How to Get Ideas to Write a Nonfiction Book

If you ask a nonfiction author what question they get the most, the answer will inevitably be “How to get ideas to write a nonfiction book?”And it’s probably the most difficult question to answer… and the easiest.The reason it’s both easy and hard to answer is that ideas are in the ether. They’re every where around you. They pop up in your mind. They show up when you’re reading. They show up when you’re watching television or reading the newspaper.The problem is really how to get ideas to write a nonfiction book when you want them. In this article I’m going to show you a technique to find ideas when you need them not when they want to show up.First off there are two ideas involved with a nonfiction book.The first is the generic topic that is being discussed. This corresponds to a niche in marketing terms. It defines who you are writing for and what you are writing about in generic terms. Frequently you will find most of your nonfiction books will be in this or a very small collection of these niches. In fact, many authors use pen names when writing in different niches.The second level of idea is the specific idea that gives rise to this particular book. Generally, it refers to a single problem or group of problems which is solved by the niche you write in.Let’s start with the most generic idea. How do you decide what topic you will use as your niche? The answer is that you need to find one that is both a passion to you and a viable market.One way to generate that idea is to start from your interests. Make a list of your interests. Are you interested in Cars? In Sailing? In Houses? What do you do for a living now? Are you interested in helping people? In eating? In good food? In health? In disability topics? When you finish you should have a list which is much longer than you realized.Now go through that list and identify those that you either have a passion about or that you could develop a passion for. Mark them with a star.Just as an example, let’s say Martial Arts came up as one of your passions.The next step is to determine if that niche is viable. Would it make a good market? Try Amazon first. Are there any books on that subject currently? Go to a local bookstore. Are there any magazines on that topic? Try to put the starred topics into a size order.So to extend our example, let’s say you find that Karate has several magazines but Judo doesn’t. That probably means that you should focus on Karate rather than Judo.So now you’ve got a general subject area and you know there is a market for your subject. From now on your nonfiction books will all be in that area. Now, in fact, you can have several of these niches but you probably will want to use a pseudonym for each.Now all you need to do is find out what people are afraid of in that niche and what problems they are experiencing. You can do that by researching. Go where they are and listen in. Pick up some magazines and read the letters to the editor and the advice columns. Spend the day in the library and make a list of all the articles in the last year. Go to the forums on that subject. What questions are being asked by the newbies and the experienced? What comments are being made that indicate a problem or a pain point?For example you might find that Karate people are afraid of injuries. Or they are wondering how to choose a sensei.That’s how to get ideas to write a nonfiction book. All you need to do now is to figure out a solution to the problem. How can Karate people avoid injury? Write a book with the title: Warm Up Right! How To Avoid Injury And Improve Your Katas. Or figure out how to choose the right sensei for you. Then write a book with the title: Hai Sensei! Finding the Dojo That Works For You.That’s how to get ideas to write a nonfiction book. Find a passion that has a viable market. Find their biggest pain point or problem. Find a way to solve the problem and write about it.