Welcome to Nothing but the Words.

I’m your Author Coach, Candice L Davis.

In this episode, I want to share exactly how much of your process you should include in your how-to book. A lot of coaches, consultants, and speakers write books about their area of expertise but they’re hesitant to give away all their secrets.

A few years ago, I attended a client’s conference and one of the speaker talked about why it was important to create systems in your book.

Even though she gave away a digital copy of her book, I bought a paperback copy to support her and to have on hand for myself, since paperback is a lot easier to flip through.

Unfortunately, as I read through the book, it turned out to be 200 pages on WHY my business needed systems. At no point did the author actually share HOW to create those systems.

To get that information, I needed to hire her. Uhm. . . no thank you.

Now, did I really think I was going to read through her book and implement all the systems I needed in my business?

Absolutely not. I’m not highly skilled with technology. And I don’t enjoy it.

But I would have happily taken a course from her or signed up for a coaching program. I wanted someone I could trust to help me get it done. But her book was such a disappointment and it left me with no trust in her ability to deliver what she promised.

So how much of your process do you need to include in your how-to book?

Well, think of it this way. If you write a cookbook, you probably won’t include every recipe you know. But if your book promises 101 easy kid-friendly recipes, you’d better have 101 recipes, not 99 or 100, but 101. Any less, and someone will call you on it. It will cost you your reader’s trust.

If you leave out an ingredient or a step from some of the recipes, once again, you will let your readers down. Instead of connecting with them and making them want more from you, you’ll send them looking elsewhere for what you failed to deliver.

So what is your promise to the reader? For example, if you promise to show your reader how to develop a daily meditation practice, lose weight without going hungry, strengthen their marriage, you have to keep that promise.

You can’t leave out any essential steps.

I’m telling you to give your readers the entire process from beginning to end.

Now, a lot of my clients panic when I say that. They’re afraid that no one will hire them, take their courses, or join their programs if they share the entire process.

But think of it this way. How many times have you read a how-to book and actually gotten the results you wanted just from following the directions in a book?

How many times have you read a how-to book and wished you had someone you could ask questions about the process?

How many times have you read a how-to book and then looked for more information on YouTube or Google?

Most people who read a how-to book don’t successfully implement the process. They lack the confidence. They’re overwhelmed by the process. Or they just have trouble getting started. Some percentage of those people will care enough about getting results that they will happily pay you to teach them or coach them along the way. Even though the whole process is in the book.

If you’re writing your book because you want to lead people to your products and services or to hire you as a speaker, you have to give them the entire process.

It may not be the process for the premium service you offer—or it might be—but whatever you promise to teach the reader how to do, you have to each it in full.

That’s how you get your readers to trust you.

You have to tell them WHAT the process will help them do, WHY it will benefit them, and HOW to implement it step by step.

Yes, you can, and probably should, reference your products and services. Without overdoing it, you can even link to those things. I call that book strategy, “seed, lead, and sell.”

But those things should be a bonus to your book. 

If you promise to teach the reader how to do something, teach it in full.

As a reader, if I have to go to your website to get information that should be included in the book, I’ll be irritated. Withholding essential information makes it look like you’re a scammer, trying to trick people into giving you more money for what they’ve should’ve gotten when they paid for your book.

Or it makes you look like you don’t actually know what you’re talking about.

But if I can go to your website and find bonus videos, checklists, or templates that you couldn’t necessarily print in a book but which will make it easier for me to complete the process, I’ll just become an even bigger fan of your work.

The bottom line is that you must keep your promise to the reader. Whatever you say you can teach her to do. Teach it full out. Give her all the steps, all the tools, everything she needs to know.

That’s how you create trust with your reader. That’s how you position yourself as expert, the person who really does know what she’s talking about. That’s how you attract the kinds of clients and customers you want to reach.

If you’re writing a how-to book, your action step for this episode is to assess how much of your process you’re willing to include. If you’re resisting putting it all in your book, ask yourself why.

Thanks for listening to Nothing but the Words, I’d really appreciate a review on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher or wherever you listen to podcasts.

I’m your Author Coach Candice L Davis, and I’ll see you next time.