How to Write a Bestseller

One of Steven Covey's Seven Habits of Highly Successful People reads, "Begin with the end in sight." I find this applies to most all large endeavors, and why should writing a book be any different? It isn't. The end of publishing a book is selling it; and that means marketing, which requires time, energy and money. Concomitant with the marketing phase is the last half of publishing: distribution, advertising, publicity. If you don't understand the pitfalls of the publishing industry, you'll be vulnerable to nasty surprises, especially in the accounting department. Before your book is published, it goes through several stages that can leave your head spinning. The better prepared you are, the less turmoil. Even to reach those heady disorientations, convincing someone to publish your book means that it must show potential to make the publisher profits: the topic must be hot and the competition not. You discover such statistics by researching the market before you write the book. Along with that research, you'll develop a synopsis or outline proving that you have coherent and interesting ideas well-presented in compelling writing. So, here's how to write a bestseller:

* Learn everything about marketing books
* Learn about the publishing industry
* Research the market for your topic
* Prepare a synopsis or outline
* Write the book

[writing books]