How to Research and Outline a Book | Free Self-Publishing Course | Video #6

About this video

In this lesson on researching and outlining a book, Sean says the work should be done in tandem with creating the title, so the title reflects the customer’s pain points and the book’s content. You do not need to already be an expert, he argues: the value can be spending hours researching on Google, YouTube, courses and other sources, then compiling the best information into one book in a simple, engaging style, and you become more expert as you do it. A good outline starts by identifying point A, the problem, and point B, the solution, then filling in the steps between them. His basic template is an introduction that presents the problem, solution, benefits and a personal story and call to action; early body chapters covering facts about the topic, how the problem affects everyday life, and the benefits of fixing it; then remaining chapters of solutions, tips and strategies with realistic, relatable examples; and a conclusion restating the message and takeaways. For market research he recommends competitors’ two- to four-star reviews, competitors’ tables of contents via Amazon’s Look Inside, plus Quora, Reddit and relevant Facebook groups, looking for repeated complaints, wishes and likes. He also mentions outsourcing everything, including outline, ghostwriting, description, covers, formatting, editing and proofreading, via The Urban Writers’ platinum bundle package.

Key takeaways

• Research the market and build the outline in tandem with the title so the title accurately reflects the pain points and content covered.
• Sean says you do not need to be an expert first; compiling research from multiple sources into one clear, engaging book is itself the value to readers.
• Structure the outline as point A (the problem) to point B (the solution), then fill in the steps the reader must take between them.
• Mine competitors’ two- to four-star reviews for what readers liked, disliked and wished was included, because Sean says one-star reviews are too extreme and five-star reviews may be faked or overly loyal.
• Avoid fluff written only to raise word count, redundant writing, poor sentence structure and incorrect information; keep examples and tips realistic and relatable.

Episode details: published March 20, 2020 · 9:29 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. Business results and any income figures mentioned are Sean Dollwet’s own claims, shared for education — they are not typical or guaranteed.

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