What to Include in Your Book, Part 5

What to Include in Your Book, Part 5

I might have saved the best for last this week, you'll have to tell me!

My friend Julie Huss (J.A. Huss) writes Author Notes (she calls them "End of Book Sh!t") at the end of every book.

In your book, you'll have the traditional parts: Introduction, Table of Contents, and Chapters. These are all fine and good to establish you as an expert. However, I've found Author Notes do the one thing the normally established contents of a book do not:

create a true and lasting connection with the reader.

Have you ever read a book and thought: I love this author. I want to know this person better.

Of course you have.

Did you then do any of these:

  • Visit their website?
  • Try to find it they had other books, seminars, courses, etc?
  • Follow them on social media?
  • Wonder what their favorite kind of chocolate is? Want to know their favorite books or authors? Who they hang out with in their spare time?

Of course you have, and so have I.

Author Notes provide a real-time way for you to connect with the reader, while they are still reading your book!

I like to know "stuff" about authors I like, and I've verified this is pretty common. If someone reads your entire book, they probably want to know more about you, not just what you do for a living, but what you do for fun, in your personal life, when you're not writing awesome books. When someone is your super fan, they'll want to know all about you, too!

Author Notes can include:

  • More about what inspired you to write the book
  • What was going on in your personal life while you were writing it
  • Who you read, follow, like, and what else tickles your fancy

Author Notes aren't mandatory, so don't feel like you have to write them. However, I've made some pretty fun connections because I've mentioned my hobbies, including that I'm a Francophile, do BeachBodyOnDemand nearly every day (because @AliciaDupree, my coach and author of I Graduated... Now What? took Publishing Ph.D.), and I'm writing fiction.

Another option is to have an FAQ page on your website. I used to have one (and I may again) and it mentioned my love of chocolate. One prospective client even showed up to our first meeting with a box of chocolates—it was amazing! You can even have both Author Notes and an FAQ page.

Your book is more than "just a book" (although books are awesome!), it can be an intellectual property asset that works very hard on your behalf, 24/7/365 for years to come.

I hope you've enjoyed this week's series, and I'll see you next week! You're going to love being an author!

To Your Success! Honoree Corder | [email protected] | HonoreeCorder.com

I can get you from pen to published! I have several options, including my fully-comprehensive Course, Publishing Ph.D. I also have custom options for those folks who aren't do-it-yourself-ers. :) Schedule a Discovery Call to learn more today!

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Melissa Henry

Branding for World-Changers | Empowering Visionaries to Create Next-Level Impact | Brand Strategist | Personal Branding | Speaker | Best Selling Author

2 年

YES!! Sharing a bit of your personal life is so important in order to connect with your audience. In fact, there's an author I follow (Jen Sincero) who wrote the "Badass" book series ("You are a Badass", "You are a Badass at Making Money", etc.) I absolutely love the stories she tells about her life and how she connects those stories to the material she educates her readers about. It feels like she's a friend even though we've never met and it definitely makes me want to learn more from her. :-)

Richard Todd

CU COO/VP??, GOLFER??, AUTHOR?? -Credit Union Vice President & advocate, published author/speaker, commited golfer???.

2 年

Great info! Thanks for putting this series together to help others.

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