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Free Tips for Business Book Authors
15 Formats for Successful Business Books
Aside from platform, what are the secrets of best-selling and high-impact business books? There at
least 15 formats for successful business books. I define a book's format as
consisting of the following three features:
(1) the customer take-away experience reflected
in the author's persona or narrative style (for example, entertainment, insight,
information, novel idea);
(2) the book's positioning or packaging in light of end-user take-away
benefits; and
(3) the content or message in the context of business realities,
times, and trends.
Editors will reject books that do not have a clear format. Which format is
right for your book? Here's the catch: pick one. 1. THE ALLEGORY
The allegory and corporate fable deliver universal business truths through fictional
and author
personae, made-up characters, stories, or events.
 Who Moved My Cheese?
by Spencer Johnson, M.D. (Putnam, 1999).
Leadership Secrets of
Attila the Hun by Wess Roberts (Warner, 1985 hardcover, 1987 trade
paperback, 1994 Dell paperback). The author
introduces leadership topics as though the book were written by Atilla the Hun. The Greatest Salesman in
the World by Og Mandino (Bantam Books, 1968, 1983 mass market paperback). The One-Minute Manager
by Kenneth Blanchard and Spencer Johnson (Berkley 1993 trade paperback).
The Goal: A Process of
Ongoing Improvement by Eliyahu Goldratt (North River, second edition
revised, 1992 trade paperback).
Books
by Patrick M. Lencioni. 2. THE RESEARCH-BASED, HIGH-CONCEPT BOOK
Original research transformed into a high-concept message.
First, Break All the Rules
by Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman (Simon & Schuster, 1999 hardcover;
Gardners Books paperback 2005). Based on a 25-year study of
80,000 managers in over 400 companies conducted by the Gallup Organization.
Now,
Discover Your Strengths by Marcus Buckingham and Donald Clifton (Free Press,
2001; Gardners Books paperback 2002). The authors, researchers at the Gallup
Organization, analyzed results of interviews conducted by Gallup of over 1.7
million employees from 101 companies and representing 63 countries. The Millionaire Next Door
by Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko (Longstreet Press, 1997 hardcover),
based on Stanley's lifelong study of millionaires.
Competing for the Future
by Gary Hamel and C.K. Prahalad (Harvard Business School Publishing, 1994
hardcover, 1996 trade paperback). Based on Hamel and Prahalad's original
article, "The Core Competence of the Corporation" (HBR May-June
1990).
SPIN Selling by Neil
Rackham (McGraw-Hill, 1988). Based on a study of $1 million study of
35,000 sales calls over a twelve-year period.
The Machine that Changed
the World: The Story of Lean Production by James P. Womack, Daniel T. Jones,
and Daniel Roos (Rawson Associates, 1990 hardcover; Harper 1991 trade
paperback). Based on an MIT study.
Built to Last: Successful
Habits of Visionary Companies by James C. Collins and Jerry I. Porras (HarperBusiness,
1994 hardcover, 1997 trade paperback). Rigorous research, including a huge
analytic study of the underlying principles that could yield enduring, great
companies, and examples of 20th century icons such as Disney, General Electric,
HP, IBM, and Wal-Mart.
The Discipline of Market
Leaders: Choose Your Customers, Narrow Your Focus, Dominate Your Market by
Michael Treacy and Fred Wiersema (Addison-Wesley, 1995 hardcover, 1997 trade
paperback, 1999 revised and expanded trade paperback edition). Research sponsored by CSC Index focused on
65 companies over a seven-year period and included in-depth interviews with
executives.
The Loyalty Effect: The
Hidden Force Behind Growth, Profits, and Lasting Value by Frederick
Reichheld with Thomas Teal (Harvard Business School Press, 1996 hardcover).
Based on research on MBNA and other banks.
Against the Gods: The
Remarkable Story of Risk by Peter L. Bernstein (John Wiley, 1998 paperback). Based on
the authors' historical study of risk. 3. BUSINESS/SPORTS BOOK
Books by coaches of famous sports teams consisting of business lessons and
how-to advice interlaced with sports stories and anecdotes.
Success Is A Choice: Ten
Steps to Overachieving in Business and Life by Rick Pitino with Bill
Reynolds (Broadway Books, 1997 hardcover; Bantam Doubleday Dell 1998 trade
paperback).
The Winner Within: A Life
Plan for Team Players by Pat Riley (Putnam, 1993 hardcover; Berkley 1994
trade paperback). 4. ADMIRED BUSINESS PEOPLE AND COMPANIES
The
Starbucks Experience: 5 Principles for Turning Ordinary Into Extraordinary
by Joseph A. Michelli (McGraw-Hill, 2007). Jack:
Straight from the Gut by Jack Welch with John A. Byrne (Warner Business
Books, 2001 hardcover, 2003 paperback).
