How to Write a Bestselling Book?

Want your book to be a best selling novel?

You are not alone. Most writers would like to see their book on the best-sellers list. The best part is that it is doable, as Amish Tripathi and Chetan Bhagat realised and worked towards it. Writing a best selling book does not start and end with writing the book but stretches on both sides, what one does before beginning to write and once writing is completed.

While most of the advice is focused on the do’s and don’ts of writing, little is being said about the crucial days before one starts to pen a manuscript. Since a writer does not focus on the crucial part of working on pre-writing steps, the final impact the book gets affected. This blog will take you through critical steps in writing a best-selling book – pre-writing, writing, publishing, and marketing your book and also give you facts to help you with your book. If you can focus on these steps, VOILA!

Revv Up Your Writing – to write a best-selling novel book

  • Start on your book writing journey with a solid writing skill under your belt. Writing skills can be built with practice. Does good writing mean using big, obscure words to impress the reader? Instead, focus on using words to UNFOLD your story, simply with clear meaning and a sense of anticipation for the reader. You can also take the help of various writing apps to tell your story too.

Use the active voice. This will create a more powerful story and help keep your readers interested. Avoid passive verb tense, such as “was hit by” or “were killed.” Use strong, active verbs instead, such as “he hit” or “she killed.”

  • Decide the genre. Should you decide the genre according to the market trends or write on topics, you have little interest in or knowledge about only because they are trending?

Instead, consider writing in a genre you are comfortable with and choose a trending subgenre. For example, if you are a passionate storyteller choose to write a fiction book, look at trending subgenres like fantasy fiction.

  • Next, consider writing in a language you have the best command over. English can be your language if one has a good grip on it, not because it is the trending language in business. After all writing is all about expressing your creative ideas or knowledge. The more comfortable you are in a language better you can convey your thoughts in words.

Your writing foundation is now laid and the writing journey can start.

Type of books readers prefer to read

Put your Writing in Gear – to write a best selling novel

Follow the best tips and practices for writing a book. We layout the broad points and you can click on any of them for a deeper understanding. Before setting out consider what you are going to give the reader through your book – information, inspiration, entertainment or all three. Will your book be ready for the reader and what does it aim to provide the reader with?

This may seem obvious, but it’s a common mistake that new writers make. You might have the best premise and characters, but the storytelling matters. Take time to plan your plot – twists, reveals, endings – so that your writing choices feel real to the reader, rather than ones created to offer random shock value.

If you are writing fiction for college students, research the kind of language they use and their behaviour, so the book feels real to the reader.

  • Developing memorable characters

Making your characters perfect is a deceptive trap. It might seem like the best way to make them likeable, but your characters need to be well-rounded. To make them realistic, they have to have flaws and desires.

Dialogues are a must for every book because a book with conversations attracts readers. If a novel doesn’t have dialogues, a reader won’t think twice before putting the book down because without conversation, it’s not even a story, it’s a mere description of situations, events and people.

If you are a first-time writer, this question will affect the way you write too! First-time writers have a more challenging time getting published. One of the factors that can make this process easier is writing a compact book, a story that is not too long and not too short. But how does one decide what is too long? How many pages should a book have?

When you’re nearing your manuscript’s completion, you feel an urge to hand over the completed work to someone and seek their feedback. Even when you are still working on your script, you may want to pause a bit and take feedback on the work-in-progress. You need to know what is working for you and what is not. Receiving direct advice is a great way to address issues and understand what your content lacks.

Your journey is not over yet. But you have reached a crucial juncture. The next important step is choosing which form you would like to publish your book and the type of publishing that suits you.

Where to Find your readers

Gather Steam- Publishing a best seller

Your book can be published in the following forms.

A book can be published using any of the three publishing platforms –

No matter which publishing type of publishing you choose, remember to keep the following factors in mind:

An attractive book cover and title can make or break your book. Spend time on these two essential pieces representing your book to potential buyers. The editor can help you with the first and a professional cover designer with the next.

Choose a good and catchy title for your book. It should be able to communicate your book’s genre, mood, and tone. The title should be attention-grabbing and appealing.

The importance of a synopsis that holds the reader’s attention is that it tells the reader- what the book is about and points to how well a story may be written.

A book’s price should be such that it is suited to the genre of the book and also earns a decent royalty for the author. Many well-written books fizzle out because the writer decided to get greedy and price them too high. It is especially true for fiction books.

Targeted distribution to wherever your readers are. Suppose a book for pregnant mothers is written and made available at a gynaecologist’s clinic, hospitals, and preschool. It would be within reach and notice of a mother who needs it, hence the likelihood of soaring sales.

Encouraging book sales and keeping a record of book sales. Both distribution and marketing will go hand in hand to promote book sales. Keeping a record of book sales lets you know in which season the demand for your book rises. You can focus your energies on increased advertising and other marketing elements during that period and keep more extensive stock.

What readers are looking for in a book

Cruise Control – steady, persistent marketing

How well can an author market their book?

The first step for an author would be to get a broad idea about marketing. Often sales and marketing are used interchangeably. Marketing is distinct from sales and distribution. Marketing includes a wide range of activities that help announce to the reader that your book is out there in the market and why they should buy it. From the minor activity of posting a photo of your book, and mentioning your book to your contacts/colleagues to a much broader or more intense activity like organising a book launch, and advertising your book release in print media all come under marketing.

Marketing aims to understand what a reader wants from a book and use this learning to design strategies to tell the reader that what they want is in this book. The use of the book to the reader. Social media strategies to sell books are immensely popular with authors as they are affordable and within reach of most authors.

Two factors for marketing that need to be kept in mind are consistency, persistence and tweaking your campaigns to suit your audience.

When should i start to market a book

Enjoy the Drive – on the route to a best-seller

Though we have tried to be as comprehensive as possible in providing highlights of what needs to be done to out sell your book but there are several nuances that one understands after repeatedly reading about them. So we suggest re-read this piece and others pieces on writing and read as many books in the genre you want to write in, as possible. All the best for your drive ahead.