After ghostwriting 54+ books, I can tell you that the topic is rarely the problem. Most people who contact me already know what their book should be about. They just don’t trust the answer yet.
The real question isn’t “what should I write about?” The real question is “will this topic sustain an entire book, and will anyone care?” Those are different questions, and they have specific answers.
Here’s how I help clients find and test their book topics, based on patterns I’ve seen across 54+ projects and 113+ published books.
Start With the Problem You Solve
From the podcast
Doris Walsh describes the moment people arrive, having done everything the productivity advice told them to, on Leaders and Their Stories:
I’ve downloaded the app, I’ve read the books. Why am I still not there yet?The tools were never the missing piece. Neither is the outline, so topic selection starts with a problem instead of a table of contents.
The strongest business books are built around a specific problem the author solves for a specific audience. Not a general topic. Not a broad industry overview. A problem.
One of my clients ran a cybersecurity company. He didn’t write a book about cybersecurity. He wrote a book about the specific vulnerabilities that companies ignore until they get breached. That focus gave the book a clear audience, a clear argument, and a reason to exist that no other book on the shelf provided. For more, see how to choose a ghostwriter for your book.
If you’re a consultant, coach, or business owner, the book topic is usually sitting inside the conversations you already have with clients. What do they ask you about repeatedly? What do you explain in every first meeting? What do you know that your competitors either don’t know or don’t talk about? That’s the book.
Your Story Is Not the Topic. It Is the Vehicle.
Many entrepreneurs want to write their story. That instinct is correct, but the framing matters. “My entrepreneurial journey” isn’t a book topic. It’s a memoir structure, and memoirs need more than chronology to work.
The book topic is the insight your journey produced. What did you learn that other people in your position haven’t figured out yet? Your story is how you deliver that insight. The story makes the insight credible and memorable. But the insight is what gives the reader a reason to pick up the book.
The clients who produce the strongest books are the ones who can answer this question: “After reading my book, the reader will know how to ___.” If you cannot fill in that blank with something specific, the topic needs more development.
Test the Topic Against Your Audience
A book topic that fascinates you but has no audience is a journal entry. A book topic your audience needs but that bores you’ll produce a flat manuscript. The right topic sits at the intersection of what you care about and what your audience will pay attention to.
Your audience isn’t “everyone.” It’s the specific group of people you want reading this book. For most of my clients, that’s prospective customers, conference organizers, media contacts, or industry peers. The book topic needs to serve that audience directly.
Here’s a simple test: if you described your book topic in one sentence to someone in your target audience, would they lean forward or check their phone? If the answer is phone, the topic is either too broad, too obvious, or aimed at the wrong people.
Go Narrow, Not Wide
The most common mistake is picking a topic that’s too broad. “Leadership” isn’t a book topic. “How I built a leadership culture in a company where the previous three CEOs failed” is a book topic. “Marketing” isn’t a book topic. “The marketing framework that took my company from $2M to $20M in three years” is a book topic.
Narrow topics feel risky because they seem to exclude readers. The opposite is true. A narrow topic attracts readers because it promises specific value. Nobody picks up a book called “Business Strategies” expecting to learn something useful. Everybody picks up a book that promises to solve their exact problem.
Across 54+ ghostwriting projects, the books that performed best for my clients were the ones with the tightest focus. The broad books sat on shelves. The focused books opened doors.
Do You Have Enough Material for a Book?
A book needs 40,000 to 60,000 words. That’s roughly 15 to 25 chapters of substantive content. Before committing to a topic, make sure you have enough to say.
Here’s how I test this with clients. I ask them to list every subtopic, story, framework, case study, and lesson that falls under their main topic. If that list produces 15 or more distinct items, each of which could sustain a full chapter, the topic has enough material. If the list stalls at six or seven, the topic is either too narrow or the author hasn’t thought deeply enough about what they know.
If you want help pressure-testing the topic with a ghostwriter, that’s what the brainstorming engagement is for. This page is about doing it yourself first.
What Book Topic Traps Should You Avoid?
After 54+ projects, I’ve seen patterns in the topics that stall or produce weak books.
The autobiography trap. “I want to tell my whole life story” without a unifying theme or a reason the reader should care. Memoirs work when they’re about something larger than the author’s chronology.
The everything trap. “I want to cover everything I know about my industry.” This produces a textbook, not a book anyone will read voluntarily. Pick one thing and go deep.
The revenge trap. “I want to expose what happened to me at my old company.” These books exist and some are excellent, but they require careful legal review and a narrative that transcends the grievance. The reader needs to gain something beyond watching someone settle a score.
The me-too trap. “I want to write a book like the one I just read.” If the book already exists, yours needs a different angle, a different audience, or a different argument. Otherwise you’re writing a copy of someone else’s book.
When You Are Ready
The right book topic passes three tests. You have genuine expertise or experience in the subject. Your target audience has a real need for what the book delivers. And the topic can sustain 40,000 to 60,000 words of original content without padding.
If your topic passes all three, you’re ready to start the project. If it passes two out of three, the brainstorming engagement can usually close the gap. If it passes one or none, you need more time before the book makes sense.
Schedule a free consultation to discuss your book topic and see whether the project is ready to move forward.
