Marketable Nonfiction Books

Many people are capable of writing a book, but will it be a book that has something significant to say, and will it be marketable—can it be profitably sold to a large enough audience?

It would take a crystal ball to answer this question right 100 percent of the time. Some books catch on that professional book-watchers would never predict, and others don’t. You can count on the bell curve: Write the most saleable book you can—given what you know about the audience and the book market—and then let the readers have their say. Revise as necessary.

Many authors have developed their ideas over time out of their work with individual or corporate clients. Other authors develop their ideas alone by writing them, thinking about them, and rewriting them.

Whatever your style, you really don’t know whether your ideas will be widely accepted or at least interest a large group of people until you test them. One of the critical mistakes made by authors is to think that because family, friends, and a small group of clients admire your work that such support will translate to a wide public acceptance.

It can be hard for writers to see their ideas clearly, so starting with a blog or ezines articles is a good way to get some coaching and an outside perspective. You can write about more than one topic in a book, and some ideas may lend themselves better to shorter articles than books. Go with your strongest ideas first, and write what you are passionate about.

Authors want to get their books noticed by the media who they hope will spread the word to potential buyers and readers. Make your book as media-friendly and accessible as possible with short, lively sentences, along with lists and bulleted items so that they can easily quote from a section of your book.