How a MacBook Can Help New Writers Publish Their First Books Faster

New writers are eager to get their first books published as quickly as possible, which makes sense. Getting a book finished and formally published is a massive accomplishment, and in many cases, once it’s distributed, you can start making money off it. The trouble is, most writers never actually get there.

There are a million things that could stand in the way of you publishing your first book successfully, but with adequate foreknowledge—and the right tech tools to help you along the way—you can get there.

What You Need to Publish a Book
Before you can publish your book, you’ll need the following:

• A strong idea. First and foremost, you need an idea. If you have a compulsion to “write a book” without an idea of what you could write about, you probably won’t get very far. On the other hand, if you have a vision for a novel with potential to be game-changing, you’ll have a higher likelihood of getting published.
• A publication plan. Of course, millions of great ideas never get published because their writers never had a formal publication plan. These days, there are many ways to publish a book. The traditional route is to work with a publishing company or an agent to shop your book around for a willing publisher—which is hard, but not impossible to do as a new writer with few connections. However, you can also consider self-publishing; if you want hard copies, you can get your book perfect bound, and if you’re more interested in a digital format, you can easily upload a file of your book to any number of digital bookstores. There’s no right or wrong approach here, but you need to have a plan in place before you finish writing.
• Motivation to write. Speaking of writing, many writers end up abandoning their ideas before they’re finished, which is a tragedy. If you don’t have a strong motivation to write, you may never finish—which means publication is going to remain a distant dream. You need to be committed to seeing your idea through, and find a way to get through those hard mental obstacles—which are inevitably going to arise.
• Commitment to editing. Finally, you’ll need to be committed to the editing process. First drafts are almost always unpublishable, so be prepared to revisit your cherished work with a discriminating eye and a willingness to let go of ideas that aren’t working.

How a MacBook Can Help
You may be skeptical that a MacBook can perform better for writers than a PC. After all, most writers use a basic word processing program and a keyboard to get the job done, occasionally calling in an internet browser for research.

But a MacBook can help you accomplish your goal in three main ways:

• Portability. MacBooks are designed with portability in mind. They’re super slim, so you can take them practically anywhere, and durable, so you don’t have to worry too much when you slip it into a laptop bag at the airport. More importantly, MacBooks have a famously long battery life, which means you can probably work for an entire day—or longer—off a single charge, without lugging your power cable to the local café or scurrying back home when the “low battery” icon comes on. That means more comfortable working hours, which will get you closer to finishing your book on schedule.
• Reliability. It may be a myth that Macs never get viruses, but there is a grain of truth to it—Macs tend to be much more resilient to malware, since they’re harder to develop malware for. Apple devices also have a reputation for lasting many years, which means you can rely on your device to work, uninterrupted, for as long as it takes you to finish your book.
• An actual motivation to write. Finally, most people who switch from using a PC to a Mac end up amazed with what a difference it makes. Subtle features, like more intuitive apps and backlit keyboards, make it much more rewarding to use the device—so writing becomes a pleasure, rather than a chore. Many new writers flake on their ideas before they’re finished, but if you’re strongly motivated to keep writing, you’ll soar past that hurdle.

A MacBook may not necessarily be able to solve all your writing woes; for example, it may not give you the spark necessary to come up with a great idea. But it should put you in striking distance of completing your goal of getting a book published. Consider using one if you’re used to PCs, and you’ll notice a completely different world of writing.

Other Topics You Might Like:

The Road to macOS Monterey: Focus How to Start Dictation With a Spoken Word in macOS (Then Take Advantage of Its Features) Tech Tip: Downloading Free Apps, Content Without Authenticating Backup Month: Your iOS Devices Need Backups, Too!