Survey says… not the best idea.
It sounds so efficient—you just kick back with a voice recording app on your phone and dictate all the keys to the success you provide your clients.
But in reality, it’s not that simple.
What makes some business books bestsellers while others languish on remainder tables or barely see the light of day? Having written two New York Times bestsellers and sixteen other legitimate national bestsellers for my clients, I’ve learned a lot about what it takes to craft a book that can scale the heights of the bestseller list. I’d like to share those secrets with you now.
If only they knew.
Who are “they”?
They’re the people who decide who gets seats on major corporate boards.
Who gets to deliver top dollar keynotes at exclusive gatherings (usually in desirable locations).
Who gets chosen as the next CEO of that established enterprise, cool startup, or prominent nonprofit.
If only they knew… you.
Sometimes businesspeople who know they would benefit enormously from a book feel stymied because they don’t know how to organize or plan their book. Having planned more than 700 business books over the last 20 years, I’ve found an approach that works, and I’d like to share it with you now.
Here are my six keys to planning the ultra-successful business book.
Whom do you trust?
In our society today, trust is in short supply.
Politicians, the media, corporate America, and other major institutions all face an ongoing and severe erosion of trust. But there’s one subcategory of people in society who have perhaps even more trust than ever.
Authors.
I recognized him as soon as I entered the café he had chosen.
He was a nationally known politician. And he had destroyed his career in a highly public and deeply embarrassing manner.
Time had passed; he had learned his lessons, and his rehabilitation process had begun. Part of that process was writing a book, which was why we were meeting.
His first question to me was simple yet brilliant.
“What’s a book for?” he asked, as we settled in to our discussion.
Here’s what I told him.