Author Thought Leadership

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From the start, I’ve been enthusiastic about the time savings and sheer practicality of Laura Lowell’s 42 Rules approach to writing a book that brands you and your firm as experts in your field.

The 42 Rules concept, reflected in titles like Laura Lowell’s 42 Rules of Marketing and Mitchell Levy’s 42 Rules of Driving Success with Books, reduce what is normally a large, complex task (i.e., writing a book) into a series of short and easily-accomplished tasks.

I’d like to share with you an approach I’ve used to plan books for myself as well as help my Published & Profitable members and coaching clients jumpstart their publishing success. This approach will help you as you prepare your book’s table of contents as well as guide you as you write each chapter.

The power of the 42 Rules concept

The power of the 42 Rules concept comes from the way it eliminates the uncertainty most authors face at the start of a writing project.

Traditionally, authors begin books with a blank screen. This is great, except for the stress created by being able to include anything you want in your book.

• The lack of limits presented by a blank screen doesn’t provide you with an easy starting point for your book.
• Likewise, the lack of structure doesn’t help you choose how many chapters to include, nor does it help you decide how much information to include in each chapter.

At the end of your first planning session, your screen is apt to be as blank as it was when you started!

A better alternative–start with desired reader change

As an alternative to the “freedom and anarchy” of a blank screen, I suggest you “think small” and focus on reader change, the problems your readers want to solve and the goals they want to achieve.

Once you identify your reader’s desired change, you’ll find it easy to come up with the sections and chapters of your book:

• Sections. Divide your book into sections corresponding to the major steps you recommend your readers take to solve their problems or achieve their goals. In many cases, the sections can be as simple as Getting Started, Moving Forward, and Evaluating Your Progress.
  
• Chapters. After breaking your reader’s problem solving and goal attainment into a few major steps, populate each of the sections with short, step-by-step chapters that each focus on a specific task that must be accomplished.

You’ll probably be impressed with how quickly your sections and chapters will now fall into place. This is because you’ve replaced abstract thinking with concrete thinking.

Instead of writing a formless and boundary-less, textbook-like, “encyclopaedia of information” that simply showcases your knowledge, you’re writing a book that your readers desire and focusing your efforts on the specific tasks they need to solve their problems or accomplish their goals.

Benefits of the “reader change” approach

Both you and your readers benefit from the focus created by the 42 Rules format. This approach simplifies both planning and writing your book:

• Planning is easier and takes less time because focusing on reader change makes it easier for you to identify the information that readers need to know in order to accomplish their specific goals. Once you identify the desired reader change, planning becomes a matter of selection and sequence.
• Writing also becomes easier because, the “42 short chapters” format encourages you to focus each chapter on a specific idea or task and to write as concisely as you can. You’ll probably find you can complete each chapter during a single short, 45-minute or 1-hour, working session.

Writing in the 42 chapter format creates its own momentum; each time you finish one of the 42 chapters, you get a “rush of accomplishment” that encourages you to look forward to your next writing session.

There’s a joy to adding a check mark next to each chapter’s title as you complete it; as more and more checks appear on your section and chapter plan, the more you’re motivated to continue writing.

Readers benefit from the 42 short chapters because your book will be easier to read. The sections will provide context for the information in each chapter, and each chapter will focus on a specific actionable idea or technique. Readers will be able to master complex topics while sitting in an airport waiting room or waiting for the light to change.

Learn more about writing for reader change

Visit my Published & Profitable Daily Tips Blog to learn more more about writing for reader change and using printable mind map templates as planning tools for your next book to reduce the time it takes to plan, write, promote, and profit from a book that builds your personal brand.