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What is a Nonfiction Ghostwriter?

Nonfiction audiences are constantly seeking book titles that offer clear solutions to their problems. From weight loss, to relationship advice, psychological counseling, healthy eating, fashion tips, and home decor, the list goes on and on.

In fact, the Amazon bookstore alone lists over 3,000 nonfiction categories and subcategories in their catalog!

Now, as an expert in your field with many years of problem-solving experience, you’re perfectly positioned to benefit from this thirst for knowledge from the reading audience — but there’s a problem: you don’t feel you have the skills necessary to write a nonfiction book, you don’t have the time to write it or perhaps both.

This is precisely where nonfiction ghostwriters come into play. Ghostwriters are seasoned professional writers. Most of them are traditionally published authors with decades of experience and they have a solid command of the writing craft.

Not only are they experts in the art of nonfiction writing, but they also have a strong understanding of the marketing forces that permeate the nonfiction world. They know how readers think, what captivates them and what entices them to take action.

They know how to connect with a book’s target audience in a deep and meaningful way — in other words, they know how to get into their minds and hearts.

Now, here’s the thing: unless you enjoy the writing craft, and provided that you have the budget for it, it’s always a good idea to consider hiring a ghostwriter for your nonfiction book, because the bar for quality in the genre is quite high.

Nonfiction audiences expect books from experts to be written with excellence. Anything less will reflect poorly on the author, which may impact your reputation and your professional credibility.

A loose analogy would be to walk into a law firm to find lawyers walking around in ripped jeans and t-shirts. That’s not likely the expectation you have for that profession and such a sight wouldn’t inspire your initial confidence, regardless of their talent.

What Does a Ghostwriter Do?

To be able to condense your expertise into a book, ghostwriters need to be able to capture your writing voice so that they can “impersonate” you as the author.

In order to do that, the first thing they’ll need is to sit down with you for an extended interview so they can get to know you, what your area of expertise is, your thoughts about your book’s main idea or thesis, the problem that you’re addressing for your target audience and your solution.

This is the preparatory stage of the relationship.

Next, they’ll want to nail down three very important things:

Who makes up your target audience
The problem you’re solving for them
Your unique solution

Then, they’ll want to take a deep dive into your book’s concept. They’ll need to learn your subject matter in detail so that they can convey it effectively to your audience.

To facilitate their job, you’ll be expected to provide them with all your notes, recordings if any, a mind-map of your book if one is available and your book’s outline and your preliminary table of contents, if available.

At this stage, your ghostwriter will enter the research phase. They’ll take in all this information and begin to thoroughly research your subject to find out what other books in your niche are already out there and what solutions they offer so they can identify your unique selling proposition.

Once this research is concluded, they’ll write your book.

Do You Need to Give Ghostwriters Credit?

This depends on your circumstances and it’s entirely up to you. All ghostwriters expect to be asked to sign a nondisclosure agreement that shields their identity, so if you want to claim 100% credit for the work, it’s really your prerogative.

For example, famous celebrities are more likely to share authorship with their ghostwriters because their lives are constantly scrutinized and it wouldn’t take long for the identity of their ghostwriter to come out in spite of a nondisclosure agreement.

However, most nonfiction experts who aren’t big celebrities expect that their ghostwriter’s identity will be concealed because their books will become an extension of their professional lives and should therefore be identified strictly with their names.

Do Ghostwriters Earn Royalties?

When it comes to compensation, it may be possible to exchange part of the upfront ghostwriting fees with a share of the royalties, but this would only work if you already have a substantial number of followers that can guarantee sales right out of the gate (e.g. you have a sizable email list or a large online presence in social media.)

Having said that, most ghostwriters will require new authors to pay 100% of their fees up front (or more specifically, an advance with the remainder to be paid on completion of the project) and will not accept royalties on future sales to be part of their compensation.

Should I Hire a Ghostwriter?

If a nonfiction book is instrumental in order to grow your business revenue or personal income to the next level AND you don’t feel you have the necessary writing skills to put out a top-tier product, you should definitely consider hiring a ghostwriter.

Although the cost can be high in relation to writing your own book, this can be recouped as you leverage your book to:

- Launch a profitable public-speaking career
- Attract the attention of the mainstream media as a go-to expert in your field, drawing attention to your business
- Increase your chances of landing lucrative government or private contracts — you’ll be automatically deemed to be an expert compared to any (most?) competitors who didn’t take the time and expense to publish a book

Land new clients since your prospects will consider you to be a proven expert in your field upon publication of your book
Develop profitable strategic partnerships, increasing the size of your lead funnel

How Much Will a Ghostwriter Cost Me?

