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How to Make Your Self-Published Nonfiction Book Look Like a New York Times Best Seller

Independent publishing has become a more acceptable route for experts to publish books that meet the needs of their audiences. However, independent publishing, or self-publishing, does not equate to publishing books that look and read unprofessional.

So what does a coach, speaker, trainer, or consultant do when she wants to write and independently publish a nonfiction book that looks like it can compete with a New York Times Best Seller? You don’t have to search any further than the best selling books on your favorite book store shelves.

Start paying closer attention to a few details in your favorite nonfiction self-help book titles. This will help you learn what works with books that are commercially popular. Use these books to pick up clues that tell you what makes a good book in the eyes of the reader. There are certain details that you will see over and over again — but you have to pay attention.

Let’s take a look at a few of the details any active reader of nonfiction self-help books should be paying attention to the next time you visit your favorite book store or log on to Amazon.

#1. Examine the title. A good nonfiction title gives the reader the promise of the book. What is the author claiming to help the reader do? A good title may also mention WHO the targeted reader is. You may also find self-help book titles that give the reader a time frame by which they can expect change to take place.

Here are a few examples of winning self-help book titles:

  • How to Stop Worrying and Start Living by Dale Carnegie
  • The Success Principles: How to Get From Where You Are to Where You Want to Be by Jack Canfield
  • The Whole30: The 30 Day Guide to Total Health and Food Freedom by Urban and Hartwig

Action Step: Take some time to look at Amazon or visit your local book store at books in your area of expertise. What nonfiction titles stand out the most to you? Can you tell what the book is about just by reading the title? How long is the title? Does the author make use of the sub-title to give you a better idea of what to expect from the book?

#2. Read the back of the cover copy. Once a reader is hooked by the title of a self-help book, she often turns the book over to find out what the book is about. If you are looking the book up on Amazon, that means you turn your eyes to the book description.

Here, you will find the gist of the book boiled down to a few sentences. They may start off by asking the reader a question to help them qualify if this is the book for them.

You may also find a list of highly targeted, short bullet points that explain what the reader can expect to learn.

Action Step: Examine the book cover copy of a few books in your genre. Is there a headline? Is the copy easy to scan with your eyes so you don’t have to read every word? What emotions do you feel reading the copy?

#3. Pay attention to the table of contents to see what the book covers. The next thing a reader may do is crack open the book to go through the table of contents. This is where the reader can skim the chapter headings to find out whether there is specific information that may be relevant to the problem they are looking to solve.

Action Step: Take a look at the table of contents of the nonfiction books in your area of expertise. If you are using Amazon, you can use the “Look Inside” feature by clicking on the book cover. Notice how long the chapter headings are. What keywords are being used here? Does the author list sub-headings for content that is more complicated?

#4. What can you learn from looking at the book cover? The cover of your book matters (no matter what the cliche says…). What colors did the author use? Does the author use a picture of her face or full body picture on the cover? Or maybe the author chose to use an abstract picture of something that’s related to the topic as the cover? Is the font easy to read? How does the font make you feel when you look at it?

Action Step: Take a picture or a screenshot of some of your favorite book covers and lay them out, side-by-side. What are some of the elements you enjoy about these nonfiction book covers? How does the title of the book appear on the cover? How does the cover make you feel?

#5. What is the tone of the language used in the book? The tone is all about the manner in which the writer chooses to speak to the reader. Does the author use sarcasm to talk about a life threatening illness? Is the tone more formal like a textbook, or does the author prefer to write as if she is having a one-on-one conversation with the reader?

Here’s a great example of two different tones used in the title of a book.

  • The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life by Mark Manson
  • The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment by Eckhart Tolle

The author of the first title is clearly a carefree spirit who doesn’t mind having a strong curse word thrown around for attention. I’m quite sure you won’t even find a curse word in Tolle’s book. However, both books are quite successful and have an audience of readers that gravitate to the style of writing that speaks to them.

Action Step: What tone do you prefer to write with? What new writers often do is copy the tone of another successful author in order to feel like they are “doing it right.” However, I like to guide my authors to use the tone they speak with when addressing their clients. If you use dry jokes in talking with clients, use dry jokes in the book. If you preface your lessons with stories from your childhood, feel free to do that in your book. Use this time to think about what your tone is the next time you talk to a client. Note what feels natural to you.

If you are going to be reading books for your own personal development (and I’m sure you do if you consider yourself to be an expert…), you may as well start paying attention to the elements that made you gravitate towards that title in the first place. Becoming a more active reader will help you to figure out what your readers enjoy in the books they read so you can replicate some of those same classic elements in your own self-help book.

Are you looking for guidance on how to write a professional nonfiction book? I am currently taking appointments with serious experts seeking ghostwriting and book coaching support. Email me at Hello@DigitalWellPublisher.com and tell me more about your project.

How to Publish a Self-Help Book in 10 Steps

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.

Top 3 Misconceptions About Hiring a Book Editor

 

Top 3 Misconceptions About Hiring an EditorIt boggles my mind how many self published authors work so hard on their books and somehow skip over hiring an editor. When you write a book, you are too close to the book to really give it the fresh eye it needs to be clear and readable to your audience.

One of the great things about self publishing is that we get to cut out a lot of the middle men used in traditional publishing so we can syndicate our message on our own. However self publishing doesn’t mean that you do it ALL by yourself. It’s important to have a team — and your team should certainly include an editor. I talk about it on the 3rd episode of my podcast, How to Create Your Self Publishing Team.

So I wanted to take a few minutes to bust some of the misconceptions you may have about hiring an editor for your next book project.

#1.Hiring an editor is too expensive.

You say hiring an editor is too expensive? I say that NOT hiring an editor is too expensive. Why? Because high quality editing can transform your book from mediocre to something that your readers will love, appreciate, and share with their friends for years to come. Hiring an editor based on price alone is like letting your cousin take your wedding pics with his smartphone. Sure, it does the job, but are these the kind of pics you want to hang on your wall as a keepsake for generations to come? Of course not.

#2. All editors are the same.

Some wellness entrepreneurs are surprised when they find out my price for editing their book. This is because they often believe that all editors do the same work. In short, there are 3 kinds of editors:

Developmental editors check your book for overall continuity, flow, tone, structure. These editors want to know that the ideas in your book make sense to those who are reading.

Copyeditors go through your book line by line to ensure that each sentence makes sense. They also check for grammar, spelling, syntax, etc.

Proofreaders go through your book once it has been laid out in its final format and before it goes out to print. The proofreader looks for any fixes any final embarrassing mistakes.

While I am capable at doing all 3, most of the work I do with clients falls between developmental and copyediting. Developmental editing is often the most important and the most expensive part of the editing process that entrepreneurs often don’t see the value in paying for. However if you are the only person that understands what your book is about, then what was the whole point in writing it anyway? It’s kind of like going to the hairdresser and saying, “I’m only paying for you to do 3/4 of my head today, please.” It just doesn’t make sense. If you go through the trouble of writing the book, finish strongly by hiring the right editor.

#3. Editors fix 100% of all errors.

Fixing 100% of all errors in your book, or any kind of writing for that matter, is generally impossible. Why? Because human beings make mistakes. Sure, we can try to do our best to ensure that the book has as few mistakes as possible, but to ask an editor to give you an error free book is like asking God for no more rainy days (I’m in the mood for analogies today). It just doesn’t work. Pick up a classic novel, or even the latest New York Times Bestseller and count how many errors you find. I bet you’ll be surprised.

I hope that this gives you a bit more insight into how and why hiring a qualified editor to edit your book is important. Do you have any other thoughts about why you need or don’t need an editor for your book? Share them with me below.