How to Write a Practical How-to Book

Generally, if you’re looking to write a how-to book or a guide of some kind, you’re already a subject matter expert. People know you as someone who is a leader or a visionary in this field, and they would buy your book because they would believe that you have something to offer that no one else does. The best how-to books are written by people who have been vetted by their peers and audiences for having exceptional skill in a specific area, and the how-to book should house secrets that cannot be found elsewhere.

The biggest selling point of a how-to book is the belief that reading it will somehow yield success in a specific area. Therefore, the best how-to books are written by people who have built-in audiences, and they are not only engaging, interesting, and well written, but they are also lucrative.

The people who should be writing how-to books are people who are experts in their given fields. These fields could range from knitting to how to build a rocket ship. For example, an extremely popular subset of these works are the “how to get rich” books written by millionaires, billionaires, and successful business owners. Most of the people who write how-to books have already been established in their fields and are just taking a victory lap with their work. For instance, take How to Win at the Sport of Business: If I Can Do It, You Can Do It by Mark Cuban or Business @ the Speed of Thought: Succeeding in the Digital Economy by Bill Gates.

These figures have extremely large followings and are known throughout the world.

So, if you’re not as famous or as rich as the above men, how do you go about writing a how-to book that aims to be successful?

The following covers this question and more. Specifically, this article gets into the nitty gritty of how to write a book and how to make sure the book is successful.

Social Media Presence

To begin, before you think about writing a how-to book (or a book of any kind), you should think about who your target audience is and what your purpose is behind writing it. Do you want something for the future generations to remember you by? Do you want to make some more money off of your knowledge? Or are you just looking for another hobby? Either way, to ensure that your book is read by people, I highly recommend that you build up a social media presence so that you have a platform on which you can sell your book.

A social media presence has become instrumental in the success of so many 21st century figures, and establishing your presence on the Internet is necessary to ensure the success of your book.

Target Audience

Before writing your book, you have to decide who your target audience is, whether this be younger people or retirees. This would then decide the tone and overall language you choose to use to write your instructions and advice. By catering to the desired and most commonly used syntax of your target audience, you make your book more accessible to them. Furthermore, you can adapt the metaphors you use to deliver your advice and information to make the knowledge inside the book more digestible. Of course, the references you use will be specific to the generation as well.

Subject Matter

Chances are, whatever you write about, someone has already written about it. Therefore, you have to think about implementing themes or ideas that would ensure your work stands out from all the other fish in the ocean. For example, there are a million books about cooking. However, there might not be a book about all the different ways to cook all kinds of legumes. There may not be a book about how to use rare and exotic spices in desserts.

Or, there might not be a book about how to best use rotten ingredients. Either way, ensuring specificity would make your book more interesting; it’s the little details that make any work stand out from another.

Furthermore, deciding on a central theme or motif from which to work around is also a good idea. For example, let’s say you’re writing about how to plant the perfect herb garden. Consider centering all your advice and instructions around one central extended metaphor. For example, take an anecdote about how one time, you planted basil for the first time. This anecdote can be extended throughout the entirety of the work so that the readers can have something to refer back to and feel a sense of cohesiveness.

A lot of how-to books almost read like biographies; the chapters are generally oriented on a chronological order through the writer’s life. As such, they are more enjoyable to read (generally, people prefer stories to textbooks that just spew information), and they are more digestible.

Essential Elements

To ensure a how-to book doesn’t seem like a waste of time, the goal of the book should be clearly stated. A lot of writers do so from the outset: the title. Consider the following examples:

The Life-Changing Magic Of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo teaches you how to tidy up, something you can expect from the title.

Girl, Stop Apologizing by Rachel Hollis teaches women about how to stop apologizing and being okay with being unapologetic to find success.

The Subtle Art of Not Giving A F*ck by Mark Manson teaches about empowerment by being grounded in realism.

These books all have catchy and memorable titles that give away what the contents of the book are going to contain. This is one of the easiest ways to establish the goal that can be completed by reading the book.

Another essential element is clear, easy, and concise instructions. You should clearly express to your audience what the necessary steps are to achieve their goal. One of the easiest ways to write effective instructions is by breaking down the elements of success. Then, all the different tips and tricks you have can be slotted into each of these elements.

How to Write Your How to

Let’s get down to the specifics of how you should go about creating your how-to book.

