Blog - Page 2 of 34 - Cascadia Author Services

How to Format a Nonfiction Book Outline

With few exceptions, most nonfiction books are written to inform and educate readers about a particular area of interest. This could involve acquiring new skills to enhance an aspect of their personal lives or careers, learning new techniques to solve a problem they’re experiencing, or further developing a hobby by practicing and implementing new projects, ideas, etc.

Since the information you’re writing about will likely be new to the reader, you’ll need to present it in a logical way that can be easily digested without causing confusion. A properly formatted nonfiction outline will make sure your book is understood.

At a minimum, a well-formatted outline will become the foundation of your table of contents, and clarity here is paramount. After all, a poorly structured table of contents can become the death knell for your book sales, because that’s one of the first sections of your book that’ll be browsed by potential customers — if its content doesn’t spark their interest, or if it lacks proper structure and it’s confusing to read, your window to make a sale will be quickly shut.

But more importantly, a well-thought-out and well-formatted outline will help you structure your nonfiction book in a way that will simplify and expedite your writing process significantly.

In this article, I’ll show you the best approach to create a nonfiction outline format that you can put to work right away.

How Do You Format a Nonfiction Outline?

When it comes to creating effective outlines, there are many formats that can be put to use depending of the nature of the work. From essays to research papers to fiction books, some writers prefer purely numerical outline formats, purely alphabetical ones or a combination of both styles.

Most nonfiction books, however, tend to gravitate to a formatting sequence that begins with Roman numerals to list the main topics, using indented capital letters to list sub-topics, followed by Arabic numerals to list subdivisions in the sub-topics, and if needed, lowercase letters to segment this information further.

Here’s an example:

Introduction

I- How our mind works

A- The conscious and subconscious mind

1- What is consciousness?

a- Conscious breathing

b- The power of meditation

2- How to access your subconscious

3- …..

B- Where thoughts originate

C- …..

II- Your belief system

A- Beliefs from your upbringing

1- …..

2- …..

B- Beliefs and your emotions

1- …..

2- …..

C- Nature vs. nurture.

III- The power of perception

A- …..

B- …..

IV- The role of your mind in everyday life

A- …..

B- …..

Conclusion

How Do You Write an Outline?

The first step to create a nonfiction outline is to develop a mind map of your book. Mind mapping is a technique used by many professional nonfiction authors to develop the overall structure of their books, and it entails charting the flow of thoughts triggered by the main idea or thesis of your book.

One way to arrive at your main idea is to ask yourself the following question: What’s your audience’s most significant problem for which you’ve created a unique solution? In other words, you need to figure out what’s the pressing problem that you’re going to help your audience solve and then develop your main idea around your solution.

For example, if the problem you’re trying to solve for your readers is their difficulty sustaining weight loss and your unique solution isn’t based on fitness or dieting but on the use of our mind instead, your main idea may be “How to Turn Off Your Hunger Signals Using Mindfulness Meditation.”

Once you’ve developed your main idea, and knowing that this is your area of expertise, you’ll then use the mind mapping technique to turn it into a “map” of all the knowledge percolating in your brain about this idea, all your thoughts, experience and recollections, all your client interactions while putting your solution to work in your professional life.

Since our brains store information in a “random storage” instead of a linear fashion, you’ll need to extract this information as a stream of consciousness and display it in a way where you can begin to shape it into a basic structure.

To this effect, begin by writing down your main idea in the center of a large piece of paper, or a whiteboard if you have one. Then coming out radially from the center of your mind map, begin to draw branches leading to the main topics that stem from your main idea.

Using the above example, main branches might be:

Mindfulness
The mechanics of satiation
Hunger signals
Mind control
Meditation
The physiology of hunger
How nutrients get absorbed into the body
The digestive system
Etc.

Your goal is to come up with as many topics as possible in no particular order, keeping in mind that more is always better because often some of your topics will become subtopics.

Once you do a few passes iterating around your main topics, you’ll then pick one of those topics and repeat this exercise, but focused instead on the sub-topics that would fall under it as you expand radially from the main topic.

