# How To Write Non-Fiction ## Metadata * Author: [Joanna Penn](https://www.amazon.comundefined) * ASIN: B07C5ZKS1K * ISBN: 1913321894 * Reference: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07C5ZKS1K * [Kindle link](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07C5ZKS1K) ## Highlights These are books read for informational purposes and are often evergreen. They are written for the mass market as opposed to academic tomes. — location: [420](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07C5ZKS1K&location=420) ^ref-21918 --- Shawn Coyne, author of The Story Grid, calls — location: [423](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07C5ZKS1K&location=423) ^ref-38950 --- “Academics appreciate the research cited to support the Big Idea. How-To readers take away actionable steps that they believe can better their lives. And Narrative non-fiction readers are captivated by the storytelling. This is why Big publishers love the Big Idea book … it can become a blockbuster bestseller.” — location: [424](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07C5ZKS1K&location=424) ^ref-60684 --- Shawn Coyne on The Story Grid blog. Breakdown of non-fiction genres: www.storygrid.com/nonfictions-big-genre-silos The Story Grid: What Good Editors Know – Shawn Coyne — location: [439](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07C5ZKS1K&location=439) ^ref-13322 --- Most speakers have one or more books, and they often base their speaking topics around the book. It acts as credibility that they know their topic and also as a business card to get more speaking work. — location: [476](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07C5ZKS1K&location=476) ^ref-58240 --- Robert McKee performs his non-fiction book Story at multi-day events aimed at writers and filmmakers. He also has Storynomics, a class and now a book aimed at corporates who want to integrate story into marketing. — location: [479](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07C5ZKS1K&location=479) ^ref-64508 --- This is one of those business models that you don't hear about much, because books sold in bulk are not measured by any of the bestseller lists. — location: [491](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07C5ZKS1K&location=491) ^ref-11399 --- The aim of this model is to write a book that appeals to a certain market, for example, a book on looking after your dog might sell to pet stores, or a pet food company. Then develop relationships with your target market, pitching your book to bulk buy or use in a special promotion. They might even do a branded print run with the name of their company on — location: [493](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07C5ZKS1K&location=493) ^ref-8009 --- Design your ecosystem around the book If you consider your business model up front, you can design an eco-system around the book in advance to maximize your revenue and opportunities. — location: [508](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07C5ZKS1K&location=508) ^ref-25756 --- How to Make Real Money Selling Books (Without Worrying About Returns) – Brian Jud — location: [525](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07C5ZKS1K&location=525) ^ref-55230 --- lytics genre/niche reports: www.TheCreativePenn.com/genre KDP Rocket for category and keyword research: www.TheCreativePenn.com/rocket — location: [609](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07C5ZKS1K&location=609) ^ref-4711 --- Write to Market: Deliver a Book that Sells – Chris Fox — location: [680](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07C5ZKS1K&location=680) ^ref-32327 --- Non-fiction book titles often use principles of copywriting. They focus on benefits and encourage the reader to take action. For good examples, look at magazine headlines: How to do X, Stop doing Y, Overcome Z, Secrets of A. — location: [704](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07C5ZKS1K&location=704) ^ref-52371 --- You can even take this further and include time-specific benefits. For example, The Four Hour Work Week: Escape the 9-5, Live Anywhere and Join the New Rich by Timothy Ferriss, or Lean In 15: The Shift Plan. 15 Minute Meals and Workouts to Keep You Lean and Healthy by Joe Wicks. — location: [707](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07C5ZKS1K&location=707) ^ref-17012 --- Other titles are like the listicles shared so much on social media. For example, The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing by Al Ries and Jack Trout, or The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R Covey. — location: [712](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07C5ZKS1K&location=712) ^ref-50357 --- Make it clear what the book is about. — location: [713](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07C5ZKS1K&location=713) ^ref-64820 --- High Performance Habits: How Extraordinary People Become That Way by Brendon Burchard. It's clearly aimed at a specific target audience of people who want to become high achievers, — location: [732](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07C5ZKS1K&location=732) ^ref-33643 --- In another example, Tony Robbins originally published Money: Master the Game, a doorstop book packed with interviews and tips and basically way too much information for the average person. Clearly, it didn't hit the market he wanted it to, as he later published Unshakeable: Your Financial Freedom Playbook, a cut-down — location: [748](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07C5ZKS1K&location=748) ^ref-47151 --- changed the title of my first book from How to Enjoy Your Job or Find a New One to Career Change for keyword search reasons. There were 10 times as many searches for 'career change' than for 'how to enjoy your job,' so my sales went up after the change purely through organic search. If you search for ‘career change’ now on Amazon, my