A ‘What’ Book or a ‘How’ To Book – Which is right for your?

What’s the difference between a ‘What’ book and a ‘How to’ book and which should you write?

On first glance you might think it’s pretty clear, a ‘what’ book talks about what can be done, what works, what it is all about and so on while a ‘how to’ book gives the reader some clear steps or in fact all the details of how they can help themselves by simply reading your book.

It seems pretty logical, but here is the truth…

You can write a ‘what’ book specifically designed for you to start a conversation with the reader. This type of ‘what’ book gives you and the reader the chance to get to know each other better and develop trust.

That trust builds a bond between you and the reader and ultimately helps both, you and the reader, to decide if you will work together someday.

For example, writing this kind of ‘what’ book can be a great way for health and wellness coaches to write their book.

If you are a coach who ‘helps’ clients get well or for them to take a new approach around their health, you might think ‘helping’ people when writing your book means you need to put a lot of ‘how to’ information into your book but you worry writing a ‘how to’ book might not give the reader what you would do working with them directly because there are so many details and variables you apply individually.

This is often one reason health and wellness coaches want to write a book but wait, because if the reader does not achieve the outcome you promise in your book, that might reflect in negative comments about your book.

The solution for you is to write a ‘what’ book instead.

The purpose of this kind of book is to show people the most powerful ways you apply to help your clients without the actual ‘how to’ steps in detail.

This type of ‘what’ book promotes your expertise and deep knowledge and as the reader gets to know you more and more, he/she can easily choose to want to work with you.

How soon that happens depends on what you are calling the reader to do and how you’re going to ‘promote’ your book.

Clients of mine choose this type of ‘what’ book when they wish their book to be a source of authority and credibility for them and their methods for years to come.

So, what’s a ‘how to’ book then, I hear you ask.

Here we go:

My clients write a ‘how to’ book when they wish to take the reader on a journey through their method of working with clients and the outcome they wish to achieve, or in other words, what they want their book to do for them, is to guide the reader to get a ‘taste’ of their coaching method or to come and get more detail.

For example, my business coaches and mindset coaches like to write their book in this way.

The business or mindset coach will share those ‘how to’ steps they can be sure by simply reading the book and following the steps the reader will gain exactly the outcome promised.

For more detailed work we build in links and calls to actions that guide the reader to take further steps in a credible, authentic way without being ‘salesy’.

So, which one should you write, the ‘what’ book or the ‘how to’ book?

Don’t be misled simply thinking my examples here are all there is to it!

Which type of book is the right one for you depends on why you want to write your book and the first question I ask people who come to work with me is:

What do you want your book to do for you?

In my experience, there is rarely one coach with exactly the same reason for writing their book as the next, even if what they do seems similar or at least, is in the same specific niche.

The way you work with your clients is very different to another coach in your niche, either because you serve a different type of client or your method to achieve outcomes is very different.

When you write your book with me, there is NO one size fits all!

I hope that helps you decide to move forward with your book idea and take steps to have it done early next year!

…and if you’d like my help,

…I do continue to offer one on one sessions now, before and throughout the upcoming holidays.

If you are a Coach or Consultant with a proven Expertise, and you’d like to write your book and have it completed, that is published early next year, you may be considering simply getting started over the holidays.

So, I do offer you a one-on-one planning session where I use the exact tools clients of mine start with ‘mapping’ out your book and you’ll clearly see if the ‘WHAT’ book or the ‘HOW TO’ style book is right for you, or any of several other styles of books.

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You can then start writing your book in the RIGHT way that will help you achieve a clear outcome instead of leaving you ‘stop - start -stop’ writing all of next year, never to really finish or write and finish without achieving the success you’re hoping for.

My process and framework is all about the feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment for you, when you have a fully published book, both in kindle and paperback on Amazon and your book launch & marketing strategy are mapped out, ready to promote yourself and your business with your book in 2023!

If interested, PM me today for this session and we'll get you on the way to write to achieve success.