Not long ago, someone who who knows I
write and ghost books asked me, "Where do you get your ideas for books?"
It's a common enough question; non-writers seem to think there's a magic
formula for developing salable ideas.
Good Ideas
for Books Are Everywhere
My experience tells me it's easy to find
ideas. Ideas are everywhere - the hard part is honing them into something
salable. This is particularly true of books.
For instance, probably because I live
alone, or almost alone, I spend time talking with my cat, MzTiz. I put
words in her mouth, and once and awhile something that sounds fairly wise
shows up. I finally opened a file and started collecting those gems.
Does the world need another cat book?
Probably not. Do they sell? You bet they do. Will I ever get a book
together on this? I suspect I will, but that's not the point. The point is
it the idea was floating around in my brain long before I started writing.
Or take my book,
Powerfully Recovered:
A Confirmed 12 Stepper Challenges The Movement. That book grew out of
dissatisfaction I was experiencing at some 12 Step meetings I attend. The
book is still selling and I get emails thanking me for it.
A friend and client of mine developed a
sustainable way of milling lumber - we wrote a book about it. It's called
I-kology.
I just finished ghosting a book that
takes on the myths of making money in the stock market.
I'm working with another client who wants
a book on a particular kind of cat. Another client wants to both tell his
story and transform the way the Veterans Administration handles appeals.
Each of these books comes out of the
author's experience.
The Best Book Writing
Ideas Are Part Of Your Life
You need only look at your own life to
find good ideas for a book or two. What bugs you? What new solution to an
old problem have you discovered? What do you believe in? What do you want
to change in the world? What do you most love?
Any and all of these can become solid
ideas for a book.
How do you know if
you've got a good book idea?
How do you know if you've got a good book
idea? The first clue is probably how you feel about it.
If you're not excited about it, you won't
have what it takes to sustain getting the book written. Another clue is
how long you stay excited. If the idea pops up today and is gone tomorrow,
it probably isn't for you to write a book about.
On the other hand, if your idea has been
kicking around your head for awhile, you may be on to something. Start
writing down some ideas and see what surfaces.
Not all ideas are good ones... or maybe
they are good ones for someone else. Think about who would benefit from
reading your book - if you find yourself saying "everyone," you need to
refine your thinking.
Let your mind burble over with ideas.
Don't reject them until you've had time to work with them a bit; you can
hold an amazing number of ideas in suspension by writing them down. Some
of your ideas will be gems, absolutely perfect for you. And one of them is
likely to be perfect for a book.
