I saw a Google Alert with this heading this morning and followed the link. Someone had posted to a board that they thought they’d write a book on the subject of their interest. And it got me to thinking about the vast number of people who write books just because they know something about a particular subject.
Yes, I’m aware that professionals (including myself) recommend that you write about what you know. But if you’re considering a book, it should also be something that a large segment of others are interested in. If you don’t have an eager audience for your subject matter, your idea probably isn’t a good one.
The very next thing that should come after the, “I think I’ll write a book about…” statement is a book proposal. Generally, I recommend that hopeful authors study the publishing industry first—but, in a case where you have a specific book in mind and a burning desire to write it, you really need to take the steps to find out if this is actually a good idea or not. A serious and honest approach to a complete book proposal will tell you. It may show you that you’re on the right track with this idea, or that it is a way too common topic and approach—that it is overdone—or it might convince you to change your focus before moving forward with it.
Unless you are so involved in the topic that you know for a fact what readers want—what they are asking for—and you have a unique and salable way to approach it, you will need to develop a book proposal to find out. If you don’t enter the publishing arena fully aware of a need for your particular book, you may miss your mark and contribute, yet, another book destined to fail.
Once you have a clear idea as to whether there is a need/desire for this book and an audience, THEN study the publishing industry to find out how it works, what your options are, what are the possible consequences of your choices and what your responsibility as a published author are. You will need to know something about the craft of writing, the various types of publishers out there now, book promotion, distributors, online booksellers and so much more.
How do you get this knowledge? Books, magazines/newsletters, conferences, writers’ group meetings, and so forth—lots of them. I would suggest spending several months completely enmeshed in study before taking any steps to move forward with your project. I recommend my book, The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book as a good starting place for your study.
Next, if you haven’t done so already, write a book proposal. Then, devise a plan. That is, after an extensive study and, with a complete book proposal in hand.
Maybe you have discovered your niche market and you realize that there are a couple of publishers who produce books within that market and you’d like to go with them. In the meantime, you will work to build your platform and create a workshop and a workbook around the theme of your proposed book. I’d even suggest testing the workshop locally before putting your time, energy and money into the book. Let your potential audience help you to most accurately focus your book content.
Perhaps you want to write a series of mysteries. This is a solid genre. But are you good enough to enter into it? After doing your study, you might decide to start submitting short stories to appropriate magazines and newsletters in order to test your abilities and to start building your platform (following).
Or you might have an idea for a spiral-bound how-to book on fun garden projects for homeschooled children. Each page might include a seed packet and you may consider packaging the book with child-size garden gloves. In order to have full control, you may decide to produce this project yourself through your own company.
Don’t make the mistake that so many authors make by writing a book on a whim. Whims are okay, but only if they are followed up by solid study, in-depth research and informed decisions.
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