but there should have been a point when you stepped back and looked for HOLES or GAPS. it's one thing to recycle content, but it's a new game when you realize what everyone else is missing and add expand upon it.

2. Seems like you have this figured out. It sounds like your choice of genre is a pretty small niche. Then again, you are correct about nonfiction: it's incredibly difficult to get a running start, mostly thanks to all the crap-content already in the nonfiction category.

3. Your third point ties in with the first two a bit. But I want to point something out here: you say the information is well-known by experts but unknown by the public. If you were able to research the topic on Google, what makes you think the public isn't doing the same thing? Now, imagine if you were able to create something to help those expert farmers out instead... hmmm...

Self publishing is hard, man. And it definitely takes a thick-skin capable of withstanding endless battery and assault but always able to regenerate twice as strong.

You make perceive your ten months as a waste, but, did you learn something along the way? Hell, I thought I wasted 7 months on publishing with very little results, and I nearly gave up. Then I realized I learned a lot in those 7 months, the most important being what I was doing wrong. I literally started over from 0 -- new pen name, genre, everything -- and the one thing I did differently outsells ALL the things I did improperly.

Just a midnight snack for thought.

Best wishes.

 

[Lex DeVille]

I am going to start a new project

I read somewhere that the average startup takes 10 years to make its full impact. That's 10 years for the idea to be fully realized. 10 years to make it happen. 10 years to grow it into an empire. So keeping that in mind, when I start new projects (and I do way too often) I try to envision it 10 years down the road.

What will that business look like in 10 years? Will I be the foremost expert on something? Will millions of people turn to me? If so, why? Also is it something I'm willing to work at for 10 years to make it happen? Every time you start over the imaginary clock does too.

So maybe your first few books didn't work out. When I self-published I had like 20 or more books before hitting $2,000. The market is even harder now. But that's not just self-publishing. That's any market. The world is changing so fast that it's hard to keep up.

I think a lot of the time it's not about just keeping up though. It's more about persevering. Outlasting the competition. Spending enough time learning the in's and out's of your field that you eventually bring something unique and valuable to the table that other's can truly enjoy or learn and grow from.

Even if you start a new project, it's not that likely to make you rich over night, and probably not even in your first year, and I think you know that. So it might be worthwhile to think about how you see yourself and where you see yourself in 10 years.

If you stick with publishing, how will you change and grow over that time and what might you do to become more valuable? Or, if you choose a different path, are you ready to immerse yourself so deeply in that path that you discover its future and how to bring that future to the people it's for?

 

[Frankie Relax]

Thank you for your reply. You are always kind and helpful!

3. Your third point ties in with the first two a bit. But I want to point something out here: you say the information is well-known by experts but unknown by the public. If you were able to research the topic on Google, what makes you think the public isn't doing the same thing?

Well, I am sure the general public doesn't know these techniques, because I sent email and offered free giveaways of the full book to people I thought were influencers, in some way. These people are not only expert farmers or gardeners, but also individuals I thought could be interested in my book's topics... for example environmental activists, gardening beginners ( but famous in other fields ) , 'frugality and minimalism' gurus, etc. In general I contacted people who is interested not only in farming and gardening, but also in money and water saving, sustainable development, environment and so on.

Among the totality of people I contacted, only a small percentage consisting in expert farmers knew the techniques.

Now, imagine if you were able to create something to help those expert farmers out instead... hmmm...

Perfectly agree with you!

In fact this is the reason I think one of the main statements by MJ is wrong. The idea is NOT worthless. On the contrary, it plays a key role to earn tons of cash.

You make perceive your ten months as a waste, but, did you learn something along the way?

Well, I think I learned at least 3 things:

1. As I already said, the idea is not worthless.
2. The lack of competitors is a bad thing. If I am the only one in a specific market, it means the market is not profitable.
3. It is very unlikely to sell non-fiction books nowadays. I think it is better to give it away the book for free and then ask for donation. A sort of 'open source for books' .

Hell, I thought I wasted 7 months on publishing with very little results, and I nearly gave up. Then I realized I learned a lot in those 7 months, the most important being what I was doing wrong. I literally started over from 0 -- new pen name, genre, everything -- and the one thing I did differently outsells ALL the things I did improperly.