Most ghostwriters will offer you a four-tiered pay structure, as follows:

1) Preparation Stage

For the preparatory stage they’ll charge you an hourly rate. For this reason, it really pays to come prepared to your initial meetings—the more prep work you do on your own the less work the ghostwriter will have to do later on.

Typical charges for this stage range between $100 and $250 per hour, depending on the reputation and demand of the ghostwriter, with a typical project costing between $3,000 and $7,500.

2) Research Stage

The research stage, where the ghostwriter takes in all of your information and then does their own subject-matter research, is also typically charged on an hourly basis. Typical charges for this stage range between $100 and $500 per hour, with a typical project costing between $3,000 and $30,000.

The higher end of the range can be quite substantial because it usually involves ghostwriters writing on behalf of famous personalities and as such the volume of information that they must sift through requires them to hire a small staff of researchers.

3) Transcription Stage

If you’ve captured your book project notes into a voice recorder and/or you have video footage, you’ll either need to hire a transcription service or pay your ghostwriter to do it. Transcription charges can range between $1,000 and $3,000 depending on the amount of recorded material supplied.

4) Writing Stage

The main stage of the ghostwriting process, the writing itself, is typically billed according to the final word count of the book project (by final I mean “publication-ready,” when no further changes are allowed.) Per-word charges can range between $0.50 and $3.00.

3 Key Questions to Ask Before You Hire a Ghostwriter

Since not all ghostwriters are created equal, and given the onerous nature of this process, it’s imperative that you do some serious vetting before you hire a writer. Below, you’ll find three key questions to ask candidates:

1) Is The Ghostwriter Familiar With Your Topic and Niche?

This is a simple matter of cost management. If you hire a general-nonfiction ghostwriter who’s not familiar with your specific topic at all, your research fees are simply going to skyrocket. You don’t want to pay for the ghostwriter’s education when they have a steep learning curve to go through.

2) Do They Have Experience Writing Nonfiction Books?

You will encounter many ghostwriters who will list a multitude of genres on their resumes and may list nonfiction as one of their areas of specialty. However, if all they’ve written before is fiction (either as authors themselves or as ghostwriters) then you’ll want to take a pass.

Nonfiction writing demands additional skills. It also requires marketing knowledge, a command of the art of written persuasion, a knack for problem solving and familiarity with sales copy, among others. Most fiction ghostwriters will likely be missing several of these.

3) Do They Know Your Target Audience?

You ghostwriter will need to know how to address the needs of your audience. If they’ve written about your topic before they’ll have first-hand experience with the state of mind of your target audience and they’ll know how to communicate with your readers in a way that’s persuasive.

In other words, they’ll be able to “feel their pain” and write in a way that creates a deep emotional connection with your subjects, which will make for a much more compelling nonfiction book.

In summary

Writing effective nonfiction books requires a very specific set of skills. If you don’t feel confident in your own ability to produce a top-notch book (say, your business is conducted mostly face-to-face and you don’t enjoy the writing process) or if you’re simply too busy to allocate several hours a week for 6 months or longer to your book project, then you should seriously consider hiring a nonfiction ghostwriter.

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.

The Top 5 Strategies of Nonfiction Writers

by Bennett R. Coles Leave a Comment

Before you embark on your nonfiction book project, you need to learn the best writing strategies in the genre to ensure that you don’t spin your wheels in unnecessary rewrites and instead create a solid manuscript that closely aligns with the needs and desires of your target audience.

If you’re a first-time author, the 5 strategies below will ensure that you stay on track on your journey while minimizing the chances of making rookie mistakes.

Let’s get started:

Strategy 1: Learn From the Masters

Nonfiction is a mature genre, which means that there are well-established success formulas that have been perfected over the years. While nonfiction content has evolved over time along with changes in society, the way that content is communicated to readers has not changed significantly.

Here’s the best part, you don’t have to go to school to learn these powerful formulas. All you need to do is learn directly from the masters by buying their books and reverse-engineering their techniques.

Your first task then is to do research on Amazon to find the bestselling titles in your niche. Once you have a short list of 3-5 books, buy them and read them cover to cover.

For your first pass, put yourself in the shoes of a reader looking for the solution to the problem that the book addresses. Make notes about how those books make you feel and about your emotional response to different chapters.

