How To Structure Self-Help Books | Use the Bestselling Self-Help Outline!
Summary
TLDRIn this video, best-selling author Lisa Daily shares her expertise on crafting a self-help book. She emphasizes the importance of a creative work plan, akin to an advertising brief, to pinpoint the book's key fact, target audience, and objectives. Lisa outlines a step-by-step formula for structuring the book, including defining the problem, creating a promise, and providing an actionable plan. She also advises on troubleshooting potential reader setbacks and concludes with strategies for maintaining reader engagement post-publication.
Takeaways
- ๐ Start with a creative work plan: Use a document similar to an advertising creative brief to outline your book's focus, audience, and message.
- ๐ Identify your key fact: Determine the most important fact that your book will impact, which should resonate with your readers' needs.
- ๐ค Define the problem: Clearly state the issue your book aims to solve and who it is intended to help.
- ๐ฏ Establish the book's objective: Specify what impact the book will have on the reader's life, such as financial gain or improved confidence.
- ๐ ๏ธ Develop a strategy: Outline how you will achieve the book's objective and help the reader overcome their problem.
- ๐ค Know your prime reader: Understand your target audience's demographics, psychographics, and what motivates them to buy your book.
- ๐ Position your book: Determine how your book fits within its category and what unique value it offers that sets it apart from others.
- ๐ฃ๏ธ Make a promise: Clearly state why readers should buy your book and what benefits they will receive from it.
- ๐ Follow a best-selling outline formula: Use a structure that has proven successful for other best-selling self-help books to guide your reader effectively.
- ๐ Troubleshoot failure: Include a section to help readers get back on track if they encounter difficulties while implementing your advice.
Q & A
What is the first step Lisa recommends for structuring a self-help book?
-The first step Lisa recommends is to start with a creative work plan, similar to an advertising creative brief, which helps to drill down on what's important, who the target audience is, and what message to convey to them.
What is the key fact in Lisa's self-help book about dating advice?
-The key fact in Lisa's dating advice book is that getting dumped is awful and painful, and people are highly motivated to avoid such pain.
What does Lisa suggest as the second thing to figure out in a creative brief for a self-help book?
-The second thing to figure out is the problem that the book must solve, which is what the reader needs.
What is the objective of a self-help book according to Lisa?
-The objective of a self-help book is to have an impact on the reader's life, such as helping them make more money, lose weight, or become more confident in their business interactions.
How does Lisa define the strategy in her self-help book outline?
-The strategy in Lisa's self-help book outline is about how to achieve the book's objective and help the reader solve their problem, including the specifics of how to make that happen.
Who should be the prime reader of a self-help book, as per Lisa's advice?
-The prime reader should be the person who will buy the book, talk about it to their friends, and is well-defined by psychographics, demographics, and other relevant information about the target audience.
What is the importance of positioning in a self-help book as discussed by Lisa?
-Positioning is important because it determines the category and specific segment in which the book will compete and gives a reason for the book's existence among numerous other books available.
What is the promise Lisa talks about in the context of a self-help book?
-The promise is the best argument for why the reader should buy the book, outlining what they will gain from reading it and how it will help them achieve their goals.
Why does Lisa include a troubleshooting failure section in her self-help book outline?
-Lisa includes a troubleshooting failure section to teach readers how to get back on track if they stumble and to express solidarity, acknowledging that change is hard and that it's common to face challenges.
What is the purpose of the 'future and beyond' section at the end of a self-help book, according to Lisa?
-The 'future and beyond' section is meant to end the book on a positive and uplifting note, connecting with the reader and expressing faith in their ability to achieve the goals set out in the book.
Why is it important for the reader to have the author's contact information at the end of a self-help book?
-Having the author's contact information allows readers to stay connected, share their progress, and get help with any unforeseen problems, fostering a sense of ongoing support and community.
