Does Your Book Idea Fill an Empty Spot on the Shelf?

The other day a potential client asked me what I thought about her book idea. She said, “The book I want to write is just like all the books I read.”

Hmmm. That could be good or it could be bad.

If lot’s of books exist on your topic and have been written in a similar format, that means readers exist for those types of books. Publishers keep publishing books “just like” those books. However, for each one of those books to make it onto a bookstore shelf, it had to fill an empty spot on the shelf–a hole. It had to offer something unique that none of the other books offered.

So, if you want to write a book just like the books you like to read, ask yourself, “Does my idea have something new to offer? Will my book fill an empty spot on the bookstore shelf? Will my book be similar to successful books in its niche but unique at the same time?”

If you can answer “yes” to these questions, you very well may have an book idea worth pursuing.