Also note the choice of language and the approach that different authors use to connect with their readers (e.g. are they using empathy? personal stories? supportive language?). When you finish reading the books, note if you feel you “know” the author, if you feel “connected” to them, if you feel like they’re your “friend.”

Chances are you will. Even though you never met those people, you’ll feel as if you knew them. This is the magic of good nonfiction and the effect that you want to emulate with your book.

Now reread the books through the filter of an author. Take a bird’s-eye view of the content and make notes about the different approaches used to elicit emotions (e.g. do they use personal stories? client stories? descriptive language? dialog?).

These are the techniques you’ll be emulating in your own book to create a compelling narrative that connects with readers, instead of dry informational text that’s devoid of emotional connection.

Strategy 2: Divide and Conquer

Once you’ve learned the tricks of the trade, it’s time to create your first draft. Now, sitting down staring at a blank page is not the best approach to writing a nonfiction book, even if your mind is overflowing with great ideas. In fact, it’s a sure fire way to becoming overwhelmed over time and to lose the joy of writing.

The best way to write a nonfiction book is to use the “divide and conquer” approach. Basically, you need to kick things off with a fully fleshed-out outline of your book (read this article on mind-mapping and this article on book outlining to get you on the right path). Your book outline is the precursor to your table of contents and it’ll show a breakdown of the different topics and subtopics covered in your book.

Then, simply choose the topic that you feel most inspired to write about that day and begin writing — don’t worry if the section in question is in the middle or even at the end of the book: order doesn’t matter at this stage.

Writing a book in strict sequence is usually not the best approach anyway. You could do it if you wanted to, but the end result isn’t necessarily going to your best writing.

On the other hand, writing about what most inspires you in that moment will result in much more compelling writing, even if it feels disconnected from the whole. There’s nothing wrong with skipping five chapters and then going back three, provided that the writing feels inspired.

What you want to avoid at all costs is making your writing feel forced into a strict sequence: in other words, to write for the sake of writing. Keep in mind that at the end of the writing process you’ll be enlisting the help of a nonfiction editor to polish your writing, help you with transitions, and even re-organize the order of your chapters.

Strategy 3: Write From a Stream of Consciousness

When you do sit down to write, guided by your book outline, don’t spend too much time thinking about what you’re going to be writing about. In fact, try to think things through a little as possible. Choose the section that inspires the most and begin to write from a stream of consciousness.

Remember that your nonfiction book is already inside of you. Even though it hasn’t been written yet, all of the content is stored in your brain. Your task at first is simply to channel that content out of your brain and onto the written page.

When you write based on inspiration instead of by force, you’ll find that your ideas flow effortlessly, without having to think much about what you’re going to write. At this initial stage, don’t judge your choice of words and don’t fall into the trap of self-editing as you write.

Don’t linger in thought trying to first formulate in your mind what you’re going to be writing about — that’s not conducive to the creative flow of ideas.

Will you make a lot of mistakes using the stream of consciousness approach? Most likely yes (unless you’re a masterful writer with decades of experience) and that’s totally okay. Your goal at the beginning is to write down your ideas. You’ll have plenty of opportunities later on to shape your writing, but not before you have a solid body of text to work with.

Strategy 4: Create an Advance Reader Group

Nonfiction books should never be written in isolation. Unlike fiction, you’re not writing a made up story for the purpose of entertaining your audience. You’re writing to problem-solve, and for your solution to work it must align with the needs and desires of your target audience.

Not only do you need to know what makes them tick and what keeps them up at night (which is part of your preliminary audience research) but you also need to check regularly with them as you write to ensure that your message resonates with your audience throughout your book project.

What you don’t want to do is to write your entire manuscript first and then give it to members of your audience to read at the end of the process, because if it went off track early on you’ll find yourself rewriting a big chunk of your book, which is not only inefficient but also frustrating and demoralizing.

Instead, establish an advance reader group before you begin your book project, made up of members of your target audience that you know and trust, and enlist their support to help you along your writing journey.

Then, as soon as you finish each chapter, pass it along to them for feedback and comments (the chapters don’t need to be in sequence for this approach to work). What you’re looking for is first impressions — is your writing connecting with your audience at an emotional level? — and also for fit — is the content resonating with your audience, their needs and desires?

If you find a disconnect you can then react and adjust your course early on. In fact, you may find that this approach may even alter the flow that you had initially anticipated for your book into one that’s better aligned with the needs of your audience.

