Write Your Book in No Time

PREFACE

Anything can be possible with the right attitude, the right strategy, and the right implementation. If you’re struggling to reach your goals, the issue is almost always one of those."

It was nearing the end of July 2021, and I was just wrapping up a two-week launch for my new book-writing beta program. In this beta, I was looking for three or four coaches, healers, or movement leaders who wanted to write and publish their nonfiction books in the next ninety days. This was two months shorter than my flagship program, and many people were intrigued by this offer—or more specifically, by the promise.

During the campaign, I must have had a dozen or so conversations with people who seemed genuinely interested in how they could finish a book so quickly. Books take months, sometimes years, to create, and I was telling them that they could finish one, A-to-Z, in a fraction of that time. There had to be some catch. There was just no way.

So what’s your secret, Andrae? one of these aspiring authors asked me during a video call. How do you know it’s possible?

Oh, that’s easy. I smiled and went into my spiel. "I’ve done it. I wrote my first book, Facing Racism, in just seven days and published it just three months later. I became a bestseller in just a few hours." I had said these lines so many times, I practically knew them by heart.

He looked at me in a way that, even through the webcam, suggested his curiosity and betrayed his distrust. Wow. You must be a robot, man. I don’t think I could write that fast.

No, it’s not necessarily about writing speed. It’s about having the right plan. Most new authors struggle to write their books because they have no idea what they’re doing or what they want to say. They have all of these ideas in their heads because they know their material. They’re subject matter experts, but book-writing is new territory. Nine times out of ten, I’m certain the ones who don’t finish or who take years to get done don’t have a good plan to get them past the first draft. If you get there, the rest is easy.

So how do I get there? he asked, sitting forward a little.

He was really listening. I might actually get him into the program, I thought. I shared my screen and walked him through my framework, showing him how surprisingly simple it is. I told him it’s almost elementary, and the only reason he, or anyone, couldn’t do it, is that they just haven’t been taught how to apply this method for books. When I finished the walkthrough, he put his hand to his chin, thinking.

It makes perfect sense when you explain it.

Of course it does, I thought.

So… How much time does all this take? My biggest challenge is that there’s no real room in my schedule. I’m running my business most of the day, and when I’m not, I’m not really trying to think about work. You can help me get all of this done?

Yep! It only takes a few focused hours each week, and I’ll be with you the entire way to make sure you maximize the little time you have.

Okay… This looks great… I’ll have to think about it, though. I’m just not sure I can fit a book into my schedule right now.

At this point I could have asked to see his schedule and tried to break down his limiting beliefs. I knew we could get his book done, but something told me that he wasn’t going to sign up that day, so I gently guided the conversation to a close.

At first, I was a little bummed that he hadn’t joined the program; he would have written a really great book. Had I not been clear enough? Did I miss something that would have made it a no-brainer for him? Maybe I explained too much? After watching the call recording, I reasoned that even if he had joined, he wouldn’t have gotten the maximum benefits of the program. We had the right strategy, but his mindset wasn’t there yet. He wasn’t convinced that he could succeed.

Our conversation got me thinking... He wasn’t the only one who thought it would be impossible to write a book in just ninety days with a full schedule. I had told all of all of my potential clients about how my first book came to be, but it didn’t seem to close the gap between their disbelief and reality.

That’s when the idea first struck me. Maybe it was time to write my second book. I had known for a while that I was going to write another soon, most likely before the end of the year, but I hadn’t set a plan in motion yet. I had spent the year working with authors to get their books done and stabilize my book-coaching business; a new book of my own never felt like a priority.

Of course, it would make sense for me to write a book. After all, I had based my business on the idea of using a book to grow a business. In hindsight, a second book was long overdue. Still, I wasn’t completely convinced that it was my next move. I had two authors in my main program, and I was onboarding three more into the beta. On top of that, my next semester of college was about to begin in exactly one month. Did it really make good sense to go into another book?

I ended up talking about it with a friend whom I consider my editorial superior, and she pointed out that writing a book with all of that on my plate would actually be pretty serendipitous. You see, I was in the exact position that many of the people I was marketing to were. What better way to show them how easy it is than to write another book while running my business full time? It couldn’t get more perfect. Although I had not consciously agreed to this new challenge, somewhere inside, I knew it was going to happen.

On July 28, I made a post on my social media profiles asking, If I said I were writing another book in the next thirty days, what do you think it would be about? This post got a lot of attention—more than I expected. Friends, colleagues, and prospects left comments and sent direct messages to tell me what they thought the book would or should be.

The responses ranged from sci-fi/mystery to meditation and spirituality. I think my favorite answer had to be that I should write about attraction and fashion. (People have known me as a sharp dresser for some time, and it would have been pretty on-brand for me.) While, ultimately, none of these were the book that I had in mind, it was great to see the engagement. That was when a light clicked on in my head (cliché, I know), and I saw everything so clearly—what my book should be, how I should write it, and how I could leverage it before I ever had it done.

Two days later, I was on a group call with one of my marketing coaches, talking about how my launch had gone. She nodded and smiled as I broke down my process, recounted my sales calls, and shared that I’d be starting two new authors in a few weeks. There was so much positive energy in that space, and I soaked in the praise like a student whose work became an example of what good looked like. My heart pumped pride through every vein of my body.

