how to structure a non fiction book review

Lesley Ann McDaniel

Real Life~Pure Fiction

How to Write a Nonfiction Book Review

May 13, 2013

Do you love reading nonfiction books? Why not try your hand at reviewing them.

What is a nonfiction book review?

A book review is a critical evaluation of a book. It isn’t just a summary, but gives commentary that will be uniquely yours as the writer of the review. The difference between a review of fiction versus nonfiction is that with the latter, the reviewer will evaluate the piece not so much on its entertainment value as on whether it fulfills its promise to solve a particular problem or deliver certain information.

Why write book reviews?

Reviews help books get noticed and gain credibility. Writers want to receive reviews to show readers that their book is widely-read and well-received.

Where are reviews posted?

These days, the answer is ‘lots of places.’ Many reviewers post book reviews on their own blogs. You can also post reviews on Amazon, Goodreads, library websites, or submit them to other people’s review blogs. If you really want to get serious, there are a lot of literary journals that accept freelance reviews.

How long should a review be?

That will depend largely on where you are planning to submit your review. Check for guidelines, and assume that you will write anywhere from 100 to 1500 words. Be succinct, but give enough to serve the purpose of the review.

Points to Consider:

●What if you really don’t like the book? Always write your reviews with integrity. If you honestly don’t like a book, write your review as if you are in a critique session with the author. Use positive words and avoid sarcasm.

●Take time to read reviews written by other readers, but keep in mind that many of them are not trained reviewers.

●Review the book that has been written, not the book you think the author should have written. It isn’t fair to criticize an author for failing to achieve something he or she never intended to achieve.

Nonfiction Book Review Template:

Opening statement: Include title and author.

What does the book promise to deliver to the reader? Another way to look at it is, what problem does this book promise to solve?

Does it accomplish what it sets out to accomplish?

If so, how?

If not, what could the author have done differently?

What makes this author uniquely qualified to write on this topic?

What is the tone of the book? Is it humorous and easy to relate to, or is it more dry and academic?

Overall impression: This is where you give your personal take on the book.

Suggested points to include:

Was the book written in a way that you as a reader could easily relate to?

What was your favorite part of the book?

Do you have a least favorite part of the book?

If you could change something, what would it be?

Are there photos or illustrations? If so, are they effective in enhancing the book’s message?

Would you recommend this book?

What type of reader would enjoy this book?

There are so many wonderful nonfiction books out there. Have a great time reading and reviewing!

Have you written any nonfiction book reviews?

If you enjoyed this post, you might also enjoy How to Write a Fiction Book Review .

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She Seeks Nonfiction

A skeptic's quest for books, science, & humanism

How to Write a Nonfiction Book Review

Next week, I will be writing my 50th nonfiction book review on this blog. Learning brings me great joy, and when I learn fascinating things in my books, I can’t help but share them with you!

With Nonfiction November coming up, I know that many fiction book bloggers will try their hand at reading and reviewing nonfiction, and that many people aren’t used to it. There is often no character development, plot, setting, or allegory to critique, so what is left? Well, there is actually a lot to talk about, and I think reviewing nonfiction books is a lot of fun! I hope that through this post, my passion for writing nonfiction book reviews can inspire the unsure to give it a try.

There is not one correct way to write a book review. I write mine for fun, as a way to make blog posts that entertain me and hopefully my audience. Reviews make reading more fun and they help me to better engage as I read. They can even make it more bearable to finish a book I hate, because I know that my review will be interesting ! Regardless, here are some tips that help me write book reviews that I am proud of.

Mark up your book

I’ll start off with the obvious: I think that underlining and taking notes in nonfiction books is a great way to remember what you read and get ideas for your review as you go. My husband is adamant that my constant marking up of brand new books makes me a crazy person, and I can’t blame him for that. Some people can’t stand it.

If this is you— or if you read library books —then don’t worry! You can still use sticky notes or keep a separate notebook handy. I actually do this when I read books that are so old I would not dare deface them. Of course, e-readers make this easy; you can highlight and add notes without vandalizing anything. Finally, I know that a lot of people like to listen to nonfiction audiobooks, but I can’t imagine that you would absorb the information enough to make a review that way. But hey, if you can, more power to you!

how to structure a non fiction book review

Answer these three questions

I believe that each review will be as different as each book is, but there are a few questions that I attempt to answer no matter what.

Does it accomplish its goal?