Here’s an example of the mind map of a book by Tony Buzan, the nonfiction author who popularized its use in the 70’s:

Turning Your Mind Map into an Outline

Once you’ve flushed out your mind map to the point that you feel that no more iterations are necessary, it’s time to “convert” your mind map into a proper outline.

The first step is to number the main topics on the map into their logical order or appearance. One way to do this is to decide what the introductory topic will be and then choose the conclusive one. Then simply place the remaining topics in between in the sequence that makes the most logical sense.

The second step is to apply the same strategy to your sub topics. Once you’ve gone through the first step, simply pick one main topic at a time in no particular order and repeat the above process to create a sequence of sub-topics.

The third and final step is to transcribe this information into an ordered list on your favorite word processor to produce your formatted outline.

Depending on what word processor you’re using, you may need to play with the numbered-list settings to make the Roman numerals appear first, followed by capital letters, Arabic numerals and finally lowercase letters — not all word processors will apply this progression automatically.

Next Steps

Once your outline is correctly formatted, you’ll have all the necessary prompts to begin writing your book.

In fact, since your outline already contains all the information to write your book in the correct sequence, you don’t even need to write your book in that order. You can simply pick the topic the inspires you most that day and just write about it, even if it appears mid-way through the book.

In this way, you’ll never have to worry about suffering from the dreaded writer’s block — your book is already inside of you and all you’re doing is following a series of prompts to transfer this information from your brain to the written page.

Good luck!

If you enjoyed this article and are in the process of writing a nonfiction book, be sure to check out my free nonfiction success guide, drawn from years of experience editing books for bestselling authors (including a New York Times bestseller) and ghostwriting for CEOs and politicians. Simply click here to get instant access.

Ben

Leave me a comment below if you have any questions or a specific need that I can help you address – I operate an author services firm that specializes in helping entrepreneurs, professionals and business owners who want to publish books as a calling card for prospects, to establish their status as an expert or to just to generate additional leads for their businesses.

Here are some related posts I highly recommend:

How to Write a Compelling Book in 12 Steps: A Must-Read Guide for Nonfiction Authors

Write Your Own Book and Become an Expert: 11 Reasons Why You Should

How to Grow Your Business Writing a Nonfiction Book

How Long Does it Take to Write a Book to Help Grow Your Business?

5 Book Cover Maker Mistakes to Avoid When Designing a Nonfiction Cover

Bennett R. Coles is an award-winning author of 6 books published through Harper Collins (NY) and Titan Publishing Group (UK). He is also the publisher at Promontory Press and the founder/CEO of Cascadia Author Services, a boutique full-service firm that specializes in premium author services specifically designed for busy professionals. Our end-to-end services include writer coaching, ghostwriting, editing, proofing, cover design, book layout, eBook production, printing, distribution and marketing.

Paragraph Introduction Examples for Nonfiction Writers

by Bennett R. Coles Leave a Comment

This article offers tips on how to nail the all-important introduction of your paragraphs — the sentence that gives purpose to them and by extension your entire nonfiction book — and ends with some examples for your reference.

Paragraph Introduction Basics

As a nonfiction writer, your job is to convey your thoughts in as clear a way as possible, and that requires that your unit of thought — the paragraph — be centered on a single idea. The first sentence of each paragraph must introduce the topic that you’ll be developing.

Here are some tips:

Paragraph Introduction Do’s

The job of your paragraph introduction is to pique the interest of your readers
Try to make it sound intriguing: use a controversial statement, use humor, ask an interesting question
Make your paragraph introduction inspiring — grab your reader’s attention and keep them glued to the page

Paragraph Introduction Don’ts

Don’t bore your reader with uninspiring introductory language, such as “This book will talk about…,” “The purpose of this book is to…,” etc.
Don’t state an opinion or use otherwise doubtful or weak language, such as “I think this topic will be useful for people who….” “I hope that you learn…,” etc.)
Don’t meander, get straight to the point of introducing your topic without unnecessary detours

Nonfiction Paragraph Examples

Here are some examples of nonfiction paragraphs, one for each of the three most common paragraph styles used in the genre (paragraph introduction sentences are highlighted with italics):

Expository Paragraph Example

This style is used to inform and educate your reader.

