Today I want to explore a topic that a lot of people ask me about. It’s also a topic that, when you give it the attention it deserves, will transform your book-writing experience.

When I mention the topic “how to build an amazing non-fiction book outline,” it may not sound like the most exciting topic. However, if you’re writing a non-fiction book, this is a critical topic because your outline is the backbone of your book. A great outline makes everything easier.

A Few Questions …

What is a book outline? An outline is the scaffolding or framework that is the backbone of your book. I prefer to think of an outline as the journey the reader will take in order to solve a problem.

Why use a book outline? An outline makes writing much easier because you can see where you are going. It also gives you the big picture of the whole book and ensures that you are serving your reader in the best way possible.

When should you outline? It is always better to outline at the beginning because you will use your writing time wisely. You don’t have to guess where you are going. When you are “in the weeds” of writing, it’s easy to get lost in the details. The outline always brings you back to the big picture.

What Type of Non-Fiction Book Should You Write?

Knowing what you’re shooting for upfront will be a huge help when developing your outline. That way you don’t have to guess at what type of book you’re writing.

I recommend a 150-page non-fiction book (Approx. 40,000-45,000 words.). This is a great length. It’s long enough to demonstrate your expertise, but short enough not to intimidate the reader. Unless you’re Stephen King, less is always more when it comes to book length.

For the outline, I recommend 10-15 chapters, divided into 3-4 main sections. This keeps the chapters at a manageable length (2,500-3,500 words). Each chapter will be divided into 5-7 segments of 500-750 words. You can get your head around writing in these smaller chunks, and it feels less intimidating.

Note: The steps below are primarily for authors who are starting from scratch. If you already have material from your blog, podcast, workshops, presentations, etc. you can easily start from there. However, you still want to make sure and go through the following steps to ensure that you are creating a solid outline that makes sense, rather than a collection of material that is loosely related.

5 Steps to Building a Book Outline

1. Determine who your ideal reader is and the problem you are trying to solve for them.

This is a huge step all by itself. But the bottom line is that you must have a clear idea about your topic, your ideal reader, and the change you want to help them achieve as a result of reading your book.

Remember, a book is more than just a dumping ground for a bunch of information. You are taking the reader from Point A to Point B. Point B represents a place where they are happier, healthier, more successful, more abundant, or whatever change you are helping them achieve.

2. Figure out why your reader hasn’t already achieved these results.

In the book, you will use a simple sales technique where you are addressing reader objections (false beliefs). But first, you have to understand what those objections and false beliefs are.

These false beliefs typically fall into three categories:

• False beliefs about themselves (“I can’t do it,” “I’ve tried that before and it didn’t work”)
• False beliefs about the topic (“The topic isn’t relevant to me,” “Your program won’t work”)
• False beliefs about their environment (“My family doesn’t support me,” “I’ll be the odd one in my social group”)

Here are a few other ways you can discover people’s pain points related to your topic:

• Do keyword research to learn what people are searching for related to your topic: https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/how-to-do-keyword-research-ht.
• You can also use a tool call Brainstorm It!, available here: https://tools.sitesell.com/.
• Spend a lot of time talking to people in your target audience to make sure you understand their pain, struggles, frustrations, and obstacles related to your topic. Don’t assume that you already know.
• Use Google to ask questions related to your topic. Google will produce even more relevant questions that will be helpful.

3. Use the reader pain points / questions and organize them into 3-4 major sections of 3-4 chapters each.

I recommend taking some time to write each pain point / question on an index card, then group them according to topic. This is where a lot of people get hung up because they don’t feel they’re organized enough to tackle this. It doesn’t need to be perfect. Go as far as you can with this step, and you’ll refine it in the next couple of steps.

Remember, you’re taking the reader on a journey. What is the most logical way to order the chapters so it makes the most sense to the reader?

Here is a typical structure for a non-fiction book (each Part consists of 3-4 chapters):

• Part 1: Foundational information about the topic; why it matters
• Parts 2-3: Dive deeper into the material and apply it to different situations
• Part 4: Special circumstances, or other material that doesn’t fit elsewhere but is still relevant

You can also use mind-mapping to help organize and brainstorm content (There is some overlapping between these steps.).

4. Look at similar books in your genre to ensure you haven’t left anything out.

No, this doesn’t mean you are copying what other authors are doing. Rather, you are ensuring that you’re covering the bases of your topic. Looking at other books in your field will also help you see where your perspective is unique. You will probably get some ideas for your book outline or structure, as well.

5. Get feedback from a few people who represent your ideal reader.

This is a key step because they will probably identify some things you missed. To keep things simple, I recommend going back to people you talked to in Step 2 and asking them to review the outline.

Action step: Spend some time brainstorming your book outline. It’s an evolving process, so don’t be afraid to dive in!