First, I critique it according to its own criteria. Does the title promise that the book will deliver something specific? Is it meant to persuade you or inform you, and if so, how does it do? If a book’s title starts with “How to,” then you know exactly what the goal is. For example, How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi did exactly that; Kendi repeatedly began sentences with, “To be an antiracist is to…” which is about as straightforward as it gets. On the other hand, How to Argue With a Racist by Adam Rutherford might sound like it gives responses to specific points you’d hear in an argument, but it doesn’t. (It was still a great book though!)

(Now that I’m on the topic, Let the People Pick the President: The Case for Abolishing the Electoral College by Jesse Wegman does give line-by-line responses for arguments, which I thought was a great approach.)

There are more ways that a book can express its goal. Maybe the introduction lays out why the book exists at all. This is one thing I really appreciate about Richard Dawkins’ books. My feelings about the book as a whole are mixed (and my feelings about Dawkins as a person are lacking), but in the preface of The God Delusion , Dawkins lists out exactly how he is going to make his case for atheism. He promises to meet different readers where they are. “Do you believe X? Well, I explain this exact thing in Chapter X.” The man knows how to make a promise. Obviously, a preface does not need to be this explicit to make a book good, but it definitely made my review easier. This was especially great for me, as The God Delusion was only the second book I ever reviewed.

Do I like it?

Even though Adam Rutherford’s How to Argue With a Racist did not teach me how to argue with a racist, I still gave it a rave review. That’s because the second question I set out to answer is a simple one: Did I like the book? I’m the one writing the review, so I decide whether it’s a positive or negative one. This is when book reviews get really subjective, and why I love when there are many of the same book. No two people will have the same exact opinions about it. Many times, I have admitted that a book was probably good , but that I don’t think I was the right audience for it.

Does it speak to a target audience?

This brings me to the third question: do you know the book’s target audience? If there is no clear audience, then there’s a good chance the whole book is moot. Take this post, for instance. My intended audience is primarily fiction book bloggers who are trying out nonfiction book reviews for November. Hopefully other people will find something useful or entertaining out of it, but if you don’t care about books or reviews or blogging at all, then this post probably isn’t for you.

Decide whether you want to stick to a formula

If you have never written a nonfiction book review before, it can be easier to follow a formula and always know what you want to include in your review. A great example of this is fellow nonfiction book blogger Paula Ghete ‘s book reviews such as this one of Cosmos by Carl Sagan ( which you can compare to mine to see how greatly our styles vary). Her book reviews are structured this way:

Title: Cosmos Author: Carl Sagan Category: Non-fiction, Science Rating: 5/5 10-Word Summary: We can understand the Universe only if we study it. About Cosmos [short summary] What I like about Cosmos [list with bullet points and descriptions] What I don’t like about Cosmos [list with bullet points and descriptions]

In other book reviews, such as this one , Paula also included the following sections:

Quotes from The Idiot Brain [lists eight relatively short quotes] Should You Read The Idiot Brain? [succinct, defined answer]

Admittedly, her reviews are clearly written with SEO and readability in mind. Search engines love to say, “The more headlines and the shorter the sections, the merrier,” so that they know what the post is about. This also helps the reader to get Paula’s big ideas even if they don’t wade through the – gasp – paragraphs !

On the other hand, my review of Cosmos described how it left me speechless, why it was virtually unreviewable, why it made me almost cry watching the launch of NASA’s Perseverance, and why Sagan is so beloved in the atheist community .

Something fun about me is that I pretty much write whatever I feel like writing, which might make you think that I would not be the most qualified to tell you how you should write your own book reviews, but there I go again, writing whatever I feel like which includes this review-tutorial. Look, I’m just here for a good time.

How my own book reviews take shape

As I said earlier, each review can be as different as each book. This is more true for someone like me than for someone who is a little more organized like Paula Ghete, because I don’t really abide by any restraints. I don’t write only book reviews, so if a review takes me to another topic that I care about anyways, I’ll just talk about that. I love when a book simply inspires me to share what I’ve learned from it, or gives me the opportunity to ponder something I wouldn’t have thought of if I hadn’t read it.

The Gnostic Gospels by Elaine Pagels was a pretty informative book about—you guessed it—the Gnostic Gospels and Gnostic Christianity. I honestly didn’t have much to say about the book itself, but it caused me to compare early Gnostic Christianity to modern-day Progressive Christianity, list the similarities and differences, and pose the question to my Progressive Christian audience what they think of it.

