How To Write, Sell Or Publish A Best Selling Book
Over the last five years that I’ve been studying the publishing industry (both mainstream and self-publishing), there are a collection of blog posts and articles that I have found hugely helpful. Many of them are quite long and detailed, but if you are planning to write a book, there is a BIG value in taking the time to read them all. I have compiled the best articles into a list below and segmented them into several categories to make it a bit easier. The aim is to also keep this list continually up to date so the last updated date is included at the bottom of this page.
PUBLISHING + MARKETING A BEST SELLER
- How to publish a bestseller 3.0 – James Altucher
- How to write a best selling book this year – Definitive list and resource guide – Tim Ferriss
- How to sell lots of books and still miss the best seller lists – Deepak Chopra (note – this also happened to me for Likeonomics!)
- How to write and launch a best selling a book – The Making of Likeonomics – Rohit Bhargava
- Unmarketing podcast on the secrets of book publishing – Scott Stratten
- How to buy your way to the top of best seller lists – Mitch Joel
- The right and wrong way to market a book – Ryan Holliday
- How Lioncrest Publishing is flipping the usual distribution model – Tucker Max
- How to write a book – The Making Of Personality Not Included (including charts and positioning slides) – Rohit Bhargava
- The inside story of Kevin Small and gamifying the best seller lists – Wall Street Journal
COVER DESIGN
- 8 Cover Design Secrets To Manipulate Readers – Derek Murphy
- Interesting post on the evolution of book cover design from 80s to now – Elizabeth Bird
WRITING & EDITING
- How to write a best selling book – Eric Spitznagel
- Fascinating research into how “statistical stylometry” can help predict bestsellers – Stony Brook University
- Sample Book Proposal To McGraw-Hill For Personality Not Included – Rohit Bhargava
LOGISTICS & BASICS:
- Full List of BISAC Subject Headlings For Business Books – BSIG
- How to use keywords and metadata to aide in book discoverability – Joanna Penn
Page last updated October, 2014