How long does it take to write a book

How Long Does it Take to Write a Book

Business leaders and entrepreneurs have amazing stories that deserve to be shared. What better way to reach a wide audience than writing a best-selling book on your professional journey? The first question first-time authors ask is: how long does it take to write a book? The answer is: it depends. What’s your target word count? How committed are you to writing? Some can finish a manuscript in as short a time as 2 months. Others can take two years…or even longer. 

You can pursue different ways of writing the book, too. You can self-publish online or you can outsource your book to professionals and get it published in print as well as e-book. 

Self-Publishing vs. Outsourcing

Before delving further into how long it takes to write a book, let’s explore your two best options: Self-Publishing and Outsourcing.

Yes, you can publish your own book online without an established publisher. There are many self-publishing platforms out there. You can even do this on Amazon, building landing pages or running ads to market your book. 

Why self-publish? First of all, it’s cheaper. Secondly, you have complete control over the writing process. Finally, if you have the luxury of time, it’s fun to learn to how to write a book yourself. 

When self-publishing, you can be flexible with your timeline and make changes even after your book is published. If your cover is not as appealing as you hoped it would be, you can replace it because you have full creative control.

The biggest drawback to self-publishing is that, at the end of the day, you still need professional assistance in getting your book read. It will help to have a graphic designer for your cover, an editor for the text, and even a marketing expert to help your book find an audience. Chances are, these are skills you do not possess. 

This is the advantage you get by outsourcing your book. You can even outsource the laborious task of writing itself. With the help of professional publishers, you can transform your ideas into a book. 

Not only will outsourcing your book take care of the manuscript, it will also give you access to a team of editors to make the content more professional, graphic designers for your book’s cover, a marketing team to sell your book, and a project manager to make sure it all gets done on time and to your satisfaction. All you have to do is share your ideas through a series of interviews!

How do you get the creative control of self-publishing with the professional assistance of outsourcing your book? By working with a trusted company that will be your partner in success. A company that can guarantee you best-seller status. A company called LEADERS PRESS

Before we keep exploring the process of outsourcing, let’s see how long it takes to write a book if you were to self-publish.

Word Count

Generally speaking, the timeframe largely depends on how much time the author dedicates to the actual writing process.

Here is a quick guide to the timing based on word count:

30,000 – 60,000 words: 1000 words/day = 30 – 60 days or 1 – 2 months

60,000 – 120,000 words: 1000 words/day = 60 – 120 days or 2 – 4 months

120,000 – 180,000 words: 1000 words/day = 120 – 180 days or 4 – 6 months

Looking at the numbers, if you write at least 1000 usable words per day, you can finish your manuscript in 2 to 6 months. However, there are other factors that you need to consider such as rewriting drafts, possible changes in your outline, and editing.

Of course, not everyone has the time to write 1000 words per day or the luxury to write on a daily basis.

How Much Time Should I Spend on Writing a Book?

Let us look at a more feasible breakdown for writing a book on a busy schedule. 

30,000 – 60,000 words: 500 words/day, 3 times a week = 20 – 40 weeks or 5 to 10 months

60,000 – 120,000 words: 500 words/day, 3 times a week = 40 – 80 weeks or 10 to 20 months

120,000 – 180,000 words: 500 words/day, 3 times a week = 80 – 120 weeks or 20 to 30 months

If you commit to writing 1500 words per week, it could take you around 20 months to almost 2 years to finish your manuscript, depending on your target word count.

If you are unfamiliar with book length and ideal word count, let’s look at different types of books with varying numbers of pages.

How long does it take to write a 100-page book?

A 100-page book typically has 30,000 words. Following the guide above, you can finish a manuscript in about 5 months. 

How long does it take to write a 200-page book?

You may assume the answer is just twice the length it takes to write a 100-page book since a 200-page book has around 50,000 to 60,000 words. 

However, as your number of target words increases, you need more content, which means more ideas, and more hours spent, which can be exhausting. After writing for a couple of months, you may encounter roadblocks such as writer’s block or other scheduling constraints.

So instead of just taking 10 months to complete your book, it may take 12 or more due to unforeseeable delays. 

How long does it take to write a book with 300 pages or more?

With 300 or more pages, if you can write at least 500 words per session 3 times a week, you can finish a manuscript in 15 months. This means in 15 months, you will have written 90,000 words. 

