It’s time to find the best information for your book. You need information, facts, stories, and more that will “wow” your reader. The great news is that good research can happen very quickly.

I'm very aware that "research" is not a very sexy topic. In fact, it might be the case that you'd rather do anything else but research. But you’re reading this in the hopes that I could help you get past this dreadful task successfully.

That's exactly what I aim to do – I also aim to make research fun. There's no reason to dread research – it can even be exciting because you can quickly gather the very best information just by using the web.

I want to make it clear, once again, that good research doesn't have to take a long time. If I say it enough, you’ll believe me, right? You certainly don't have to spend months or even years on it. When many people think about research, they picture themselves surrounded by books that they have to dig through for hours, weeks, and months. You can actually do effective research in just minutes. The trick is that you have to know where to look.

Part of the problem is that people think they have to read everything they can get their hands on as soon as they start researching a topic. That's not the case at all. In fact, that is an extremely inefficient strategy. What you really should be doing is only researching what is directly relevant to your topic. Take that a step further – you should only be researching and reading what is directly relevant to the book you're writing right now.

Of course, you do need a general knowledge of your topic to get started with. You have all the time in the world, your entire life in fact, to learn the other parts of your topic.

Many people get an idea for a book and are gung ho to write it at first, but then they get mired in the research. They read this and read that... And they read every single word of this and that. That just slows you down and makes you very inefficient.

Some people believe that you can't possibly write an excellent book if you don't know everything about a topic. They believe that you're not a true expert, in that case. Those people are very wrong. For one thing, no one knows everything about a topic.

For another thing, it's so much better for you to have an in-depth knowledge of the exact topic you're focused on than it is to follow all the rabbit trails to know everything there is to know about it. Specialized knowledge is often better than general knowledge.

Again, give yourself the background knowledge overview, but then focus more of your energy on the specifics. Ideally, you already have a very specific idea for your book. So it makes sense then to very specifically research only the exact topics you plan to write about.

You couldn’t get through all of the research out there even if you tried. The thought of doing that is what scares many people away from researching and writing. It doesn’t have to be like that. Focus, research faster, pull out the best, highest quality information, and wow your readers. Cite your sources, add your unique insight, and you’ve got a great book on your hands.

Learn to scan and skim what you read. Only pull out the most important points. Learn to be quick and efficient as a researcher – that's what you have to do as a prolific writer.

I think you'll find that if you follow this method then you’ll end up knowing more about your topic over time than most of the other experts out there. Your books will also be better because they’ll be so much more tightly focused.

If you tend to be a perfectionist, then this advice is particularly applicable to you. You can't be perfect – not in your research nor your writing. Focus, focus, focus. Focus on quality and the specifics of what you need and get it done.

Find and use the research you need and leave the rest. Scan and skim through, only focusing on the most directly relevant points.