Writing Good Self-help Books

Self-help books are always in demand because people are looking for ways to improve their lives and hone their skills. Authors need to realize however that readers want clear information delivered in a straight in a straightforward clear manner.  Here are some keys to help you write a self-help book.

1. Start with a compelling title

Titles for self-help and how-to books state clearly what the book is about and often offer a promise. Here are some examples: The Magic of Thinking Big…Reprogramming the Overweight Mind…Get in Shape Stay in Shape…The Girls Guide to Hunting and Fishing. 

2. Create a Strong Hook

This is the premise of the book that sets it apart from other books and compels the reader to buy the book. You usually find this on the back cover of a book. In the book Setting Limits the hook for the reader is Learn How to Strike the Proper Balance Between Permissive and Authoritarian Parenting.

3. Create a Strong Table of Contents.

Publishers often use this to help sell the book. Readers frequently thumb through your table of contents first. The chapter titles need to be action oriented and state quickly what the reader will get out of the chapter. Here are a few chapter titles from my writing book How to Sell and Resell Your Writing.

1. Acquiring Magazine Savvy
2. How to Fit Your Experience to a Magazines Needs
3. Establishing Yourself With Editors
4. Selling the Same Article Many Times

Include a short paragraph under the title to give the reader an idea of what they will get out of that chapter. You can use quick points or a short paragraph. Here is what one of my chapters in the Table of Contents looked like.

How to Establish Yourself With Editors

Follow that first sale immediately. Editors dont know what they want until you show them. Cultivate a reputation for knowing what particular editors need. Become super familiar with a magazines format and style. The article idea checklist. Continually offer new twists.

4. Use a Conversational Style

I call this coffee cup talk. That is you should write the way you would talk to a friend over a cup of coffee. Use short declarative sentences and short paragraphs. Use first level words and avoid academic words or phrases. 

5.   Use Lots of Examples

Some writers will make a general statement and stop. When you do this the reader cant "see" what you are talking about.  When you use an example the reader gets a visual impression and understands completely.

Heres an example from Setting Limits

Janet Piagets research on childrens intellectual development has shown that the thinking and learning of most children is qualitatively different from that of adults. Children think and learn concretely.

I call this part of the writing generic. If you left it there your reader wouldnt learn or understand much. So lets add an example.

For example if I tell my nine-year old son that his bedtime is 8:30 but he regularly goes to bed at 9:00. what would he be learning that my actual rule is 9:00. If I asked him to be in bed by 8:30 do you think he would take me seriously?

      If on the other hand I had told him that his bedtime was 8:30 and I made sure he was in bed at that time regularly he and I would probably share the same belief about my rule--his bedtime is 8:30. If I asked him to go to bed at that time he would know that I mean what I said.

Now you know.