Can I ask you more about your new book? Reading your post I guess you are not writing non-fiction books anymore... am I right?

Just a midnight snack for thought.

Best wishes.

Thank you again for your reply

 

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[Frankie Relax]

I read somewhere that the average startup takes 10 years to make its full impact. That's 10 years for the idea to be fully realized. 10 years to make it happen. 10 years to grow it into an empire. So keeping that in mind, when I start new projects (and I do way too often) I try to envision it 10 years down the road.

What will that business look like in 10 years? Will I be the foremost expert on something? Will millions of people turn to me? If so, why? Also is it something I'm willing to work at for 10 years to make it happen? Every time you start over the imaginary clock does too.

So maybe your first few books didn't work out. When I self-published I had like 20 or more books before hitting $2,000. The market is even harder now. But that's not just self-publishing. That's any market. The world is changing so fast that it's hard to keep up.

I think a lot of the time it's not about just keeping up though. It's more about persevering. Outlasting the competition. Spending enough time learning the in's and out's of your field that you eventually bring something unique and valuable to the table that other's can truly enjoy or learn and grow from.

Even if you start a new project, it's not that likely to make you rich over night, and probably not even in your first year, and I think you know that. So it might be worthwhile to think about how you see yourself and where you see yourself in 10 years.

If you stick with publishing, how will you change and grow over that time and what might you do to become more valuable? Or, if you choose a different path, are you ready to immerse yourself so deeply in that path that you discover its future and how to bring that future to the people it's for?

Yes, obviously I know it is unlikely to get rich over night, but I do not even want to think about a 10-years project. I mean we are on Fastlane Forum, man! We all believe it is possible to get rich quicker than that and we need to strongly try to achieve this goal.

If the project I dedicated the last 10 months doesn't work, I think it is time to start another one. I cannot keep on working on this project for another 9 years...

 

[Lex DeVille]

Yes, obviously I know it is unlikely to get rich over night, but I do not even want to think about a 10-years project. I mean we are on Fastlane Forum, man! We all believe it is possible to get rich quicker than that and we need to strongly try to achieve this goal.

If the project I dedicated the last 10 months doesn't work, I think it is time to start another one. I cannot keep on working on this project for another 9 years...

Nobody wants to think about a 10 year project. Everybody wants to follow their passion. Theres already a place for that and most of the people there aren't riding the Fastlane.

www.etsy.com

I know for a fact that non-fiction still sells and I know one of the most recent successes on this forum spent the last 2 years making it happen on the INSIDERS section.

No one said you have to do it 10 years to make it successful but being ready to do it 10 years is important. It's the difference between a hobby and building a serious business.


When someone says they cannot do something, that's rarely the case. It's usually that they will not do something. Will is a requirement of building successful businesses. It's the difference between kidding yourself and going all in.

Just to be clear I'm not saying you should stick with writing. Just that any business takes time and to ignore the time element is to be chasing money and events instead of working through the process.

 

[JoeB]

2. Moreover, a very few people seems interested to the topics I describe in my book, ie to grow plants with no irrigation needed. I thought there was a strong need but I was wrong.

Hey,

Would you be willing to answer the following please, I'm pretty interested:

What is the total price of the book + system? - cost of book, time to read, cost of equipment/setup of method, time to setup.

What is the benefit to the customer?

Thanks

 

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[Frankie Relax]

Nobody wants to think about a 10 year project. Everybody wants to follow their passion. Theres already a place for that and most of the people there aren't riding the Fastlane.

www.etsy.com

I know for a fact that non-fiction still sells and I know one of the most recent successes on this forum spent the last 2 years making it happen on the INSIDERS section.

No one said you have to do it 10 years to make it successful but being ready to do it 10 years is important. It's the difference between a hobby and building a serious business.


When someone says they cannot do something, that's rarely the case. It's usually that they will not do something. Will is a requirement of building successful businesses. It's the difference between kidding yourself and going all in.

Just to be clear I'm not saying you should stick with writing. Just that any business takes time and to ignore the time element is to be chasing money and events instead of working through the process.