My review of The Power Worshippers: Inside the Dangerous Rise of Religious Nationalism by Katherine Stewart had a similar fate. An actual review of the book was definitely present throughout my post on it, but it was a great chance for me to delve into my own experiences learning about Christian Nationalism , inside and outside of Stewart’s book. I also found myself comparing The Power Worshippers to Andrew Seidel’s The Founding Myth: Why Christian Nationalism is Un-American and explaining why the two books complement each other.

When I’ve read two or more books by the same author or on the same subject, I love to compare and contrast them or explain how they go together. I’ve done that with these, as well as books by Ibram X. Kendi , Ian Tattersall , Carl Sagan , and the two most famous works in the atheist community .

Final thoughts

As is the case with many of my book reviews, there is a lot more I could say. And like those, I often have to stop myself from rambling on ad nauseum . When this happens with a review , I have to just give the big idea, some fun facts, and then tell my audience that you really ought to read it for yourself. So I’ll do that here. I hope that my advice has helped you to see nonfiction reviews as a little less scary, and I encourage you to try writing them yourself! I’m so excited to read them!

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Ann Kroeker, Writing Coach

December 11, 2020 5 Comments

How to Structure Your Nonfiction Book

You’re tackling a non-fiction book and you’re making progress. You’re doing research, you’re writing, and now you’re staring at all those ideas.

Your book needs form. It needs organization. It needs…structure.

But how do you land on the best structure? How do you create it, craft it, build it?

While there’s no one standard way to organize your material—there’s no one way to structure your nonfiction book—I offer four approaches you can take to determine what will work best for your work in progress.

To learn ways to structure your nonfiction book, you can read, watch, or listen.

Think about how different kinds of bridges are needed for different situations. To land on the best method of bridging a ravine or body of water, an engineer will study the surrounding landscape and obstacles to decide whether a drawbridge, suspension bridge, or arch bridge will work best.

Just as an engineer needs to study the situation to address any given crossing and can refer to several core types of bridges, you get to do the same with your book.

As you study your material, you get to decide the best way to structure your nonfiction book.

Feel free to apply these four approaches to structure your short-form writing, but I’m going to be talking about it as it pertains to a non-fiction book, because a book is more unwieldy and can feel a little overwhelming to organize. Once you get a handle on how to structure your WIP, you can feel more confident moving forward with your draft.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed by structure, you’re in good company. In a Writer’s Digest interview, Michael Lewis said this:

I agonize over structure. I’m never completely sure I got it right. Whether you sell the reader on turning the page is often driven by the structure. Every time I finish a book, I have this feeling that, Oh, I’ve done this before. So it’s going to be easier next time. And every time it’s not easier. Each time is like the first time in some odd way, because it is so different .1

The book you’re working on now is different from any other book you’ve worked on. It’s different from Michael Lewis. It’s different from mine.

You need to discover the best structure for this book .

Method 1: Discovery

The first way is by discovery.

Through the discovery approach, you’re going to write your way into it.

On her podcast QWERTY, Marion Roach Smith recently interviewed Elizabeth Rosner about her book Survivor Caf é . Elizabeth Rosner chose different terms and concepts and horrors related to the Holocaust and presented them early on in the book using the alphabet.

The alphabet was a way of structuring that content.

Rosner said the alphabet was a way to explain, “Here are all the things I’m going to talk about that I don’t really know how to talk about. Here are all the words I don’t know how to explain.”

Marion asked how she arrived at this alphabet structure, and here’s what Rosner said:

I love getting to talk about structure and decisions. And when we talk about them after they’ve been made, it all seems so thoughtful and careful and deliberate and…everything in reality is so messy and chaotic for me, that it’s always amazing to me how neat and coherent it seems afterwards. 2

You can see that Rosner sort of stumbled on this approach. It serves as an alternative table of contents for the book, she said, and of course a table of contents reflects the structure of a book. And she came upon by discovery.

Discovery Methods: Sticky Notes, Scrivener, Index Cards, Freewriting

Authors might use Post-its to organize their notes.

Susan Orlean has described an index card method (she uses 5×7 cards) in an interview. 3

Others like using Scrivener to organize their research and notes.

It doesn’t really matter the method; you just need to gradually move toward clarity. When you stay open to possibilities, the structure often presents itself in the process of organizing and reorganizing notes and in the process of writing.

Through freewriting you might begin to land on a structure that will work for this book. Or by writing chapters or sections within chapters, a structure may naturally—organically—emerge.

You may see patterns, themes, words, concepts that suggest an approach, so keep your mind open and your eyes peeled to the possiblities.

