You don’t need to struggle and figure it all out yourself (like I did).
The First Book Playbook is your start-to-finish guide to writing and publishing your first nonfiction book—all delivered with clarity and a dash of humor.
Writing (and publishing) your first book doesn’t have to be this hard.
✅ Get the specific steps that lead to a book deal
🤓 Learn from a published author who’s been through it all
✍🏻 Practice and polish up your writing and reporting skills
📝 Use real templates that have lead to successful books
INTRODUCING
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
By the end of the guide, you’ll…
💪 Be confident in writing scenes, characters and longform narratives
📖 Have a finished book proposal and game plan for getting an agent and publisher
✅ Be ready to take the steps that will get you published
Meet Your Teacher
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. I want to pass that knowledge on to you—and save you a lot of heartache along the way.
👀 Want a peek inside first? 👀
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
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
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.
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.
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
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.
🤔 Frequently Asked Questions 🤔
Totally. The entire first lesson of the guide is focused on fleshing out your book idea. You don’t need to have anything written yet. In fact, if you’d don’t even have a book idea, that’s fine too—I’ll help you brainstorm.
Nope. I’ll help you understand if your book idea is really a book, or would be better as a magazine article (or something else entirely). No need to have it all figured out.
Not quite. The guide is designed for nonfiction books specifically. That said, some of my other resources, like my Guide to Getting an Agent, can apply to fiction, too!
A big part of this guide is about helping short-form writers like you learn the skills of long-form. So yes, you are ready! And this guide is designed just for you.
Unfortunately, that’s not in my control. I can prepare you with the best resources and templates I’ve got, and give you a solid game plan for getting an agent and publisher. But ultimately, I cannot guarantee those outcomes.
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.
But wait: There's more!
Maybe The First Book Playbook isn’t quite what you’re looking for. Not to worry: There are other ways I can help. I also offer mix-and-match resources for specific parts of the book-writing journey.
Mike’s Nonfiction Book Proposal Template
Your template for translating your idea into a book proposal that can get you a book deal.
How To Keep Yourself Accountable
Think of this guide as a menu of strategies you can use to keep yourself accountable with book progress.
Mike’s Top Lessons Learned in Book Publishing
Or: Reality checks on the good, the bad and the magic of book publication.
The Guide to Getting a Literary Agent
A step-by-step process, a query letter template and my best tips for navigating the entire thing.
Need personalized, one-on-one help?
I offer coaching and consultation sessions tailored to you. These one-hour workshops are focused on your specific needs and questions.