Have a clear focus

The easiest books to market are those with a very clear purpose or message that can easily be described. We regularly ask authors to sum up the key message of their book in no more than 100 words. It’s a good exercise to do because it forces authors to focus on the core message and crystallise it. If you struggle to describe the central theme of your book in 100 words, then it probably means you are trying to address too many issues.

There are what we call “soft focus” and “sharp focus” books. Soft focus books take a broad topic and then look at a number of themes around it. Inevitably, each topic is covered quite superficially. Aim to write a sharp focus book. E.g. one that takes a single theme or aspect of something and examines it thoroughly.