Business books are typically written to sell to people who are in business. They tell the reader about services, products, challenges and successes. What most business books really all about is that they’re the low-hanging fruit of writing. Writing business books is like grabbing a bag of chocolate chips and eating a chocolate chip cookie.
There is no craftsmanship involved at all. Most business book writers just strap together some tried-and-true concepts and stories in order to fill up a book. It’s not that their books aren’t good; it’s just that they choose to put practically nothing into the book. How often have you purchased a business book that was primarily about why the CEO made the decision to buy the company or why sales were so good during the Christmas season?
There are really very few if any lessons learned by reading these books. All they are about is how to make money with a business. So basically, the content of these books is pretty boring. However, they sell like hot cakes at corporate gatherings and over the Internet.
I’m sure that you have heard at least one business book author says something to the effect of, “If you want to write a business book, then write about what you know!” Well, maybe not exactly what you know, but the idea is the same. If you truly want to write business books, then you need to understand your audience and what will interest them. Otherwise you may as well just be an accountant.
In addition, if you truly want to write a business book, then you need to educate yourself on the latest trends in business. You certainly don’t want to copy what other successful business people are doing, but you do need to study how they got where they are today. These books are usually pretty good at forecasting the future of business. For example, if you read the Financial Times business section at least twice a week, then you will have an inside look at what is happening in the world of finance. If you take a few courses at a local university, then you will be prepared to write a business book.
Then you need to come up with an overall theme for your book. This isn’t a hard thing to do, but it does take some time. If you’re writing a business book to teach your daughter how to be a business owner, then obviously she needs to talk about what she’s going to need to learn. But if you’re writing to teach your son how to start a business, then he needs to explain what he plans to do.
You also have to remember that when you write a business book, you have to be as accurate as possible. Nothing is worse than reading a well-written business book and then having to look up something in the dictionary. The thing to do here is to try and write as accurately as possible. You don’t want to go too in depth in one chapter, but you should still be able to tell your readers what the topic is. If you have any questions about certain points, then you should throw them in a couple of the chapters to make sure you cover all the bases.
Now that you know how to write a business book, you need to get started. Remember that it is not too late to begin putting together a plan of action. There are plenty of publishers out there who will be more than happy to sign you to a contract once you complete an entire business book.