Anyone can click "publish" and upload some pages. You are going to do what real authors do — plan, imagine, write, fix, and then publish. Nine steps, in order.
the club rule · publishing is the last step, not the first
00 The secret of real authors
A finished book looks like it was "just written". It wasn't.
Here's roughly where an author's time really goes:
Planning
30%
Writing
25%
Fixing
35%
Publishing
10%
Publishing is the tiny bit at the end. This lesson is about the big bits.
01 Read like a writer
Fill your idea tank first.
Writers are readers first. Before you make a book, study the ones you already love.
Pick 3 books you love. Ask: why do I love them?
Notice the beginning — how does it grab you?
Notice the pictures, the funny bits, the sad bits.
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Try it — open your favourite book and find the exact page where it gets exciting. That's a trick you can steal. Writers call it "being inspired".
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Avoid — starting a book without having read one like it in ages.
02 Find your Big Idea
Say your whole book in one sentence.
"My book is about someone who wants something, but a problem gets in the way."
Example
My book is about a shy dragon who wants to join the school choir, but every time he sings, fire comes out.
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Try it — say your magic sentence out loud to someone. If they smile or ask "then what happens?", you've got a book.
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Avoid — "it's about lots of stuff." If it's about everything, it's about nothing (yet).
03 Know your reader
A book is a present for someone.
Decide who yours is for before you write a word.
How old are they? A book for 4-year-olds is not a book for 10-year-olds.
What makes them laugh? What are they scared of?
Will a grown-up read it to them, or will they read it alone?
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Try it — pick one real person: a little cousin, a friend, yourself last year. Write the whole book for them.
04 Storyboard it
Draw the whole story as little boxes.
Like a comic of your book. Sticky notes are perfect — you can move them around.
1 · beginningMeet the dragon. He's shy.
2 · set-upChoir tryouts poster!
3 · problemHe sings… 🔥 FIRE!
4 · triesIce cubes? Nope. Water? Nope.
5 · big momentConcert night — the lights go out…
6 · endingFire-light show + song = star!
Every story needs
A beginning, a problem, some tries that fail, a big moment, and an ending that feels earned.
05 Map your pages & chapters
Turn the storyboard into a book skeleton.
Picture book? Most are 32 pages. Split your storyboard across them — one idea per page-turn. The page-turn is your drum beat.
Chapter book? List your chapter names first, with one sentence each. End every chapter with a reason to keep reading.
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Try it — fold paper into a mini 8-page book and pencil one storyboard box on each page. That's your first draft of the shape.
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Avoid — writing page one before you know what happens on the last page.
06 Write the messy first draft
First drafts are supposed to be messy.
Now — and only now — you write. The strangest, most important rule: don't stop to fix anything.
Spelling wrong? Keep going.
Sentence sounds weird? Keep going.
Stuck? Write "SOMETHING COOL HAPPENS HERE" and keep going.
Why it works
Writing and fixing use different parts of your brain. Real authors never do both at once.
07 Fix it (revise)
This is where an okay book becomes a great one.
Let your draft rest a day or two. Then come back and see it again — that's what "revision" means.
Read it out loud. Your ears catch mistakes your eyes skip.
Cut the boring bits. If you skim it, a reader will too.
Check your problem gets harder before it gets solved.
Last of all, fix spelling and full stops.
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Avoid — fixing commas on a chapter you might delete tomorrow.
08 Feedback, then design
Books are made with other people.
Read it to two people. Ask: "Where were you bored? Where were you confused?"
Say "thank you" — then you decide what to change. It's your book.
Then design: cover, title page, pictures, and "About the Author" — that's you!
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Cover test — would a stranger pick your book off a shelf of 20? Ask someone honest.
09 Now you publish
Publishing is just wrapping the present.
You planned it, wrote it, fixed it, tested it. Now share it:
Print at home and staple — your first real copy!
A grown-up can help upload it to Amazon KDP or another print service.
Give copy #1 to the reader you picked in Step 3.
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Avoid — thinking the upload makes you an author. Steps 1–8 make you an author. The upload is just the doorbell. 🔔
→ Your turn
Plan your book right here.
Fill this in, then press the button to keep your plan as a file — print it, or paste it into any writing tool.
1 · beginning
2 · set-up
3 · problem
4 · tries
5 · big moment
6 · ending
✓ Before you publish
The Real Author Checklist.
Read like a writer — idea tank is full
Big Idea — I can say my book in one sentence
My reader — I know exactly who it's for
Storyboard — beginning, problem, tries, big moment, ending