Written by: Vickie Sullivan | January 09, 2018
How to Make Your Book a Bestseller: Lessons Learned from Fire and Fury
Just as we’re settling down and getting back to work, Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House by Michael Wolff gives us more fireworks.
While it might be fun to grab our popcorn and watch the show, let’s explore what makes this book so popular. Move past the content and politics. Here are two tactics all thought leaders-turned-author can use:
• Explain what is already believed. Wolff used what folks already believed (Trump’s behavior) and created context around it. Color commentary creates deeper understanding for the reader. You get the best of both worlds here.
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• Create a story around methodology. Most authors explain how they got to their findings. Wolff went a few steps further with the “sitting on the couch” story. By putting the reader in the scene, he explains intent and procedure. This “fly on the wall” methodology is intriguing, especially in high-stakes environments. It’s an emotional attraction that uses facts (such as the 200 interviews) to back up the credibility. Again, the best of both worlds.
Yes, this book has a tell-all feel with plenty of salacious claims. But we can still use these tactics in non-fiction and business book segments.
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