Your Next Big Idea received a 4+ star review, making it an IndieReader Approved title.
Following find an interview with author Samuel Sanders.
What is the name of the book and when was it published?
Your Next Big Idea came out on May 3, 2021.
The full title is: Your Next Big Idea: Improve Your Creativity and Problem-Solving
What’s the book’s first line?
Think of someone innovative, creative, elite at problem-solving, and excellent at ideation (that is, the ability to come up with ideas without tons of effort).
What’s the book about? Give us the “pitch”.
Do you ever look at a business or invention and wonder, “How did they come up with that?” Your Next Big Idea tackles that question by teaching you an innovative idea-development process. The book is designed to be interactive, with each section featuring exercises and information that will challenge your perspective. No matter what your current level of creativity, ideation, or problem-solving skills, this book will show you how entrepreneurs, business professionals and everyday people come up with big game-changing ideas. Ultimately, this book will help you create a process to test and validate solutions that will unleash Your Next Big Idea.
What inspired you to write the book? A particular person? An event?
I wrote this book because I was frustrated with how we teach creativity and business in our education system. We so often look at established businesses or ideas themselves, but not how the person comes up with the idea. The fact that we skip out on teaching ideation leads many people to give up and label themselves as ‘not creative,’ when in reality, we all have the potential to come up with great ideas! I hope that Your Next Big Idea can help people light that creative spark and find an idea they can pursue to make an impact.
What’s the main reason someone should really read this book?
I truly believe anyone can come up with a new business idea, solve big problems, or be creative. As humans, we are very routine beings. We often find ourselves doing the same things again and again. This is problematic because it limits our creativity to have such repetition that we feel like we are on autopilot.
This book is a breath of fresh air that sparks the creative side of your brain. This book is for you if:
- You are interested in starting a business but don’t know where to start
- You are a business leader looking to make your organization more innovative
- You are looking to be a more innovative employee or person
- You are just someone looking to get a better understanding of creativity and innovation and how to apply it
If you fall into any of those categories and are a business or self-help reader this book has information for you that you can apply.
If they made your book into a movie, who would you like to see play the main character(s)?
While Your Next Big Idea is a soft business book (a cross between business and self-help), I do think it weaves the lessons very nicely that could be in a movie or story. The story could follow someone who is itching to start a business and their journey of discovery and finding the spark and that idea that works. I think there are a ton of talented actresses and actors who could play a role like that. As an entrepreneur myself, I often find myself rooting for the underdog, so I would love to see the role taken by someone who is undiscovered or new to the industry.
As I am thinking about this question though, I feel like Your Next Big Idea could also turn into a musical. There are so many funny moments that take place when starting a business that you could sing about! However, that could be because I am biased and really enjoy musicals!
When did you first decide to become an author?
When I was younger I found reading and writing more challenging than subjects like math and science. However, as I got older, I learned to appreciate the art of writing. A few years back, I was reading How to Get a Meeting with Anyone by Stu Heinecke, and I think that planted the seed in my head for writing a book. I remember taking away the lesson if you have something you know well, write about it. About a few months later, I went back to my alma mater Syracuse (Go Orange!), to give a talk on entrepreneurship and ideation. I gave a lecture on how to discover a new business idea, which gained a little bit of traction (the class was early in the morning so hard to get everyone’s attention), but it made me feel like, “Wait, I have something here that I really understand and know.” I remember taking a walk a few weeks later and thinking not only do these lessons apply to my field and my work, but they are also something I want to get out there. I hope that people who read my book can find their spark and find their next big idea!
Is this the first book you’ve written?
Yes, I may come back to writing another one in the future. If I write another book, it has to be something I feel I am an expert on. At the moment, I want to do a lot more reading and learning versus writing to build up my knowledge. I think I would like to have a few more new experiences before I jump back into the writing ring!
What do you do for work when you’re not writing?
