This is Episode 4 in my book writing journey. In case you missed the previous entries, here they are:
- Episode 1: How I Planned My First Book: The 3 Biggest Challenges
- Episode 2: How I Completed My Book’s First Draft: The 3 Biggest Gaps
- Episode 3: How I Finished My Book’s Manuscript: The 3 Biggest Edits
There were several reasons why I said “no” to writing a book for years. The number one reason: I didn’t think a book was the best way to teach business communication.
I became an executive coach, ran a public speaking community, and made over 200 videos for my YouTube channel because I believed face-to-face interaction was the best medium. But my closest supporters encouraged me to reconsider. Because of my background in visualization, they felt I had the ability to create a truly unique reading experience.
So I began writing in earnest, designed nearly 1000 illustrations, and searched for an expert to help me lay them out professionally. In this blog, I break down how I completed my book’s interior design.
Step #1:
Consultation
At first, every expert I reached out to said my book would require an astronomical amount of money to organize into a publish-ready format. My use of in-depth examples, in-section exercises, and visual diagrams, made this quite different from a conventional book. But one expert changed the game. From our first consultation, Alan Barnett suggested ways to not only reduce the labor required but also significantly elevate the book’s look and feel.
For example, my original vision for the book had images on every page. Images were placed underneath each relevant sentence to let the reader immediately see what I was referring to. Thanks to Alan, I placed images on the side instead, like figures in a textbook. This had two major benefits:
- It let me refer to the same “figure” multiple times, reducing the number of images I needed from nearly 1000 to under 300.
- With fewer images and overall pages to print, it made the book much more affordable.
Step #2:
Sample
Alan then prepared a sample of how the examples, exercises, and diagrams could look with his professional formatting and typesetting. The first time I opened the proof, I remember thinking: “I can’t believe how beautiful this looks. I’m going to be a real author!”
Soon after, Alan and I met to discuss the sample and a few things I wanted to adjust:
- Small updates like tweaking the font.
- Medium-sized updates like changing the design of the interactive exercises.
- Larger updates like shifting the color palette. To make the book eye-catching end-to-end we decided on two primary colors that would signal the beginning of each chapter and section, as well as a few accent colors to let the text pop and give the book a cohesive visual identity.
Step #3:
Full Proof
Lastly, with the proof of the entire book completed, I had the opportunity to see it exactly like my future readers would. I noted how every chapter and section flowed:
- Where things dragged…
- Where there were too many examples or too many images…
I cut nearly 100 pages out to optimize. It was painful because I had spent so much time crafting those parts with love and care. But I followed the fundamental principle I teach in the book itself: communication is not for me and to make myself feel better. It’s for my audience to help them see my message.
When my designer sent the final proof, I felt an enormous amount of gratitude. I had found the perfect people to edit and now professionally format the entire book – people who were not only generous and highly creative, but incredibly knowledgeable about the publishing industry and what made a book great.
What’s the next step? Designing perhaps the most important part – the book’s cover! Stay tuned for more updates 🙂
Follow me on LinkedIn for more updates on the book and its release!
