Please Stop Writing Your Book (and Other Common Mistakes)

Stop writing the book before you build the platform. In this fiery episode of Kind of a Big Book Deal, Meghan Stevenson breaks down one of the biggest mistakes entrepreneurs, experts, and creators make when trying to land a traditional publishing deal: writing the entire manuscript too soon.

Meghan explains that prescriptive nonfiction, including self-help, business, leadership, money, parenting, health, and how-to books, is usually sold through a book proposal, not a finished manuscript. She shares the story of Paul, a business consultant who had strong expertise and a solid book idea but was focusing on the wrong thing. His issue was not the manuscript. It was his author platform.

This episode helps listeners understand why traditional publishing is a business, why audience matters, and why the ability to sell books can be just as important as the idea itself. For anyone dreaming of a traditional book deal, Megan’s advice is clear: pause the manuscript, build your platform, strengthen your audience, and create the foundation that makes publishers want to say yes.

Episode Highlights:
(0:00) Intro
(1:31) You do not need to write the book
(2:52) Why writing first gets in the way
(3:05) Book proposals sell prescriptive nonfiction
(3:34) The common writer’s group mistake
(4:25) Why author platform matters most
(5:28) Completed manuscripts often go nowhere
(6:41) The real gap before a book deal
(8:24) Platform work builds bigger impact
(9:13) Focus on the three Ps
(10:33) Outro

Have a great idea for a book but don't know where to start? MeghanStevenson.com/quiz


Traditional publishing expert Meghan Stevenson blasts open the gates of the “Big 5”—Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins, Hachette, and Macmillan—to share what every entrepreneur and expert needs to know about landing a book deal. 

In episodes released every Monday, Meghan shares wisdom and stories from 20+ years in publishing as well as interviews with authors, literary agents, and editors. She also answers questions from listeners like you. 

Whether you are an experienced entrepreneur with an empire, or are just starting out—this podcast will help you understand what you need to do in order to turn your dream of being a bestselling author into real life. 

Transcript

Stop Drafting And Build Platform

Meghan 0:00

Now, I recognize this episode has been fiery and maybe isn't what you want to hear, but I hope it helps you to avoid this super common mistake and to know what you should do instead. So to circle back, don't waste your time writing your whole book or even outlining it. And if you have started doing any of that, put that shit on pause. Because unless you already have millions of followers and the proven ability to sell 20,000 copies of your book in the first year, it is super duper likely that you need to build out your author platform first. Welcome to the Kind of a Big Book Deal podcast where entrepreneurs come to learn about traditional publishing. I'm your host, Meghan Stevenson. After working as an editor for two of the biggest traditional publishers, I started my own business helping entrepreneurs to become authors. To date, my clients have earned over $7 million from publishers including Penguin Random House, Simon and Schuster, Harper Collins, and Hay House, just to name a few. In these podcast episodes, I will blast open the well-kept gates to traditional publishing. I'm going to explain what every entrepreneur needs to know about landing a book deal without losing your mind. I'm going to share stories, answer your questions, interview the successful authors I've had the pleasure to work with, and probably say platform more than a tech bro. So if you dream of landing on a bestseller list but have no idea how, this is the podcast for you, and I am so, so glad you're here. You

What Prescriptive Nonfiction Means

Meghan 1:31

do not need to write your book in order to get a book deal. At least not when your goal is to be traditionally published and to write what's known as prescriptive nonfiction, meaning a book that shares advice, teaches how to, or would be considered self-help. If your book teaches someone how to improve their life, then it's super likely you are writing a how-to book of some sort. Heads up, I'm gonna use self-help, how-to, and prescriptive interchangeably because within traditional publishing, these books are grouped together, even though there are small nuanced differences between these types of books. However, broadly speaking, self-help, how-to, and prescriptive nonfiction includes books on business, money, personal and business finance, economics, entrepreneurship, leadership, all kinds of spirituality, parenting, health, psychology, often some light science, and even books on specific niches, products, and skills like photography, cinematography, essential oils, political activism, fashion, personal style, you get what I'm putting down. And if you want to write a book like that, this episode and really this whole podcast is for you. In fact, all of my content is directed at you. And if that's not you, if you are not writing a book that offers advice, I suggest that you seek help elsewhere for your book because publishing advice, like relationship advice, is best when it fits your unique situation.

Why A Proposal Sells The Book

Meghan 2:51

Okay, so why am I doing a whole episode on why you must stop writing your whole book? Because what you're doing is getting in your way, like right now, and I want you to stop it. Simple as that. Let me explain. If you want to be traditionally published, there is no reason for you to write a whole book because this type of nonfiction is sold to traditional publishers based on a book proposal, not a whole manuscript.

Paul’s Mistake And Bad Advice

Meghan 3:18

I want to pause and give credit where credit is due here and say that this episode was partly inspired by a paid consultation I had with a lovely business consultant named Paul. Shout out to Paul if you're listening. And Paul inspired this episode because he made a super common mistake that I see among entrepreneurs, experts, and creators who love books and writing more generally. He joined a writer's group and subsequently got some really bad advice. So all of Paul's writer friends were drafting their books and submitting query letters to literary agents in search of representation and ultimately a book deal, which is actually the right advice for fiction, for poetry, for children's books, and for narrative nonfiction like memoir. But it was the wrong advice for Paul. And it was actually the opposite of what Paul needed to do. Because Paul, as a business consultant, wanted to write a how-to book. And because of that, what he needed to do in order to get a book deal was to write a book proposal, not a full manuscript.