I was so caught up in the moment that, before I realized what was about to happen, I said, And you know what else?

What’s that?

"I’ve decided to write my next book. It’ll be a simple guide taking readers through my framework. I’ve given myself a thirty-day deadline, and I’ll be sharing the journey on my social media. It’ll be great marketing and prove, beyond a doubt, that my method works."

Wow, congratulations! I can’t wait to follow you. We’ll hold you accountable here in the group.

Just like that, the plan was in motion. I wasn’t exactly prepared, but then again, that was part of why this was so perfect. Many of the authors I’ve worked with and set out to work with had little or no preparation. All they knew was that they were going to trust a process, and somehow, they would have a book in three to five months. If I trusted the process, I would have mine in just one—and by sharing my journey, I had built-in accountability. Knowing all of this, why not dive in headfirst?

On Monday, August 2, I got on Facebook Live and announced my plans. I’m writing a book in thirty days, I said with gusto, and I’m doing it while running my business full time, preparing for school, and making time for self-care. My friends and followers responded with enthusiasm. To them, I must have sounded like a magician announcing his next mind-bending act.

And so this book was born. With all eyes on me, I got to work the next day. At the time of this writing, it is August 15, 2021, and I have just sixteen days left in my challenge. If you’re reading this, that means that I finished on time. As you proceed through this book, I hope you find every carefully chosen word and topic packed with value and that they stand as evidence of what can be done when you apply the right attitude, strategy, and implementation to your own seemingly impossible goals.

1

YOUR TIME IS NOW

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How to find an editor

"How to find a ghostwriter

Should I ghostwrite my book?

How do busy entrepreneurs write books fast?

If you haven’t realized it yet, these are Google searches. Since you’re reading this book, I’m assuming you’ve probably used a few of these yourself. If I had to guess, you’re a coach, consultant, expert, healer, speaker, movement leader, or some combination of the lot, and you’ve been thinking about writing a book to grow your business or spread your message of growth, transformation, and healing. (If this is not you, then, you may have come to the wrong place.)

But let me back up. How did you get here? What drove you to seek, purchase, and open this book in the first place? Do you have a friend or colleague who published a book recently, causing you to consider your own authorial future? Did your new thoughts mysteriously turn into ads on your social media feed promoting a seven- or thirty-day book-writing program? (Seriously—how do they always seem to know what we’re thinking?) Maybe you’re more like my friend, Erin.

I met Erin in January 2021, through a mutual friend, Mollie, founder of Social Justice Kids. Mollie had found me sometime after I launched my book, Facing Racism. We had mutual social circles and similar hearts for change, and when I launched that book a few months prior, she decided we had to get in touch. We set up a video call to meet, and after almost an hour talking about the books we’ve read, the work we were doing, and the personal journeys that led us both to that moment, she invited to co-facilitate a Martin Luther King Day Virtual Conversation she was planning for parents and kids to discuss racial activism.

"You would really love it. These kids are so smart. Some of them will really surprise you! I’m also reaching out to my friend, Erin. She is just amazing. She would be perfect for this, but I don’t know if she’ll be available. She’s so busy. Hey! I should connect you two. She needs to get a book out asap."

OK, yeah. I’d love to meet her.

You may have heard of her. You can look her up. She’s done TEDx talks and run for public office.

Wow! Please put us in touch. I’ll try to make it to the event too. At that time, I had just made the decision to pivot from freelance editing to book coaching (which I’ll talk about more in the next chapter), and Erin sounded like just the sort of person I would love to meet.

The MLK Day event was great! I only got to participate in the last half-hour, but Mollie was right on all counts. The kids did surprise me, not only in their social awareness, but their genuine interest in learning how they could act for racial justice. And listening to Erin speak was every bit as inspiring as I’d hoped. She had poise, she had presence, and she spoke honestly. I knew from that thirty-minute segment, I wanted to work with her.

Near the end of the call, I sent Erin a private message in the chat. I told her how impressed I was by her and how much I appreciated the opportunity to learn from her even after I’d published my own book on the same subjects. I told her how Mollie said she was thinking about a book, and I offered to meet with her if she was interested. She replied, It’s great to meet you! Yes, thank you. We exchanged email addresses and I wrote to her immediately after the event.

We met through video call about a week or so later. She was at her favorite coffee shop, and I was in my bedroom-office. Just like in the MLK Day event, she was confident, but so very human. Talking to her felt a lot like talking to family. She told me a bit of her background: how she was bi-racial, adopted into a transracial family, raised in Europe, speaks four languages, and has spent the better part of the last three decades as a teacher and administrator at nearly every level of education imaginable. Impressed does not quite cut it for how I felt.

After running for public office, she used her digital platform to continue supporting her community. When George Floyd was killed and the country entered into another discourse about race, she didn’t miss the opportunity to speak up about systemic racism, racial justice, and moves to get to equity.

Before long she was getting noticed and invited to speak and hold trainings based around her message. When the pandemic hit, and the country went into lockdown, much of her new work moved online. By the time