In January of 2023, an author was referred to us for book publishing. We talked and she shared her manuscript. After perusing it, I called and asked: “How long did it take you to write this book?” Apparently discerning why I asked, she answered with a bemused voice, “I actually started writing in 1994…” I was blown away, no doubt, but I wasn’t surprised; the manuscript was solid! Highly researched, detailed, and rich!
Another time, a few years earlier, a client shared his manuscript with us and, when editing was finished, I said to him, “It appears you spent a while developing this manuscript.” He answered in the affirmative, offering that he spent about 3 years on it. Again, I could tell by the richness of the work.
In recent years in Nigeria, there has been a growing [what I like to call] craze (but perhaps you could call it a movement) about monetising one’s knowledge through the creation of products (particularly digital). It is certainly a well-founded proposition and I fully buy into it. But unfortunately, as is common with most movements, there is a downside that the majority of people seem to be oblivious of. The promise of gains – income, visibility and others – appear to be blindsiding them to this truth, which is that what they really are producing are, at best, information products and not books – in the true sense of what a book is.
This movement is not new, by the way. In the early-mid 2000s, with the advent of mobile telecommunications in Nigeria and the consequent democratisation of internet access, a wave of information product marketing swept through the country’s cyberspace. These were quick digest, how-to ebooks that were targeted at specific topics or areas of widespread, popular interest. One simply identified an area of public interest (pain-point), researched it, and created a how-to ebook, then promoted it [mostly] to their email list (built over time; there was no social media at the time). If you are familiar with this, you might recall that Akin Alabi was a notable player in that space and made a fortune in it before pivoting into sports betting, pioneering it in Nigeria through his NairaBet. So, the recent wave is merely a refined rehash of that era’s playbook, only now branded as actual books which some go on to print in hard copies.
To be clear, the problem is not particularly with the movement or the products; the problem is with the quality of the output. Because the focus and messaging – or selling point – of these campaigns [by e-course sellers, by the way] is primarily profiteering, they sell the idea that “a book can be written in 1 day, or a few days, or 1 week.” To put it pointedly: That is deceit, or at best a half-truth. You see, if you produce a document in so short a time, what you have – putting it straight to you – is NOT a book. At best, it is an idea dump or a draft; that is, if your actual intent is to author a real book. Conversely, if a quick-read e-book or information resource is your objective, then you’re well on course.
A real book takes time to write. Take a second to do a mental flash-play of all the great books you’ve read; none was written in one day or one week… heck, not even in one month! Napoleon Hill researched over 500 self-made millionaires for 20 years before writing Think and Grow Rich. Jim Collins conducted 6 years of research to write Built to Last, then another 5 years to create Good to Great. Patrick Bet-David spent two years writing Your Next 5 Moves. Need I mention the richness of Robert Greene’s or Malcolm Gladwell’s books? Is it any wonder, then, that these books are as impactful as they are enduring and relevant across borders and cultures? These books pass the test of universality because the authors gave the best of human effort and the refining resource of time to produce timeless pieces. In them we find rare originality of thought and transcendent ideas that redefine our worldview, reshape our perspectives, and compel us to take action. These books are anything but the sorry regurgitations of consumed ideas that many Nigerians’ books are, specifically the adopters of the “sell your knowledge” craze. Of course, this is only mentioning a few out of thousands of available examples.
Does this apply only to nonfiction books? Surely not. In his memoir, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, legendary serial fiction author Stephen King wrote, “I like to get ten pages a day, which amounts to 2,000 words. That’s 180,000 words over a three-month span, a goodish length for a book — something in which the reader can get happily lost, if the tale is done well and stays fresh.” In other words, it takes King a minimum of three months to produce the first draft of a manuscript. Of course, if you’re not new to authoring, you know that your first draft is just that – a draft; it will take another several months of rewrites, edits and iterations to get to the final manuscript that will be published. So, altogether King would spend no less than 6 months to produce a manuscript. Should we then wonder why he’s had many bestselling hits, through his career, that continue to sell several decades after?
A great book requires refinement to become a fine product, one that will be loved and doted upon by readers and reviewers alike. But first, it demands meticulous, time-invested, and thoroughbred writing. A great book is never rushed. As I wrote in my previous article, “To rush writing your book is to disrespect the uncanny opportunity the universe is affording you to ink your name in indelible gold till the end of time.” Never rush your book, therefore. As for how long you should spend writing it, that depends on you. But I recommend no less than 3 months, then spend another couple of weeks reviewing, rewriting and editing it. Of course, also enlist the services of a professional editor to polish it up for you (your publisher can guide or assist with this).
At Clasier, we spend a minimum of four months on a book ghostwriting project – to develop the manuscript. Then we progress to reviews, rewrites and editing, passing the draft through different in-house professionals: review editors, copyeditors, proofreaders, etc. But prior, we expertly assess each author’s vision for their book, as they communicate to us – even help them to further clarify or identify possibilities, then design methodologies for how best to enrich the manuscript development process. Sometimes this involves qualitative or quantitative research and analysis (desk research is a given), through key informant interviews, focused group interviews, targeted audience-based surveys, etc. This makes us the most reliable and trusted publishing company you should entrust your authorship quest and journey to. Whether your book is fiction or nonfiction, you can count on us to deliver exceptionally and to your delight. See the genres we publish here.
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