What does your book promise your reader? Many topics have an inherent promise that’s obvious, but what about a memoir or an inspirational story? They still offer the reader a product-they promise to inspire, inform, or enlighten. What’s the application for your book? How can you use your expertise, personal experience with the topic, passion for this book’s potential to connect with your reader in the introduction? Maybe it’s through a brief personal anecdote, outlining how your considerable expertise gave you the solution you’re offering, or simply writing with such a strong voice that the reader feels connected to you by the end of those first pages. Do you think the reader is engaged? Likely to buy this book? Do you see the difference? This author met the reader’s needs and answered her questions first, then she revealed a personal reason for this reader to trust her expertise. The introduction is reader-focused, answers her questions about the content of the book, and reveals that the author is a mom who used this particular diet to revolutionize her family’s health it changed their lives so drastically that she’s been compelled to write this book to help other moms just like her. Let’s go back to the mom looking for a healthy family diet. I hear you, you’re saying, “Didn’t you just tell me the introduction isn’t about the author?” Yes, I did say that. Your nonfiction introduction is about forming a relationship with your reader. If they feel they know you and care about what you have to say by the time they’ve finished the intro, they’ll keep reading. The introduction isn’t only about selling your solution to your reader’s problem, it’s about forming a relationship.
Why are you writing this book? How will you meet the reader’s needs? Why are you qualified to do so? What makes your book different from other books on the topic? The introduction is the place to address those questions. If you write a book about how busy moms can implement a complicated new diet for the whole family, but you don’t mention how you’re going to solve her problem in the introduction, will she have the confidence to buy the book? Will she have the time to flip through the chapters and make sure your ideas are valid and tailored to her needs?
If you don’t, they’ll either have to go digging for it in later pages (if they’re a patient consumer) or they’ll move on to another book, one that gives them what they’re looking for. Go ahead, spill the beans, give them a preview of what to expect from the rest of your book. What are the fundamental questions your reader will want answered about your chosen topic? An introduction is not a place to be vague. Think about your introduction through the lens of your reader: answer their questions, set their expectations, and make promises about how your book can meet their needs. What do they need and how can I meet their expectations?.Why have they picked up my book in the first place?.If you need some help to refocus your opening, here’s a quick exercise. If you want to hook a reader with your introduction-and you do-you’ve got to keep your reader’s needs and desires in mind. If you can give them this information up front, they’ll be much more likely to trust the book to deliver on its promises. But in terms of selling books to prospective readers, that’s a poor strategy.Īn introduction that is author-focused is rarely engaging enough to hook a reader for one simple reason: the reader wants to know what buying the book will do for them. Focus on the readerįor writers passionate about their topic, it’s tempting to use the introduction to talk about themselves: why they wanted to write the book, what they hope to accomplish, the research that led to their findings. So, without further ado, here are four things you need to do to nail your nonfiction introduction and gain more readers. But if you can hook them, prove to them that your book solves their problem, meets their needs, or introduces them to a person or a story they want to know more about, you’ll have gained a new reader and sold another book. This is essential because if the reader closes the book and returns it to the shelf, you’ve lost them. In nonfiction, your job is to prove yourself to your reader in the pages of the introduction. You’ve got them interested they’re reading your work, now it’s your job to tell them why they should buy your book. Your potential reader picks up your book off the shelf or clicks on the book preview, turns to your introduction, and starts to read. As an Amazon Affiliate we earn from qualifying purchases. This article may contain affiliate links and we may earn a small commission when you click on the links at no additional cost to you.
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