By Edward Nawotka, Editor-in-Chief

Book discovery advice is a lot like diet advice. It just keeps changing, getting more complicated and increasingly difficult to know what really works. There are a few agreed-upon principles:

• You need good metadata, but what that is exactly is still being hashed out.
• You need some form of audience interaction — a web site, active social media stream, something…

But, just like the diet industry, there are hundreds (nee: thousands) of companies, consultancies and advisors who are willing to offer you the illusion of a shortcut to success — provided you’re willing to pay for their particular brand of magic. But just like with dieting, there are no shortcuts.

Here, as with most things the KISS principle applies…

In dieting, it’s:

• Eat less
• Move more

In books, it’s:

• Publish a book people want to read.

Stick with that and success is all but guaranteed.

Let us know what you think in the comments.