“The fundamental question of work and leisure raised by Weiss is particularly relevant as a generation called Millennials moves firmly into the workforce. I know many Millennials and in general they’re hard-working, passionate young men and women who are eager to work, but they want to enjoy and draw meaning from their jobs. Most are sensible enough to have a day-job to pay the bills, but many have a “side hustle” – a hobby or a business idea into which they pour their passion and hope to one day monetize. Weiss recognizes this trend in workers, but an interesting disconnect between Weiss’ article and today is the discussion of self-employment. Weiss notes that self-employed workers are generally most satisfied even if they earn less, but also makes the observation that self-employment has significantly declined.”

Narrative Paragraph Example

This style is used to take the reader through an emotional journey.

“Christopher Reeve was one courageous person who fully accepted an unexpected change in direction in his life. The icon of superhuman strength in the 80’s, he was the quintessential Superman. An actor of great appeal and talent, he represented the ideal combination of manliness, strength, seeker of justice, and savior of humankind. In May 1995, he was horse jumping and had a serious fall. The accident seriously damaged his spinal cord and shocked the world. How could Superman be rendered a quadriplegic? It was unfathomable. After many months of grueling physical therapy, he learned how to function in this new altered state. Within a year, he had founded a charitable organization called the Christopher Reeve Foundation in order to raise money for research on spinal cord injuries and made it his life mission to find a way for all victims of these devastating injuries to walk again.”

Persuasive Paragraph Example

This style is used to inspire the reader to take action.

“‘I’m too old’ or ‘It’s too late to change’ are nothing but limiting beliefs. Like any other beliefs, they’re fully under your control and are totally replaceable. In the end, you’re the one who truly runs the show, as much as you’re taught to believe the opposite. When it comes to making changes in your life, you have the ultimate say. If you end up doing what others think you should, it’s only because on some level you’ve made the decision to believe that their ideas are more worthy than your own.”

Good luck!

Ben

Leave me a comment below if you have any questions or a specific need that I can help you address – I operate an author services firm that specializes in helping entrepreneurs, professionals and business owners who want to publish books as a calling card for prospects, to establish their status as an expert or to just to generate additional leads for their businesses.

Here are some related posts I highly recommend:

How to Write a Compelling Book in 12 Steps: A Must-Read Guide for Nonfiction Authors

Write Your Own Book and Become an Expert: 11 Reasons Why You Should

How to Grow Your Business Writing a Nonfiction Book

Sentence Structure Primer for Nonfiction Authors

by Bennett R. Coles Leave a Comment

This article is a basic sentence structure primer for nonfiction authors (or any other writers, for that matter!). It begins by defining and giving examples of the different building blocks that are required to create sentence structures and it ends by introducing the 4 types of sentence structure most commonly used in the English language.

1. Foundational Elements of a Sentence

Subject: a being (e.g. a man or a cat), a place (e.g. the dormitory), a thing (e.g. a piano) or a concept (e.g. the theory of relativity)

Verb: an action that expresses what the subject does (e.g. is, will, comes, builds, takes)

Object: the being, place, thing or concept that is at the receiving end or the result of the subject’s action (e.g. the cat chased “the squirrel,” Susan moved to “Seattle,” the crew built “the house”).

2. Linking Words

Coordinating conjunction: a word used to join two elements of equal importance (e.g. He was short “and” quick). The elements could be both nouns, adjectives, verbs, phrases or independent clauses.

There are seven coordinating conjunctions: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so (here’s a simple mnemonic shortcut: they make up the word fanboys.)

