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How to Develop Your Best-Selling Book Idea

Guest post by: Melinda Copp

Article Overview: Everyone has at least one book in them-I firmly believe that. But bookstore shelves are packed with titles, all competing for readers’ attention. So how can you tell if your book idea is ready for the competitive publishing business?

How to Develop Your Best-Selling Book Idea

Everyone has at least one book in them-I firmly believe that. But bookstore shelves are packed with titles, all competing for readers' attention. So how can you tell if your book idea is ready for the competitive publishing business? The key is to target your market and zero in on an unfilled need. Because, yes, the shelves are packed with books-but trust me, there's plenty of room for you and your book, as long as you can shape your idea into a winning concept. You can use the following strategies to help hone your book idea.

Define Your Book's Purpose in One Concise Statement

You've probably heard of an elevator speech-an intriguing statement about what you do that can be delivered in about a minute. Your book needs one of those, too-a brief, one-sentence statement of the book topic and big-picture benefit readers will gain from it.

Consider your book's topic. What is your book really about? How will your book benefit your readers? What problems will it solve? If you want to write a creative work, what impact will your story have on your readers?

Be as specific as possible, such as, "My book will help people live within their means and eliminate credit card debt for good." Distilling your book topic and benefits into one concise statement will give your book the direction it needs to stand out.

Define Your Target Audience

As a writer, the most important person in your professional life is your reader. You have to know your audience, their concerns, their challenges, and their needs. So think about who you're writing your book for. Who needs/wants the information in your book?

Keep in mind that you can't be all things to all people, so "everyone" is not an appropriate audience. You need to target a specific market with a specific need that you know how to fill. Going back to the previous example, if you're writing a book about how to live within your means, your audience is people who are carrying significant credit card or "bad" debt. This is still a huge audience, but it isn't "everyone."

Regardless of what topic you plan to write about, you should take time to get a sense of the market. Consider how well books on topics similar to yours have sold in the past, and talk to your clients about whether or not they would buy the book you're thinking about writing. Writing according to market demands will only help your book sell.

Know Your Competition, and Say Something New

If you know what's been written about your topic, then you'll know how to write it better. To find out what books yours will be competing with, go to Amazon.com and search your book topic. What titles come up? Have your read these titles? What will make your book different? How is your book better? What gives your book an edge over the others? Also consider reading a few of the titles-if not all-just to see how the other authors handled the material.

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Article Tags: book coaching, book writing help, write a best selling book, write a book, writing coach



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My reading log - Hi OmnivoreInk, Before starting my business, I read the following books as research: -"The Art of the Start" by Guy Kawasaki -"The AdSense Code" by Joel Comm -"Don't Think Pink" and "Mind Your X's and Y's" by Lisa Johnson And since then I've continued my "research" by reading (in this order): -"Technical Tennis" by Rod Cross -"For One More Day" by Mitch Albom -"The Twits" by Roald Dahl -"Little Black Book of Connections" by Jeffrey Gitomer -"The Secret" by Rhonda Byrne -"The Profitable Retailer" by Doug Fleener -"Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell -"Little Gold Book of YES! Attitude" by Jeffrey Gitomer -"The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian" by C.S. Lewis -"Little Green Book of Getting Your Way" by Jeffrey Gitomer -"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling And I'm currently reading and am in the process of finishing the following: -"There's No Such Thing as Public Speaking" by Jeanette and Roy Henderson -"The Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell -"The Book of Tells" by Peter Collett -"Little Red Book of Sales Answers" by Jeffrey Gitomer -"Chocolates on the Pillow Aren't Enough: Reinventing The Customer Experience" by Jonathan M. Tisch -"The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity" by Julia Cameron -"The Inner Game of Tennis" by Timothy Gallwey
My entry - 1. The Best Business Books Ever: The 100 Most Influential Business Books You'll Never Have Time to Read - this is a fascinating book about the history of Business theory, and I'd recommend it to anybody. 2. The Big Book of Small Business: You Don't Have to Run Your Business by the Seat of Your Pants, by Tom Gegax. Ditto. 3. PADI: The Business of Diving Book Okay, so this book won't be of use to anyone who doesn't want to start a scuba store, but I did, and this book was of course invaluable to me in reaching that goal.
Re: 15 Ways You Can Look Amazing on LinkedIn - Great Idea Trent, We can all help each other, regards, Mal.
And This is Handy Too! - [quote:31wl64vf]Develop Fingerprints! Place a small wad of cotton, saturated with tincture of iodine, in a glass tube; blow against suspected fingerprints, and they will appear. [/quote:31wl64vf] Must be of use to all you entrepreneurs out there!
Magnetic Ads - Biz Idea - Attn Young Entrepreneurs looking for a Business Idea. This came to me while sitting in Traffic for about 1 hour while looking and laughing at ridiculous bumper stickers. Note: this idea is rough but will help get the idea-momentum going. Idea: Sell advertising on the back of cars in the form of reusable magnetic signs (about the length of 2 or 3 bumper stickers) Most people shouldn't have reservations to participating if they get a cut of the monthly fee you charge the company advertising and it doesn't hurt their car. An example of a Magnetic Ad: Geico: I saved 15% on my Car Insurance. Call 1-800-U-SAVE-15 You don't have to pay the cost associated with creating the Magnetic Ad because you will advise the company that this belongs to them and you can get them in touch with someone who created reusable magnets. So your basically managing two sides: 1. Company's that want to advertise 2. People in your neighborhood (to start) who will put the ads on their car. Bigger cars can have more than one ad. Happy Money Making!


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