Strategy 5: Hire a Professional Editor

After your manuscript is completed to the best of your ability – that is, you’ve written all the required sections, you’ve incorporated your audience’s feedback and you’ve made a sufficient number of rewrites to improve the flow and quality of the text – it’s time to hire a professional editor.

When readers have a need and search Amazon for books, the majority will search for a solution to their problems and not for a specific book title. Therefore, it’s quite likely that your book will come up in the search results along with traditionally published books on the subject.

And guess what? Every single one of those books will be professionally edited! So, in order to compete you’ll need to establish a level playing field by having your book professionally edited as well.

In fact, the use of an editor is a staple for all professional authors. Even recognized authors with a long history of success would never dare publish an unedited book.

The book you’ll be publishing will act as an extension of your professionalism, credibility and reputation, so this is an area where you can ill afford to cut corners by either self-editing or outsourcing the editing job to a friend or a relative.

Nonfiction professional editors are not only great wordsmiths but also have a deep body of knowledge about the art of persuasion, winning sales and marketing copy techniques as well as reader psychology. They’ll become a crucial ally to generate success on your publishing journey.

In Conclusion

A nonfiction book project can be a very rewarding experience because you’ll be capturing your life’s work into a format that’s easy to consume, highly ubiquitous and broadly accessible to the masses.

By following the above five strategies, you’ll be laying out a foundation of success for your book project that’ll ensure that your message closely aligns with your audience, that’s based on best practices and that’s on a level playing field with popular books in your niche.

All the best on your publishing journey!

If you enjoyed this article and are considering creating 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

How to Grow Your Business Writing a Nonfiction Book

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

Bennett R. Coles is an award-winning author of six books published through Harper Collins (New York) and Titan Publishing Group (London). He is also the publisher at Promontory Press, editor for multiple bestselling authors (including a NY Times bestseller), ghostwriter for CEOs and politicians and the founder 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, marketing, printing and distribution.

The Guide to the CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform

by Bennett R. Coles Leave a Comment

CreateSpace is the name of the original self-publishing platform developed by Amazon for independent authors and publishers. It has since been merged with their Kindle eBook publishing platform to create Kindle Publishing Direct, or KDP.

Over the years, KDP has become the most powerful self-publishing platform in the world as it leverages the distribution power of Amazon for the benefit of independent authors like yourself.

Below is a list of the 5 top benefits:

Benefit 1: Global Print on Demand Infrastructure

With the advent of low-cost self-publishing and the arrival of the Internet into the mainstream, digital printing equipment manufacturers realized that the use of high-volume digital copiers, the only viable choice at the time, wasn’t cost-effective enough to produce books on demand in large quantities.

Given the rapid growth of the self-publishing industry, a better solution was needed fast. So, after intense research and development, leading manufacturers of digital copiers like Xerox and IBM came up with the first suite of high volume in-line digital presses that could produce short runs of thousands of different titles cost-effectively.

One of the first self-publishing companies to install large banks of high-speed digital presses was Booksurge. Their pioneering work caught the attention of Amazon, who after a few short years acquired them under the CreateSpace banner.

Today’s CreateSpace (now KDP) has ultra-modern, high-speed, digital print-on-demand facilities on three continents, with two large plants located in the U.S., one in the U.K., one in France and one in Australia, covering the most profitable book-selling markets in the world.

Benefit 2: Global Distribution Through Amazon

There are over 330 million customers worldwide with Amazon accounts, searching for every possible category of nonfiction book available. Why? because Amazon happens to also be the largest book search engine the world, listing over 3,000 categories and sub-categories.

…And KDP gives you front-seat access to this massive distribution channel with the push of a button!

By leveraging their global print-on-demand network with the outsized reach of the Amazon brand, you’ll be able to have your books ordered and shipped to customers in their local currencies through the many dedicated Amazon websites catering to people who live near those printing facilities:

North America

Customers in the U.S. can order your books from Amazon.com and pay in USD
Customers in Canada can order your books from Amazon.ca in CAD

Europe

Customers in the U.K. can order your books from Amazon.co.uk in GBP
Customers in the Netherlands can order your books from Amazon.nl in Euro
Customers in Germany can order your books from Amazon.de in Euro
Customers in France can order your books from Amazon.fr in Euro
Customers in Spain can order your books from Amazon.es in Euro
Customers in Italy can order your books from Amazon.it in Euro

Japan/Australia

Customers in Japan can order your books from Amazon.jp in Yen
Customers in Australia can order your books from Amazon.com.au in AUD

Benefit 3: Multi-Currency Book Pricing

The way pricing works in KDP is based on the manufacturing cost of your book, which in turn is based on your trim size and your number of pages. The platform will ask you to choose a list price that’s equal or higher than your book print cost plus your royalty.

