[Tipster] Why Would Someone Want to Read Your Book?

Each of us writes for a variety of reasons.

Some write to work out their pain. Others write as a creative outlet. Still others write to promote their business or nonprofit. The noble among us may even write because "we have to" - it's an unquenchable fire that rages within.

What is your reason for writing?

Whatever your answer, if you want to write for more than your mum, your children, and the sister that you still talk to - you need to ask yourself this question:

Why would someone want to read my book?

A friend recently was asked to conduct a developmental edit of a memoir written by a woman whose brother died in a car accident on the train tracks near her home.

The story had pain. The story relayed her journey in and out of depression.

But, my friend (a professional editor) said, "The writing simply wasn't compelling."

That's because the writer had not asked the question, "What makes my story interesting to someone other than me and my family who experienced the loss?"

Here are the two vectoring questions when deciding to write a book, any kind of book:

• Why would someone pay $19.95 to read 250 pages of my story?
• Why would someone who just read my book gush to her friend, "You just have to read this book! It changed my life."

 Bummer or a Well-Told Story

A lawyer who once defended victims in tragic accidents told me that the majority of the people who want to sue for a tragic loss don't have a strong case.

"What they have," he said, "is a bummer. They don't have a lawsuit."

This is so hard to write, but suffering alone doesn't make for a great memoir. Your brother dying (and your coming to terms with the tragic loss) is a bummer. But it's not a memoir.

Suffering is everywhere. (And I don't at all mean to make light of any loss.)

To put it less crassly, your success in business or approach to leadership isn't a good reason to write a book.

And your idea for a novel about an entrepreneur who had to raid garbage cans simply to survive growing up and then became a billionaire isn't necessarily compelling.

Every commercially viable book idea must be filtered through the question: Why would someone read my book?

Obviously, celebrity books tend to break this rule.

For prurient reasons mostly, the masses will consume anything written on the Royal Family or Tom Cruise.

But your book?

Why would someone read your book?

I don't think you can answer this question in one sitting. I think the question should be the noise in your head during the entire time you work on the book.

Now buckle up and write.

Dave Goetz
Co-Founder