Publisher Reveals What Makes a Book Successful

Michael Hyatt, CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers, said too many books are being published (300,000 last year, around 700 by his company) and that we don’t need more books, we need better books. He says that they are able to predict fairly accurately which books will make it and which will not. In fact, they’ve been 95% accurate about which titles will do well.

So what makes an author successful?  “[Successful books] are typically written by known authors or from authors who at least have media platforms and can help us promote them,” Hyatt says.

There you go again–platform. Will they take a risk on new authors? Yes, if the books are “exceptionally well written.” And, of course, if the author has a platform.

Hyatt says Nelson is going to cut 50% of their new title output. That means it’s going to get even more difficult to get published this way. I’m sure they’re not the only ones taking this stance (because I know so many people in the industry, and other publishers are doing the same thing).

So that leaves us with the same issue: how to establish a platform. It is possible. You have to be patient and work steadily toward that goal.

I’m working on a course that will help you do just that, but I also recommend Mark Joyner’s Bestseller Blueprint course. It’s the most thorough I’ve seen, and it includes information none of the other “gurus” talk about because they don’t know it. Mark is a #1 New York Times bestselling author four times over, so he should know what he’s talking about! Plus the lessons are fun and easy to digest.

Make no mistake, it takes an investment–time, energy, money.  Joyner’s Simpleology courses talk about how these constitute the  only Power we really have–time, money and energy.  Money is actually a result of an investment of your Power. In Simpleology 102 he defines money as “the direct result of the intelligent use of Power (time, money, energy).”

The money part of being an author will come only from the intelligent use of your Power. My goal is to steer you toward that.