You Have an Idea. But is it a Book? 5 Ways You Can Know for Sure.

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“Ideas are easy. It's the execution of ideas that really separates the sheep from the goats.”― Sue Grafton.

Ideas are everywhere. In the first stages of writing a book, this is a good thing, you want as many viable ideas as you can get. But then you need to narrow down the field.

Just about any idea can be a book (it's all in the execution - see Sue Grafton quote above) but an idea for a health or wellness book needs to be a solution to a problem that the reader has, whether it’s anxiety, unhappiness, diabetes, heart disease or something else. 

Your book needs to take the reader from where they are to where they want to be. 

The best ideas encapsulate the problem and the solution, can be captured in a title and sub-title, give you clarity about what you offer to the reader and get you excited about writing your book. 

Here’s how to know if your idea can be an actual book: 

1.     It’s based on your area of expertise. For example, if you’re an herbalist, your idea should be grounded in what you do with clients or patients. If you have another passion or interest this can be a book too, but you need to know the subject inside and out. You need to be an authority on the subject matter, whatever it is.

2. It’s based on the work you do with clients or patients using your method, plan or approach that gets results. Or it’s something new that you intuitively know could work for them and others.

3. Your method or plan has actionable steps that your clients or patients can use to feel better mentally, physically or spiritually (often books meld all three). In the simplest terms, a doctor could prescribe medication, exercise and diet. This alone won’t make for a very interesting book (but again, it's all in the execution!) but that’s the basic idea. Whatever your work is, it takes them from Point A (the problem) to Point B (the solution).

4. You can use your method or plan to structure a book. You introduce the problem in the intro, expand on it in Chapter 1 and use Chapters 2-15 explain each step of your program.

5. Readers can follow your program in your book and take a transformational journey. This means that by the time they've finished reading your book, they feel or see things differently. 

With a nonfiction book, the idea is where you start. Once you find out if it can go the distance, you create a Table of Contents and get writing.

If your idea won’t go the distance keep brainstorming, thinking and noodling ideas around. Sometimes, you need to try several approaches to get to where you want to be. But getting the idea right is an essential part of writing a book that works.

How do you come up with your best ideas for a book, a post or something else? Please leave a comment below.

Until Next Time! 

Contact me when you’re ready if you need:

1. A book coach to be your editorial guide, support and project manager as you write or re-write your book proposal/or book.

2. A manuscript evaluation for a big picture, smallest detail overview.

3. A developmental editor to structure your book, and make the text clear, concise, and reader friendly.