What makes a nonfiction book

If you write a book on losing weight, readers will expect to be dropping pounds before they get to the conclusion. Financial advice?

The journey promises to help them save more money and build a retirement fund. Creating a business? Readers want that blueprint to show them how to build a business from the ground up. Related: How to Outline a Nonfiction Book. Nothing can ruin a good book like bad formatting. Be sure that you have clear chapter headings and that, wherever possible, the chapter is broken up into subheadings.

Use a combination of bolded fonts and italics. Keep paragraphs short, between sentences. Occasionally have one sentence stand alone to add impact when delivering a statement you want to stand out. Stay consistent with the font style and size. Make sure your chapters have clear page breaks and that the paragraphs are not indented. If you are not skilled at formatting you should really consider outsourcing the formatting of your book. You have spent so much time writing it that it would be a crime to let it go to ruin because of a sloppy appearance.

You can check out the services at Archangel Ink or Happy Self Publishing to get a professional formatter for your book. You want them to take action.

By getting your readers involved in the journey, they are not just sitting back and enjoying the ride but they are involved in creating the changes that are promised in the book. While reading a book on weight loss is fine, it means nothing if people just toss its side and move onto the next thing. In fact, without actionable content they might not even finish the book to begin with.

You can include actionable content in your book several ways:. Action steps or a chapter recap at the end of each chapter can keep readers motivated and encouraged to continue reading. Chapter Upgrades : This is additional content not included in the book that readers have to opt in to download.

Chapter upgrades adds great value to your book. Check out this article by Kevin Kruse on chapter upgrades and this strategy doubled his conversion rate.

Checklist : You can include a short checklist of actionable steps at the end of the chapter or, wrap up with a large checklist at the end of the book to consolidate everything. Here you focus less on the narrative and more on explaining a topic. Textbooks, self-help books, and how-to books are all expository.

If your main aim is to tell a story, you need to decide how you want to tell that story. So, you need to create a plot structure. Examples of plot structures are:. Here you tell the story in chronological order. You start with the beginning, or the set-up act. In this part, you may also introduce an antagonist. Then, finally, you come to the end part, or the resolution act. After the climax, you tie up the loose ends and emphasize what you want your reader to take away from it all.

Manipulating Time. With this structure, you start your story somewhere in the middle and then use flashbacks to tell your reader how it all began. You can also jump forward to future events and then go back to an earlier point in time.

Here you start your story with the climactic event that would normally come at the end. You then go back to the beginning and the middle, describing what led to this climactic event. At the end of the book, you reiterate the climactic event and tie up the loose ends. Each separate story has its own beginning, middle, and end.

You can weave the stories together or tell them separately but at the end, you need to tie them together. For expository nonfiction, you may find it makes more sense to divide your book into sections or chapters according to topic.

The best way to do this is to tackle each step or principle separately. However, you can still build in an overarching narrative by letting one step or principle lead on to the next. This is important since it will help you ensure that you cover everything you want to say. An easy way to draft an outline is to follow these steps:. Remember that your outline is not set in stone.

Throughout the writing process, you can still chop and change things as you need to. A style guide is a set of guidelines that will help you be consistent in your writing. Writing in a consistent style right from the start will save you time later on. So, pour yourself something to drink, get rid of distractions, sit down, and get writing.

Many of the most popular Hollywood blockbusters were actually based on nonfiction books. For you as a nonfiction author, the challenge is not just to choose a story to tell but also to choose a story that your readers will find compelling. What you may find interesting may not necessarily be something that will appeal to readers.

So, you need to think objectively about the story. We also have a section of popular and award-winning documentary DVDs. Frequently Asked Questions Can I register to vote at the library? Can I return a video in the book drop? What about other non-book items? Can I volunteer at the library? Do you have a quiet place for individuals to study? Do you offer study rooms? Do you have copiers?