Works of fiction, particularly self-help and personal improvement, can fetch astronomical prices. Self-help books fall under the top five bestselling book categories on Amazon and global eBook publishing platforms. So, if you publish a self help book and want to explore book publishing options, this blog shares tips from publishing consultants of Writat.
What Makes Self-Help Books Popular?
People need help now, more than ever.
We are constantly seeking expert advice and support to cope with the challenges and stresses of life. Non-fiction authors provide precisely that, making them greatly popular and highly regarded.
Today’s lifestyle isn’t simple as it was in the 80s and 90s; so isn’t work, relationships, health, career, and everything in between. If you have something to offer that simplifies their lives or solves a problem relating to these areas, your self-published book will be a super hit.
Popular self-help and personality development books include mental and physical health, finance and business management, relationship management, career and skill guidance, weight loss, and how-tos.
So, Do Self-Help Books Sell?
Yes, books from self-help and personal advice sections surprisingly drove the book publishing space during and after the pandemic. This is a distinct advantage for self-publishing authors and independent book publishers like you.
The discoverability rate of self-help ebooks on Google, Amazon, Bing searches, social media, blogs, and websites is much higher than fiction books because of their clearly defined topics and themes. Due to SEO advantages, businesses and entrepreneurs can also boost profits by publishing self-improvement and how-to books.
Interesting Read: How to Make Money by Writing and Publishing Self-Help Books
How to Write a Book that Actually Helps Readers
Suppose you answer questions, publish a high-quality book, add longtail keywords in metadata, and create an attractive book cover design. In that case, your book will be remembered and bought repeatedly.
Step 1: Identify a Problem Your Book Will Solve
Consider your book as a business or product. Now identify a problem of your target audience and think about how your book can solve it.
For instance, cryptocurrency is a topic that many don’t understand. With your book, you can dig deeper into the subject, help readers understand it in simple terms, and offer a practical approach and a step-by-step investment plan with tips, examples, and guidelines.
Your job as a writer is to focus on a challenge and provide a solution. If you aren’t good at writing but have brilliant solution ideas, you can hire a ghostwriter to author your book.
TIP: Don’t choose an abstract concept. Your book title and answer should be as specific as possible. Parenting is an abstract topic. ‘Parents of autistic kids’ is a specific target group.
Step 2: Make Your Readers Believe in You
A self-help book’s success largely depends upon the author’s capabilities. You have to build trust and faith in your readers and make them believe that you are the answer to their problems.
How can you achieve this?
- Show that you are an authoritative source by displaying your qualifications, certifications, and credibility. For instance, if you are writing a book on “How to Cope Depression in Teenagers,” citing that you are a psychology professor or a psychiatrist can help build readers’ trust.
- Share your personal experiences or success stories with your readers. Show your readers that you were vulnerable at one point and faced the same problems. Example: Share how yoga improved your cervical spondylitis in your book featuring Yoga Science.
- Communicate with your readers instead of dictating to them. Rather than instructing or teaching your readers, guide them with a language and a structure they would appreciate. Popular self-help books may give you an idea of the writing style and language used.
Quick Read: Don’t miss our Expert Article on LinkedIn Marketing for Non-Fiction Self-Help Writers
Step 3: Tell Your Readers “How to Exactly DO Something”
Self-help, how-to, and motivational books shouldn’t be ‘kinda,’ ‘sorta’ vagueness. You have to be very specific with clearly laid out instructions written.
Tell your readers what they need to do exactly, like how you would write a recipe for a dish with ingredients, measurements, and all.
Break your advice into small actionable steps, with specific examples relatable to your target readers.
Advising on how to lose weight with yoga?
Tell which are reasonable and their benefits, when and how to do it, how many times to do it, how often to do it, what to eat and what not to, and additional tips for beginners, heart patients, and people with a knee injury.
Step 4: Solidify the Manuscript with Emotional Story-Telling
Each chapter of your self-help book should specify a particular point, topic, idea, or insight. And storytelling is the best way to illustrate the point. If it’s not your story, add examples and anecdotes, even if it’s hypothetical or fictional.
Stories will help you emotionally connect with your readers. They will respond to your advice more positively when suspense, thrill, and characters are involved.
Great examples would be the Bhagwat Gita, Bible, the Indian epics, Ramayana and Mahabharata, and the famous book, Alchemist. They teach life lessons through different examples and stories.
However, to make your book more original, cite sources and give credit to the contributors, like those who helped you write the book.
Step 5: Make Your Book Cover and Title Very Interesting and Informative
Self-help and personality development books thrive on their title and description.
Did you know that by changing your book’s title, you can sell 10X more copies per year? Titles are the first thing readers look at when they explore new books. It means you have all but 5 seconds to impress a reader with the title of your book. Titling the book is probably a brilliant marketing hack for self-help book authors.
The key to writing a self-help book title stems from the understanding that your readers are looking for a solution or help in some way. And that is precisely what they search for in your title.
- Get straight to the point
- Make your title authoritative or commanding
- Address the reader directly
- Use title generator tools for best-selling ideas
- Include a subtitle for clarity
- Inspire with your title
- Use search engine optimized title or subtitle
Read our expert blog on how to write a book title in the non-fiction category that generations will remember.
Step 6: Remember to Publish Your Book as an eBook
With the growing need for instant access to information and support, readers prefer eBooks over hardcovers and paperbacks. And the need is more obvious in the self-improvement and life lesson category than in any other genre.
eBooks always provide an advantage over paperbacks and hardcovers. Some being they are easy to store and save, can be accessed anywhere anytime, reduce book publishing expenses, are ridiculously fruitful in marketing and branding, and provide readers with an immersive book reading experience.
Read the benefits of self-publishing a book as an eBook.
Step 7: Select a Good Book Publishing Company or Platform
How far your book would reach the audience depends on the book publishing company or self-publishing platform you select. Writat is a full-service independent self-publishing company that has supported several self-help and personal development book authors.
We offer non-fiction book writers several benefits, including the following:
- Self-publish a book for free and earn 80% of the royalties
- Publish and distribute your self-help book in 80+ countries through 40K network channels
- Use our customizable solutions to hire editors, book designers, proof-readers, and marketing experts at a marginal price
- Explore 500+ free cover designs for your book
- Publish your book on Amazon and beyond, and also get it on Amazon Prime Placement
- Print your book in two formats and also help engage your digital readers with a beautiful ebook version
You can learn more about our self-publishing solution here, book publishing packages here, and how publishing works at Writat here.
If you have any questions, go through our FAQs or drop your enquiry here.
