Your nonfiction book should deliver what you do best, not just promote your services.

Readers pick up a book because they have a problem they want solved or a goal they want to achieve. Your expertise, the methods, insights, and systems that work for you and your clients, is what gives your book its real-world power.

Think of your daily work. Every time you help someone overcome a challenge, you’re proving that you already know what your audience wants to learn. You’ve guided people from frustration to progress, from confusion to clarity. Those transformations are the foundation of your book.

Start by identifying the problems you solve repeatedly.

If you’re a fitness trainer, maybe you help clients stay consistent when motivation fades. 

If you’re a therapist, perhaps you teach people how to break old thought patterns. 

If you’re a financial advisor, maybe you simplify investing for people who feel intimidated by it.

Each recurring problem represents an entire chapter or even a book concept because it’s something people need help with again and again.

Now, shift focus from problems to results.

What do people gain because of your work? Do they become calmer, more confident, financially secure, physically healthier, or emotionally stronger?

A good book doesn’t just explain a problem, a solution, or a process, it actually helps readers create a meaningful, desired, positive result in their own lives.

Exercise:

Write down three client success stories. Describe where each person started, what steps you guided them through, and what changed as a result. Keep it short but clear. Seeing these transformations in writing helps you recognize patterns in how you create impact.

Example:

Before: A couple was on the verge of divorce.
During: You taught them to communicate without blame and rebuild trust.
After: They now enjoy a deeper connection and mutual understanding.

That before-during-after pattern is the emotional engine behind every nonfiction book. Readers will recognize themselves in the “before,” learn through the “during,” and dream of reaching the “after.”

If you’ve worked in your field for years, you may take your results for granted. What feels routine to you might be life-changing for someone else. Don’t underestimate the value of your everyday expertise.

Next, think about what tools, frameworks, or philosophies make your approach unique. Maybe you have a particular process, a memorable analogy, or a story that always helps clients “get it.” Those signature elements can become part of your book’s structure. For instance, a leadership coach might organize chapters around her “Five Pillars of Influence,” while a nutritionist might frame her book around “The 7-Day Gut Reset Method.”

Your readers want a guide who has walked the path before them and can show them clear steps forward. Each lesson, exercise, or story you include should help them move closer to the result they desire.

Your Assignment:

• Write three mini case studies (one paragraph each) that illustrate the transformations you help create.
• Underline the common problems and results that appear across them.
• Ask yourself, “If I could teach one core process that consistently gets results, what would it be?”

That core process could be your book’s spine; the structure around which every chapter is built.

Once you define the journey your reader will take, writing each chapter becomes a matter of walking them step by step toward the same transformation you already know how to deliver.