Subordinating conjunction: a word or phrase that links a dependent clause to an independent clause. Here are 7 frequently used types of subordinating conjunctions:

Time conjunction: e.g. after, as soon as, before, once, since, until, when, while
Comparison conjunction: e.g. as much as, rather than, than, whether, whereas
Place conjunction: e.g. where, wherever
Condition conjunction: e.g. assuming that, if, in case, provided that
Reason conjunction: e.g. as, because, in order that, since, so that, that
Concession conjunction: e.g. although, even though, though
Relative pronouns: e.g. who, whoever, whom, whomever, whose

3. Sentence Clauses

Independent clause: a clause that expresses a complete thought, and can therefore stand alone as a sentence (e.g. the man ate a ham sandwich)

Dependent clause: a clause that does not express a complete thought, and can’t therefore stand alone as a complete sentence (e.g. since they were so well-behaved)

4… and Without Further Ado: Sentence Structures

Simple sentence structure: is made out of a single independent clause (e.g. That rabbit is very large.)

Compound sentence structure: is made out of two or more independent clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction (e.g. The young man won the race but he lost the meet.)

Complex sentence structure: is made out of an independent clause joined to a dependent clause by a subordinating conjunction (e.g. The crowd cleared the small room after getting the signal.)

Compound-complex sentence structure: is made out of at least two independent clauses and one or more dependent clauses joined by a combination of coordinating and subordinating conjunctions (e.g. The crowd cleared the small room after getting the signal so the medics could set up the stretcher.)

Good luck with your writing project!

Ben

Leave me a comment below if you have any questions or a specific need that I can help you address – I operate an author services firm that specializes in helping entrepreneurs, professionals and business owners who want to publish books as a calling card for prospects, to establish their status as an expert or to just to generate additional leads for their businesses.

Here are some related posts I highly recommend:

How to Write a Compelling Book in 12 Steps: A Must-Read Guide for Nonfiction Authors

Write Your Own Book and Become an Expert: 11 Reasons Why You Should

How to Grow Your Business Writing a Nonfiction Book

Learn How to Cite Books in Nonfiction

by Bennett R. Coles Leave a Comment

When you write nonfiction, especially the problem-solving kind, you should expect your book to be used as a reference by many of your readers.

By writing nonfiction, you’re broadcasting to the world that you’re a subject matter expert and as such you should make sure that any research you do to arrive at your solution is backed by clear citations that point to your sources.

Learning how to properly cite work from others in your book is important for a number of reasons:

Content in your book may be used or referred to by researchers, the media, fact checkers, peers, people in academia, etc., and they’ll expect you to follow established citation formats
The correct use of citations will add credibility to your book and to you as an expert
The correct use of citations will also eliminate your chances of accidental plagiarism
Finally, citations will ensure that you give credit to others where credit is due

When Should I Use Citations?

You need to make use of properly formatted citations whenever:

You use somebody else’s work as part of the explanation or even inspiration for your ideas
Whenever you show a quote from another author (make sure it abides by “fair use” copyright rules!)
When you include someone else’s images in your book (provided you have permission from the copyright holder or through an open licensing agreement that allows you to replicate the image without copyright in exchange for showing credit)
Whenever you paraphrase information drawn from external sources

Now, depending on the nature of your book, there are three main formatting styles for citations that are typically used in the world of nonfiction: the Chicago citation style, the MLA (Modern Language Association) style and the APA (American Psychological Association) style.

Chicago Manual Style Citations

The Chicago Manual of Style is a resource that’s widely used by nonfiction authors as a guide for style, usage, grammar and citations, among other language features. It’s preferred by authors who focus on business subjects and fine-art subjects, such as for books on photography, architecture, and so on.

The Chicago Style requires that you reference in-text sources either as a footnote (to be shown at the bottom of the page) or as an endnote (to be compiled in a section at the end of the book). Citations in this style must be indicated with the use of a superscript numeral following the part of the text that refers to the external source. Your footnote or endnote will then list the full citation in the corresponding numerical order.

If you’re citing a book, include the following information:

Name of author
Title of Book
City of publication
Name of publisher
Year of publication
Page numbers of sourced material

Formatting example:

First Name Last Name, Title of Book (City of Publication: Name of Publisher, Year of Publication), Page Range.

