Writing a Book in 2025? Here's Everything You Need to Know
A soulful, strategic guide to writing a book with purpose, no matter where you are in your writing journey.
By Julie Tyler Ruiz
CONTENTS:
- Introduction: writing a book in 2025
- The book-writing guide you've been looking for
- Soul + strategy: writing a book from the inside out
- When to pivot (and when to stay the course)
- Gathering more book-writing support
Introduction: writing a book in 2025
The desire to write a book can strike at any point in life. Some of us know from a young age that we have a book, or several, inside us. Others of us are called to the page later, perhaps after a cataclysmic life event that changes us forever, or after developing a body of knowledge we want to share with readers who are ready to learn. Sometimes this desire starts with a whisper of a fictional story that won’t leave us alone, one that awakens the inner storyteller in us all.
I've experienced it all and can tell you there's nothing quite like the writing journey. It's full of inspiration to propel you forward. You'll also experience setbacks that call on you to reaffirm your commitment and find inner strength. Opportunities to shift strategies or venture into new territory will come along and show you more possibilities than you thought possible. Along the way, you'll celebrate big wins and small daily triumphs. The greatest rewards? Expressing yourself with clarity and brightening readers' lives.
No matter what brings you here, one thing is true: writing a book is both a creative journey and a bold act of self-leadership.
In 2025, the options for bringing your book to life are more abundant and nuanced than ever and there's no one-size-fits-all path. Here's what you need to know:
- According to Publishers Marketplace, trade publishing sales rose, fueled by booming fiction and the rise of audiobooks, which outsold ebooks for the first time [1].
- Traditional publishing still sets the tone for much of what happens in the publishing industry at large. Read more about the traditional route here.
- You can also find innovative indie platforms, hybrid publishing models, community-led approaches, and the tried-and-true print-on-demand options like Kindle Direct Publishing. Whereas indie publishing used to carry a stigma, nowadays authors are considering this route a viable option for generating revenue and building impressive reputations in their niche.
- AI writing is becoming increasingly mainstream, but is not without controversy, as authors and publishers alike navigate issues such as the use of published content to train AI models. And at the same time, AI tools are creating new avenues for authors and publishers to earn money and get stories into readers' hands [2].
For writers willing to engage creatively and courageously, 2025 might be one of the most exciting times to write and publish a book. Given the rapid evolution of the world of books, it’s vital to ground yourself in your purpose, knowing why you're writing your book, what's really driving you, and how you want to bring it into the world.
The book-writing guide you've been looking for
In this guide, I’ll give you a broad but grounded view of what it really takes to write a book, from the initial idea to the publishing path ahead. While there’s a natural order to many of the steps, there’s also plenty of room to pivot, experiment, and grow as you go. Writing a book-length work, whether it’s fiction, memoir, or nonfiction, requires more than just solid craft. You’ll need to think long-term, organize and shape a large body of work, build the mindset to stay committed (even on hard days), handle feedback and rejection, and ultimately create something that leaves a lasting mark on your readers.
By the end of this guide, you’ll have a clearer sense of how to write your book, pursue publishing strategically, and access resources that make the journey more creative and rewarding.
Soul + strategy: writing a book from the inside out
The steps below are appropriate for writers of all genres at every stage of the process, whether you’re just sketching your first idea, deep in into building a first draft, or polishing a full manuscript. Here, I offer a soulful and strategic approach to bringing your book into being. Soul means tuning into who you are and hearing the heartbeat of your story, while strategy means lining up actions that achieve your goals more easily, always with an eye on the rapidly evolving publishing industry.
Let's build a firmer foundation for writing and make your next writing season your best yet.
Step 1: Answer the call to write a book.
These three reflective writing prompts will help you listen closely to the stories and ideas within. Take a few minutes to reflect on paper, writing freely, honestly, and without trying to sound polished.
What’s calling you to write this book, right now?
The call to write shows up in many forms. The key is to hear it, name it, and honor it.
Sometimes it starts as a feeling: a quiet nudge you’ve felt for years, a surge of urgency or energy in your body, or a sense of relief at finally writing down what you’ve been carrying.
Sometimes the words come first: “I need to express myself in this format," "This story could help someone feel less alone," or “I want to shift the conversation in my field.”
Or maybe it’s about timing: a major life transition, a new layer of clarity, or a deeper alignment beneath the chaos. Even if you're being called at time that feels inconvenient, that doesn’t mean it’s wrong.
Want more on timing? Read my article on book ideas that choose you.
What’s the deeper story behind the book you want to write?