Outlines
๐ Structuring a Self-Help Book: The Creative Work Plan
Lisa Daily, a best-selling author, introduces her method for structuring a self-help book, emphasizing the importance of a creative work plan. She draws from her advertising background to highlight the need for a clear and concise brief that defines the key fact, target audience, and the problem the book aims to solve. Lisa suggests identifying the book's objective, strategy, prime reader, positioning, promise, and the reason why the book can deliver on that promise. She also invites viewers to join her community and provides a creative work plan template for those interested.
๐ Crafting a Best-Selling Self-Help Book Outline
In this segment, Lisa Daily delves into the structure of a best-selling self-help book, advocating for a formulaic approach that facilitates reader comprehension. She outlines the steps for creating an effective book outline, starting with defining the problem, tailoring it to a specific audience, and introducing a benefit-driven plan. The outline should include a promise to the reader, detailing the benefits they will gain, and a problem journey that resonates with the reader's experience. Lisa also stresses the importance of preparing the reader for change and presenting a clear action plan, broken down into manageable steps to ensure small wins and prevent major setbacks.
๐ ๏ธ Troubleshooting and Envisioning the Future in Self-Help Books
Lisa concludes the video script by discussing the inclusion of a troubleshooting section in self-help books, acknowledging that readers may encounter challenges in implementing the book's advice. She suggests providing immediate solutions for getting back on track and expressing solidarity with the reader's struggles. The final part of the book should envision a positive future for the reader, offering encouragement and faith in their ability to succeed. Lisa also emphasizes the value of providing contact information to maintain a connection with readers, supporting their ongoing journey. She invites viewers to subscribe and engage with her community for further writing and publishing insights.
Mindmap
Keywords
๐กCreative Work Plan
๐กKey Fact
๐กProblem
๐กObjective
๐กStrategy
๐กPrime Reader
๐กPositioning
๐กPromise
๐กReason Why
๐กSelf-Help Book Outline Formula
Highlights
Start with a creative work plan to structure your self-help book.
Use a creative brief to drill down on the book's key fact and audience.
Identify the single most important fact your book can affect.
Understand that pain avoidance is a strong motivator for readers.
Define the problem your book must solve for your readers.
Outline the objective of the book and its impact on readers' lives.
Develop a strategy to achieve the book's objective and solve readers' problems.
Identify your prime reader and create a detailed profile of your audience.
Position your book in a specific segment and justify its existence.
Craft a compelling promise for why readers should buy your book.
Provide support for your promise and demonstrate how you can deliver it.
Follow a best-selling self-help book outline formula for structure.
Define the problem and specify who you are solving it for.
Introduce your benefit-driven plan or title to the reader.
Create a promise for the reader outlining what they will gain from the book.
Explore the problem journey and relate to the reader's struggles.
Prepare the reader for change and outline what they need to start.
Present a clear action plan with structured steps for the reader to follow.
Include a troubleshooting section to help readers overcome setbacks.
End the book on a positive note, encouraging readers to envision their success.
Provide your contact information to maintain a connection with your readers.
