Writing a self-help book is a daunting task. The first thing you need to remember is your readers have picked up your book because they need help with a problem and it is your responsibility to provide that help. Life has provided us with adversities that can affect our wellbeing, from grief, to separation; the list goes on and on. A self-help book needs to aid the readers on their path to healing, and as such, there are several things you need to do, in order to provide a self-help book that will not only blow the readers’ minds, but comfort and help them as well.

1. Concrete idea

Like previously stated, the list of problems we face in our everyday lives is long. This means you have the freedom to choose a problem you have faced and overcome, or have experience in dealing with. What you need to remember is that you shouldn’t stray from that problem and try to address more than one problem in a single book. It will only overwhelm the readers and you might not be able to provide enough information, in order to actually help them. On the other hand, focusing on a single problem and how to deal with it will allow you to share everything you know, and provide the readers with just the type of book they needed.

2. Make it personal

When you’re writing a self-help book, it is important to create a rapport between yourself and your readers. Imagine your readers as friends in need and you are talking to them directly. Creating a personal approach of this manner will make the readers feel as if you’ve written the book specifically for them (which, in a way, you have). The best way to do this is to research your target audience, first, and then read other self-help books that focus on the same problem. You need to be sure that what you provide in your book is unique and that it will help the readers in a unique way.

3. Share experiences

People love hearing inspirational stories about other people who have faced difficulties in life and came out on top, so to speak. In your self-help book, be sure to share your own experiences as well as other peoples’ (with permission, of course) in order to inspire the readers to believe they can do it too. A self-help book needs to provide a lot of different things, but motivation and inspiration are two of the most important, and nothing is more important than a success story. Additionally, in a success story, the speaker always begins with how they used to feel before vanquishing the problem, and the readers will easily relate to them, because, in a way, the readers feel the same way at the moment of reading, or picking up the book.

4. Start small

Never simply plunge into the solutions you’re offering in your book. Start small. Describe the problem, and then provide possible reasons why this problem has occurred. We say possible reasons, rather than just one, because every person is different, and while your readers might be facing the same problem, they have probably different causes and reasons why they feel that way. Discover them from your own experience, or with plenty of research, and let your readers understand how to begin their healing based upon the origin of the problem.

5. Create genuine steps

A self-help book cannot be only made from inspirational passages and success stories from other people. Your readers will need a path to follow to healing, and it is your job to provide them. You will need to create an organized step-by-step guide, and provide contingency plans if something happens that triggers an unwanted psychological retrograde in your readers. The healing path isn’t always easy, and your readers need to feel the certainty that even if they stumble, they can come back to your book and find their path once again.

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Georgina Roy wants to live in a world filled with magic. As an art student, she’s moonlighting as a writer and is content to fill notebooks and sketchbooks with magical creatures and amazing new worlds. When she is not at school, or scribbling away in a notebook, you can usually find her curled up, reading a good urban fantasy novel, or writing on her laptop, trying to create her own.