What’s your candidate for the best book title in the world?

Mine’s William Manchester’s A World Lit Only By Fire… I can’t think of a more evocative title for a book about the Middle Ages.

OK, over to you — what’s your candidate for the best book title in the world? Send me a message on Twitter.

If you’re in the process of writing a book, chances are that you’ve spent a lot of time thinking about a great title. Relax. You’ll have plenty of time to change it before publication, and your editor will weigh in on the title too.

Could you write a bestseller?

If you’ve got a burning desire, and if you learn how to write a book, perhaps you could.

This article, Could you write a best seller with a great plot and become the next Philippa Gregory? | Mail Online, suggests that it’s unlikely you’ll hit the big time with your first book:

“Mark Le Fanu, general secretary of the Society of Authors, says talent is not enough to guarantee success. Budding authors must also have great self-belief to get through the financial hardships and likely initial failure.

‘You have to have a breakthrough  -  and this could take several books to achieve,’ he says. ‘You will probably need to be quite obsessive, show great patience and be dogged in your approach. It is unlikely your first book is going to get published, and even if it does it is unlikely to bring in lots of money.’ ”

It all depends on you. How hard are you willing to work?

Yes, hard work is essential. A book doesn’t write itself, nor does it acquire readers by itself.

Best advice: treat it like a job

Here’s my best advice to you, if you’re an aspiring author: treat writing your first book like a job. Then write your next book, and your next.

It’s very common for authors to write anywhere from three to seven books without a nibble from a publisher, and then to score multi-book contracts.

Remember too, that these days you have options. Electronic publishing has taken off. You just may discover that you don’t need anyone’s permission to publish your book — you may decide to go your own way and keep the profits for yourself.

Writing books isn’t glamorous. You get to sit in front of your computer every day, dreaming whole worlds into existence. If that’s your idea of heaven, go ahead and write. You never know what will happen until you do.

Do you tell your children bedtime stories?

You may want to consider writing those stories down.

Bedtime storytelling creates best-selling children’s book reports: “‘The One, The Only, Magnificent Me’ debuted as the No. 1 children’s book on Christian book wholesaler Spring Arbor’s best-selling list, and was No. 2 for illustrated children’s books on the Top 100 Bestseller List at Ingram Book Group. The book features illustrations by longtime friend Joel Schoon Tanis.”

Author Dan Haseltine told his kids stories, and made up a story to help his son, who was struggling with rejection. The result was a bestseller.

If you have children, you have a built-in audience, and when you tell them stories they love, chances are that other children will love them too.

[tags]write a book, children, stories, bestseller[/tags]