Every book has layers: the story you’re telling on the page, and the story of why you’re the one writing it now. Maybe you’re drawn to fiction that explores personal themes you’ve lived through, or memoir rooted in experiences you’re still making sense of. Maybe your nonfiction work is fueled by a deeper need to be seen, to contribute something meaningful, or to make a lasting impact. Whatever form your book takes, clarity about your deeper motivation will anchor your process.
Ask yourself: What part of your life led you here? What do you feel most compelled to express, and why haven’t you said it before? What do you hope to learn through writing this book? And how might the act of writing stretch who you are or shape who you’re becoming?
Write your answers down: messy, honest, and unfiltered. The more you understand your why, the more powerful your book will become.
What do you want this book to do for you, for your readers, or for the world?
Books live at the intersection of personal meaning and shared impact. Yours might be deeply therapeutic to write. It might position you as a thought leader in your field. It might comfort a specific type of reader or spark broader social change. Whatever your goal, it helps to name it.
In today’s fast-changing publishing world, where trends shift, AI content floods the market, and readers’ tastes evolve, a clear payoff, for you and others, is your essential north star.
Need help going deeper here? This is the kind of soul-searching work we do inside The SoulTruth Journal, a guided journaling experience designed to help you access your most truthful, powerful story.
Step 2: Explore publishing paths.
Your publishing path is a journey of discovery, just like writing the book itself. You don’t need to decide right away whether you’ll pursue a traditional deal or self-publish. What matters is understanding your options, staying curious about the industry, and remaining open as both you and the publishing landscape evolve.
Facing the realities of publishing
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The “Big Five” and other traditional houses welcome talented debut authors but increasingly favor proven names who pose less financial risk. This is not a reflection of your book’s quality or your talent, but a reality of marketing and resource allocation.
- Despite the barriers to breaking into traditional publishing, editors are looking for authentic and unique voices. A good publishing house editor will advise you on how to strengthen your work and sharpen your vision, while giving you the final approval on what’s published.
- Getting a literary agent can open doors in this industry, but it does not always guarantee a traditional book deal. If you want to go the literary agent route, look for one who truly understands your work and steadfastly commits to finding your book a home.
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Indie publishing avoids gatekeepers but means taking on every role yourself: finding a book editor, hiring a designer, managing the marketing and promotional aspects, and covering upfront costs. When done properly, indie publishing demands as much time and resources as the traditional route.
Researching the publishing industry
Once you understand these realities, start weaving industry research into your creative process. Waiting until you type “The End” to choose your path can leave you blindā€‘sided. Instead, set aside a few minutes each week to learn more from publishing resources like these:
Subscribe to a variety of online resource hubs for writers, including StoryBold, as well as industry leaders' social media accounts. That way, you'll regularly receive insights you can digest in just a few minutes. Over time, you’ll develop a powerful business mindset, discern where your book fits best, and be ready to pivot if your goals or the market shift.
Expanding your possibilities
As you continue writing your book and exploring publishing options, look to expand what's possible for you.
For instance, you might begin writing a memoir and later realize your experiences could also work as a narrative self-help book. Or you might assume you’re writing a literary novel, only to discover your story fits more cleanly into the psychological thriller or book club fiction space. The genre or category you first imagined may shift as your voice sharpens and the book reveals what it wants to become.
Your platform can be a powerful way to build momentum. Launching an author website or simple landing page, starting a newsletter, or posting behind-the-scenes writing insights on social media helps you connect with real readers. In fact, book marketing experts agree: no matter which publishing path you choose, having a direct line to an audience who loves your kind of work is key. Building your author platform can help you attract your dream agent, impress a publisher, or sell books right from your own platform.
Step 3: Launch the book writing process.
Writing a book is a layered process that unfolds over time. Here’s a high-level view of the phases most writers move through, though not always in order:
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Inspiration: That moment when the idea sparks and you feel a rush of possibility.
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Ideation: Expanding that spark into something fuller: a premise, character, message, or vision.
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Discovery: Exploratory writing, conducting research, and getting to know your plot and characters.
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System setup: Gathering tools, connecting with supporters, choosing a writing software program, creating a sustainable rhythm for your writing time, organizing your drafts, and building habits that keep you going.
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Experimentation: Playing with form, voice, tone, and structure, and trying things that may or may not work (and learning a lot when they don’t).
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Building volume: Generating the raw material of your story and getting it down on paper so you can later shape it.
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Revision: Restructuring, reshaping, and refining the manuscript, sometimes drastically. This is where your book starts becoming the version readers will hold.
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Fine tuning: Editing at the sentence level, clarifying ideas, deepening meaning, and polishing until every word sings.