Transcripts
hey future bestsellers Lisa daily here
I'm the best-selling traditionally
published author of eight books
including a best-selling self-help book
and by the end of the video today you
will know exactly what you need to know
to structure and outline your own
self-help book let's get started step
number one you want to start with a
creative work plan so I actually come
from an advertising background and
before you ever start writing a
commercial or a radio spot or a print ad
or an online ad you always start with a
creative brief which is the document
that you use to really help to drill
down on what's important who you're
talking to and what you're going to say
to them just a quick note if you want to
be part of this community if you like
this video definitely be sure to hit
like a subscribe and ding that little
bell so you'll be notified every time I
post new videos so the first thing you
want to figure out is your key fact what
is the single most important fact upon
which your book can have an effect I
actually modified my favorite
advertising creative brief for writing
self-help books and I will tell you that
it has been very very effective for me
as well as other writers I've worked
with so my best-selling self-help book
was actually a dating advice book and
the key fact upon which I built that
book stop getting dumped was that it
sucks to get dumped it's awful to get
your heart broken it's awful and pain
avoidance is actually a very motivating
factor for human beings so if you can
help your readers to avoid pain you are
doing them a big service and they will
be grateful for that so the second thing
you need to figure out in your creative
brief is what is the problem that the
book must solve what is it that your
reader needs alright the next thing you
want to figure out is the objective of
the book what impact is this book going
to have on your readers
life are you going to help them make
more money are you going to help them
lose weight are you going to help them
you know be more confident in their
business interactions what is the
objective of the book the next thing you
need to figure out is the strategy how
exactly are you going to achieve the
objective of the book and help your
reader to solve his or her problem what
are the specifics exactly how are you
going to make that happen
the next part you have to figure out is
who is your prime reader who is going to
buy this book who's going to talk it up
to their friends and in this section you
want to include psychographics
demographics and basically any other
information that you have about your
reader or about your audience and if
you're already a speaker or a coach you
probably know you know you can probably
create a profile of who your client or
your ideal client is right and it's not
just that you want to figure out the age
or sex or income of your ideal reader
you also want to figure out what it is
they truly want what's stopping them
what's holding them back what do they
dream of what is it that they really
really want in life so the next thing
you're gonna figure out in the creative
brief is the positioning of your book
not only the category for your book but
the specific segment in which your book
will compete what is the reason that
your book needs to exist when there are
already eight bazillion other books out
there and what does your book offer the
reader that no other book does because
that's really where you get them the
next thing you want to figure out is
your promise
what is your very best argument for why
the reader should buy your book the last
thing you figure out is what we call the
reason why why does your book deliver
this promise to your reader what support
do you have for your promise and I think
most importantly can you keep that
to your reader well because if you can't
you need to go back to the drawing board
step two you want to follow my
best-selling self-help book outline
formula and this formula is and before
you go oh I don't want to follow formula
let me just tell you that this formula
is basically the structure that is used
by almost every best-selling self-help
book and the reason for that is that it
gets your reader from point A to point B
or point F or wherever you're trying to
get them to go in the easiest most
logical way possible you can be original
in your ideas he could be original in
your text and you should be you
definitely should be but as far as the
structure this is the most easily
digestible way for your reader to get
the information that you're trying to
impart now the great news is that you
with the outline you've already done a
lot of the really hard work in your
creative brief
it pays to think things through before
you get started number one define the
problem this is where you define for the
reader the problem you are trying to
solve and who exactly you're trying to
solve it for use the creative work plan
it is your friend don't worry about
taking notes you can actually grab a
copy of my creative work plan on my
outline if you just there's a link in
the description below just click the
link and I'll just send it right to your
email and before you say something like
oh my book is for everyone know that
that is a lazy lazy answer and no book
is for everyone no book so do better you
can do it do better
now everyone doesn't count I want
specifics and so then your publisher
number to reiterate and expand on either
your benefit driven title or your catchy
benefit driven plan name and this is
where you're going to introduce that
plan you're not going to go into all the
specifics just yet that's for a little
later in the book but you do want to let
the reader know
that the 4-hour workweek or fit and
fabulous in 15 minutes or this or that
that that your plan is going to solve
their problem the third part of your
outline is that where you create a
promise for your reader and again this
is something we'll take directly from
the creative work plan this is where you
tell them what are they going to gain
