‘Every great building once began as a building plan. That means, sitting in that building plan is a mighty structure not yet seen. It is the same with dreams.’
~ Israelmore Ayivor, in ‘Shaping The Dream’
Once you’ve formed a clear picture of the reader of your non-fiction book, it is also important to have a clear understanding of their ambitions, highest hopes, and aspirations. You must then offer what they really need from you, so they go through a change as they absorb your book.
The promise of your book should be any combination of information, solutions, fresh insights, inspiration and hope, which attracts your target reader to your pages, and provides them with a transformation of some kind. They may simply learn how to grow juicier tomatoes – or they may find a way to have a better relationship with their adult children.
Keep the faith: your knowledge, experience and heart can do big things for others. Your book is important.
Start your book where your reader is; consider where you want your reader to be when they have finished reading it; and construct a way of taking them there. What logical, enjoyable and hopeful journey will you take them on?
Once you have defined that, you will have clarity and direction and can decide what material you will be covering, as well as the actual structure of your book. Then sit with the concept of your book and spend some time thinking about how you move your book out of the ‘it’s been done before’ zone and into the ‘interesting’ zone.
BOOK FORMATS
You may already have a very clear idea of what you want to write, or you may still be a bit fuzzy about what your book is going to look like. Here are some simple formats that may work for you:
- A personal story or a shared experience written in first person: ‘I did this and I did that; I learnt this and I learnt that.’ (If that is all you wish to write, think of that as a memoir.)
- The ‘how to’ format is very useful and has wide appeal because it speaks directly to the reader and shows them the solution to their problem. You might not use the words ‘How to’ in the title, but that concept provides a logical structure for your book.
- A collaborative book allows other people to add their voices to your book. You coordinate the other writers and give them clear guidelines to ensure you receive useful and relevant content.
- You might write an industry-specific book, and could use the ‘how to’ format or collaborative approach. For example, rather than ‘How to start a business,’ you might produce ‘How to start a hairdressing business’. Or ‘Ten sports coaches tell you how to build a winning team’.
- You’ll find a big market for books about spiritual wellness, mind-body-soul, or new age content – but be careful that you are not re-hashing others’ well-worn material. You have to find your unique approach.
- The popularity of short inspirational books is also a good reminder that books don’t have to be long-winded.
DECIDING ON STEPS
It’s important to break your book up into chapters and outline the steps readers will take on their journey. For example, a cook writing a book for people who have never cooked before would ask themselves, ‘How do I help my inexperienced reader to become a confident cook?’
What does your reader need to know first; what does she need to know second; what does she need to know next? These questions will become your chapters, and the title of each chapter should reflect the step that chapter will help your reader to take.
While you are breaking your book down into steps, it is also crucial that you keep a focus on the big questions as you write. Who are the people that want to read this book, and where are they in their life? How can I structure this book so that it has the most impact?
When readers pick up your book, flip it over and read the back cover, you want them to think, ‘Wow, super interesting. I have to buy this book – it is speaking to me!’
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This is the seventh of a series of articles taken from the book, ‘Smart Women Publish – Write the book that expands your world’ by Bev Ryan. Each article in this series will present the key ideas in its 15 chapters, from what a book can do for you, through planning, writing, publishing and leveraging your published book.
Bev is a certified non-fiction book coach (including memoir with a message) and book production manager, working with accomplished and interesting people as they write and self-publish their best non-fiction books. Contact Bev to find out how she can help you with your book.
‘Smart Women Publish’, is Bev’s comprehensive ‘how-to’ instructional and inspirational book, available here.
You can access Bev’s low-cost ‘how-to-publish book plus kick-starter coaching session’ here.