Pick Your Path: Self-Help & Other Genres

>> Hi, everyone, and welcome to Launch Your Dream Book. It's Lindsey here and today we're going to talk about Pick Your Path, Self-Help & Other Genres. So to give you an overview of some things to consider and what we're going to hit on today, first and foremost, we want to get really clear about your "beyond the book goals." So I know we talk about this over and over again in the course and we're going to continue to keep talking about it until the very last module, but it's so important to get clear about these goals because this will help shape the work. Everything from, you know, your content to your title, this is really going to help shape and format that so you have a clear plan of what you want to see happen beyond just having a book printed and on Amazon. We're also going to go over different types of self-help books and I'm going to show you some different examples of how you can set them up. We're going to talk all about simplicity and we will also discuss other genres like novels and memoirs. So first things first, let's talk a little bit about "beyond the book goals." So first and foremost, are you looking to share your story to increase your message and increase your business? Maybe you want to incorporate online programs, maybe you want to gain more clients, start thinking about the reasons behind why you want to develop and write this book. Maybe you want to do paid speaking events or workshops. Whatever your goal is, we want you to get really clear. Again, this is going to help shape some of the content that you'll be writing, it may shape your title, so you want to get clear about those goals that you have. Also, it's important to remember that there's this old school model of thinking and this new school model of thinking when it comes to creating a book. The old school model is that you have a book idea and the publishing houses basically control the content that goes out. So they'll pick a few titles a year, you have to get an agent, all of these things, you have to write so many words, and it has to look and feel a certain way. Whereas, the new school model is all about self publishing. This is an amazing time for self publishing right now because content is getting out there, people's lives are being changed and we now, as a society, have really taken back that creative expression. It's no longer controlled by big publishing houses. So the great thing about the new school model is that you have complete control in your content and in what you want to share. So there's no real, you know, it's all about the bio-individuality of the book. There's no exact rule or science that you have to follow, but it's important to know that with this new model of publishing is that you do have control and you can change or evolve your content. So maybe right now, you know, you're writing to a very specific audience. Maybe it is emotional eating, for example, and you're writing to this specific audience. Well, then maybe you evolve your work and you decide that, you know, you want to change a couple of things in it. Well, you can do that because you have complete control. So I think that's important to mention because I think sometimes as we're writing, we get caught up in, "Oh, should I be doing it this way?" "Should I be doing that that way?" and that's really... You know, it really comes down to, "What are your goals?" you know, "What do you want to see out of it?" and, "What are you hoping to accomplish?" For some of you, it may just be writing your first book. That's really your end goal, that's what you want to accomplish. You don't care if anyone reads it, you're writing it solely for yourself, and to have that kind of under your belt. For some of you it may be, for example, I wrote a book because I wanted to increase my paid speaking events. I wanted to be able to get paid well for speaking and I knew that having a book would do that and it absolutely did. So when I wrote my book, I kept that in mind. That was my goal. How could I, you know, pitch myself to a college or university, and my book was the perfect way to do that. So whatever your goal is, I want to encourage you to just get really, really clear about that. And if you're not clear, definitely check in with your accountability partner and check in with us, but, you know, start to really narrow that down to the type of people that you want to reach and also what your business goals are beyond just writing it. Okay, so now let's talk about the types of self-help books. There's so many different self-help books out there and I think these ones that I'm going to show you here are the main self-help books in the industry. So you have your how-to books, an example of that is 'How to Win & Influence People' by Dale Carnegie, that is very straight to the point, it tells you exactly what you're going to learn how to do. There's also advice books like 'The Five Love Languages' by Gary Chapman that offer – that, for example, offers relationship or marriage advice. There's very cause specific. 'Crazy Sexy Cancer' by Kris Carr is the perfect example. It's about healing cancer, it's very cause specific. So, you know, we've seen books about anxiety, about thyroid, about ADD, about autism, you know, those are the cause-specific type of books. And there's also gift books, for example, 'Whatever You Are, Be a Good one' is a great example. It's a little fun gift book and it's an inspiring message all about, you know, being who you are and it's done in a very simple, very effective way. Now those are, those are kind of the most common self-help books, but it's also important to note that many books incorporate a mix of different types. So, for example, there could be a cause-specific mixed with a how-to. So maybe the cause-specific is all about fighting seasonal depression and it's, you know, 'Fighting Seasonal Depression: How To Combat The Winter Blues In 10 Weeks' or something like that where it's, you know, it's a cause-specific thing, but it's very