Authors are writers and writers are creative beings. Thus, authors sometimes take extreme liberties in designing the books they write. <\/p>\n
Think about the various styles you\u2019ve encountered in books\u2014narrative, character-driven, illustrated, instructional, interactive, handwritten, as-told-to, first person and collaborations\/anthologies. There are stories told through poetry, vignettes, photographs, journals, cartoons\/graphics and recipes. There are workbooks, picture books, how-to books, books with texture, 3-D books, scratch and sniff pages in books and oh, so many others. How about a book where the story is told from the end to the beginning? There are books for children of all ages, young adults, young women, seniors, grandparents, parents, men, alcoholics, diabetics, over-weight people, pet owners, fitness addicts and so forth.<\/p>\n
And I can assure you that no matter what writing or book style you have in mind, there are others out there like it. <\/p>\n
I\u2019ve been told by authors, \u201cThere is nothing out there like this book.\u201d And I\u2019ve gone on line and found something not just close to it, but exactly like it\u2014a memoir told using German recipes, for example. <\/p>\n
I always, always recommend to my clients and students that, before they complete their wonderful books, whether it is unique in style or not, they must read other books like it. I suggest that they study these books inside out, from cover to cover and including the cover, before finalizing their own projects. <\/p>\n
If you write young adult novels, you must become familiar with that genre. If you want to write a how-to or self-help book, please read several on your topic and other topics to discover what works and what doesn\u2019t\u2014what aspects you like and which ones you don\u2019t. While you\u2019re at it, consult with your friends\/colleagues as to the features and elements they prefer in a book like this. And find out which books are selling. While Amazon isn\u2019t the last word in book sales, you can get an idea of its popularity by checking its Amazon ranking.<\/p>\n
Before you get attached to a unique, ultra-creative way of presenting your story or message, please do some research. Make sure your idea isn\u2019t so far out that it will interfere with book sales. Maybe you see great promise for a book with a huge, colorful wire binding. Yes, it might look really cool, but without a spine, bookstores might not stock your book. Librarians will reject it. It may be awkward to ship. I once had a recipe book bound with a spiral, but it also had a wrap around spine. The design was almost perfect, except for one thing: it didn\u2019t ship well. The spine was a little flimsy\u2014there was no support other than the wire spiral\u2014and it was easily crushed when shipped. I learned how to pack the books for successful shipping. But, when a bookstore or a distributor returned books, most of them had crushed spines\u2014they were damaged goods.<\/p>\n
So, my message today is, you are not an island. You are unique\u2014yes you are\u2014but your book project may not be. Check to see what else is out there like your book and discover what actually works and what doesn\u2019t. If your book idea is unique\u2014there is nothing else out there like it\u2014you need to reassess whether or not this is actually a good idea. Why hasn\u2019t this been done before? Maybe there is a good and valid reason.<\/p>\n
Tip: If you go to the bookstore in search of a book like yours and you can\u2019t find anything like it, define the area where your book would be stocked and study books on those shelves. If you\u2019re not sure where your book would be, ask at the information desk where you would find a book on growing exotic plants in window boxes, cooking romantically for two, Mexican family traditions or grooming tools for various types of cat fur. There may not be a book exactly like yours in the bookstore, but the people at the information desk can tell you where that book would be stocked. That\u2019s where you go to study other books in your topic\/genre.<\/p>\n
For more about researching your competition, defining your genre, choosing a style for your book and more, read my book, The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book Authors are writers and writers are creative beings. Thus, authors sometimes take extreme liberties in designing the books they write. Think about the various styles you\u2019ve encountered in books\u2014narrative, character-driven, illustrated, instructional, interactive, handwritten, as-told-to, first person and collaborations\/anthologies. There are stories told through poetry, vignettes, photographs, journals, cartoons\/graphics and recipes. There are workbooks, picture […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3,4],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t
\n<\/em><\/strong>. http:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/rightway.html<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"