With any writing project, you should first begin with an outline of all the ideas you want to discuss and be as specific as possible. This will create a roadmap for your writing process. Furthermore, by having a storyboard full of your ideas to refer back to, you have the opportunity to brainstorm ideas and to revisit ideas you may have forgotten. Therefore, writing an outline is definitely recommended. This outline can be organized according to the chapters you’d like to write or the themes you want to cover.

However, I do recommend writing an outline that is divided into specific chapters, so the writing process is easier later on.

Despite how knowledgeable you are, this part is essential: you should do some research. This research process would not only help you to know who your competition is, but it would also allow you to see some examples of successful past projects and unsuccessful projects. At this point, you can also decide if there are elements of other work you’d like to model your book after or if there are any specific niche ideas you think have remained unexplored. This research process would also allow you to gather a list of reference materials that you can refer to in your book as a way of diversifying your content.

This list of references can also be used to corroborate your own ideas. People are increasingly becoming more critical and analytical readers; therefore, having a list of references, even for a general-audience how-to book, could substantially contribute to the validity of and believability of your work.

At this point, all that is left is to start writing your book. Because you would have already developed an outline, you can begin your writing process by focusing on any particular chapter you’d like. At this point, you can really get into the meat and juice of your topic.

The above three steps seems like a relatively simple and easy process. However, there are many people who start a book and give up due to a variety of reasons. These could include work, children, family, an earthquake, or even a pandemic. However, there are many ways to ensure you can stay on track.

Preparing Your How-To Book for Readers

You’ve got the knowledge, you’ve got the idea, and you’ve got the outline and research done. Now, the only thing that remains is the sellable product: your book. To ensure that a book is not a chore to read, you have to focus on grammar, structure, cohesiveness, clarity, engagingness, cogency, and overall readability. How do you do this?

The answer is simple: enlist the help of an editor.

Editors are trained to not only ensure that writing is grammatically perfect, but they are also trained to look at macro elements, such as the overall flow of the story, the clarity of the writing, and the pacing of the work to ensure that the book is not stilted or awkwardly presented in any way. You can engage the help of an editor at any time in your writing process.

Editors can help you solve the following problems:

The development of the outline. Depending on the genre for which you are writing and your stage of work, there are lots of editors who can help you with developing an outline that mimics what is generally and widely seen on the market. Editors not only read their clients’ works, but they also pay attention to what’s trending on the market, and they are extremely avid readers. Therefore, they would be able to give you a good idea of who you’re up against, what books have already come out on your specific subject, and how to make sure your work is better than those written by others.

The writing process. All good books have been read by numerous people before publication. Good books aren’t created overnight; they’re worked on for months before the are sent to the printer. A developmental and substantive editor would help with the development and organization of ideas before and during the writing process. They can tell you what chapters to put where and which ideas to include. These editors look at the big picture elements of books to ensure that the final product is a cohesive work that isn’t confusing or convoluted.

Not only that, but having a stylistic editor could also mean that you put time limits on yourself to ensure you don’t miss a writing session and to ensure you write chapters every week. One of the greatest hindrances to the completion of a book is procrastination and a lack of self-motivation. Having an external motivator (i.e., an editor) could greatly encourage you to complete your book. Furthermore, an editor will always provide you with honest and well-founded feedback.

An editor is your bridge to audiences; editors not only have an idea of what’s available on the producer side, but they also have an understanding of what consumers want. Therefore, a developmental or substantive editor might be essential to your successful completion of a book.

Sentence-level construction. A lot of people who are extremely eloquent do not have the best writing skills. The ability to string sentences together in your head does not necessarily translate into writing prowess. Therefore, when publishing a book through a publishing house, the house ensures that the book is looked by not only a stylistic editor but also contract copyeditors and proofreaders. These proofreads go through multiple rounds to ensure that the book is as professional looking as possible. Before you even get into a publishing house, however, a lot of acquisitions editors avoid books that are structurally and grammatically bad.

Sometimes, no matter how brilliant the ideas in the manuscript, the poor level of writing is a hindrance. Therefore, to ensure you book has the best possible chance to get published, I highly recommend that you find an editor before submitting your work to a publishing house or self-publishing.

To write a brilliant book, follow the steps above, and be sure to look into your options as to editors.