You’re an aspiring author and you believe you have a brilliant book topic idea.
The key question is, does anyone else love your book topic?
Writing a successful book can become a reality but there are some golden rules when it comes to choosing your book topic.
More so, there are 3 book topic mistakes that we at Happy Self Publishing see many first time authors make.Let me share what the 3 book topic mistakes are so that I can help you to avoid making them!
Mistake #1: Don’t Base The Entire Book On Your Life Story
The hard truth is that most people are not interested in hearing your life story.
Unless you are a celebrity or well-known personality, people really don’t want to read an entire book based on your life experiences. It’s therefore critical that you don’t write an autobiography.
Instead, repackage your story into something that can be of value to the reader. Do use key events from your life, but use your life experiences to form the book’s narrative so readers can relate to what you’re writing about.
If we take an example of an author wanting to write about their journey through cancer, they could repackage it into something that’s of value by talking about how people with cancer can learn from their experiences. By opening it up, they will appeal to more people and the book becomes of more interest.
Mistake #2: Don’t Choose A Book Topic That Is Irrelevant To You & Your Life
Be careful not to choose something that’s irrelevant to your life.
With first time authors in particular, I think it’s important to not write your first book as a hobby – and instead take it more seriously and try to align it with what you’re currently doing in life.
There’s nothing wrong with choosing a topic that’s not your core business strength, but what you need is a business idea or a strategy behind your topic.
You should choose a book topic that will help to grow your personal brand and attract potential new clients. After all, writing a book requires a lot of time and effort, so try to align that with a business outcome.
If you decide to write a book on a different topic, have a business intention behind it. For example, an online community, a speaking career, online courses or consultancy services
Mistake # 3: Don’t Make Your Book Too General & Too Broad
Too many book ideas have great content, but lack specialism.
People want specific solutions to specific problems. The more niche and narrow your book topic is, the more likely you are going to stand out and attract readers.
For example, if I want to learn about the paleo diet for vegetarians, I’m less likely to choose a book called ‘Everything You Need To Know About Dieting’ and I’m far more likely to pick up a book called ‘The Paleo Diet For Vegetarians’.
If you have a very broad book topic idea, think about how you could break it down into, for example, 10 separate topics. Choose one and write a book about that, and then further down the line you have 9 more book topic ideas to work with as well.
To Conclude
When deciding on your book topic, always consider from the perspective of the reader, they will always ask themselves ‘what’s in it for me’. Make sure your book topic very clearly provides a solid answer to that question.
If you would like to discuss your book topic idea with me then please go ahead and schedule a strategy call, I’d love to help www.happyselfpublishing.com/scheduler
