When I wrote my first book I knew nothing about publishing. Thank God, otherwise my book would probably never have been published with McGraw-Hill.

Recently, I was on a panel presenting ideas on all forms of publishing, from traditional publishing to print-on-demand to independent publishing. More than seventy-five people questioned the panel about all forms of writing, book marketing, and publishing.

As my peers on the panel answered questions, I surveyed the audience members, many of whom seemed to be growing increasingly concerned about whether they were following the proper method, guidelines, or rules for successful writing and writing and publishing a book. .

Now, I pride myself on staying on the cutting edge of information in the publishing industry by attending seminars, reading books, and purchasing seminar recordings on writing and publishing topics. But, and I know this is going to sound like a cliché, I realized that the more I learned, the less I knew about how to educate and motivate new authors.

In my opinion, the biggest key to publishing success is simply putting your butt in a chair and writing from the heart every day.

My suggestion is to let your passion for any subject, feeling, or need prompt your fingers to fly across the keyboard and chisel your words into electrons, not to publish, but simply to release hidden thoughts, ideas, and intentions seeking some form of expression. .

That’s what I did when I wrote my first book, Gymnastics: A Guide for Parents and Athletes. I didn’t have to do any research because I had been a gymnastics coach for thirty years and the topics covered in the books were topics that I was passionate about. By accessing my passion for the subject, I was able to easily write the book.

I have written several books since then (1992), many of which were a struggle to get from my hands to electronic posterity. They were good books but they didn’t fulfill my passion for writing.

Recently, I wrote another book titled, Writing books for fun, fame and fortune!and once again, almost thirty years later, I simply sat down and wrote the book from a burning passion to share my ideas instead of a series of notes and an excess of research.

Don’t get me wrong, sometimes you need to research a topic and create an outline, but at this publishing seminar, while sitting on the panel, I had an epiphany: Ignorance is bliss and it’s the true starting point for all writers. and authors.

As an “expert” in writing/publishing, I could tell you:

* you must outline your book:

* you must research your topic until you find the same information 2 or 3 times;

* you must write 250 – 500 words a day;

* you should read style elements to make sure you’re typing correctly;

* you should focus on the appropriate keywords in the text and title of your book cover;

* must focus on a specific demographic group;

* you must find a qualified publisher;

* you must obtain your own ISBN number;

* you must use Kindle to publish an e-book;

* you must get a quality book cover designer;

* You should…

You could end up “owing” on yourself and create a form of writer’s block by trying to write within all the parameters and guidelines suggested by writing and publishing experts.

First graders aren’t expected to know calculus, and I don’t think new or even seasoned writers should be overwhelmed during the act of creation, that moment when you’re in the writing zone, with rules and guidelines for writing, publishing, or marketing. books.

The best advice I can give any writer is to forget about grammar, word counts, keywords, research, outlines, and any other restrictive writer’s guides and just give in to the passion of the idea.

Once you have given birth to the new manuscript, you can review, revise and edit according to the guidelines necessary for publication.

On a personal note, I can tell you that the two books I wrote out of passion were the easiest to write, received the best testimonials, and sold better than 90% of my other books. Hmm…

My apologies if I ever unintentionally “should” on you. The truth may be that the less you know about publishing, the better your chances of writing an exceptional book.

Forget everything you know, just access your passion and write!