If you’re citing an article, include the following information:

Name of author
Title of article
Name of newspaper or journal
Volume number and issue number
Year of publication
Page numbers of sourced material
URL or name of database (if applicable)

Formatting example:

First Name Last Name, “Title of Article,” Name of Newspaper of Journal Volume Number, Issue Number (Year of Publication): Page range. URL or name of database

For more information, visit: https://www.citationmachine.net/chicago

MLA Style Citations

The Modern Language Association (MLA) is an organization that develops guidelines for scholars of language and literature and is widely used by authors. Although the MLA Handbook they produce is similar in concept to the Chicago Manual of Style, it tends to be preferred by nonfiction authors who specialize in the study of languages, philosophy, history, law, politics and religion, and the humanities in general.

MLA-formatted citations don’t use a numerical reference and are much more complex, presenting authors with a very large number of choices that’s outside the scope of this article. Here’s an example for citing a book with a single author using a parenthetical format:

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Source is quoted or referenced “here” (Williams, 134). Quis ipsum suspendisse ultrices gravida.

At the end of your book, you would then include a reference section listing the above in-text citation as follows:

Williams, John. Book Title. Name of Publisher, Year of Publication, p. 134.

For more information, visit: https://www.citationmachine.net/mla

APA Style Citations

Finally, the APA (American Psychological Association) style is typically used by nonfiction authors who focus on subjects surrounding education, psychology, and science in general.

Citations in this style don’t use the Chicago Manual’s numerical reference either and are more in line with the MLA format, with the distinction that they add the year of publication within the in-text reference. The rationale for this inclusion is that APA-style citations tend to be time-dependent given the faster pace of evolution in scientific fields compared to the humanities and fine arts.

Here’s a general example:

At the end of your book, you would then include a reference section listing the above in-text citation as follows:

Williams, J. (2019). Chapter title. In L. H. Smith (Ed.), Book title (pp. 134-136). Name of Publisher.

Make sure that all references are listed at the end of your book in alphabetical order and that the second and subsequent lines in each reference are indented by half an inch.

For more information, visit :https://www.citationmachine.net/apa

Best of luck!

Ben

Here are some related posts I highly recommend:

How to Write a Compelling Book in 12 Steps: A Must-Read Guide for Nonfiction Authors

Write Your Own Book and Become an Expert: 11 Reasons Why You Should

How to Grow Your Business Writing a Nonfiction Book

How Long Does it Take to Write a Book to Help Grow Your Business?

Standard Nonfiction Disclaimer for Copyright Page

by Bennett R. Coles Leave a Comment

As a nonfiction author, with few exceptions, you’ll likely be in the problem-solving business. You’ll have to clearly identify your target audience, you’ll have to find a big hairy problem that keeps them up at night (which is right up your alley) and then you’ll have to deliver a unique solution that will once and for all solve that problem.

Now, the goal of problem-solving nonfiction is not just to convey valuable information to the reader, but also to entice them to act on it. After all, you’re publishing a book with the expectation that your solution will be implemented by your audience.

The thing is, while many people will find success when implementing your solution, some will fail. This will happen even if you’ve tested your approach repeatedly with a large number of subjects and achieved consistent success.

The reason that a significant slice of your readership will not find success with your solution is predicated on the basis that…

Some people will only browse your book and not fully read it, yet expect the same results
Some will simply apply your solution in the wrong way (say, your solution calls for your readers to take 1,200 mg of vitamin C daily and someone will take 12,000 mg instead because they misread or misinterpreted the instructions)
Some will only read half the book and only apply your solution partially, with poor results
Some will apply your techniques for a week or two and then give up, even when your book calls for a minimum commitment of 6 months
Or simply there’s a major disruption (like COVID-19!) that renders your solution temporarily ineffective — say, you’re providing investment advice based on the presence of a balanced market

If you don’t have any disclaimers in your book, some readers will assume that your solution is guaranteed to work no matter what, which is an impossibility in the best of cases, and they will blame you and your book for their presumed failure.

Why Do I Need to Use Disclaimers?

You need disclaimers because they set a realistic expectation for your readers about the nature and effectiveness of your solution. At a minimum, you’ll have to make a statement of use that reflects the many exceptions listed in the bullets above.

