The 5 Essential Sections In a Short, Helpful Book
If you have read any of my short, helpful books or listened to my podcast, you know I have developed my own brand of what I consider the ideal type of book for most business owners and corporate leaders to publish—the shook™.
A shook is a short, helpful book that uses a foundation of proven direct response marketing principles to craft the perfect lead generation or positioning book for business owners, entrepreneurs, and corporate leaders.
While there are many unique characteristics of a shook, one of the most important is the content structure I recommend 100% of the time. At a high level, here is what the sections of a shook look like:
Here is a brief, but helpful description of each of these critical sections:
1-Cover Content: This is the content on the front, back, and spine of your book and consists of things like an attention-grabbing pre-title, title, and sub-title, plus a back cover description.
2-Front Matter Content: This content includes all the content and chapters that precede your main subject matter. I recommend all my clients include a Reader Bonus offer, a “Who Should Read This Book?” chapter, a “My Promise to You” chapter, and finally an Introduction.
3-Main Matter Content: This is your book’s primary content and focuses on all the important topics you want to cover in your book. In a shook, I typically recommend 5-7 chapters that are about 1,000-1,500 words each.
4-The Bridge Content: This is unique to a shook and it is the transition section of a shook from “helpful information” to “positioning you and your business. In a shook, there are three chapters I recommend, including a “Who Relies on Me/Us” chapter, a “Special Sauce” chapter, and “The Next Step” chapter.
5-Back Matter Content: This section is at the end of your book and may include your biography, frequently asked question chapter, glossary of important terms, and a Reader Bonus reminder offer.
If you read either Main Street Author, The Magic of Short Books, or The 100-Page Book (available here), you will see exactly how I use each of these five essential sections of a short, helpful book to help my readers and give them a clear path on what to do next.