For example, if you’re publishing a 300-page black and white book printed the U.S. and you list it for sale for $12.95, your printing cost will be $4.45 per copy and your royalty will be 60% of your list price minus the book printing cost.

In this example, your royalty is calculated as follows:

(Royalty rate x List price) – Book printing cost = (60% x $12.95) – $4.45 = $3.32

The higher the list price (up to a system maximum of $250) the higher your royalty.

The great advantage of KDP is that it allows you to set your list price in multiple currencies and adjust them based on the requirements of the local market. Currently, you can price books in U.S. dollars, Canadian Dollars, Euro and Yen.

Benefit 4: Generous Author Royalties

As mentioned above, KDP pays authors a 60% royalty on book sales minus your book printing cost. In contrast, the regular book trade has a standard royalty rate for independent authors of only 45% minus the book printing cost, or 15% less.

The reason for KDP’s higher royalty is that Amazon acts both as a bookseller and a distributor passing on the savings to you, whereas regular book distributors like Ingram need to account for their own transaction fees (typically 15% of your list price) while extending bookstores their standard discount (typically 40% of list).

How often will you get paid royalties? After a one-time initial delay of 60 days, you’ll receive payments monthly deposited directly into your bank account (if you live in the U.S.).

Benefit 5: Straightforward Setup

KDP is designed to be intuitive for new users. Signing up consists of filling out a few online forms and presto, your book will be available for purchase on Amazon!

Although detailed instructions on how to sign up are beyond the scope of this article (read this article for full sign-up details), basically there are just 8 steps you’ll need to follow:

Step 1: You’ll first need to create your self-publishing account at https://kdp.amazon.com. If you’re already an Amazon customer, then use your login credentials.

Step 2: You’ll need to purchase an ISBN for your book (this is a unique identification number required by distributors). In order to purchase ISBNs in the U.S. visit https://www.isbn.org.

Step 3: Next, you’ll need to set up your book in their database, including your book title, name of author and names of other contributors, if any (editors, illustrators, etc.).

Step 4: As part of your book setup you’ll need to enter a description for the Amazon online bookstore (for instructions on how to come up with a great book description, read this article).

Step 5: To dramatically improve the chances of your book being discovered on Amazon searches, you’ll need to select up to 7 keywords that match the user intent when searching for your book (e.g. “book with great keto recipes”).

Step 6: Choose the most appropriate nonfiction genre category for your book (as stated earlier in the article, Amazon counts with over 3,000 nonfiction categories and sub-categories).

Step 7: Now, it’s time to upload your book files into the platform (book contents and book cover).

Step 8: Finally, you’ll need to set your book pricing in a number of currencies (or you can set USD pricing and let the system calculate other values for you).

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 to Nail the Writing of Your Nonfiction Book Introduction

by Bennett R. Coles 2 Comments

The introduction section of your nonfiction book is critically important for your sales because most readers won’t read past it if they’re not sold by then. In essence, your introduction should be nothing short of a sales letter. How you go about writing your book introduction will make the difference between a book that moves the needle and one that gathers dust on the shelf.

In this article you’ll learn the eight steps required to write the perfect sales letter for your nonfiction book. Your book introduction is an important document tasked with engaging your reader’s attention early on by tapping their curiosity as you build your case why they must buy your book. Let’s get started.

Step 1) Hook Your Reader in and State the Problem

The first step in writing your book introduction is to hook your reader’s attention. You need to tantalize them by writing a good hook that will capture their attention and make them want to keep on reading.

There are many different types of hooks that you can write, for example:

You can begin your introduction by writing a thought-provoking open-ended question, the answer for which contains the solution to their problems (it could be something like “Why do 90% of people who go on a diet end up gaining back more weight than what they took off time and time again?”)
You can begin your introduction by writing a story that relates the life of a fictitious character who suffers from the same problem afflicting your reader. The main goal of your story is to convey to them the emotional journey of someone they can relate to. It could also be something from your personal life that shows them how you overcame their problem, or the story of a client. If you chose the latter, make sure that all personal information is fictionalized for legal reasons.
You can begin your introduction by writing a quotation by a public figure or authority that reflects on the problem your book will solve. By using this type of hook, you get to project the credibility of the public figure onto your book’s thesis through the power of association.
You can begin your introduction by writing about a statistic that illustrates a controversial piece of information that goes to the crux of your book and, by extension, the main source of your reader’s problem. Make sure to know that this statistic can be verified externally; better yet, provide a clear reference in the footer.