when they read your book what's the
angle how will they know when they have
accomplished what it is you want them to
accomplish what are you going to deliver
to them so number four is the problem
journey how did your reer come to have
this problem is it a societal problem
how did you personally come to have this
problem what's the history of the
problem is it the readers fault is it
somebody else's fault is it nobody's
fault does is it just something that
happens and now we all have to deal with
it this gives you a really great
opportunity to relate to your reader
you've been where they are now you know
how they feel you understand the
struggles that they are facing because
you've been there too and look how
awesome your life is now right you've
accomplished their dream and now you are
going to show them exactly how to do it
you've been broke you've been out of
shape you've been all alone crying into
a bowl of ice cream on a Saturday night
right and now you hold the secrets to
the universe and this is why your reader
can trust you to help them solve their
problem number five reader preparation
so this is where you prepare the reader
to change their life you still are not
getting into the plan yet but this is
where you prepare them to change their
life what do they need to get started do
they need a subscription to a dating
site do they need a notebook do they
need a new therapist what do they need
to start on day one with your plan
number six this is your action plan for
the reader now this is the meet the take
away this is the big
cheese this is where you tell them
exactly what they need to do in order to
solve their problem and accomplish their
goal and what you'll need to do here is
be sure you structure your plan in two
steps
now these steps can be step driven like
it's something like a a they can be
timeline driven so you know change your
life in six weeks or any other small
byte scenario to help you break up the
steps for the reader and there are a
couple reasons why you want to break
these into into a couple of different
steps first you want to give the reader
opportunities for small wins along the
way to the big room so that's really
important and the other thing that's
important is that if the reader fails
along the way
you don't want them falling all the way
to the bottom
if they fail all isn't lost they just
have to go back to the last place where
they did in fact succeed so maybe that
was step 7 or step 42 but they don't
fall as far when they fall speaking of
falling the next section number seven is
troubleshooting failure now the reason
that we include a troubleshooting
failure section in a self-help book is
because every reader is going to stumble
along the way almost no one will be able
to execute your plan perfectly without
any mishaps and there are a couple of
reasons why you want to include a sort
of troubleshooting section one is that
you want if the right if the one is that
if the reader does make an error you
want to teach them how to immediately
get back on the plan number two you want
to express some solidarity with them
they're not failing at this because
they're horrible screw-ups they're
failing at this in the same way that
lots of other people have failed at this
because change is hard changing your
life is hard as crap and you know that
and you are here to help them succeed
and the great thing about it is this is
a really good place to
and with your reader right you want to
acknowledge here that it's not easy to
change your life it isn't it's hard
otherwise we'd all be you know
blissfully happy living our best lives
happily coupled up or married or single
you know having the best sex of our
lives in awesome shape on top of a giant
pile of money right yeah maybe that's
just me number eight the future and
beyond this is where you want to end
your book on a positive uplifting note
you know you've really connected with
this reader you know they can do it and
you are cheering for them you have faith
in them tell them that you know they can
do this step number nine you want to
make sure that your reader has your
contact information and this is
important for a couple of different
reasons first of all you've just helped
them change their life and they're gonna
feel really close with you and you want
to encourage that right you this means
you're on the right path with whatever
you're doing in your life and you have
actually helped another person to
achieve their goals which I'm sure you
already know it's an awesome feeling
it's an awesome feeling it's like the
best feeling in the whole world it's
actually the reason I'm here so this
section is where you want to tell the
reader how to stay connected to you
whether that's through your social media
or your website by the way if you want
to stay connected with me follow me on
social media you're helping your reader
to change their lives your pals now your
buddies you are connected for life you
want to know all about their story their
progress and any problems that they
might be having that you didn't
anticipate so that you can actually
solve those problems for future readers
well I hope you found this video helpful
if you did please join our little
community and click the subscribe button
like this video and ding that little
bell so that you'll actually be notified
every time I post a new writing and
publishing video if you have any
questions about outlining a best-selling
self-help book that I did not answer in
the video today be sure to let me know
in the comments below and if you want a
copy of my creative work plan and my
outline I'm happy to give that to you
just click the link at the top of the
description below and I'll shoot that to
you in an email as always thanks so much
for watching I hope this video was
helpful to you if it was or if it wasn't
let me know in the comment section below
see you next time alright go out there
and change some lives
you
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