Method 2: Determine Your Book’s Structure in Advance

The second way you can land on structuring your book is by determining it in advance.

Plotters and Pantsers

In fiction we talk about plotters and pantsers. Plotters are people who plot out their novel in advance and then follow that plot pretty closely while writing.

Pantsers are people who write by the seat of their pants—it’s that discovery method they’re approaching for writing their novel.

If we were to apply this idea of plotters and pantsers to nonfiction, the pantser would be writing by discovery. You’re flying by the seat of your pants, writing your way into the structure as you work on it, letting it unfold before you.

This is a perfectly acceptable way to go about structuring your book. Pantsers may find it’s less efficient than other methods, but it can yield really rich results because they’re letting the process guide and inform what they’re doing.

The plotter approach is more like this nonfiction approach of determining your structure in advance.

Structure with Outlines

If you choose this approach to structuring your WIP, you’re like a plotter determining in advance the outline that makes sense for the ideas.

And you do this in many different methods.

Nonlinear Option: Mind Maps

Some people—especially people who resist sequential, linear thinking—like to use the mind mapping or cluster approach. You may have seen this, where somebody writes a word or a key term in the center of a giant piece of paper or white board. The video shows it in action.

In the middle of that space, you write the key word or phrase that captures the big idea of your book. Underline or circle it, and let your mind think through all of the subtopics. The subtopics could potentially become chapters in the book or paragraphs of an essay, but because you’re using a cluster effect you aren’t restricted to a linear outline.

You’re letting your mind sort of just go in whatever direction it wants to go, capturing these ideas, each subtopic spreading out from the main idea with more spokes to represent ideas and details you know you want to include.

Linear Option: Outlines and Lists

You can go the traditional route with the Roman numerals I, II, III, IV, and A, B, C, i, ii, iii.

Or you can just make lists. For that you can use regular numbers or bullet points to get your ideas out.

Whether you use paper or a whiteboard, your end result will be more linear, but you can always reorganize to land on the best order.

Before You Write, Think and Plan

It doesn’t really matter how you go about it. Use scrap paper if you don’t have a whiteboard. Make a list with bullet points if the mind map looks weird to you.

The key is to think through your idea before you write.

Revisit the research you’re doing or have done and piece it together to decide on the topics you want to tackle in light of your major concept for this book.

Once you land on that structure, write to that structure, just as a plotter will write a novel following the plot determined in advance.

woman holds coffee cup and smiles while sitting cross-legged with laptop next to the words FREE 3-Day Challenge: Craft Your Book's Big Idea (clickable image to learn more)

Method 3: Use a Classic Structure

The third approach you can take to structuring your book is to choose a classic structure.

By classic, I mean that there are classic outlines that have stood the test of time.

Let me give you a few examples.

Classic Structure 1: Problem-Cause-Solution

The first would be Problem-Cause-Solution .

You can drop the “cause” if you want to, though in a book you have space to address the cause of a problem so the reader can learn how to eliminate it. After that, you present the solution to the problem, and most of the content would cover the solution.

Problem-Cause-Solution is a fabulous classic structure to use for nonfiction projects. You’ll find it used in marketing tactics, where people are presenting the problem, addressing the cause, and then saying, “Here’s the solution with this clever product we’re offering!”

Classic Structure 2: Past-Present-Future

Another classic structure you could grab an attempt to organize your material is Past-Present-Future.

With this pre-fab structure you look back on the history of what brought us to a certain event or pattern in our culture, identify where we’re at right now, and suggest where we should be heading—and how we can begin moving in that direction.

Play around with these structures as much as you like to make them work for you: for example, why not start with the present, then look back at the past and end by looking to the future: Present-Past-Future.

Don’t feel locked in to the order; let it inspire creativity. Play with these to make them fit your project.

Classic Structure 3: Narrative

Another classic structure you can borrow is the narrative structure. With its beginning, middle, and end, you use story to organize your material.

Obviously a narrative arc is going to work really well for a biography or a memoir, but you can actually layer a narrative arc over ideas you want to present and let the story guide the order in which you present your ideas.

Method 4: Borrow (and Adapt) Another Structure

The fourth way you can structure your book is to borrow and adapt a structure you find in another book.

Study a Book’s Structure

If you read, watch, or listen to “ How to Read Like a Writer ,” you’ll learn various approaches to reading that can turn a text into a tutor. While you’re practicing those techniques, you can specifically study and analyze that book’s structure.