Step 2) Now Tease the Solution

Once your readers are hooked and know that your book will address their problem head on, you can tease the solution, but do it in a way that doesn’t disclose critical information. The main point of your book’s introduction is to make your readers curious enough to want to buy it, but not to find out how your secret sauce works.

If you reveal your solution in your introduction, even a summary of the solution, they won’t feel the need to read any further.

For example, you can write something like: “This book will show you the step-by-step approach used to overcome _________ permanently.”

Step 3) Let Your Readers Know Why They Should Listen to You

You’ll be writing this part of the introduction to establish your credibility. Here you can outline the actions and information that led to your discovery. You can certainly make this part personal in order to create a good bond with your reader, but it’s very important that you never write about your own achievements and your pedigree.

This section isn’t about you but about how you came into your discovery in a way that makes you credible in the eyes of your readers. Having said that, feel free to convey your passion for the subject and why you’ve made it your mission to help others afflicted by this problem.

Step 4) Reveal the Roadmap and Show them The Benefits

In this step of the introduction, let your reader discover your roadmap to the solution they’re seeking. For example, you could write something like: “First, in chapter 1 you’ll learn the three ways to ___________. Then, in Chapter 2 you will learn how to __________. In Chapter 3 you will learn how to ____________.”

The goal of this step is to summarize each chapter into a statement of the benefits your reader will receive as they progress in your book.

Step 5) Support Your Solution with Social Proof

In this step of the introduction you need to build your reader’s trust in your book by showing them proof from other people who’ve benefited from the information you offer. Client testimonials constitute the most important source of social proof (incidentally, never make up testimonials!) and if you have a testimonial from a good authority, even better.

Make sure to first ask your clients for permission to publish their testimonials in your book and whether they want their names spelled out in the testimonials or only have their initials shown.

Step 6) Anticipate Objections

This introduction step is optional but can be quite effective. If you already know from your own research what the main objections from your target audience are, it’s always a good technique to dispel them first in your introduction using clear, factual and logically-presented information.

Your readers might feel jaded by solutions they tried before that didn’t work and may have their skepticism barriers up when they read your introduction. By providing a logical framework that explains why those objections are unwarranted in the case of your book, you’ll be encouraging them to take those barriers down.

Step 7) Entice Your Reader to Take Action

Now, as you near the end of the introduction section, you’re beginning your closing arguments – this is where you close the deal by making statements such as:

If you follow the step-by-step process in this book, you’ll double your investment income in just 3 years….
… you’ll lose weight and never gain it back
… you’ll cut your credit-card debt in half
… etc.

Step 8) Transition to Your Book’s Body

Finally, it’s time to wrap up your introduction by inviting your reader on the journey, wishing them well and using this opportunity to transition them to the beginning of your book: Chapter 1, Part 1, Section 1, etc.

Next Steps

As you can surmise from this article, the introduction of your nonfiction book is the second most important part of your book after the cover. If your cover makes readers want to browse your book and read the description, your introduction will make them want to click the buy button.

But for this to happen, it has to first capture your reader’s attention and convince them that your book has the goods to deliver them to the promised land. For this reason, you never want to write this section first, but leave it for last after your book is 100% complete.

What you don’t want to do is to write your introduction while your manuscript is still in flux (say, still going through editing rounds) because if the order of your chapters were to change, you’ll be forced to rearrange your road map in Step 4.

Also, you want to run several drafts of the introduction by an advance group of members from your target audience (preferably not the same advance reader group that gave you feedback on your book’s content). You want your introduction drafts to be read by fresh eyes that have never seen your book before.

By running your text by members of your target audience in this way you’ll ensure that you’re hitting all the right notes.

What you don’t want to do is to write your book introduction pretending to be one of your readers, even if the problem you’re solving has afflicted you in the past. For your introduction to be effective, you’ll need to get the feedback from people who are currently suffering from the problem.

Finally, while you need to allow sufficient writing space to cover all sections in a clear and convincing way, you want to use an economy or words to ensure your readers are engaged throughout the presentation. So, try to keep your introduction between 1.5 and 3 pages long.

Good luck!

Ben

Leave me a comment below if you have any questions about this article 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 write and publish books as a calling card for prospects, to establish their status as an expert or to generate additional leads for their businesses.

