Is your book educational, motivational, or inspirational? Or are there other benefits to be gained from reading your book?

We have edged around this question before, but now is the time to really delve deep into the benefits that your reader will obtain. This question is closely related to the previous question about what your reader will learn, but this one is not about gaining immediate knowledge or experience. You might intend for them to benefit from your book by approaching aspects of their own life with a new philosophical perception or by being more innovative in personal activities.

Alternatively, you might have some kind of mantra that you want your readers to adopt and apply to their own lives. If you want to inspire your readers, then you could inform them of an effective way of standing up for their beliefs and values.

You might want to make them feel more motivated in making the most out of their lives, whether in the most general sense or in a more specific and profoundly routed part of their home, work, or educational spheres. If your book is educational, then your readers will gain both the knowledge of what you present to them, as well as gain the inspiration to follow through with their new obligations and ideas.

If you give honest and detailed answers to the above questions, then they will help you discover why you’re writing what you’re writing. If you are submitting a book proposal to win a publishing contract, these questions will help you stand above the crowd if you address this level of understanding the benefits of your book. Knowing these answers helps both you and your publisher determine the best option for how you should approach your entire book.

These questions are used in the InspireABook® Webinar program to help the writer understand who they are writing the book for, and what language they will use for that reader. In discussion groups, the answers to these questions helps the writer to understand how to write the book for their specific readership and how to market to that readership.

For more information on the InsprireABook® Webinar program and to watch a free educational seminar please go to www.inspireabook.com/publishing-coaching/

This blog is an excerpt from the E-Book “All you need to know about publishing your book” by Amy O’Hara. To get this E-Book for Free, register for our newsletter here.