Best-Selling Non-Fiction Topics

Hi everyone. This is Janice Thompson, full-time freelance author and speaker. Welcome to this lesson on best-selling topics.

High Concept Ideas

Editors are always looking for high-concept ideas, those rare, once-in-a-lifetime ideas that spark a furor among readers and result in staggering sales numbers. It’s time for you—the non-fiction writer—to take a serious look at your idea to see if it’s high concept or not. Have you hit a hot-button topic, or will your book idea crash and burn?

Several years ago I came up with what I thought as a great idea for a non-fiction book. It was a fun how-to book for grandparents. I titled it Ain’t it Grand and loaded it up with chapters on everything grandparents deal with—their passionate love for grandchildren, spoiling, special needs grandkids, what to do when you suspect your grandchild is being abused, how to deal with temper tantrums. You name it, I put it in that book.

This was a book that was timely, relevant and one that met a felt need. Sadly, all of the editors who looked at it disagreed. Want to know why? They said that, ultimately, grandparents don’t buy books to learn how to be better grandparents. They spend their money on their grandkids. Ouch! Man, sometimes the truth really hurts.

So, I learned from my experience.

All ideas from this point forth have to be sellable ideas, not just good in theory.

Not just informative. Not just fun. Not just chocked full of helpful information...but sellable. Ultimately, that’s what matters to a publishing house: can they make money off of my idea? Will the book—like 90 Minutes in Heaven—spark a controversy among readers? If so, then the publisher is sure to love it, for nothing sells like controversy. Will it—like The Shack—touch a deep spot in the reader, one no one has touched before? Great! Will it, like The South Beach Diet, offer potential answers to age-old problems in a new and different way? Perfect! Now, there’s a book that will sell.

How, then, do we come up with great high-concept ideas?

Most editors would tell you that our ideas needs to be larger-than-life idea – the days of mundane, plain- Jane books are out. Today’s books also have to have a long shelf life, so keep that in mind as you think through your ideas. What are the chances your book will still be fashionable years from now?

By far the most important thing to keep in mind as you brainstorm ideas is your audience. Get to know them. Live among them. Know what makes your reader tick, know what his needs are—internal and external—and offer him solutions to the problems he’s facing. To learn more about how to address the needs—real and perceived—of our reader, please take a look at the bonus feature for this lesson. The reader is counting on us, as non-fiction writers, to give him helpful information in our non-fiction books. That’s why he’s reading, after all, to get answers.

Let’s say you come up with what you feel is a great idea.

The first thing you would need to do is brainstorm it. Then you would, as I mentioned above, have to take the time to get to know your audience so that you could slant your book to meet his need. You’ll need to do a marketing analysis: check on amazon or Barnes and Noble to see what books yours will be up against. What sets yours apart from the ones that are selling? What’s your hook? What’s your angle? Just because your book is similar to Dr. Phil’s doesn’t mean it will sell as well. In fact, you might be shooting yourself in the foot by trying to mimic what he’s doing.

EVERGREENS

So, back to those ideas. Let’s spend a moment talking about evergreens, those topics that are always in season. If you’re planning to write an evergreen book, consider one of these topics:

Marriage/Sex: Always a winner, both for those who are married and those wishing to be. This topic hits a nerve with a wide audience, especially if you focus your book on how to improve the marriage or give it a spark.

Health: Look around you. Everywhere you look, people are struggling with health issues: autoimmune disease, allergies, migraines, joint pain, emotional distress, chemical imbalance. We live in a day and age where people are working harder and eating worse, which is taking a huge toll on their bodies. If you’ve got the medical know-how (or can lean on experts to co-author or endorse your book) then consider writing something that will offer hope to people who are struggling with health issues.

Dieting: You want to talk about both real and perceived needs? Look no further than the man or woman who struggles with weight issues. We are focused on our weight as never before in our history. Why? Because we’ve never had such a problem with weight issues as the 21st century. We don’t expend the same amount of physical energy that our grandparents and great-grandparents did on an average day. Much of our work is on the computer or seated in a cubicle. Add to that our addiction to television, video games and movies and you can see why we’re packing on the pounds. What better topic to address then, than weight? Back in 2002 I put myself on an eating plan that changed my life. I dropped over 100 pounds in a two-year period. I tried to keep a positive, upbeat approach as I saw the scale tip up, then down, up then down—sometimes more up than down. At some point along the way I began to chronicle my journey in the form of a daily blurb, which I sent out to friends who requested it. Those blurbs became chapters in one of my best-selling non-fiction books of all time: I Must Decrease. The book is currently out of print, but I’m fighting to get it published in e-book form. Why? Because it’s loaded with timely advice and because I know I can sell it. People want—and need—someone to give them hope, and who better than someone who’s struggled with the very thing they’re struggling with?

Parenting: Parenting is an evergreen topic. Whether you write your book in 2011 or 2054, parents will need answers. Your parents needed them, my parents needed them, and your children—who will one day be grown and have children of their own—will need them. Why do you suppose Screamfree Parenting by Hal Runkel is selling so well? He’s got a great market!

Self-help: Self-help books are always in style. Your challenge as a non-fiction writer is to come up with a slant that makes your book different—or unique— from other self-help books. In other words, choose a different angle.

Inspirational/religious: As I mentioned in an earlier lesson, God sells. There’s really no other way to put it. People are looking inside themselves for answers, but still coming up empty. So, they’re questioning both the existence of—and the presence of—a higher power. If you’ve been on a spiritual journey for any length of time, you have much to share with those who are searching. If you don’t believe me, look at any coffee table book by Max Lucado book or pick up a copy of The Power of a Praying Woman by Stormie OMartian.