action oriented. You know, same with gift books. You know, gift books are very fun, they're – they look really great on coffee tables and they make you smile, but they also can give you some advice or maybe they're about something specific or maybe the author is a cancer survivor or overcame anxiety, then you can kind of infuse your own twang in these. So just because these are the most common doesn't mean that they can't be mixed. So I would encourage you to start to think about the type of book or the type of self-help book that you really want to put in the forefront. Maybe it's specifically about nutrition or maybe you're giving advice about relationships. Whatever it may be, start to think about how you envision your book. Do you want tips? Like with the how-to book, you can maybe have 20 tips to overcoming, you know, whatever it may be. So just think a little bit about that, start playing around with it, and also know that it can change. What I find is that as you get into the writing process, you may be all gung-ho about a how-to book and, you know, you want 20 tips to win friends and influence people, and you're all about these 20 tips. But maybe it eventually just naturally, the tips kind of don't form in the way that you want them to and that's okay, but maybe it turns into an advice book. So don't be afraid to mix and match and find something that really works for you. Okay, so an important thing to remember when writing a self-help book is that the book is really not about you, it's about your reader. So I find that sometimes people, when they start to write self-help books, they really try, or they think that they're writing a memoir, which is very much all about your story and we're gonna talk about writing memoirs a little bit later here, but a self-help book is really about your reader. They see it and they're coming for a specific message. You want people to look at your book and pick it up and say, "Oh, my goodness, that is me. That is what I'm struggling with." And so you want the book to share, yes, a part of your story, but do not make your entire story all about the book. Make sure that you have, you know, you relay the message that you're trying to get across in a concise way, and always bring it back to the reader. It's important not to jump or bounce. You may find that you have two books as you start to write and that's okay. This happens a lot. You know, I've done that myself. I've seen it with a lot of other authors within the book course is that as we start writing we realize, "Wow, you know, at first, I thought to myself, I don't even know if I have one book in me, and then as I'm writing, I realize that there's two." And so if you find that you're jumping around or that you start to get super passionate about something else, I encourage you to write those things out and then maybe save them in a different document, maybe that's something that you'll do later or down the road. And that's if you find yourself jumping because it's really important to relay the message in a very succinct way. Alright, also think about the language and the tone that makes you unique. Are you funny? Are you scientific? Are you real? Write until you find that authentic voice. And I know that we have some great exercises to help you through this, but I think it's important that you share the content in the way that you would say it. So I've seen so many authors come through this program and just getting to know their personalities, it totally makes sense when I see that if they're very scientific, that their book reflects that, and their reader reflects that. If they're funny and humorous, again, it's the same thing that their book reflects that and their reader reflects that. So I would encourage you to think about how you talk on maybe your blog or how you talk in real life and what types of things that you're into and what really makes you unique and try to muster up and really find that voice. And the last thing to remember, and I know a lot of people struggle with this, is that you don't have to be perfect to give advice. And I think a lot of the times we get these assumptions in our head that "Oh, I have to have the perfect body, I have to have the perfect nutrition regimen, I have to have already lost the weight in order to give this advice," but I think there's something really humbling in the fact that none of us are perfect and the reader that we're reaching needs to hear the message in that time we were in. So, for example, I think about my first book that I wrote and I was in a very specific time in my life when I wrote that book as compared to where I am now. And so my first book reflects that. My most recent book that's kind a follow-up to that first book, if you will, reflects where I'm at now, and in five years from now, I'm going to change. So just remember that as you're writing that you don't have to be the at the most optimum state that you want to be or you don't have to be perfect or you don't have to know it all or have it all together to give advice. Because what you want to reach is that reader, that person that is struggling with those few things that you can help them with. Another thing that you can do is use examples or stories as you're writing. So you can either use your stories or the stories of others. And you can sprinkle these throughout to really drive a point home. So maybe you're talking all about eating leafy greens and the importance of eating leafy greens. Well, maybe you share a story of a client who hated greens and refused to do them and then you made her, you know, a green smoothie and she ended up loving it and then eventually now she's the queen of kale chips, I don't know. But you see what I'm getting at is you can make these little stories fun and unique that really drive the point that you're trying to make home. Also, be practical with your advice so that people follow through. I think that's one of the beautiful things about the way Joshua created Integrative Nutrition is that each week was