A Blueprint for Your Self-Help Book’s Introduction

Every Thursday for the next three weeks, I’m teaching a live, online class called Words That Teach, Words That Heal: Secrets of Self-Help and Spirituality Writing.

Last night was the first class, and man, was I inspired. Participants showed up with eagerness, benevolence, and willingness to learn. Some of them were writing about creativity; others, about spiritual practices like meditation and ritual; others, about everyday problems like setting good boundaries and overcoming people-pleasing tendencies. But what all the participants have in common is a desire to help others by sharing what they know.

In last night’s class, I guided the participants through a series of exercises designed to help them identify and refine the strongest possible angle for their book. By the end of the class, every participant had all the material they needed to draft a powerful and compelling introduction to their self-help or spirituality book.

If you couldn’t make it to the class, there’s still time to sign up for the next three sessions, as well as access the video recording of the first one. In the meantime, here’s my basic blueprint for writing the introduction to a self-help or spirituality book.

Step 1: Introduce the pain point

What’s the specific problem your book will solve?

Step 2: Raise the stakes

What do readers stand to lose if they don’t solve this problem? How is it holding them back?

Step 3: Introduce yourself

What is your personal connection to this topic, and what are your qualifications (personal and/or professional) to write about it?

Step 4: Introduce the promise

What concrete changes and benefits can readers expect to see after taking up the practices in your book? What do readers stand to gain if they follow your advice? 

Step 5: Tell readers what to expect

How will you deliver on this promise in each chapter? Will your book contain exercises, research, worksheets, case studies, or other elements that will teach your reader how to make the change? What will each chapter contain?

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By answering each of these questions with a few paragraphs each, you will end up with a first draft of your introduction—as well as a very useful guiding document to which you can refer frequently as you write your book.

Ready to take a deeper dive? Sign up for the class or schedule a free 30-minute consultation with me.