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Launch: Preparing to share your work with the world, through agents, editors, indie publishing, or a book buzz team.
You won’t necessarily move through these phases in a perfect sequence. You’ll likely circle back, get stuck, leap ahead, and repeat. But having a general and logical direction to follow helps you know where you are and what’s coming next.
As you write, explore your publishing options, study your genre, connect with future readers, and grow into your identity as an author. Let the creative and strategic work evolve together.
For a deeper look at these phases, see "Mastering the Writing Process: From Idea to Finished Product in 9 Steps." Want fiction-specific tips? Try "How to Write a Novel: 6 Key Steps + Why They Work.
Step 4: Plan your writing season.
Now that you've reviewed the writing process, let's plan the next 90 days of writing. That way, instead of getting overwhelmed by the entire journey ahead and trying to figure everything out at once, you'll focus on a season or quarter of the year. At the end of ninety days, you'll assess what you've accomplished and plan the next season.
First, identify where you are in the writing process. Are you in the early ideation stage, playing with concepts and themes? Are you knee-deep in building volume, needing momentum and structure? Are you sitting on a complete draft that’s begging for serious revision?
Next, set a big goal you want to accomplish by the end of the season or quarter. What would meaningful progress look like three months from now? What goal would stretch you but feel achievable in one season? For example, you might choose to complete a rough draft of your manuscript, write 10 new chapters, or complete a full book proposal.
Then, make a list of specific writing tasks and micro-processes you'll complete to reach that goal by the end of 90 days. Here's an example:
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Create your writing routine (days, times, location)
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Organize your notes, outline, or story bible
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Do character/worldbuilding deep dives
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Set a word count or scene target
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Begin drafting or revising in focused sprints
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Work through sticky plot points or structural issues
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Share a few pages with a reader or writing group
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Create a running list of questions to resolve in the next draft
When to pivot (and when to stay the course)
Knowing when to change or stay course is one of the most powerful skills you can develop as a writer. A well-timed pivot can transform your project and open new doors. Distractions, though, can leave you endlessly chasing the next bright idea without ever finishing a single project.
So how can you tell the difference?
Meaningful pivots are shifts that deepen or expand your book’s impact. Consider these examples:
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Your nonfiction guide evolves into a memoir readers can glean wisdom from, once you realize the true value of your writing lies less in explicit instruction and more in your own story.
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You discover apps like Wattpad to serialize your novel or Audiobook Network to bring your story to listening audiences, after seeing how they could help you achieve your goals faster than traditional print formats.
- You seek out opportunities to earn money as a writer, outside of book sales, and land a writing side hustle that boosts your income and helps you advance your own work.
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You try out a variety of AI tools and start generating fresh ideas and reader insights, helping you achieve your writing goals faster.
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You start off planning a traditional publishing path but discover a hybrid or indie model that suits your personality better.
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You receive feedback from early readers and find out your book resonates most deeply with a niche group you hadn’t considered, like midlife creatives, first-generation college grads, or neurodivergent entrepreneurs. This clarity shapes your messaging, outreach, and platform.
Distractions, unlike pivots, keep you stuck in the early phases of the writing process and usually surface the moment you hit real difficulty in your current work-in-progress. Here's what distractions typically look like:
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New ideas: You spot a fresh concept that feels more thrilling than wrestling with your current draft’s flaws.
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Procrastination: You begin researching a different genre or topic, telling yourself it’s “essential prep,” but really it’s you avoiding the next chapter or task in your work-in-progress.
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Perfectionism: You dive into endless minor edits or formatting tweaks instead of drafting the next section or tackling a more substantial revision.
When you catch yourself endlessly switching gears, pause and ask: Is this change driving my core goal forward? Or am I escaping the hard work of seeing my book through?
Gathering more book-writing support
Writing a book is always a courageous act, but in 2025, it’s also a strategic one. In a publishing world that shifts fast, having expert guidance and a supportive network is crucial. Whether you're refining your purpose, planning your next 90 days, or exploring your publishing path, I’ve got resources to help you move forward with clarity and confidence.
In these articles, you'll explore the full gamut of what it means to be a writer, from tapping into your natural gifts to monetizing your content:
Ready for deeper guidance? These courses are a great place to start or reignite your journey:
Sources
- Publisher's Marketplace. "2024: The Year in Finance." https://lunch.publishersmarketplace.com/2024/12/2024-the-year-in-finance/.
- Publisher's Marketplace. "2024: The Year in Stories." https://lunch.publishersmarketplace.com/2024/12/2024-the-year-in-stories/.
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