As a Content Coach, I work with small businesses every day to help them bring their words to life, using my experience as a fiction author, story fanatic and a trainer.
I'm working with a client who is writing a non-fiction book.
At our last session, we talked about how to structure her book, the 'architecture' behind building that book.
It made me realise that putting together a book, whether it's fiction or non-fiction, needs to follow a sensible structure and there are differences between books, and in the world of digital publishing best practice is still evolving.
For example, in a print book there are sections that would traditionally be in the front, such as, achknowledgements, list of other books by the author, etc.
However, in an eBook it's better to put these in the back.
This is bacasue when people go to 'look inside' the book on Amazon, they want to read the book!
There's nothing more infuriating than not being able to read any actual book content!
You really don't want to infuriate people before they buy - they'll never be a customer if you do!
I've put together this handy infographic for anyone planning a book.
It gives you a sense of how to structure it and where to put things.
When you write the first draft, don't get too hung up on the order of things and what should be where - writing a book does not have to be a linear process.
The most important thing is to just write.
Get the words out of your brain, just as they come, then chop, change a rearrange later.
Happy writing!
