Writing a non-fiction book, that involves quite a bit. In the previous article, I already shared the step-by-step plan for working effectively and purposefully. This blog contains the promised additional tips by NonFiction Ghostwriting on how to write a nonfiction book, so that you can quickly and proudly present your non-fiction book to your target group. Good luck!
Tip 1: Work in a structured way
It’s quite a project you take on. Because no matter how passionate you start, you can quickly lose the overview and therefore lose courage. Have you actually researched all subjects thoroughly enough? Was that one source reliable or not? Did you email the designer back? Oh yes, the epilogue has yet to be written.
Provide peace of mind and overview and in this way create more focus and fun during the process.
Tip 2: Put yourself in your target group
Of course you know everything about the subject you cover in your non-fiction book. But you don’t write the book for yourself. Therefore, put yourself in the shoes of your average reader and determine which level of knowledge you can best focus on. Keep this in mind when introducing new terms and topics.
Tip 3: Use the 5W1H method
You naturally want the content of your non-fiction book to be fully and directly understood. It is therefore important to provide answers to the questions: w pe w ate, w ear, w hen, w hy and H ow. Journalists use this so-called 5W1H method to make sure they have covered the most important information about a topic.
Who needs this knowledge / tool / skills? What is it exactly? Where do you use it? When do you use it? Why should you apply it? And how?
Follow the mindset of your readers to determine the correct order. What do they need to know about your topic first and what logically follows next?
Tip 4: Use the Golden Circle principle to convince your readers
If you especially want to convince your readers of something, you can consider following the Golden Circle principle of author and speaker Simon Sinek. Usually when explaining something we use the order: what -> how -> why. If you follow the Golden Circle principle, you work exactly the other way around: why -> how -> what.
Just imagine… We time travel back to the 90s and mobile telephony is still completely unknown to you. Your first reaction to someone’s introduction to that would be, why would you need that?! (Yes, really. That’s how we all thought at the time.) Once you are convinced, you are curious about the ‘how’ and only then are you interested in the other details or in the ‘what’.
Tip 5: Entertain your readers
Usually when writing a non-fiction book you have to deal with many facts, sources, technical terms, et cetera. With the danger that it will be quite tough for your readers.
When writing, therefore, do not only focus on informing, but also on keeping your readers interested and entertained. Might sound crazy for a non-fiction book, but it actually makes a lot of sense? Because if your book is just a mountain of dry matter, no one will read it with great pleasure. Let alone recommend it to someone else.
So don’t be afraid to include relevant anecdotes and a dash of humor in your book, for example. And use a narrative style of writing where possible, rather than a dry summary of facts.
Tip 6: Speak to the imagination
You have won triple when you apply this tip. By writing visual and narrative.
- You draw your readers into the story and they remain fascinated;
- They understand the information you provide better and faster, and
- They see clearly for themselves how your new knowledge / skills / tool can add value.
BONUS TIP: Introduce each new topic with a case study, for example by starting each chapter with a small fictional story.
Tip 7: Actively look for a rebuttal
A writer who only focuses on a subject from one side is easily less credible. Readers are much more likely to accept something from someone who dares to look critically at himself and his point of view.
Therefore, remain as neutral as possible throughout the process and ask yourself the critical questions that your readers might otherwise ask you afterwards. For each point of view that you incorporate in your story, look for any rebuttals and refute them where possible using practical examples. For example, by treating and solving one obstacle in each chapter with your knowledge / skills / tool / perspective.
Tip 8: Check your sources
When writing a non-fiction book, you usually make frequent use of sources. Besides mentioning these (in connection with copyright, so keep track!), It is very important to be sure that every source is reliable. So check this one by one. The credibility of your book stands or falls here!
Tip 9: Ask for feedback regularly
It can be very difficult to determine whether something that is already 100% clear to you will also be clear to your readers when they first read about it. Therefore, ask for feedback from people in your area for whom the topic is still new. Is everything introduced and explained properly, completely and in a logical order? Does it read nicely? Where is there still room for profit? Take everything to heart and let it motivate you to end up with a non-fiction book that you can be proud of without a doubt.
Tip 10: Hire a copywriter / editor
This is actually a fairly standard step in publishing a book. Nevertheless, this is sometimes skipped, for example when publishing a book in-house. While the extra eyes of a professional copywriter and / or editor-in-chief are really indispensable.
Your non-fiction book (NonFiction Ghostwriting) can be so innovative, fascinating and important in terms of content; if it is full of language errors, the vast majority of your readers will simply not take you seriously anymore. Are you not consistent enough in how you write certain things, or is the content not structured logically? Then the readers quickly lose track. Does it read too rough? Then the book may not be read at all.
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