Usually, memoirs and autobiographies tend to have this kind of word count, similar to that of novels. For a first time author, this will be quite a commitment.

You can look at the numbers all you want, but at the end of the day, your top priority should be quality. How long it takes to write a book should depend on more than your target schedule. Take the time to get the best possible quality, regardless of timeline. It is your name and reputation at stake, after all!

Strategies on How to Write a Book and Hit your Target

If you want to write a book in a more manageable timeframe, here are some tips from Leaders Press:

#1 – Ask Yourself Why you Want to Write a Book

The hardest part of writing is looking at a blank page. Before even writing an outline and scheduling your first session, reflect on why you want to write a book. If you are not clear on your goals, it will be difficult to prioritize tasks later on.

  • Determine your goal. Are you writing a book to share your story to the world, or are you writing it to grow your business?
  • Find out what you want to accomplish. Do you want to capture leads or do you want to be a best-seller?
  • Identify your purpose. Do you want to build your authority and credibility? Do you want the book to be your business card? Do you want to get more speaking gigs?
  • Be honest with your obstacles. What are your current barriers in writing your manuscript?

#2 – Say No to Arbitrary Due Dates

Create realistic targets and deadlines for yourself. How much time can you allot per writing session? How many days per week and which days can you commit? 

Do not pressure yourself and make sure your targets do not clash with your other commitments and tasks.

Deadlines are meant to help you get closer to your goal of finishing your manuscript. Be honest with your expectations and do not make writing a book a tedious job for yourself. It should be an enjoyable time for you! 

We are most creative when we are relaxed. Ideas from high pressure situations may do wonders in the office, but not in your writing process.

#3 – Look at Possible Competing Titles

Look at current best-sellers in the same target niche or audience. Spend some time reading their books to get more insight. Align those ideas with your own and visualize how you want your story to be told. 

This may seem counterintuitive but reading the works of other authors can help you get a fresh perspective and assist you with writing more robust content. Plus, research is one good way of overcoming writer’s block.

#4 – Organize Details into Tasks

In order to write a book in a seamless fashion, establish clear priorities before starting the writing process. How long it takes to write your book highly depends on how you prioritize the details of your overall writing process. 

Turn these details into tasks. You can use a simple spreadsheet or even a project management tool that will help you prioritize. Other than setting your writing schedule, you need to consider writing your outline, determine how often you need to review drafts, spend time for research, and many other factors that affect the overall writing process.

#5 – Find a Support Group

You do not need to do this alone! At the very least, find an accountability partner—someone who can check up with you every now and then to see if you are hitting your goals. 

Sometimes, you may also need some fresh eyes to help review your drafts. Or maybe you just need a change in perspective in case you hit a wall. 

There are groups and forums you can join that allow you to stay anonymous if you are not comfortable letting everyone know you are currently writing a book.

So how long does it take to write a book? The answer is not as simple as entering numbers into a spreadsheet or setting up a schedule in a project management tool. There is a creative process involved and numerous factors to consider.

What if I Don’t Have the Luxury of Time?

Most business leaders and entrepreneurs have jam-packed schedules; dedicating even one hour daily for writing is next to impossible.

If you want to write a book and get published, you should also aim for best-seller status. Your book is your business card. 

But what if you do not have the luxury of time? How long will it take to write your book? How long will it take to write a book that can hit best-seller status?

There is another option for you. As we mentioned earlier, you can outsource.

Leaders Press can help you write your book! 

Outsourcing will get your book written without compromising the quality while also hitting your target date for publishing.

Indeed, self-publishing is quite an achievement but to what end? Are there guarantees that your book will achieve best-seller status when your book goes live? 

Imagine spending a year or 2 doing everything by yourself and, at the end of it all, you write a book that no one reads.

Or you can become a best-selling author, charge very high speaking fees (if you’re on the speaking circuit), and have a book you can be proud of. We guarantee that at Leaders Press.

Become a Best-Selling Author

Get published in a win-win-win fashion. Our team will work with you, write your book under your supervision, and deliver that book to you in 6 to 12 months. After all that, Leaders Press will get you to best-seller status.

This is where you can be next year. 

So how long does it take to write a book? Leaders Press can help you write a best-selling book in a year or less. 

Want to make this happen? Click here to start your journey toward being a best-selling author!

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