book should still be on page one. — location: [755](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07C5ZKS1K&location=755) ^ref-3200 --- PickFu for book title/cover testing: www.TheCreativePenn.com/pickfubook — location: [765](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07C5ZKS1K&location=765) ^ref-24696 --- (1) Do you want to be traditionally published? If yes, then most publishers still work on specific word count lengths for books so you'll probably be aiming for around 60,000-80,000 words for non-fiction. — location: [834](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07C5ZKS1K&location=834) ^ref-37449 --- Think in Parts or Sections first — location: [1063](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07C5ZKS1K&location=1063) ^ref-51516 --- Outline your draft Table of Contents — location: [1067](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07C5ZKS1K&location=1067) ^ref-31960 --- Whenever I get an idea for a book, I create a new Scrivener — location: [1072](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07C5ZKS1K&location=1072) ^ref-54747 --- project and use the Binder area to add ideas for chapters. These are often just one-liners when I start out, but then I hone the Table of Contents from those initial thoughts. Scrivener enables you to drag and drop chapters, which makes re-ordering them super-easy. — location: [1073](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07C5ZKS1K&location=1073) ^ref-26339 --- through your ideas, try dictation, covered in more detail in chapter 3.5. Or you could ask someone to interview you on your chosen topic, and use the transcript as the basis for your Table of Contents. — location: [1078](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07C5ZKS1K&location=1078) ^ref-23355 --- Use sub-headings If you want to take your organization a step further, you can use sub-headings within each chapter to split the material into easily digestible chunks. Many non-fiction readers skim through books, looking for the most pertinent and useful sections, and sub-headings help the reader find what they’re — location: [1082](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07C5ZKS1K&location=1082) ^ref-48651 --- Scrivener software for organizing research, planning, writing and formatting: www.LiteratureAndLatte.com — location: [1099](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07C5ZKS1K&location=1099) ^ref-29753 --- "The biggest advice that I would give for you and for other writers to get started with dictation is don't try to write that way. The best way to start is to do notes or brainstorming. Take your recorder and just go for a walk. It's almost like free association." — location: [1225](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07C5ZKS1K&location=1225) ^ref-14739 --- few years, we've had touch. I genuinely believe that the next big input method is voice. In the next 10 years, if you're not embracing voice, you will be behind in the same way as if you don't have a smartphone right now, you're missing out on a lot of technological help.” — location: [1234](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07C5ZKS1K&location=1234) ^ref-10940 --- How to Blog a Book: Write, Publish, and Promote Your Work One Post at a Time – Nina Amir — location: [1277](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07C5ZKS1K&location=1277) ^ref-16369 --- Strive for excellence and follow a professional process to ensure your book is the best it can be Go through your own self-editing process, then work with a professional editor, do the rewrites that will improve your book and use a proofreader. But make sure you set a deadline, otherwise this editing process can turn into procrastination. — location: [1304](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07C5ZKS1K&location=1304) ^ref-51294 --- be honest with yourself. Is another round of changes really going to make a substantial difference to this book? — location: [1308](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07C5ZKS1K&location=1308) ^ref-30080 --- "The road to hell is paved with works-in-progress." Philip Roth — location: [1321](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07C5ZKS1K&location=1321) ^ref-45022 --- "You must finish what you start." Robert A. Heinlein, from Heinlein's Rules — location: [1338](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07C5ZKS1K&location=1338) ^ref-1837 --- How to turn a boring book into an engaging read — location: [1443](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07C5ZKS1K&location=1443) ^ref-33053 --- Share your story and your personal experience in your voice — location: [1447](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07C5ZKS1K&location=1447) ^ref-12963 --- “Don’t use big words. They mean so little.” Oscar Wilde — location: [1459](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07C5ZKS1K&location=1459) ^ref-20711 --- Don’t write like an academic unless you are writing an academic paper or thesis. — location: [1461](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07C5ZKS1K&location=1461) ^ref-5397 --- Eliminate jargon and remove clichéd phrases that have become over-used in your industry. — location: [1464](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07C5ZKS1K&location=1464) ^ref-277 --- you need to include personal aspects of your journey that will enable readers to get a sense of your story behind the facts. — location: [1488](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07C5ZKS1K&location=1488) ^ref-39643 --- Use a narrative arc — location: [1497](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07C5ZKS1K&location=1497) ^ref-14871 --- Open loops If you ask a question early on in the book, don’t answer it immediately. Keep an open loop in the reader’s mind, so they want to read on. — location: [1502](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07C5ZKS1K&location=1502) ^ref-65360 --- Diet books do this all the time. They have an enticing title and — location: [1503](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07C5ZKS1K&location=1503) ^ref-38928 --- promise at the beginning and then spend the first part outlining all the problems you might be having with your weight, before finally giving you the key at the end. [Spoiler: it’s likely to be a variation of eat less, move more!] — location: [1504](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07C5ZKS1K&location=1504) ^ref-22377 --- Use specific details — location: [1505](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07C5ZKS1K&location=1505) ^ref-53184 --- Cut it down “Examine every word you put on paper. You’ll find a surprising number that don’t serve any purpose.” William Zinsser, On Writing Well You will likely find that you have repeated yourself at different times, so get rid of anything you have said more than once. Cut down over-wordy sentences to make your point clearer. Don't worry about word count, as one of the most common complaints about non-fiction is that it is 'over-padded.' — location: [1660](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07C5ZKS1K&location=1660) ^ref-49754 --- Make it more personal If some chapters are too info-dense, or the book is lacking in personality, then add in more of your story and experience. You can also use quotes per section to bring in different voices. — location: [1665](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07C5ZKS1K&location=1665) ^ref-20906 --- Check your facts and quotes. Add references or extra bonus material. Have you kept a list of your references and included that in an Appendix? You can complete this section later, but it's best to check facts as you go, collect references, and put things together in draft form as you edit. Trust me on this! It will be a lot more work if you leave it to the last minute and have to scour through everything trying to find where you quoted from. You can also consider extra material at this stage. How can you make the book even more useful? Can you make downloadable extras or checklists? — location: [1673](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07C5ZKS1K&location=1673) ^ref-39518 --- Your job and your agent's job, if you have one, is to keep as many rights as possible when you're doing a deal so you can exploit them in other ways. For example, you could license US and Canada rights, then self-publish in the rest of the world. It’s — location: [1844](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07C5ZKS1K&location=1844) ^ref-40316 --- publishers take audio rights as part of a contract but don’t produce an audiobook. Either keep audio rights or specify a length of time the publisher has in which to exploit them before the rights revert to you. — location: [1848](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07C5ZKS1K&location=1848) ^ref-63064 --- It used to be that there was an out of print clause, but of course, in these days of print-on-demand and ebooks, a book never goes out of print. You have to consider when you might get your rights back, in case things go wrong. — location: [1850](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07C5ZKS1K&location=1850) ^ref-11844 --- You can get 10% off at BookBaby if you use my link: www.TheCreativePenn.com/bookbaby or just go to BookBaby.com — location: [1962](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07C5ZKS1K&location=1962) ^ref-64272 --- If you have a distribution method in place, for example, if you are a speaker with back of the room sales, or have an offline business, then you might consider doing a print run for your books. Ingram Spark offers volume discounts, or you can use a local printer. Most independent authors these days use print-on-demand (POD). You upload your cover and interior formatted files to a distributor like Amazon KDP Print, Createspace or Ingram Spark. — location: [2003](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07C5ZKS1K&location=2003) ^ref-58437 --- Workbook editions are easy to make and provide a surprisingly good additional income, even if you don’t do live events. There is an accompanying workbook edition for this book. Most non-fiction authors include questions and action points, so to create a workbook, just reformat the book into a large edition. You could also add additional questions. For sizing, I use 6 x 9 inches and add lines for people to fill in the answers within the workbook. Here’s my YouTube video on how to turn your book into a workbook: www.TheCreativePenn.com/workbook — location: [2023](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07C5ZKS1K&location=2023) ^ref-45110 --- John used Prouduct.com to source, prototype, then print and ship from China. He used a Kickstarter campaign for the initial run, then Fulfillment — location: [2034](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07C5ZKS1K&location=2034) ^ref-28332 --- Tutorial on how to format ebooks and print books with Vellum: www.TheCreativePenn.com/format-ebook-print-with-vellum Find out more on Vellum software: www.TheCreativePenn.com/vellum — location: [2068](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07C5ZKS1K&location=2068) ^ref-1319 --- Strong typography Many non-fiction books use typography as the main design element. This makes it clear at thumbnail size so people shopping on their mobile devices or tablets can easily see the promise to the reader. For example, — location: [2088](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07C5ZKS1K&location=2088) ^ref-53854 --- Make sure it’s readable at thumbnail size and in black and white Blurb quotes from other authors are usually too small to make an impact when a reader is shopping on their mobile device. If they use a device like the Kindle Paperwhite reader, as I do, — location: [2099](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07C5ZKS1K&location=2099) ^ref-9128 --- My list of professional book cover designers: www.TheCreativePenn.com/bookcoverdesign — location: [2110](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07C5ZKS1K&location=2110) ^ref-25357 --- TheBookDesigner.com — location: [2112](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07C5ZKS1K&location=2112) ^ref-17841 --- use Scrivener to plan my courses in the same way as I do for my books. — location: [2333](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07C5ZKS1K&location=2333) ^ref-7975 --- You can use email list services like BookBub Featured Deals, FreeBooksy, BargainBooksy and others. These focus on specific target genres and generally have fewer options for non-fiction promotion than they do for fiction. At the time of writing, BookBub Featured Deals include Business as a category, but with nothing more specific, e.g. Finance or Self-Help, both of which are huge in the non-fiction market. — location: [2526](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07C5ZKS1K&location=2526) ^ref-64005 --- Contact page You need to have some way that people can connect with you. Set up an email account specifically for your author name. — location: [2694](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07C5ZKS1K&location=2694) ^ref-55580 --- Press page or media kit The phrase 'media kit' sounds pretty scary, like it's some complicated tool that only certain people understand. But actually, it's just information to help journalists and bloggers. Add your contact details and your agent if you have one. Include phone numbers if you want to, as journalists often want instant access, although you may prefer to keep this private. You’ll — location: [2705](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07C5ZKS1K&location=2705) ^ref-46768 --- also need a short bio and long bio; professional pictures with headshots and action shots that can be used with photo credit details if necessary; a list of awards, endorsements, press coverage or media quotes if you have them; links to your books and cover images; sample interview questions; and a one-pager on each book. — location: [2708](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07C5ZKS1K&location=2708) ^ref-21867 --- Add the sign-up to the back of your books You're in the best position to ask a reader to join your list when they have just finished your book (and hopefully loved it!). If you’re traditionally published, it's worth asking your publisher if you can include a link to your email list at the back of the book. Pitch it as being useful for connecting with readers and making marketing easier for the next book. — location: [2765](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07C5ZKS1K&location=2765) ^ref-64355 --- You can use a clickable link in ebooks and an easy-to-type URL in print books. It's also a good idea to have a URL that's easy to say out loud, as you can then mention it on podcasts, in interviews and when speaking. Take any chance you can to tell people about it. Remember, — location: [2769](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07C5ZKS1K&location=2769) ^ref-11537 --- Include a privacy policy on your website It should explain how you will interact, what you will send, and whether you use cookies on your site. There are lots of templates online that you can modify for your website. — location: [2802](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07C5ZKS1K&location=2802) ^ref-50160 --- Include a Call to Action in your book for the reader to sign up for an extra ebook or updates This is the most basic email integration you can do – and you should be doing at least this much. All my non-fiction books include a link to sign up for my free Author 2.0 Blueprint at: — location: [2825](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07C5ZKS1K&location=2825) ^ref-11141 --- “After the introduction, there's a How To Get The Audio section. I give away the audio recordings of each [guitar] example in the book. If you want to get the audio, you go to my website, stick your email address in, choose your book, and then you get access to your audio. That means we know which book they bought.” — location: [2831](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07C5ZKS1K&location=2831) ^ref-3671 --- Delivery of ebook to customer’s device: www.BookFunnel.com — location: [2849](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07C5ZKS1K&location=2849) ^ref-11712 --- Blogging changed my life, and I still recommend it for finding your author voice, attracting your target market, and learning how to press Publish regularly to get your words out into the world. — location: [2879](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07C5ZKS1K&location=2879) ^ref-44769 --- “There’s a level of dedication that comes from podcast listeners that you otherwise don’t find, and now the numbers prove it. Podcasts aren’t a bubble, they’re a boom – and that boom is only getting louder.” Miranda Katz, Wired magazine A podcast is audio content distributed — location: [2891](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07C5ZKS1K&location=2891) ^ref-58740 --- Podcasting is a significant investment of time, but it's also a powerful way to build a loyal fanbase. Anyone who listens to your voice every week will become a fan if you share your personal story, smile and bring people into your world. You can also connect with influencers in your niche, as they are far more likely to talk to you if you have an audience that will help them reach new potential customers. — location: [2904](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07C5ZKS1K&location=2904) ^ref-57051 --- If you have your own podcast, make sure to include show notes and/or a transcript to help with Search Engine Optimization. — location: [2909](kindle://book?action=open&asin=B07C5ZKS1K&location=2909) ^ref-50495 ---