The 3-part formula of successful books

There was a pizza place called Sammy’s in my home town that had this sign hung above the counter. There’s a good chance you’ve seen it before, maybe in your favorite pizza place.

That was probably an influenced when I came up with the idea below. It turns out that every other experienced editor (and probably every agent, too) has either come up with something eerily similar on their own or had it passed down by a mentor.

Here’s how it works in nonfiction publishing, especially for those broad-audience titles we refer to as “Trade” books.

You must have two

Celebrity Author

This one can almost stand alone—almost. This is the idea that if you’re a fan of Stephen King, you’re very likely to read his next book. When Michelle Obama writes another book, it’s got an automatic shot at the NYT bestseller list. But imagine Stephen King decides to write about something totally outside his normal sphere. A serious history of tube socks. His normal fans might not buy that one. It’s no longer a shoe-in.

There are big celebrities and small celebrities. The way you can tell if you are one is if everyone in the audience you’re writing to would say you are. The year before I published David Satcher’s book, I was at the annual meeting of the American Public Health Association, spending long days in the exhibit hall, talking myself hoarse about books. Dr. Satcher saw me there and came over to say hello. As soon as he stopped moving, a fascinating thing happened: a line formed. People wanted so badly to shake his hand and give him their appreciation that they formed an actual line. It took him ages to get out of there. Publishers will ask you about your “platform” and this is more or less what we’re looking for. Are you writing a book for people who will line up to hear from you?

Hot Topic

The good news is, there are a million hot topics. It all depends on having a fresh take or a revealing story to tell. In fact, even a history of tube socks could be a hot topic if it was something like How Tube Socks Caused the Fall of the Roman Empire.

This can be a hard one, because we all get so deep into our own interests that the things that seem fascinating to us might go over the heads of our audience. You’ll have to put some real thought into what it is that’s going to make your book feel like a hot topic to your reader. Be clear about that, help your editor or agent see it, and you’ll see a different level of enthusiasm.

Great Writing

Respect, adoration, career advancement, legacy. Those are things authors can earn, but not without getting this aspect right. The craft of writing is a form of workable magic. It can place ideas, beliefs, and desires into a readers mind and delight them while it does so. It’s not easy, but it is learnable. You can do it if you practice; if you read and pay attention, you can get there faster; if you learn it from someone who’s already studied it, you can get there faster still. But in any scenario, it’s going to take real effort. Great writing can turn a book about a mundane topic into something special. Bill Bryson hit it big with a book called A Walk in the Woods. Not exactly a hot topic on its face, eh? One of Malcolm Gladwell’s early hits was about Ketchup, of all things (not a book, but a good example).

There’s a generally-unspoken rubric that publishers will apply to your book, and it looks to see how many of these categories you can satisfy. If you don’t have two of them covered (any two!) you’re fighting an uphill battle. Whether you do or not is subjective, of course, and it’s up to an editor’s judgment. Is this a little cynical? Maybe. But forewarned is forearmed. Does this change the way you think about your book’s angle or audience?

Responses to the Author Club Summer Special have been great, and I’ve already got new members in nearly every available slot. Are you writing a book with a Good Cause at its heart? If you are, jump on this today to have a chance to join us in Author Club for the summer. Most of the Author Club members you’ll meet were readers of this newsletter first, and you’ll probably find that you have a lot more in common with them as well. Summer pricing is too good to pass up. You’ll fill out a short questionnaire at the link, and if you’re a good fit I will reach out to invite you.