Ok, now I understand your point of view better and I mostly agree with you.

Yes, it is true what you highlighted, namely the difference between a and a serious business. Yet I think there is another difference, that is the one between perseverance and waste of time. Thus, simply, if a business is not profitable it is stupid to keep on working on it; we need to change, and to change abruptly. In my very humble opinion 1 year is enough to ascertain if a business is profitable or not.

 

[Frankie Relax]

Hey,

Would you be willing to answer the following please, I'm pretty interested:

What is the total price of the book + system? - cost of book, time to read, cost of equipment/setup of method, time to setup.

What is the benefit to the customer?

Thanks

In my book I describe 5 techniques to farm with less water. The 2 most effective can guarantee, respectively, up to 3 months and up to 3 years of crops with no irrigation needed.

Regarding your questions:

- The cost of the book is 20$ for the paperback and 6$ for the ebook version ( epub, mobi or pdf ) .
- The book is about 110 pages long.
- These 2 most effective techniques are based on a massive usage of wood. So if you have your own wood, it could be at zero cost. Otherwise you have to pay a lumberjack, a timber industry, etc.
- Its setup depends on the features of soils and on your climatic zone. In general, in cases with 4 different seasons and not too arid soils ( like the desert ones ) it needs to take from 5 to 10 months for its implementation.
- The benefits to the customer are to save water, money, effort, to improve soil quality and to avoid the use of pesticides.

 

[JoeB]

In my book I describe 5 techniques to farm with less water. The 2 most effective can guarantee, respectively, up to 3 months and up to 3 years of crops with no irrigation needed.

Regarding your questions:

- The cost of the book is 20$ for the paperback and 6$ for the ebook version ( epub, mobi or pdf ) .
- The book is about 110 pages long.
- These 2 most effective techniques are based on a massive usage of wood. So if you have your own wood, it could be at zero cost. Otherwise you have to pay a lumberjack, a timber industry, etc.
- Its setup depends on the features of soils and on your climatic zone. In general, in cases with 4 different seasons and not too arid soils ( like the desert ones ) it needs to take from 5 to 10 months for its implementation.
- The benefits to the customer are to save water, money, effort, to improve soil quality and to avoid the use of pesticides.

For the 'general public' I'd say you benefits are inconsequential, if at all existent

Save water - possibly, but I don't use a lot anyway, I would use more in one bath that watering my plants all year
Save money - wrong, I'm not metered for water so I can use as much as I want
Save effort - wrong, I need to get wood (where from?) do something with it, then wait 10 months - it sounds like a lot more effort than watering my garden in a few minutes with a hose
Improve soil quality - is that a benefit for me, why?
Avoid use of pesticides - hmm, it would be nice but it's not important or a benefit to me.

I can really see why farmers would do this, on any kind of scale it makes sense, and they have access to lots of wood etc, but for the general public - it just seems like a lot of cost and effort for zero reward.

I think it's great you have written a book, execution is where most people fall down, but I can't really see a way of making what you have written beneficial to anyone.

If you're feeling down just look at all the stuff you have learnt about branding, marketing, social media. Next time you'll already know all that stuff and it will be a lot easier and quicker to get to the same point.

I know when you have an idea, first impulse can be to keep it quiet incase anyone steals it, but sometimes you need to get feedback and validate before you spend 10 months on something only to realise at the end.

 

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[Frankie Relax]

Maybe we are going a little bit off-topic, but I will try to reply to some of your opinions.

For the 'general public' I'd say you benefits are inconsequential, if at all existent

Save water - possibly, but I don't use a lot anyway, I would use more in one bath that watering my plants all year

I guess you have a small garden, but just think on how much water large farms waste for their crops.
Based on the last reports, about 75% of all freshwater is used to grow food.

Moreover, as I can see, you live in the UK, a place where rain is abundant in almost every season. Yet in the world there lots of places with long periods of drought. In such cases saving water would be very useful.

Save money - wrong, I'm not metered for water so I can use as much as I want

Again, you have a small garden. But my book is mainly suited for agricultural enterpeneurs who have large fields to irrigate. In such cases, water cost can be high; moreover they don't irrigate manually with a hose or a watering can. They use complex irrigation systems that aren't free.

