What Should Your Book Be About?
Are you intrigued by the idea of writing a book, but you are not quite sure what it should be about? I’ve written over a dozen books for entrepreneurs, and, at the beginning, that is always the first question on their minds (besides cost). Sure, they know they want a book and they understand the reason is to add to their credibility, but other than a few basics, they usually don’t know what they should talk about. I mean, how can they fill a whole book about their topic?
Your story – Start with your story. Who are you? How did you get to be an expert in your field? The idea is to establish YOUR credibility and create the basis of understanding as to why you are the expert. This isn’t about your products and services – it’s about you, and the goal is to show yourself as a real human being. Show yourself as likable and understandable.
- Talk about your life, keeping it on point so that you can relate it to your products and services later.
- Who were strong influences in your life? Talk about them?
- How did college or school (or lack of it) effect you?
You get the idea? In this section, you want to create empathy and understanding about you, so your readers believe you are a real human being. If they like you, you’re well on the way to achieving your goals.
The history behind your products or services – Tell your readers the story behind your products and services.
- Why are they important?
- How did you come up with the ideas?
- How do they help people?
- What problems do they solve?
This is not the place to do a hard sell or talk about prices. Your goal is to continue to build your credibility and expertise. Don’t turn this into a catalog or a sales brochure.
Information – Give real information in your book. Your readers must come away believing they learning something. You can do this by giving a little bit of history or explaining the science or technical details (in layman’s terms) of your products or services. Keep this simple to read and informative.
Heartwarming or funny stories – It’s always good to sprinkle your book with heartwarming or funny stories. You can do these as sidebars or as a chapter on it’s own. Don’t degrade or put down yourself, your products or your expertise, and stay away from subjects such as race, religion, and so forth (unless that’s what your book is about).
These kinds of stories can pull your audience into your book and make them want to continue to read. In fact, they may even share these stories with their friends on social media, or even share the book.
Testimonials – It’s always a great idea to include as many testimonials as you can get. Sprinkle them throughout the book. Make sure they are real testimonials from real people. Don’t pay for testimonials – just ask customers to write them, and get permission to include them in your book.
Your products or services – Talk about your products and services, being careful not to turn your book into a sales brochure or catalog. Include just enough so your readers know what you offer, with links to your blog for more information, pricing and so on. Never include pricing or terms in your book, as it’s difficult to change.
Conclusions – Remember your book is marketing, not sales. The purpose is to build your brand, establish your credibility and define your expertise.
Once you have a book, you can give it out to prospects, distribute it to vendors and affiliates, sell it at public speaking engagements and obtain interviews and attention from the media. It’s an incredibly useful tool if you use it properly.
Richard is the Owner and Senior Writer for The Writing King, a bestselling author, and ghostwriter. He’s written and published 63 books, ghostwritten 40+ books, as well as hundreds of blog articles.
