Booklet Ideas

I started to list possible How To booklet ideas on my
On Writing 2 blog. So far, there are more than 100 ideas. I'll aim for 300 ideas. The sources of these ideas are my life experiences, what I already know, what I want to know or who I might know is already an expert on a topic.

This is a lot of work. When I have 300 topics, I'll sort according to my interests and start with the top 100. I'll write an outline:

• why someone would want to read my booklet (very detailed) and the booklet's implied promise to the reader
• what I want to cover (determine if one booklet or a series is more appropriate)
• how I envision the layout - rough outline
• where I plan to find the information (as complete as possible)
• when I can realistically start and finish
• who can help me or where to look for experts

An I missing something? Probably. However, I will continue to add to this outline as my thoughts get clearer.

If the booklets are 100 pages, is it safe to assume each page would be 250 words? So, is a booklet around 25,000 words? That does not seem like enough words to convey so much information. Actually, it would be less because I would hope to add drawings, pictures and other graphics. Let's say, in total, I would have 20 pages of non-words. So, that would leave my with 20,000 words.

Maybe this is where I need to further hone my writing skills. It should not take me more than 20,000 words to explain how to do something. If it did, perhaps I am trying to cover too much territory in a booklet. Maybe, there should be a series.

I wanted to produce clear, concise informative booklets on any number of topics. Oop's, I am jumping the gun here. Depending upon how I bind the booklet, I think there are specific number of pages that should be included. The numbers 128 and 144 jump into my mind.

My information is dated. I shall have to research this. In addition, I plan to Print-On-Demand (POD). I am not sure the POD's impact to a booklet's optimal number of pages.

I guess I should just start on the topics that I am most interested. I would research them anyway ... might as well have a focus and a plan to follow.