Save effort - wrong, I need to get wood (where from?) do something with it, then wait 10 months - it sounds like a lot more effort than watering my garden in a few minutes with a hose

Once the system has been implemented, it can guarantee up to 3 years of crops without watering. In the meantime, you just need to sow and harvest, nothing else. I think there is a considerable saving of time and effort doing so.

Improve soil quality - is that a benefit for me, why?

In order to grow plants without water, you need to improve your soil, adding qualities able to make you reach the goal. For this reason, improving soil quality is a benefit. Moreover, this way vegetables will be more nutritious and tasty.

Avoid use of pesticides - hmm, it would be nice but it's not important or a benefit to me.

Organic farming is better for health and organic vegetables are usually tastier. Additionally, if you sell the food you grow, organic vegetables usually cost more and so can give you better profits.

 

[JoeB]

Sorry, I misunderstood, when you said it was for the 'general public' I didn't know that meant 'agricultural entrepreneurs'.

Hopefully I'm the only one confused by your hazy target demographic and no-one else.

Good luck

 

[mws87]

Thank you for your reply. You are always kind and helpful!
. . .
Can I ask you more about your new book? Reading your post I guess you are not writing non-fiction books anymore... am I right?

I'm glad you found some value in it. I wrote, like, 2 non-fiction titles, months ago when I didn't know what the hell I was doing. Not only that, but I just didn't have much to talk about and didn't see how I could add value through non-fiction, so I stopped. I write fiction now. I started in July-ish, but scrapped everything about two months ago and started over.

 

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[Frankie Relax]

Sorry, I misunderstood, when you said it was for the 'general public' I didn't know that meant 'agricultural entrepreneurs'.

Hopefully I'm the only one confused by your hazy target demographic and no-one else.

Good luck

Ok. Thank you for your opinion.

 

[Captain Jack]

There's a poster on this forum right now that is doing VERY well self-publishing non-fiction.

OP, I recommend you sign up for an INSIDERS subscription and take a look at his progress thread there. It's very detailed and will likely help you a lot.

Hold off on giving up until you do that.

 

[Grinning-Jack]

I'm giving up

Hitherto I sold less than 10 books and nothing seems to change. In spite of the promotion I set up on social medias, the emails I sent to influencers, the ads on reddit and twitter, etc.

So I am thinking about the reasons I am not selling and I figured out what's the problem, but it is a sort of heresy in this forum. Yes, today I'm gonna blaspheme.

THE IDEA WAS WORTHLESS.


I think so for 3 main reasons:

1. It's really hard to sell a book nowadays, especially a non-fiction one. Because few people are willing to pay for informations they could easily search for free on google. So the actual 'book' idea was a bad one.

2. Moreover, a very few people seems interested to the topics I describe in my book, ie to grow plants with no irrigation needed. I thought there was a strong need but I was wrong.

3. The two most effective technique to grow plants without water I describe in my book are quite known for expert farmers, but completely unknown for the general public, because there were written only two books about them. The first one was published about 40 years ago and its author died in the early 80's , while the second one is available only in French. Thus, writing it in English, I thought I had no competitors.
Anyway, keep in mind I invented nothing and just copied them, following one of the main advice by MJ.
But, right now, I believe the lack of competitors was actually not a good thing, but just the indicator the book was COMPLETELY useless.


So, to resume, I wasted 10 months of my life for a worthless idea I had. I still believe the marketing part was managed quite well: I created a brand, wrote catchy headlines, built a strong presence on social medias and connected to influencers. So the only thing I have to think is that the idea was worthless.

I will keep on promoting my book until the end of this month and then I am going to start a new project, hoping to have a better idea!

Mate, my 1st ebook just brought me peanuts - about 80 USD.
However, it helped me to make a few new friends. I've known much, much more about how to create, to promote ebooks and it was funny. So, I don't think I wasted some months of my life.
Well, I wrote that ebook to test the water. But my ebook couldn't create any value on a market and its market niche is tiny because people don't care of that topic. No value for people - no money for an author. LOL.

 

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