I run a company called Heard, LLC. Heard is a software program that helps connect local governments to citizens and business leaders to employees. Here is problem Heard tackles:
Say you are a citizen and you have an idea on how to improve your society, you may keep it to yourself, or maybe share that idea with a friend. If you are really ambitious, you may share it on social media or email your local representative. However, most of the time those ideas that citizens have are just lost. This happens countless times, and there are a huge amount truly innovative ideas that just never make it to the right people. This is a gigantic waste of human capital. From the reverse side, local leaders are sent so many ideas. There is no good way to find out if an idea is viable or would be liked by the community, so often, these ideas get ignored.
Here is how Heard solves that problem:
Heard is an app and website, free to citizens, that allows constituents to send in ideas they have to improve the community. The app then sends those ideas out to other citizens to rate them and give feedback. If the concept gets positive traction, it is sent to the local leader like this, “Your constituent(s) has come up with [sample] idea to improve the community. It has 83% support, and it has [sample] action plan proposed. 205 people signed up their email to help bring the action plan and idea to a reality.” Then the government could work with this information and local citizens to improve the community. Heard will increase government accountability, and solve the problem of citizens feeling like their voices are not heard. This works the same way for businesses to help employees at all levels pitch ideas and get them to the right leaders in a company.
When I am not working you probably can find me at an amusement park, playing board games or drinking coffee from a local coffee shop.
How much time do you generally spend on your writing?
I am a person that goes in bursts, I can sit and write for 5 hours straight and then not write for a bit. These days I am working a little more on marketing than writing (part of the challenges of being an indie!). I will say though, it always feels fulfilling to spend even just 15 minutes or so just crafting something you are proud of creating.
What’s the best and the hardest part of being an indie?
The lack of resources. If you want to be an indie you often need to partner with many different companies: Ingram, Amazon, B&N, marketing services, and the problem is as an individual contributor you are never the most important. You never are given top priority you always have to fight for everything to go smoothly.
What’s a great piece of advice that you can share with fellow indie authors?
For the writing process, I would say block off some time for yourself at least 4 times a week, sit down and finish a piece of content each day until you finish. It does not have to be perfect (I’ve gone through so many many many drafts), but getting the book finished is one of the biggest challenges. Once it is finished, you can commence the massive amount of edits.
For editing, get at least two excellent editors. Editing yourself is challenging, and editors can always catch things you miss. I enjoyed working with one editor who I thought would fall into my target reader segment and one who I thought wouldn’t. It really helped me uniquely tell my story. If you read my book and like the way my editors helped bring my book to life, email me, and I’ll reference you.
For design, get a professional designer. I had an absolutely fantastic designer who made a beautiful cover and interior (I am biased!). If you like my interior or cover, please contact me, and I can refer you. It is important that indie authors help each other out!
For marketing, do your research. I studied the marketing behind indie books for about 160 hours before picking a publishing date. For clarification, I don’t have any background in the publishing industry, and this is my first book. Therefore, I need to do more research than a lot of other people. Regardless, it is essential to understand the book marketing world before diving into it.
Would you go traditional if a publisher came calling? If so, why?
To be honest, I am not 100% sure. It depends on the publisher and the situation, but my gut is leaning towards no. No one cares about my book more than me, and I would be afraid that I am just on some list. I would be concerned that as soon as a publisher is done with the launch, they might throw the book aside. If I work through myself, I can work and have the flexibility to give my book attention for months. I am not famous enough to really have that brand recognition where I think a big publisher would make sense.
Is there something in particular that motivates you (fame? fortune?)
Impact. I really want to help make a difference and make peoples’ lives better. If you read my book, come up with a great business idea, or even feel better about the way you look at creativity, tell me! That is what keeps me going.
Which writer, living or dead, do you most admire?
Wow there are just so many, I don’t even know where to start with this question. As a personal preference I like when authors challenge current social themes or problems we face in our real world society. I know some authors and readers write/read for strictly entertainment, but if a book makes me step back and think about a societal issue or larger picture, that gives me a huge sense of fulfillment and joy.
Which book do you wish you could have written?
I think there are so many amazing and talented authors out there that, I wouldn’t know where to start with this question either. I will say though I love reading compelling books that make me think deeper about society or business. If you have a book that you think falls under my description don’t hesitate to reach out 😊.