Here are some related articles I highly recommend:

How to Find A Book Editor That’s Perfect For Your Nonfiction Book

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

How to Come Up With Killer Book Titles for Your Nonfiction Book

Bennett R. Coles is an award-winning author of six books published through Harper Collins (New York) and Titan Publishing Group (London). He is also the publisher at Promontory Press, editor for multiple bestselling authors (including a NY Times bestseller), ghostwriter for CEOs and politicians and the founder 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, ghost writing, editing, proofing, cover design, book layout, eBook production, marketing, printing and distribution.

The Top 5 Skills of a Nonfiction Writer

by Bennett R. Coles Leave a Comment

In this article you’ll learn the top 5 skills of a nonfiction writer that are needed to create a compelling book that connects with your audience and that competes effectively with the best nonfiction books in your niche.

These are the same skills that professional nonfiction authors take advantage of every day to produce great books. Master these skills and you’ll be leveling the playing field with the best in the genre!

Skill 1: Write Like You’re Being Paid

In the world of book self-publishing, there are three key factors to take into account:

People buy nonfiction books because they need to solve a problem and they need to trust that the content will be credible, thorough and effective.
Your ultimate goal as a nonfiction author is to expand the reach of your business or career beyond your current boundaries.
In the age of the Internet, books have the unique ability to penetrate new global markets with ease and for a minimal distribution cost, which demands a high level of quality.

Nonfiction is a highly scrutinized genre and the removal of barriers to publication also removed the natural process of selection and curation that’s an integral part of traditional publishing.

So, in order to produce as a self-publishing author the high level of attention to detail that’s expected in the genre, you need to develop the same level of discipline and focus expected from traditionally-published authors.

In fact, these authors have to sign binding publishing agreements that impose clear deadlines, deliverables and consequences for non-performance — this is the stick. The carrot is the payment of a significant monetary advance in exchange for their commitment to producing the desired results.

Now, in your case the carrot and the stick are not as clear-cut as in the above example, but in order to succeed you’ll still need to be subject to them, which is what I mean by “writing as if you were being paid.”

Let’s begin be talking about the monetary incentive. While it’s true that you won’t receive an advance when you self-publish, you will receive a deferred payment which could be as significant as any advance on royalties, if not larger.

Think of the many revenue streams that your book will unlock:

As a calling card to accelerate the conversion of prospects into clients
As a key to penetrate the world of paid-speaking events
As a powerful tool of persuasion when bidding for lucrative private or government contracts
As a way to open global markets through the ubiquity of search engines
And last but not least, through the purchase of books online and back-of-the-room sales at events

That’s your carrot.

Let’s now talk about the stick. How do you find the motivation to draw the necessary discipline and focus that will get the job done in a timely manner and at the high level of quality that’s expected in the genre?

Simple. You need to create an firm and immovable deadline with an arm’s-length party where your professional reputation will be at stake should you not deliver (self-imposed deadlines, on the other hand, don’t usually work because there lack real-world consequences.)

Here are some examples to consider (note: make sure your deadline is 12 months from the beginning of your book project to accommodate a typical nonfiction publication timeline):

Book yourself as a speaker in a conference in your area of expertise where you’ll be unveiling your book.
Schedule a seminar for members of your industry where you’ll showcase the solution that you’ll present in your book.
Book yourself into a panel discussion that covers your upcoming book’s subject
Book yourself to be a speaker in an industry trade show
Time the release of your book with a seasonal sales event in your industry

Once you commit with a clear deadline to an audience of peers, clients, event planners and other stakeholders in your profession, you’ll get the motivation necessary to deliver results because your integrity and reputation will be on the line.

Skill 2: Write Every Day

Once you have a clear deadline in place, you’ll need to develop the discipline and focus required to get you to the finish line.

What sets professional authors apart from amateur ones is the discipline to write every day, come rain or shine. They set a clear writing schedule that typically begins and ends at the same time every day and they stick to it no matter what life throws at them.

Even seasoned authors with decades of professional experience follow this routine — their may have an advantage over less experienced authors when it comes to the volume of work they can produce in the same time frame, but they still stick to a daily writing routine.

Not unlike music performance or other fine arts, the only way to gain mastery in a craft is through constant, uninterrupted practice.

Now, professional authors will usually write for many hours a day (6-8 hours isn’t unusual) — after all, writing is their day job, but you don’t have to commit to even half of this writing regime.

In fact, a mere two hours a day will be sufficient to produce a high-quality, well-written nonfiction book from beginning to end within a year. The key is consistency. You need to be able to allocate two uninterrupted hours per day where you do nothing but write.

