Who makes this site, and how it decides.
Your Book Starts Here is a free site for people with a nonfiction book idea who want to know whether it holds up, and what exactly the book is, before they write a chapter.
Who makes it
The site is made by Scribe Media, the trading name of Bond Financial Technologies Holdings, LLC, in Austin, Texas. Scribe helps people write and publish nonfiction books; its website says it has published 3,000+ books, including 23 New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestsellers. Scribe sells book coaching (Scribe Compass, $5,000), ghostwriting and publishing, at prices listed on scribemedia.com/pricing.
We built this site because most books go wrong long before the writing: the reader is vague, the promise is fuzzy, or the idea has not been tested with anyone. Those are fixable on paper, for free.
How the book idea starter's checks work
The book idea starter runs ten checks on what you type. They are deliberately simple and visible: no hidden scoring, no artificial intelligence and no judgment of whether your idea is "good". Each check is marked strong or needs work, and the result page shows what was checked. Here are the exact rules.
| Check | Strong when | Why |
|---|---|---|
| 1. A clear goal | You chose a main goal and described your success moment in at least 5 words. | The Scribe Method's objectives chapter asks for one specific "champagne moment". |
| 2. One specific reader | The reader is described in at least 4 words, the situation in at least 6, and neither uses a catch-all such as "everyone", "anyone" or "the general public". | The Scribe Method's audience chapter warns against appealing to everyone. |
| 3. A concrete problem | The problem is at least 8 words and what the reader has tried is at least 4. | What they tried is what your book has to beat. |
| 4. Goal and reader match | The reader you chose fits the goal: clients goes with a reader who could hire you or book you; speaking with a booker or client; authority with a peer, client or booker; teaching a method with a stranger who has the problem or a client; legacy with family or strangers; your story with strangers or family. | The North Star check ties audience to objectives. This pairing is our own judgment. |
| 5. A concrete promise | Before and after are both filled in, differ, the after is at least 6 words, and it does not lean on two or more stock words ("better", "happier", "successful", "transform", "potential" and similar) without a number or at least 16 words of detail. | A promise readers cannot check helps no one choose your book. |
| 6. Why you | Experience is at least 10 words, plus a story or proof of at least 5. | Readers ask why they should listen to you. |
| 7. One short sentence | The idea is one sentence of 8 to 35 words. | The Scribe Method's one-sentence "cocktail party pitch". The 35-word ceiling is ours. |
| 8. Title and subtitle | There is a title of 8 words or fewer and a subtitle, together under 200 characters, with no "bestselling" or "free". | Amazon KDP's metadata guidelines set the 200-character limit and ban those words. The 8-word limit is our judgment. |
| 9. Recent comps | Three comparable books, each with a year and a stated difference, at least two published in the last five years. | Proposal advice from Writer's Digest (last five years) and Jane Friedman's site (last few years). |
| 10. Enough for a book | Your chapter list has 5 to 15 lines. | The range in The Scribe Method's outline chapter. |
The overall result is a count. Nine or ten strong checks reads "ready to test with real readers"; six to eight reads "a promising idea with a few gaps"; five or fewer reads "still taking shape". None of these means the idea will or will not sell. A word-count rule cannot tell a brilliant short sentence from a dull one. The checks catch the gaps that are cheapest to fix, and the guides explain the thinking behind each.
Your answers stay in your browser. See the privacy page.
Editorial policy
- Sources. Every number on this site comes from a source we opened and checked, linked in the text and listed at the end of each guide with the date we checked it. If we could not source something, we left it out or said that it varies.
- The Scribe Method. Many guides cite The Scribe Method, the book on writing nonfiction that Scribe Media publishes free at scribemedia.com/scribe-method-book. We say when we are citing it, so you can weigh it as the view of a company that sells book services.
- Outside sources. We link to public bodies (the US Copyright Office, the US Patent and Trademark Office, the Library of Congress), the Book Industry Study Group, Amazon KDP's own help pages, and published industry advice.
- Author examples. Results from authors come only from published stories on scribemedia.com, are quoted as written, and are linked. One author's result is one example, never a typical outcome.
- Examples we made up. Illustrative examples, such as the retirement book used in several guides, are labeled as illustrations.
- Scribe's services. We mention Scribe's paid services only where a reader might want help with that step, and we say plainly that Scribe makes this site. Most of what is here you can do yourself.
- Dates. Pages show when they were published. Prices and rules change; we recheck them when we update a page.
Spotted an error? Email privacy@scribemedia.com with the page and the correction, and we will check it.