Some Ways to Create an Expert Book You May Not Have Thought Of

The following list will give you an idea of the wide range of approaches that one can take to creating an “expert book’. Many of them can be accomplished by the author – or by a ghostwriter like me – in 50 hours, or even fewer.

1)    The “List” approach, such as 21 Ways to Be Save Time and Money on Your Tax Return

2)    The “Step-by-Step” format, as in A Step-by-Step Guide to Opening Your Own Small Business

3)    The “FAQ” model, as in 20 Questions You Should Ask Your Doctor Before Your First Baby Arrives

4)    The “Mistakes” format, such as, The 9 Biggest Mistakes First-time Home Buyers Make

5)    The “How-To” book, as in, How To Lose 20 Pounds in 20 Days

6)    The “Interview” book, in which the author is interviewed and the transcript of the interview is edited and published in book form

7)    The “Collection” approach, in which a collection of previously published articles, blog posts or even stories written by the author are compiled and published in book form

8)    The “How to Hire” model, in which the author explains how to hire someone like him or herself, as in How to Hire a General Contractor or How To Hire a Nanny

9)    The “Recipe” book – one of my personal favourites for chefs and/or restaurant owners – in which the author presents some of his most popular recipes or creates new ones

And that is not all.

Key Words To Jump-Start Your Expert Book

Internet marketing and Kindle publishing guru James Jones suggests  that anyone can base a book upon the “tips”, “tricks”, “secrets”, “techniques”, “tactics”, “strategies”, “plans” or “shortcuts” – in other words, the inside “dope” – in a particular industry or niche, an approach which could certainly work well for an “expert” business book.

The opportunities to create a helpful, informative and authoritative “expert” business book are truly endless.

And, in the brave new world of print-on-demand and digital publishing, books do not need to conform to a publisher’s standards or expectations in terms of length, format, content or genre. They only have to fulfill the informational needs of the reader.

In other words, if the content is valuable to your prospective customers or clients, the book will be valuable to you.

For example, Maria Gudelis’ book 21 Ways to Use Social Media contains 21 chapters – one for each way to use social media– and is only 48 pages in length, and yet, has been published on Amazon. While it is considerably shorter than either of the common formats cited by Michael Levin, it is, nonetheless, an “expert book”, and one which Maria has used to attract a significant number of clients to her personal coaching and consulting business.

Perhaps, the most important lesson from this section of the report is to recall Woody Allen’s remark that “80% of success in life is about showing up”. The same could well be said of an “expert” business book.

Just having a book can confer benefits upon anybody in any business – and the more relevant the information, of course, the more stature, credibility and visibility it will confer – and the more value it will have.