really practical, and it takes you step by step through the process with the Health Coach Training Program and with the 6-Month Program that was offered. You know, every week was, "Hey, drink more water. Hey, incorporate a leafy green." It wasn't this crazy plan that you had to follow where you fell through because ultimately, you want people to pick up your book and with the advice you want them to follow through so that they write Amazon reviews, so that they share the book, so that they give it to someone else because it's attainable. And lastly, you want to create fresh content. So think what makes you and your book unique or how you can offer a fresh perspective. So a lot of people say to me, "Well, Lindsey, you know, I looked up on Amazon all of these different books, you know, there's tons of them with the content that I want to talk about, or with the advice that I want to give." That may be true, but no one has your unique story, no one has that fresh perspective that you can offer. And that's what people need to hear. That's what people want to hear. And so I encourage you to think of how you can make that content fresh. Maybe it's your voice and the way that you share it, maybe it's your perspective, you know, maybe it's part of your story. Whatever it is, start thinking about that fresh content. It doesn't necessarily have to be new or mind blowing, but it has to be in a way that will make other people think or a way that maybe it hasn't been said quite like what you're saying. Okay, and in all of this, remember to keep it simple, especially with your first book. It's important to get clear about your "beyond the book goals" so that you can continue on with your self-help book. But it's also important to keep it simple. If you find yourself over complicating things or adding sentences or paragraphs or even getting way off topic and completely talking about something else, is to kind of rein back in and think to yourself, how can I keep it simple? Remember, we live in a fast paced modern society, your book doesn't have to be, you know, 400 pages. People, their attention spans are a lot lower than they once were, so a short and concise book about your specific reader or your target market can really help advance your career. So keep it simple and remember that you can... Because you're self publishing, you have complete control. So if you start out and you do a 50, 60 page book and in a year from now you start to develop content, you can always go back and add that content later because you are in control. Okay, so now I want to mention a couple other genres that we didn't talk about. The first is a novel. So with novels, if there are any of you that are interested in writing a novel, it's really important to get clear on the story, the plot, the characters, and the climax. There's really a lot of developing here, a lot of story boarding, a lot of really planning out exactly how the story is going to unfold. A big thing with novels too is the characters, you know, what characters would appeal to your reader, you know, you still have to think about your reader when writing a novel. Where do they hang out? Get to know your characters. I remember reading this one woman talk about creating a novel and she said that she was out shopping with her son and she said, "Oh!" You know, she picked up this little gift and said, "Oh, so and so would like this." And her son was like, "Who is that?" And she said, "Oh, it's a character from my novel." And that's how much she got to know her characters is she pretty much was buying things for them at the store, thinking about things that they would really like. And that's a really important part of writing a novel. Now for more information on writing a novel because, you know, this course is not set up specifically for novels. So a great resource that has a lot of information is National Novel Writing Month. The website is on this shot right here and you can check that out for a lot of great resources and information if writing a novel is something that you're interested in. So the next one is a memoir. A memoir is typically the story of a person. You know, you'll see a lot of famous people have memoirs that'll come out, maybe they'll do one when they're young and one when they're older. So first, I would encourage you to think about what's inspiring about your story and how the reader can take that away. So I think a lot of us get into the idea of wanting to write a memoir and I think it's great, but I think you really have to have those hooks and a really inspiring story in order to be able to take a reader through the entire story and keep them hanging on until the end. So a great way to do this is to diagram your life and to use all of the senses to tell your story to the reader. So you can, you know, go through each aspect and really use your, you know, your scent and your hearing and all of those senses to get an idea of the feelings and everything that someone reading your memoir would feel and want to feel. You can also think about the themes, maybe you overcame something very dramatic, maybe you persevered, you know, whatever those themes are, start to think about the themes and how they can relate to a reader. I think the most successful memoirs are ones that have those common themes that readers can relate to and that's why they become so popular. For example, 'Eat, Pray, Love', that's one that always comes to mind and it's because that woman – Elizabeth Gilbert's journey became a journey, kind of, for all women. And so that theme of that is what really drew people into her book. For more tips and information though, definitely check out the interview with Leigh Newman in this module. She dives a little bit deeper into writing her memoir and can give you some tips for that as well. So as you can see, there are many, many routes that you can take when choosing to write a self-help book or another genre, but we encourage you to see what resonates with you in this module and to start there. Good luck.