How to write a successful book without a brain.

I was browsing The Napkin The Melon & The Monkey: How to be happy and successful at work and in life by simply changing your mind by Barbara Burke and was struck on how easy it would be to write a book like this.

It's very short. 100 pages or so and the book is like half-sized. It has one central idea: That everyone in the world faces 10 problems that we can't do anything about. The eleventh problem is that you think you shouldn't have to face the ten other problems.

In other words, the book is about how to accept that you're going to have some tough times in life. A pretty commonsense idea. Now how do you make a book out of this:

1) Choose a very simple, easy-to-understand, common sense idea.

2) Give the idea a catchy marketing name. Maybe call it a law. Involve numbers.

3) Write a parable about this idea and how you discovered the idea in your own life.

4) Include a wise-character in your story (a "magical negro character") who guides you and teaches you the way.

5) Keep the writing conversational and short.

5) Describe how your life has improved.

BONUS: Give your book a very original, catchy title to attract attention.

I don't think it would be hard to dash off books like this. You could almost do one a month. Certainly one every 2 months. The hardest part would be coming up with the clever marketing names and numbers.