This means no responding to emails, phone calls, messaging or even browsing the Internet during this time. Any research or other type of supporting activity required for your book needs to be conducted outside of those two hours.

Also, it goes without saying that you shouldn’t be interrupted under any circumstances during your writing time (short of a real emergency). Make sure you enlist the help of those around you to hold any calls and protect your daily writing time.

The same goes for your electronic devices. Make sure you have all notifications muted, and if you’re using a native program for writing your book, like Microsoft Word or Libre Office, you may even want to turn off the Wi-Fi on your device during this time to eliminate any temptations.

Skill 3: Write For An Audience of One

Now, let’s switch gears to the actual process of writing. Successful nonfiction books speak to a single reader — the one holding the book. They don’t address readers in generalities or as a group, and absolutely never in the first person.

Successful nonfiction is always addressed to an audience of one, thus focus almost exclusively on the pronoun “You.” Problems afflict individuals. When someone purchases a book that claims to offer a solution to their problems, they expect the writing to be addressed to them and no one else.

If your book addresses a group of people, a generic person or even yourself (e.g. by using “We,” “Us,” “They,” “I”) your message won’t be nearly as effective because it won’t be personal in nature. The vast majority of readers are tuned to the WIIFM station: “What’s in it for me?”

The more you address readers directly, the more likely you’ll be in a position to connect with them beyond the written word – that is, at the emotional and psychological level that’s necessary to persuade people and get them to take your desired action.

What you don’t want is for your book to be made up merely of information, data, or just your thoughts. You want your book to be compelling to readers, you want it to connect with their emotional core because it’s at that level that your solution will be embraced.

If you write nonfiction to cater to the critical thinking part of the brain (textbooks or reference books are a good example) you’ll find that readers will put your book down quickly and move on to the next thing.

For your book to effect change, you need to establish a direct path to your readers’ hearts, which can only be achieved by making each one of them center stage in your message.

Skill 4: Write With Your Authentic Voice

Next, you need to make sure that you communicate with authenticity. There’s nothing that turns nonfiction readers off more than hiding behind your writing.

General nonfiction, and problem-solving nonfiction in particular, is very intimate in nature and this intimacy demands that you display your vulnerability, you own voice, unafraid of what people will think.

If you create a barrier between you and your reader, don’t expect them to connect with your message. Readers can quickly sense lack of authenticity and they won’t appreciate it.

By extension, never write in a condescending way or position yourself as the guru on the mountain-top. You want readers to relate to you as much as possible in order to create a true connection.

Even though you may know something they don’t, you still have to relate to them in order to communicate it effectively. If you position yourself as the professor dispensing advice at the lectern, readers will think that they’ll never be able to measure up to you, your success or your breakthrough.

For your solution to be embraced by your readers you need present it as something anybody can implement in their lives. So, if you found yourself in the past to be in the same position your readers are in now, make sure to share this information to show them that you were in their shoes.

Having said that, if you haven’t been in their shoes in the past, don’t be disingenuous and make up or exaggerate stories of hardship, because your readers will see through it.

The best approach is to always write with your authentic voice and never try to be someone you’re not. This is really no different from the way your act in your day-to-day life with your clients or peers.

Skill 5: Use An Economy of Words

Now that you’re writing to an audience of one and you’re using your authentic voice, let’s switch focus to the use of language. Unless you’re a professional writer, you’ll quickly find that the written word is quite different from the spoken word that you rely on in your daily experience.

When making the transition to the written form of communication, you’ll be tempted to “fill space,” to make sentences much longer than necessary through the use of filler words, unnecessary adjectives and adverbs, overly complex nouns, and the use of phrases that don’t add value to your message.

For example, you may write “Indubitably” instead of “Without a doubt,” or “This solution has three components” instead of “This solution has three parts.”

In nonfiction, you want to use words that open a glide path from your mind to the mind of your reader. You want to convey your message in as direct a way as possible.

If you place bumps on the road, such as by using flowery language, complex words or overly long sentences, you’ll make your readers trip and become disconnected from your message.

So make sure to use an economy of words whenever you write. The best test is this: if a word can be removed without changing the meaning of your message, then it’s by definition an unnecessary word.

In Closing

When readers look for nonfiction titles to solve a problem they’re experiencing, they’ll do a search online that will likely bring up your title along with the titles of traditionally published authors in your niche. The above five skills will help you level the playing field with those authors you’ll be competing with.

Good Luck!

Ben