Business at the Speed of
Thought by Bill Gates (Warner, 1999 hardcover; 2000 trade paperback).
The New New Thing: A
Silicon Valley Story by Michael Lewis (Norton, October 1999). The book
profiles former Stanford University professor Jim Clark, founder of Silicon
Graphics and Netscape, among others.
Iacocca: An Autobiography
by Lee Iacocca with William Novak (Bantam, 1986 mass market paperback).
Dave's Way by Dave
Thomas with Ron Beyma and Mary Maroon (Putnam, 1991 hardcover; Berkley 1992 mass
market paperback). Dave Thomas tells how he founded Wendy's.
Faster Company by Pat
Kelly with John Case (Wiley, 1998).
The HP Way: How Bill
Hewlett and I Built Our Company by David Packard (HarperBusiness, 1995).
Well Made in America:
Lessons From Harley-Davidson on Being the Best by Peter C. Reid
(McGraw-Hill, 1991 trade paperback). 5. THE BOOK DERIVED FROM A POPULAR COURSE
The 7 Habits of Highly
Effective People by Stephen R. Covey (Fireside, 1990 trade paperback reprint
edition). Based on the Covey course.
The Leadership Challenge:
How to Keep Getting Extraordinary Things Done in Organizations by
James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner (Jossey-Bass Publishers, second edition
published in a 1995 hardcover and in a 1996 trade paperback). Based on the
popular training program offered by The Tom Peters Group.
Getting to Yes:
Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In by Roger Fisher and William L. Ury
(Penguin, 1983 mass market paperback). Based on the Harvard Negotiation Project.
On Writing Well: The
Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction by William Zinsser (HarperReference,
1991 sixth edition revised). Based on a course given by Zinsser at Cornell.
Graham and Dodd's Security
Analysis, fifth edition, by Sidney Cottle, Roger F. Murray, and Frank E.
Block (McGraw-Hill, 1988). Continuously in print since the 1930s, this title was
first based on Benjamin Graham's class on security analysis at Columbia
University Business School. 6. BOOKS ABOUT CONTEMPORARY BUSINESS EVENTS OR SCANDALS
TOLD BY GREAT WRITERS
When Genius Failed: The
Rise and Fall of Long-Term Capital Management by Roger Lowenstein (Random
House, 2000 hardcover, 2001 paperback). The demise of the Long-Term Capital Management hedge fund by a
former Wall Street Journal journalist.
Barbarians At The Gate:
The Fall of RJR Nabisco by Bryan Burrough and John Helyar (HarperCollins
1990 hardcover, 1993 trade paperback).
Conspiracy
of Fools: A True Story by Kurt Eichenwald (Broadway, 2005). 7. NEW WINE IN NEW BOTTLES
These books offer keen, deep insights into a narrow slice of a new business
reality.
Crossing the Chasm:
Marketing and Selling High-Tech Products to Mainstream Customers by Geoffrey
A. Moore (HarperBusiness, 1991 hardcover, 1995 trade paperback reprint, 1999
HarperPerennial trade paperback).
The Innovator's Dilemma
by Clayton H. Christensen (Harvard Business School Press, 1997 hardcover; 2000
trade paperback).
Two
books by Seth Godin: Permission Marketing: Turning Strangers Into Friends and
Friends Into Customers (Simon & Schuster, 1999 hardcover and 2002
paperback) and Unleashing the Ideavirus (Hyperion 2001 paperback).
8. THE "INFOTAINMENT" BOOK
Surveys of business topics (with an emphasis on secondary sources) in
entertaining formats, including illustrations.
For Dummies® Series
(Hungry Minds, formerly IDG Books Worldwide).
The Complete Idiot's
Guides Series (Alpha).
The Knock 'Em Dead
Series by Martin Yates (Adams Media).
Sacred Cows Make the Best
Burgers: Developing Change-Ready People and Organizations by Robert J.
Kriegel and David Brandt (Warner, 1997 trade paperback. 9. THE HOW-TO BOOK
These books focus on performing one critical business skill ("How"
or "How To" is often in the title).
How I Raised Myself From
Failure to Success in Selling by Frank Bettger (Prentice Hall Direct, 1992).
Continuously in print since 1947.
How to Work A Room: Learn
the Strategies for Savvy Socializing by Susan RoAne (Warner, 1989 trade
paperback reprint).
How to Read a Financial
Report: Wringing Cash Flow and Other Vital Signs Out of the Numbers by John
A. Tracy (Wiley, 1993 fourth edition, 1999 fifth edition). Four editions. The
five editions have sold an estimated 300,000 copies.
How to Win Friends &
Influence People by Dale Carnegie (Pocket Books 1998 reprint). Continuously
in print since the 1930s with over 15 million copies sold.
