“Is this book any good?”

This is a nonfiction author’s favorite question. As an editor, I’m often the first person to read an author’s drafts. And they inevitably want to know “Is this book any good?”

I’ll tell you a couple of secrets:

1. Don’t ask your developmental editor or coach. The editor only has two possible answers: Yes, it’s great and just needs a few improvements, or Yes, it has some problems but once they’re fixed it will be good. The editor is not going to say “No,” because at that point, why would you pay to get it edited?
2. You don’t need an editor to answer this question: nearly any reader could answer it.

How to answer “Is this book any good?”

Fixing books is hard. But evaluating them is easy. You could answer the question “Is this book any good” by assessing the audience, the problem it purports to solve, the freshness of the idea, and on and on through all the elements of making a good book.

But it basically comes down to this:

• Is it interesting, or even better, entertaining?
• Does it hang together logically?
• Is it credible?
• Does it help people?

Interesting, well-constructed, credible, helpful books make a positive impression. You can spot them right away. And for those books, the answer is “Yes, it’s good.” Any other problems it has are solvable.

Boring books are not good. Disorganized books, ditto. Books that lack credibility will alienate their audience. Books with no takeaways for readers aren’t much use.

Almost anyone can answer these questions. Lay readers won’t know how to make the book better, but they can certainly tell if it seems “good” by these criteria.

What about you, the author? Can you improve the book on these dimensions? Going in reverse order:

• If it isn’t helpful enough, add some advice.
• If it isn’t credible enough, gather evidence.
• If it isn’t hanging together logically, reorganize it into a logical sequence.
• If it isn’t interesting, add some stories or outrageous ideas.

There’s one more thing, though. Authors know how to organize content into a compelling narrative.

I’m not sure that can be taught.

But without it, the answer to “Is this book any good” is going to be “No.” And fixing it is going to require a ghostwriter.