It is wasteful and ill-considered to write a nonfiction book without considering the competitive landscape. The people who read your book or are considering publishing it have likely already encountered competing books with a similar message for the same audience. You need to know how your book will fit in and how it will stand…
You should make friends with authors who write in the same sphere as you, even if your approaches differ or your books compete. Why? Because readers of competing books are far more likely to want to read yours — and because together, you’ll be defining a perspective worth considering and publicizing. And, of course, because…
Building a book is a major undertaking. At the start, it seems like anything is possible (and it is). But as you close in on completing it, challenges lurk — problems that can cost you time and energy and eat into your success. Here’s an incomplete list of the unsuspected land mines that can blow…
When you spot a book online or in a bookstore, is it actually popular? That’s a much harder question to answer than you might imagine. And if the author is writing in your topic area, you need to know how much influence they have. Here’s a list of ways that you can evaluate if a…
Every book proposal includes “comps” — competing books. You need to show the potential publisher that you know what other books are out there and how you can differentiate your book from other similar books. Why you need comps There are three reasons to include comps in your proposal. Show you know your market and…