Think and Grow Rich by
Napoleon Hill (Fawcett, 1990 mass market paperback). One of the first business
best-sellers, it has sold 7 million copies, according to John Micklewait and
Adrian Wooldridge, authors of The Witch Doctors (Times Books, 1996). 10. "PEARLS OF WISDOM"
Chapters in these books are comprised of 750- to 1,000-word sections loosely
strung together. Jeffrey
J. Fox's books. Harry Beckwith's
books.
Harvey Mackay's books. Stuart
R. Levine's books. The
Little Blue Book of Advertising (Portfolio, 2006) by Steve Lance and Jeff
Woll. 11. THE BUSINESS BOOK BY AN EXPERT IN ANOTHER FIELD
These authors bring expertise from another field
or culture to bear on business
subjects.
New Rules for the New
Economy: 10 Radical Strategies for a Connected World by Kevin Kelly (Viking,
1998 hardcover, 1999 trade paperback). A "professional visionary" (the
phrase is Bradford de Long's), Kelly was executive editor of Wired
magazine when he wrote this book, based on an article on the same topic in Wired
(September 1997). Being Digital by
Nicholas Negroponte (Knopf 1995 hardcover, Vintage 1996 trade paperback). The
author, the founder of MIT's Media Lab, explains digital technology.
The Age of Discontinuity:
Guidelines to Our Changing Society by Peter Drucker (Transaction
Publications, 1992). A perennial classic by business historian Drucker, this book analyzes the underlying
economic shifts that set the stage for the "information economy."
The Fifth Discipline: The
Art and Practice of the Learning Organization by Peter M. Senge (Doubleday
Currency 1990, 1994). Borrowing ideas from spirituality and science, Senge
provides a systematic method to create the learning organization. Influence:
The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert B. Cialdini (Collins 1998 revised
paperback edition). A psychologist decodes the process of influence accessibly
for marketers, sales people, and the general public.
Kinds of Power: A Guide to
Its Intelligent Uses by James Hillman (Doubleday Currency, 1995 hardcover,
1997 trade paperback). A Jungian analyst redefines traditional notions of power.
The
Art of War for Executives by Donald G. Krause (Berkley, 1995 trade
paperback). Strategies based on Sun Tzu's Art of War. 12. THE FAD OR TREND "DU JOUR"
"Trends are bottom up, fads are top down," to quote John Naisbitt (Megatrends,
1982). Books that ride the crest of trends and fads make publishers happy.
Six Sigma: The
Breakthrough Management Strategy Revolutionizing the World's Top Corporations
by Mikel Harry, Ph.D., and Richard Schroeder (Currency/Doubleday, 2000). How
improvements in quality can boost profits by two Motorola veterans whose
programs were adopted by GE.
Customers.com: How to
Create A Profitable Business Strategy for the Internet & Beyond by
Patricia B. Seybold with Ronni T. Marshak (Times Books, 1998 hardcover). This
consultant's analysis of successful e-business practices.
Reengineering the
Corporation: A Manifesto for Business Revolution by Michael Hammer and James
Champy (HarperBusiness, 1993 hardcover, 1994 trade paperback). A worldwide
best-seller, along with its follow-up books, Reengineering
Management (by James Champy in 1995) and The Reengineering Revolution (by
Michael Hammer in 1995), because they coincided with worldwide reengineering in
corporations. 13. BOOKS THAT STRIKE A NERVE OR COIN A PHRASE
In Search of Excellence
by Tom Peters and Robert H. Waterman (Harper 1985 hardcover, Warner 1988 trade
paperback reissue). A phenomenon when first published in 1982, this book helped
American business believe in itself in a period of doubt.
The
Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference by Malcolm
Gladwell (Little, Brown 2000 hardcover; Back Bay Books 2002 paperback). The
title has become part of our lexicon, as have catch-22 and perfect
storm. 14. THE "THIS-IS-MY-SCHTICK" BOOK
These books emphasize the viewpoint, personal experiences, and insights -- the "schtick"
-- of the author, a "player" in business. What they may lack in depth
(category #7, New Wine in New Bottles, goes deeper), they more than make
up for with an entertaining writing style.
Books
by Guy Kawasaki. The
Little Red Book of Selling: 12.5 Principles of Sales Greatness by Jeffrey
Gitomer. 15. BOOKS DESIGNED TO BE SKIMMED, NOT READ
These books are essentially lists, sometimes with
illustrations.
1001 Ways to Reward
Employees by Bob Nelson (Workman 1999 trade paperback).
1001 Ways to Energize
Employees by Bob Nelson (Workman 1997 trade paperback).
Life's Little Instruction
Book by H. Jackson Brown, Jr. (Rutledge Hill Press, 1991).
The Dilbert cartoon books.
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