Platform Matters As Much As Writing

Meghan 4:21

And that brings me to my second reason why you should stop writing your whole book if that's what you're doing. In prescriptive nonfiction, your author platform or your ability to sell the book when it's published and out in the world is just as important as the writing or the idea. And sometimes to certain people in traditional publishing, your platform and your ability to sell the book is even more important. So let's go back to Paul. When I reviewed the materials he had written, I saw nothing about his platform outside of the fact that he had a PhD and that his framework was proven, both by anecdotal evidence, working with clients, and backed by research he had done for his dissertation. And while that was all helpful knowledge, it wasn't what anyone in publishing needs to know in order to say yes to his book. Like many authors, Paul, you know, explained the problem his book would solve really well. He also demonstrated why he was an expert in the topic and the absolute right person to author this book. But he had written absolutely nothing about his audience or his ability to sell books or how many books he could sell. And this is where he made a crucial mistake that I see entrepreneurs, experts, and creators making all of the time. At least once a month, well-meaning folks pop into my inbox with fully completed manuscripts that are likely to go absolutely nowhere. Because these authors wrote their books without building an author platform first. And by doing so, completely ignored that traditional publishing is a business and that books are a product. And that in many ways you as the author are the product. Luckily for Paul, he had booked a paid consultation with me before sending his query out to anyone else. I was able to walk him through my 3P framework

The Hidden Cost Of Drafting Early

Meghan 6:02

like I do with any prospective client. And like most people, Paul's book had the potential to land a literary agent, get a book deal, and ultimately be published. And his author platform, even though it wasn't mentioned in his query letter, existed. He was growing his audience and his ability to sell books. And though he wasn't ready yet, Paul was actually really close to the third P, being able to write a proposal, hopefully with me and my team. But like a lot of authors, Paul had already invested a lot of time into writing the manuscript. And this is where the last hangup comes in, and it's a sneaky one. He wanted to know what to do with the manuscript in the meantime. And if you need any more proof that you should stop writing your book, here it is. What I want you to recognize is that the gap between Paul and the book deal he wanted wasn't in the manuscript he had written. Instead, it was in his author platform, specifically in being able to grow and show his ability as an entrepreneur and as a business consultant to sell books. And for that reason, tinkering with the manuscript further wouldn't do him any good, right? He had already wasted that time in writing the book. And because he had spent all this time writing the book, his platform growth was slower as a result. Because building a platform, building an audience is a lot like investing. The sooner you get into it and the longer you do it for it, the more results you're gonna get, right? The more ROI you're gonna get, the better return on investment you're gonna get. So he had already spent all this time writing a manuscript that wasn't gonna go anywhere. So that really didn't do him any favors. And it won't do you any favors either. I promise.

The Three Ps And Next Steps

Meghan 7:42

In fact, the most successful authors I've worked with have put their dream of writing and publishing a book on pause, often for years, in order to grow their audience and establish a strong author platform first. Why? So they could write a better fucking book in the end and sell that book to more people, which therefore creates a bigger impact overall. And ironically, what I see people resist most, which is pausing on writing the manuscript to establish and grow an author platform, actually involves doing what you ultimately want your book to do, which is make an impact, change lives, generate revenue, grow your audience, and allow you to write. And the irony in that is because the first step to building an author platform is creating intellectual property, often in the form of content, methodology, frameworks, or all of that. And that involves the same work as writing a book. I should know because in any given week I'm doing all of that. I'm writing actual books for clients while putting together podcast episodes, Instagram reels, writing marketing emails, you know, explaining my framework over and over again, doing all those things. So please, please, please stop writing your whole fucking manuscript because not doing you any favors. Instead, focus on the three Ps. Once you've got a book idea with potential, the next step is platform. Full stop. Now, I recognize this episode has been fiery and maybe isn't what you want to hear, but I hope it helps you to avoid this super common mistake and to know what you should do instead. So to circle back, don't waste your time writing your whole book or even outlining it. And if you have started doing any of that, put that shit on pause. Because unless you already have millions of followers and the proven ability to sell 20,000 copies of your book in the first year, it is super duper likely that you need to build out your author platform first. Just like Paul did.

Fan Mail Link And Final Ask

Meghan 9:30

Okay, so now I want to hear from you. According to the latest data I have access to, there are over 1,300 of you listening each month to this podcast. That is amazing, okay, and kind of blows my mind at the same time. Love it. I want to make this podcast the most helpful it can be, and to do that, I need to know what y'all think. And luckily, there is a new and incredibly easy way for you to share that with me. Simply go to the show notes and click on the link that says send us fan mail. That will allow you to ask me a question, give me and my team feedback, or really share anything you want to. I cannot wait to hear from you and hear what y'all think. And until next time, cheers to your success. Thanks for tuning in to the Kind of a Big Book Deal podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, I would love it if you subscribe and also leave a review. Not only is this good for my ego and annoying for my enemies, but it also helps more entrepreneurs like ourselves find this podcast. Also, I'm pretty sure it's good karma. See you next time.