The First Book Playbook

The First Book Playbook is your guide to writing, publishing and surviving your first nonfiction book.

Are you a writer struggling to figure out how to turn a story into a nonfiction book?

You know what story you want to tell. And you know it could be a great book. That’s incredibly exciting but…. where do you even start, and how do you get published?

Well, you can start with The First Book Playbook.

In this e-book, you'll learn how to navigate the book publishing process from beginning to end, including:

• How to refine your book idea and make sure it’s the right story to invest in
• How to do interviews and research for a book, and how to build trust with sources
• How to write scenes and characters that will drive your narrative
• How to write a stellar book proposal that will hook an agent and publisher

Meet your guide

Hi, I'm Mike De Socio. Trust me when I say I used to be where you are now. When I first decided I wanted to write a book, I had no idea where to start. I thought I could just call up Simon & Schuster, and bingo-bango, get myself a book deal. (Reader: This is not how it works). It took me a while, and a lot of stumbling around in the dark, before I figured out the steps I needed to take.

Five years later, I have a literary agent, a publisher and a nonfiction book to my name. (And wouldn’t you know: It’s being distributed by Simon & Schuster).

But getting here wasn’t easy, and even as a seasoned journalist, I had to learn a lot of new skills. With The First Book Playbook, I want to pass that knowledge on to you—and save you a lot of heartache. In this practical, hands-on guide, I’ll guide you along the path to publication.

Ready to peek inside?

• Chapter 1: Your Big Book Idea — Before you can do any of this fun stuff, you’ve gotta decide what your book is going to be about. In this chapter, we’ll dive into some important questions about your book idea. We’ll make sure your book is really a book, not just a longform article. And we’ll talk about whether there’s a market for your nonfiction book
• Chapter 2: Getting Started with Reporting — In this chapter, I’ll walk you through how reporting for a book is different from reporting for an article. We'll talk about approaching sources and building trust. And I’ll give you my best tips for conducting a successful book interview
• Chapter 3: Scenes & Characters — Scenes and characters are what’s going to drive your book’s narrative. In this chapter, we’ll talk about what they are, why you need them, and how to write them. By the end of this stage, you’ll have some practice writing this way, and ideas for how to get even better.
• Chapter 4: The Book Proposal — In this chapter, we’ll focus on crafting a winning book proposal—the document that will get you an agent and publisher. I’ll share a template from my own successful template, and help you understand the weird mix of sales and narrative writing you’ll need to master here.
• Chapter 5: Getting an Agent — This is the most dreaded part of book publishing. In this chapter, I’ll demystify the process of finding an agent, and teach you how to send them query letters. And, because it’s unavoidable, we’ll talk about how to handle rejection and keep up your motivation
• Chapter 6: The World of Publishing — In this chapter, I’ll walk you through everything that happens after you get an agent. We’ll talk about how to get a book deal, how to work with editors and how to survive the actual publication (!!) of your book when the time comes.

Make your book a reality

How long have you had this dream of becoming an author? Or walking into a bookstore and seeing your book on the shelf? Download The First Book Playbook, and I'll help you get there.