Friends, the topics I’ve just mentioned are evergreen. They’re always in fashion and will continue to sell throughout time.

Now let’s shift gears a little and look at topics that have made it to the bestseller’s list. I want to focus on some of the books that propelled them there. I’m going to start with something from the inspirational/religious category—an oldie, but goodie:

INSPIRATIONAL/RELIGIOUS:

The Late, Great Planet Earth, (by Hal Lindsey and CC Carlson): What turned this book into a phenomenon in the 1970’s, one that continues to this day? Why has it sold over 15 million copies? Hal touched on a topic few had dared to mention in a secular setting: What happens to this planet—and those of us who live on it—during the end times? Curiosity seekers and spiritual people, alike, gravitated to this book, and to the spin-offs, including the Left Behind Series. Hal Lindsey hit a hot button topic, for sure.

Charles Sheldon’s popular book: In His Steps/What Would Jesus Do sold 70 million copies. That’s 70 million people wanting the answer to the question

Sheldon posed in the title. What would Jesus do? Read the book to find out. (Talk about a great hook!)

HEALTH:

One non-fiction health book that probably surprised readers with its success was a practical book called What to Expect when You’re Expecting. This how-to manual for mommies-to-be was written by a mother-daughter team. It remains on the top of the bestseller list, after years on a saturated market. What sets it apart? The title, for one thing. It’s a terrific hook. But the practical information inside that book has made it a relevant tool for the pregnant woman. All of my daughters read it while expecting, and I recently caught a glimpse of it while watching the movie Under the Tuscan Sun. (Talk about great product placement! If you hit a relevant book idea, your book might end up in the public eye in places—and ways—you never expected.)

SELF-HELP/HOW-TO:

Since we’re talking about high concept ideas, I’d better mention The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey, which has sold 15 million copies. This book has all the goods—a great title, a promise to make you more effective, and seven simple steps to get you there.

Speaking of simple hooks, what about the Chicken Soup for the Soul series? Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen took the world by storm with this series that has become known around the globe. The concept seems simple on the surface: chicken soup. Just what Mama always cooked up to make you feel better. This concept is anything but simple, however. It’s a well-thought-out hook to keep people coming back for more and more soup. That might explain why the book has sold 130 million copies.

MARRIAGE/RELATIONSHIP:

No other book on relationships has invigorated the market like John Gray’s bestseller, Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus, which sold 50 million copies and remains a top seller. In one simple title, Gray has answered the age-old questions: “Why doesn’t my husband understand me?” “Why doesn’t my wife get what I’m trying to explain to her?” “Why does my boss treat me like he does?” “What can I do to get through to my son?” The premise of the book? We’re different. And it’s okay. What makes the topic so unique is that Gray teaches you how to improve your communication skills with people who are your opposite, thereby improving your relationships, saving marriages, jobs, friendships, parent- child relationships and much more. Talk about a high concept idea!

FOOD:

Lest you think high concept ideas have to be unusual, think again. Some of the best selling books of all time are cookbooks: Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook has sold 38 million copies. The Joy of Cooking has sold 18 million copies. That’s a lot of food for thought!

FINANCIAL SUCCESS:

Another great hot-button topic is money. Look no further than Napoleon Hill’s non-fiction book Think and Grow Rich, which has sold 70 million copies. 70 million! Can you imagine? Apparently a lot of people want to change the way they think about finances.

And speaking of financial success, Robert Kiyosaki’s book, Rich Dad, Poor Dad, which he co-authored with Sharon Lechter, sold 26 million copies. What does he promise the reader with that title? You’ve got it: both success as a parent and financial success, as well.

TIME TO ASK YOURSELF SOME QUESTIONS:

Folks, you want to be a bestseller? It takes an idea. Here are some tough questions to ask yourself about your non-fiction book:

Is it high concept idea?

• Will it still be on the shelf ten years from now?
• Will the topic stir up controversy?
• Do I have a killer title?
• Is it different from every other book out there?
• Have I slanted it to hook both readers and editors?
• EXERCISE:As we close out this lesson, I want to leave you with an exercise. I’m going to give you a list of books that are currently top sellers on amazon. See if you can figure out why they’re selling as well as they are. What is it about these topics that makes them so hot?

• A Stolen Life by Jaycee Dugard
• Superfreakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner
• Haiti After the Earthquake by Paul Farmer
• The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference by Malcolm Gladwell

• Teach Like a Champion: 49 Techniques that Put Students on the Path to College by Doug Lemov and Normal Atkins
• The Happiness Project: Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun by Gretchen Rubin
• Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons by Siegfried Engelmann, Phyllis Haddox, Elaine Bruner
• Tomatoland: How Modern Industrial Agriculture Destroyed Our Most Alluring Fruit by Barry Estabrook
• Heaven is for Real: A Little Boy's Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back by Todd Burpo, Lynn Vincent
• The Original Argument: The Federalists' Case for the Constitution, Adapted for the 21st Century by Glenn Beck
• The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love That Lasts by Gary Chapman
• The Art and Science of Success, Proven Strategies from Today's LeadingExperts by Matt Morris
• What to Expect When You're Expecting, 4th Edition by Heidi Murkoff,Sharon Mazel
• The Miracle of Freedom: Seven Tipping Points That Saved the World by Chris Stewart, Ted Stewart
• One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are by Ann Voskamp
• Eat to Live: The Amazing Nutrient-Rich Program for Fast and Sustained Weight Loss, Revised Edition by Joel FuhrmanThere you have it, writers...some of the top non-fiction topics out there today.

Perhaps—if you think outside of the box—your book will one day join these on the bestseller list. Until then, get busy honing those ideas. Think high concept. Think bestseller.

What are you waiting for? Start listing those topics!

Download the .pdf of this lesson below.