The ONE question every scholar should ask before writing a trade book
If you’re a scholar thinking about writing a trade book, you’ve likely asked yourself all the wrong questions first:
Do I need an agent?
Is my platform big enough?
What’s the market for this topic?
Will it hurt my tenure case?
These are all valid and important questions—but not foundational ones.
There’s one question that needs to come before all of them. And it’s shockingly simple:
“What would a smart, curious layperson say about this book after reading it?”
That’s it.
That’s the whole game.
If you can’t answer that clearly—and in a single, conversational sentence—you’re not ready to write a book for the public.
I’m actually amazed how often this question is overlooked.
Again and again, I’ll be doing one of my free consultations with a seasoned, accomplished academic who wants to write a trade book. And after listening for a while, I’ll ask a simple question like: “What is it you really want people to take away from this book? Like, what is it you’re hoping it will add to their lives?”
And the answer will be something like: “Hmm, that’s a good question. I haven’t really thought about that….”
Let me try to say this as clearly as I can.
Academic Books Are Written to Prove Something. Trade Books Are Written to Be Talked About.
The moment you make the shift from academic to trade publishing, you leave behind a certain kind of accountability: not to peer reviewers or disciplinary gatekeepers, but to the reader’s experience. You’re now in the world of:
Word of mouth
Airport bookstores
Book clubs
Podcasts and NPR interviews
Bookstore employees saying, “Oh, you might like this…”
Trade publishing lives and dies by whether a smart, curious reader can describe the book to a friend. That’s how sales happen. That’s how buzz spreads. That’s how you get past a gatekeeping industry and reach the world.
If your answer to “What would a reader say after finishing this?” is something like:
“It’s an important contribution to the literature on settler colonialism in the 19th-century Pacific…”
Then you’re still writing for your peers.
But if your answer is:
“It’s about a group of 19th-century Pacific islanders who hacked the British Empire from the inside using their own bureaucracy and legal paperwork against them…”
You’re on the right track.
Why This Question Matters So Much
Agents, editors, publicists and even the readers themselves aren’t just looking for a good book. They’re looking for a relatable book—one they can remember, repeat and recommend. If your book can't be summed up in a sentence that excites someone outside your discipline, it will struggle in the trade market.
The good news? This is a skill. It’s coachable. But it requires unlearning some of the habits that academia has drilled into us.
Want Help Finding Your Book’s Real Hook?
This is exactly the kind of work we do with scholars every week—whether in 1-on-1 coaching or through our pop-up workshops and campus sessions.
We dig for the one-sentence clarity that unlocks everything: the pitch, the proposal, the agent conversation, the book itself.
And the first step is asking the right question.
So, if you’re sitting on a book idea that you know could resonate with a broader public—but haven’t yet cracked the code—start here:
What would a smart, curious layperson say about this book after reading it?
And if you’re not sure of the answer, get in touch. Let’s figure it out together.