If you are working as a coach of any kind, then you’ve probably read a few self-help books in your quest for your own self-improvement. Whether you wanted to get healthy, have a better relationship, be a star player at the job, or even build your business, self-help books can be a real boost to your self esteem.

According to Nielsen Book Research, 3 million self-help books were sold last year — an increase of 20%! So why are self-help books so popular? It could be a sign of the times. People are looking for ways to cope with the stress of life. There are literally millions of people all over the world who are looking for ways to show up better than they did yesterday.

So why should coaches write a self-help book?

• Self-help books are a low-cost entry product to get to know you. Most self-help books–whether in print or ebook format–cost around $20 to $30. That’s price that people can afford. It’s a great way for people to own a piece of your work without feeling like they have to commit thousands of dollars to your coaching program.
• Self-help books benefit your personal branding strategy. Coaches who write books are viewed as experts. It gives the media something to point to that says — hey! this person knows what she’s talking about! Your credibility goes high when you have a world-class book that speaks to your ideal client.
• Self-help books sell your other products and services. If you can hook a reader in to buy your book, then they will more than likely be interested in all the other products and services you offer. People need more than just one book to solve their problems. What your self-help book does for people is give them a signal that you are here to support them to reach their goals.
• A well-written self-help book separates you from other coaches in your industry. I’m quite sure that you’ve noticed that the coaching industry is growing everyday. When you get focused on your niche, it makes it possible to write a book that automatically draws you to the top of the pile. Why? Because not everyone is willing to put in the work to write a world-class book. But you do…

Lots of coaches have a strong idea of what they want to write about, but don’t know where to begin with the actual writing and self publishing process. Allow me to share my ten steps to publishing a self-help book.

Step 1: What Should You Do Before Writing Your Self-Help Book?

There are a few questions you should be asking yourself before getting down to the business of writing a self-help book. Skipping these questions could cost you time, money, and wasted energy on writing the wrong book for the wrong audience.

1. What is your motivation for writing a self-help book?
2. For whom are you writing this self-help book?
3. How do you envision your book helping you grow your coaching business?
4. How will you get your book into the hands of those who need it most?
5. How will you continue to market your book once the initial excitement is over?

I discuss these BIG QUESTIONS with my coaching clients during our clarity calls. Why? Because it helps to talk these big ideas out loud with someone who can help you think big. Your self-help book is a legacy that can continue to help people long after you are dead and buried — if you do it the right way. Asking the right questions will help you clarify your vision for your book and help you develop a business plan that can keep you busy for AT LEAST the next 5 to 10 years.

Step 2: What Is the Main Theme of Your Self-Help Book?

Let’s start thinking about the major theme of your health book. Getting this right will save you from writing a book that no one wants to read. This means that you are clear on who you are and what your audience is interested in reading.

1. What is your book about in 3 to 5 sentences?
2. What result do you want your readers to experience after reading your book?
3. Have you already written on this topic before (blog posts, presentations, etc.)? What kind of feedback did you get from your audience?

Don’t have an audience yet? Then you may want to hold off on writing a book and opt to do smaller writing projects instead. Blogging, writing an ebook, producing a podcast are just a few of the creative ways you can start creating free helpful content you can use to build an email list. The people on your list will clue you in on what they want to learn from you. I’m not telling you to put off writing a book for the next 5 years… It just means that you should put in the work of at least 6 months to a year of consistent audience building before you begin writing your first self-help book. I can help you with your initial audience building during a clarity call.

Have you already written your self-help book and still don’t have an audience? Make an appointment with me ASAP so I can get you started.

Step 3: Write Your Self-Help Book Outline

Writing an outline for your self-help book is essential to getting it done in the most efficient way possible. A book outline is a map of how you want to present your material in some kind of logical order. Your outline can be flexible throughout the book writing process. For example, if you need to rename a chapter, move it to another location, or add another chapter in at the last minute then you can do so without too much worry. You just want to create a solid outline from the very beginning to ensure that you narrow the scope of your book to something that won’t overwhelm you as a writer, or those who have to read it.

Step 4: Evaluate Your Self-Help Book Outline

Now that you have written an outline you are happy with, let’s evaluate what information you have versus what you need to research. Go back and gather the materials you already have written from step two.

1. How can you plug these materials that have already been written into your outline?
2. What other research do you need to do in order to complete the book?

