How do I know if my book is “working”? According to Rob Fitzpatrick, author of Write Useful Books, I want to assure that my manuscript is Desirable, Engaging, and Effective.
Once I know that what I wrote is desirable, engaging, and effective, I can move on from the Beta Reader phase and into the final editing and publishing step of this journey.
So how am I doing on these? Let’s look at each one…
Desirable: I’m hearing from clients, prospects, and beta readers that the promise is desirable. You even helped me dial in a promise based title of Your Business Growth Playbook: Breakthrough Strategies to Scale Your Business for Business Owners Who’ve Outgrown Hustle ! Thank you!
Engaging: Early beta readers like you are sharing great feedback from the intro through the first 5 chapters. The real core content – the actual playbook strategies – is in the next 3 chapters, and I’m not sure if the size of the chapters is scaring folks off, or it’s just a time thing, but that seems to be where I begin to get less reads and feedback. I’d love your specific feedback on the three core chapters about “Increasing the …” . So I’d consider this step “in process” for now.
Effective: Well, I know that all these strategies work because it’s literally my playbook of strategies I’ve used with clients for over 25 years. But do you, the reader, know that? Have you tried what I’ve written? Did it help you? Did it work for you? I’d really love some feedback on what you have been able to implement and how that went for you.
Thank you for helping me to gauge how desirable, engaging, and effective my manuscript it. I’m eager to finish dialing this in and ship a bestseller!