Does my non-fiction book idea have legs?

Three key questions to work out if it's a go-er or a no-er

This is the question that aspiring writers probably ask me the most:

“I have an idea for a non-fiction book - could I get it published?”

This question is not the same question as: “How do I get my book published?” - I’ll come to that in another post at a later date. This is the question you need to ask before you get to that stage - maybe even before you start writing.

It might be that you are not that bothered about getting the attention of literary agents or publishers. You may be writing solely from a place of creative fire, and unconcerned with whether or not your book could be considered publication-worthy. If so, that’s fine! But if you want to write a book that is a potential commercial success, you need to ask yourself the following three key questions:

Has somebody already written this book?

It may sound obvious but it’s happened to me quite often that someone has told me about their book idea and I’ve had a quick look online later and found several versions of it already in print. It’s also happened to me that I’ve had the best book idea ever at 3am and then discovered by 4am that someone’s already pipped me to the post. You need to have a search both on google and on a book site like Amazon to see if your book already exists. Brace yourself for disappointment - there are 25 million books on Amazon so it’s pretty bloody likely that a version of your book is already out there.

But if you discover the same or very similar book has already been written, don’t despair. Use this as a research opportunity. When did it come out? How is it selling? (you can see the sales rank of all books on their Amazon listing as a gauge). What do the reviews say? Who published it? Is it still in print?

The answer to all of these questions may tell you a bit more about the potential or otherwise of your own book. It may be that your book can still offer something new and fresh that the existing book does not.

What titles are similar to it?

You may find that nobody has written your exact book idea - yay! But I think there is a paradox at work in that similar books, sometimes called ‘competing titles’, both show there is a market for your book at the same time as potentially undermining that market! Ideally, you want to be able to show agents and publishers that there is a market for this kind of book, but that your title will be a shining star in that market.

What makes my book unique?

Finally, what is the ‘USP’ (unique selling point) that makes your book unique and special? There has to be a USP or it’s not going to work. Want to write a book about pottery? That’s great but there are lots of those! Want to write a book about making pots with clay you’ve dug yourself? Now that’s unique! (Actually it isn’t, there is already one on Amazon, I just looked. Keep thinking!).

Once you have researched and thought more about the 3 key questions:

• Does my book already exist?

• What similar books exist and prove the market?

• How will my book stand out in that market (what’s the USP)?

you will have a much clearer idea of whether your book idea has legs.

And at this point, it’s a great idea to try and focus your mind further by writing an ‘elevator pitch’. Imagine you are stuck in the lift all the way up to floor 45 with the Commissioning Editor of your dream publisher. You have about 90 seconds to convince them that THIS IS THE BOOK. Summarise it as clearly as you possibly can. You can also think about this exercise as ‘writing the blurb’, if the idea of being stuck in a lift with Someone Important makes your palms go a bit sweaty. Imagine you have to write the 3 or 4 sentence blurb on the back cover, the bit that convinces the punter in the bookshop that they need your book in their life.

“Love making pots but want to take it to the next level? This book will show you how, with step by step instructions on how to dig and process your own clay from your local area, make unique slips and glazes, and even decorate your pots with your own chest hair.”

You know the kind of thing.

If you’re a paid subscriber, you can leave your elevator pitch or blurb in the comments below! Feel free to give feedback on each other’s book ideas. See you next time x