This is the step where many coaches joyfully realize that they don’t have to start writing their book from scratch. It is perfectly acceptable to pull from what you have already created and build from there.

Step 5: Begin Writing Your Self-Help Book

All your book writing activities should begin with a schedule. If you want to ensure that your book actually gets completed, then you’ll want to create a writing schedule.

1. Pull out your calendar and pick a date by which you plan to complete the writing of your book. Do you have an event coming up where you want to sell your books in the back of the room? Be sure to give yourself enough time to get your book edited, create a cover, and go through the process of publishing. Those final details can take anywhere from an added 6 weeks to 3 months — so plan accordingly.
2. When is the best time for you to write? Morning? Lunch time? Late evenings? I recommend you write DAILY to ensure that you keep your momentum going — even if it’s just 15 to 30 minutes per day. If you stop and start every few days, you take the risk of getting distracted. I understand that life happens, however it’s up to you to do your best to honor your goal and your reason for writing your book in the first place. Pull out your calendar and create a writing schedule you can stick with.
3. Write. It really all comes down to this one action. Writers write. Procrastinators get nothing done. Pick which one you want to be.

Step 6: Edit Your Self-Help Book

The reason why many people have trouble with the writing process is because they are censoring their thoughts and editing as they write. So you just want to make sure that you write first, edit later. Here’s some tips to get you through editing.

1. You can choose to edit after writing each chapter, or edit after writing the entire book. I prefer the former simply because it allows me to chop up the process into manageable parts. However you may prefer to write the entire book, then go back later — it’s completely up to you.
2. Hire a professional editor. Having another set of eyes on your work is invaluable to ensuring that your book is polished and professional.

Step 7: Design a Professional Book Cover

Never underestimate the power of a great book cover — especially in today’s internet economy. You can’t get away with book covers that look homemade anymore. There are several ways for you to get a great book cover at a variety of prices. Here are a few suggestions:

1. Canva.com: If you are the least bit artistic, you may want to try creating a book cover on your own. Look at the ready-made templates to get you started. But only do this if you absolutely have to.
2. Fiverr.com: Everything on this site is $5+ per service. However remember that you get what you pay for. Get recommendations from friends who say they got an awesome service for best results.
3. GoOnWrite.com: The guy who runs this site creates beautiful book covers starting at $45 using stock photos.
4. Hire a designer. You can go on sites like Upwork.com or do an internet search to find a graphic designer or illustrator who can create a great book cover from $50 to $200 or more.

Step 8: Get the Interior of Your Self-Help Book Designed and Formatted

Now that the outside of your book is beautiful, we can work on getting the inside just as lovely. Your book — whether in printed or ebook form — should never look like a Microsoft Word document. You can hire someone to use Adobe InDesign to create a proper design on the inside of the book for you. You can also choose a DIY option by purchasing a book formatting template using MS Word or Adobe InDesign. Click here to download your DIY Book Design Templates. Once the interior is designed, a professional book formatter can create files for both ebook and print versions of your self-help book.

Step 9: Final Proofread

Before you pay to print your book or turn it into an ebook file, it’s important to ensure that you get one final proofread to catch any last minute mistakes. You and a proofreader should give your book one last read before hitting the PUBLISH button.

Step 10: Publish

Congratulations! You’ve made it to the finish line! Now you are ready to publish. Here’s a few options I recommend to my clients:

1. Ebooks can be published as a PDF on your website as well as published on other distribution sites like Amazon and Barnes & Noble. You can go to these websites to find instructions on how to do so.
2. Print books can be published in a multitude of ways. You can go to your local printer and have it done old school style. You can also use a system like Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing. Finally you can go to another publishing and distribution company like IngramSpark to reach international audiences.

And that’s it!!! {Can you sense my sarcasm here???}

Publishing a self-help book can be a bear. That’s why I’m here to help you through the process.

If you are ready to move forward with writing your self-help book, I’m ready to support you. The best way for me to support you is with a clarity call. Here’s a link to my schedule. Click now so we can get started.

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Halona Black

Nonfiction Ghostwriter | Editor | Content Strategist

Halona Black is a Ghostwriter, Editor, and Content Strategist. She ghostwrites books, articles, and thought leadership pieces for C-level executives, coaches, and keynote speakers.

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