The critical missing ingredient in most wannabe bestsellers is PASSION

The Internet is filled with advice on creating bestselling books. Most of it involves finding the most popular online search topics.

According to many of the 'experts' (most of whom want to sell you something), if millions of people are interested in Oprah, Wells Fargo or Obama, you can easily sell millions of books about Oprah, Wells Fargo or Obama and make millions of dollars.

• It doesn't matter if you're a shitty writer, know nothing about the subject and don't think professional editing and design are necessary.

Some 'experts' tell you that instead of actually writing a book you can just copy words from the web and paste them together, use any available software to create a cover and soon untold riches and fame will be yours.

(above) Sadly, many of the ugliest and least-useful books are written to help others publish books.

There is no certainty about selling anything. There are many things a writer -- even a very good writer -- cannot control.
 
Research, testing and advance publicity might be useful, but trying to tailor a book to perceived reader interest can lead to yet another redundant barbecue cookbook, stop-smoking guide or celebrity confession.

Market research is no substitute for PASSION for the subject of the book and strong PROMOTION for the book.

• Without passion, writers are factory laborers.
• Without effective promotion, potential readers won't know the book exists.

Also, if you delay publication so you can engage in extensive research and test marketing, interest in the subject may pass by the time your book goes on sale and competitive books may beat you to the marketplace.

• If an author is aiming at traditional publishing, a year of advance research before the search for an agent and publisher can be an eternity.
• Self-publishing greatly reduces the time-to-market compared to traditional publishing. A book can be published in a few weeks or months.

Over a dozen of my books have been bestsellers with ZERO market research. Steve Jobs developed amazing Apple products based on his own passion, not on market research.

My latest book, Do As I Say, Not As I Did quickly became a bestseller without my checking to find out what people were searching for on Google or Bing. I wrote about what I know about and have passion for.