In addition, many government agencies require that you include certain disclaimers to inform consumers of what they should expect from your product. For example, the FTC may require that you include a “results are not typical” disclaimer in your book, and the SEC may require a statement indicating that “past results are not an indication of future performance.”

But there’s another reason you need to use disclaimers in your book: they’ll provide you with an element of legal protection. I say an “element” because disclaimers will never grant you legal immunity, far from it. But when they’re well-crafted by an attorney who understands the substance of the material your book and how it’s intended to be used, they do provide a strong basis for your defense in a court of law.

How Do You Write a Disclaimer?

As stated above, legal disclaimers need to be crafted by an attorney. Unchecked boilerplate disclaimers taken from other books or from the internet will likely prove ineffective in court because no two nonfiction books are the same.

By all means do your own research and use your best judgment to come up with your first disclaimer draft, but never go to publication without first getting legal advice from an attorney. For starters, they’ll use the proper legal language to give you a fighting chance in case of litigation, but they may also advise you on other steps to mitigate your liability.

For instance, depending on your circumstances they might recommend that you purchase a liability insurance policy or establish a limited liability company to act as the publisher of your work.

What is a Typical Nonfiction Disclaimer?

Your set of disclaimers will depend on the nature of your book (e.g. investment, weight loss, career, health, etc). At a minimum, you’ll need to cover the following bases:

Errors and Omissions:

No matter how hard you try, even the best proofreader won’t be able to catch every last error and especially not an omission. Here’s a typical disclaimer for this purpose:

Although the publisher and the author have made every effort to ensure that the information in this book was correct at press time and while this publication is designed to provide accurate information in regard to the subject matter covered, the publisher and the author assume no responsibility for errors, inaccuracies, omissions, or any other inconsistencies herein and hereby disclaim any liability to any party for any loss, damage, or disruption caused by errors or omissions, whether such errors or omissions result from negligence, accident, or any other cause.

Similarities with Other Persons:

When you need to relate stories, anecdotes or case studies involving, say, your clients and you don’t have their permission to use their name, it’s always a safe bet to fictionalize their name plus any identifying information. For example, you could use something like this:

Unless otherwise indicated, all the names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents in this book are either the product of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

Promise of Results:

If your book provides a technique for achieving a specific result, say, losing weight, and you don’t want to get in trouble with the FTC for deceptive marketing practices, then you should have a disclaimer indicating that results are not typical. Here’s an example:

The publisher and the author make no guarantees concerning the level of success you may experience by following the advice and strategies contained in this book, and you accept the risk that results will differ for each individual. The testimonials and examples provided in this book show exceptional results, which may not apply to the average reader, and are not intended to represent or guarantee that you will achieve the same or similar results.

Financial Disclaimer:

Finally, if your book describes an investment strategy, once again, you need to be clear that results will vary and are not guaranteed. For example, you could use the following text:

The publisher and the author do not make any guarantee or other promise as to any results that may be obtained from using the content of this book. You should never make any investment decision without first consulting with your own financial advisor and conducting your own research and due diligence. To the maximum extent permitted by law, the publisher and the author disclaim any and all liability in the event any information, commentary, analysis, opinions, advice and/or recommendations contained in this book prove to be inaccurate, incomplete or unreliable, or result in any investment or other losses.

Next Steps

Here’s my own disclaimer: this article is meant to provide you with basic knowledge, therefore information found herein is not meant to be copied and pasted verbatim on your copyright page (in other words, I’m not an attorney!)

Always remember to enlist the help of a lawyer in order to craft your disclaimers so you can make make sure they pass legal muster, and also make sure to follow their recommendations to mitigate any potential liability before you go into publication.

Good luck!

Ben

Here are some related posts I highly recommend:

How to Write a Compelling Book in 12 Steps: A Must-Read Guide for Nonfiction Authors

Write Your Own Book and Become an Expert: 11 Reasons Why You Should

How to Grow Your Business Writing a Nonfiction Book

How Long Does it Take to Write a Book to Help Grow Your Business?

5 Book Cover Maker Mistakes to Avoid When Designing a Nonfiction Cover