The printed version of How to Outline a Book: Self-Help is in its final stages of refinement.
If you’re interested in getting your hands on a copy for the January release, head to the campus bookstore now to reserve one for yourself (or your family and friends!). You can also download the ebook on Amazon if you want it sooner.
This will be a letter-sized workbook with plenty of white space for you to take extra notes, annotate the content, place sticky notes, or sketch ideas.
Why a Workbook?
While there is certainly nothing wrong with read-only content, some people benefit more from making progress directly alongside the content they are consuming. By reading about how to do something and then immediately applying that knowledge, some writers find they are more productive. But, even if you don’t plan on working through the exercises, you can still order the ebook to read through the guidance on creating a strong foundation for your self-help book.
Are Self-Help Books a Good Idea?
In my humble opinion, yes! There are many people in the world who could benefit from your knowledge and experiences. You don’t need to be a professional to write a self-help book. Self-help is all about giving people tools to help them overcome particular obstacles. You could write about raising a child with cerebral palsy, or stretching your budget while trying to break in to screenwriting, or surviving life as a single parent raising triplets, or coping with the unexpected death of a spouse. Your self-help book could be a clear answer to the question “How are you holding up?”
One thing that I love about writing anything instructional like this is that it’s so much easier than fiction in a lot of ways! There is a definite set of steps and information to portray to your reader, so you don’t have to worry as much about things like plot holes or character development problems or worldbuilding inconsistencies.
Knowledge is Profit
You can turn just about any knowledge you have into a book you can sell. There are things that seem basic to me (changing a tire, for example) that are absolutely dumbfounding for other people. So don’t think that just because something is second nature to you that it wouldn’t be valuable information to somebody else.
As always, to take those first steps toward writing your next money-maker, start working through the lessons here on Writerwerx University or order a copy of How to Outline a Book: Self-Help now.
