How to Choose the Right Book Idea

a man sitting at a table with a laptop computer

One of the most common challenges I hear from aspiring authors is the preponderance of ideas dancing in their heads rather than the dearth of them. I imagine that you are also facing this problem. There is this thing that happens as you begin to contemplate writing your first book, multiple ideas coming from the rainbow of experiences you have had start playing in your head. You may even feel that each idea is important, relevant and exciting.

If you, however, want your book to succeed, you cannot write every book idea that occurs to you. It doesn’t matter if your goal is to impact, increase your income, influence people through thought leadership or personal fulfilment. You must choose the right idea to succeed. Such decisions must be strategic rather than emotional. A book is an investment of your time, your credibility, and creative energy, and a wrong idea is bound to drain momentum and delay success. On the other hand, the right idea will propel you and accelerate your progress. So, how do you choose the right idea? Let me suggest a simple framework.

1. Understand Two Types of Book Ideas

You must make two clear distinctions about book ideas before you go ahead with your choice.

(a) Passion Ideas

Sometimes, ideas for books come from topics that the prospective author feels strongly about or enjoys talking about. They may be your personal story or the story of someone with whom you are acquainted. It may be a cause or an issue that you care about. For example, it may be about how to make a marriage work, how to cope with single life or good parenting. Passion fuels motivation and encourages persistence, but you need more than passion to write a book that resonates with readers.

(b) Positioning Ideas

Positioning ideas for books are those that strategically advance your life goals or public image. These are books that demonstrate your expertise, solve real-life problems for a specific audience, position you as a thought leader in an area of life or strengthen your business or personal brand.

Your book does not have to neglect your person, but positioning is equally important, and so, the books most poised for success are those driven by a combination of passion and positioning. Such ideas where passion and positioning meet will serve you and your audience; they make the strongest books.

At this stage, the question you must ask yourself is this: what idea presents the best opportunity?

2. Evaluate Your Ideas for Impact and Marketability

I hold the opinion that for an idea to be viable for a book, it must meet the following three conditions:

a. People want it: The idea must be about a topic that is in demand, something that will catch on with the people. You can convince yourself about this by ensuring that the book will solve a specific problem or problems, answer questions or satisfy a need.

b. People can benefit from it: You should be able to identify specific benefits that people can get from the book. Who will it be useful to, is it going to transform the lives of people, is it practical, educational or inspiring?

c. It positions you: Would the book contribute to your brand positively, would it boost your reputation and enhance your career or business opportunities in any way? If your idea fails on any of these points, you may find it harder to promote or sell the book when it is done.

Concerning marketability, key questions to ask yourself include whether the idea solves a real problem that people are dealing with, whether people are searching for information or talking about the topic, whether you have a unique experience, credibility and perspective, and finally, will the idea advance your long-term goals? If you cannot answer yes to most of these questions, the idea may not just be the right one, at least for now.

3. The Idea Scoring Method

You may also want to determine the strongest of the ideas you are considering by adopting a simple scoring formula where you score each idea from 1 to 5 on the following criteria:

i. Passion: How excited are you about the idea?

ii. Expertise: What level of authority or experience have you acquired on this subject?

iii. Audience Need: Do you think the ideal reader would genuinely want and benefit from the book?

iv. Market Opportunity: Is this topic in vogue? Are people spending money reading, watching or talking about the topic?

v. Business or Personal Alignment: Does the idea connect with your goals, your brand and your plans?

You then go ahead and total the scores. The idea with the highest score most certainly has the highest viability, and you should go with it, no matter how you feel. You should remember that if an idea does help someone, transform something or lead to a new perspective, it is probably the right book.

Note that you may get it wrong if you hinge your book idea on only what excites you, what you just want to say or what you think people think about. An intentional author would consider where their voice can create the most impact, the needs of readers and whether it enhances their brand and credibility.

The Outcome: Clarity and Confidence

If you take time to evaluate your ideas instead of guessing or making sentimental choices, you will have clarity and confidence about what you want to write. This is the only way not to start a project that you may not be able to sustain. When you choose the right book idea, you will commit yourself to doing it, you will write faster, finish stronger, and your book will get into the hands of the people who need it: the very place it should be.

In the end, you do not need too many ideas; you only need that one that makes an impact on someone. And I have just presented you with a simple way to find it!.

To buy my book, Every Journalist Should Write a Book. Click on this link:https://rhbooks.com.ng/product/every-journalist-should-write-a-book/