Pay attention to books in which the author easily and effortlessly conveyed information and ideas. When you find a project that’s especially effective at drawing you into the book and walking you through the material, figure out what worked. The table of contents is a great place to start. How did they organize their chapters?

Be careful not to plagiarize choices. If you copy an author’s unusual structure exactly, you’re no longer using it for inspiration. Yet there are a limited number of ways books can be organized, so study and be inspired.

Borrow from Other Genres

When you’re reading in a genre other than your own, pay attention—you may discover an idea to adapt and experiment with.

Let’s just say you come across a biography that organizes the subject’s life in seasons or months of the year. You would not have thought about that for your leadership book, but you realize it might work.

Adapt it. Borrow the structure and adapt it to fit your completely different project.

Maybe you won’t use months but that biography caused you to play with reordering your content around a four-part structure using Q1, Q2, Q3, and Q4, which could work great for a leadership book with readers who organize their business by quarterly goals.

And the structure no longer resembles the biography, which was organized by by seasons or months. Seeing the months inspired you to re-imagine how your content could flow using a completely new approach.

Borrow and adapt to avoid plagiarizing; find inspiration and adapt as needed.

Restructure at Any Point in the Creative Process

Whether you’re at the beginning of formulating your book’s concept or you’re halfway through and decide the structure is just not working, test these methods to organize or reorganize.

A complete restructuring will feel laborious but can be worth it when you land on one that allows your readers to grasp your concepts and be transformed.

Rather than just grabbing the first idea that comes to your mind, play around with these different kinds of structures to find the support you need to convey your ideas with clarity and confidence.

_____________________

Ready to elevate your writing craft—with a coach to guide you.

Get the direction you need to improve as a writer with The Art & Craft of Writing . In this eight-week intensive, I’ll help you elevate your writing skills and create a compelling piece you’ll be proud to show an editor or agent. By the end of our time together, you’ll have completed a 3,000-word piece, along with multiple short submissions that invite you to experiment and play with new techniques.

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How to Structure Your Non-Fiction Book

Zara Altair

You probably have knowledge and experience that the world wants to hear about. Why not join the financially rewarding path of non-fiction book publishing?

Self-help literature, in particular, can offer a consistent stream of income for writers. Plus, a non-fiction book can lead to other income opportunities like motivational speaking, coaching, and consulting work.

Excellent non-fiction guides are equal parts knowledge, inspiration, and entertainment.

You are probably eager to get writing, but organizing and structuring your book first will help you create a readable book that will inspire others and bring you success. You need a structure to make sure readers get your message.

Here’s how to organize your knowledge to make it accessible, informative, and entertaining to your readers.

Your Book’s Promise

The 7 structural steps, writing your book, plan your way to success.

Before you start writing, decide on the focus of your book. What will your reader gain from reading your book? That’s your promise to the reader, the reason they will buy and read your book.

If your book is about parenting, is it for single or married parents? Male or female? Brainstorm ideas for what you promise your reader and who that reader is.

What results will the reader have after reading? Drill down to specifics. Is your book for single dads? Busy moms with several children?

Your promise determines the structure of your book. Once you isolate your promise to the reader, you can build the parts of your book. Each part leads your reader to the solution you promise.

Order your book parts so they lead your reader from the idea behind your information to the steps to lead them through achieving their goal – your promise.

1. Table of Contents

The table of contents is like an outline for your reader. No matter how much you strive to make your book flow from one point to another, not everyone will read the entire book, nor will they read what you’ve written in order.

Creating a table of contents gives your reader a sense of the book’s logic and makes every chapter accessible on its own.

In a paperback, your table of contents allows your reader to flick to the chapter they want to read next. In an eBook, you can make each heading clickable so that readers can navigate easily between chapters.

Having a strong table of contents which tells readers exactly what they’ll find in each chapter turns your book into a resource that they can use time and time again.

2. Introduction

Your introduction is a high-level view of the book. Introduce your topic and address the reader’s motive. Normally, the reader has a particular problem they want to fix or an opportunity they want to explore.

The introduction isn’t necessarily about you, it’s about your reader. Address their issue first and then introduce yourself and explain why you are uniquely qualified to help the reader.

Once you’ve assured the reader you can answer their question or help them gain a new skill, round off with an overview of what they will learn in the coming pages.

Depending on your topic promise and your style, the introduction can range in length from one page to 30 pages. The length doesn’t matter. Take only as long as you need to give your high-level view.

3. Glossary

A glossary of terms is optional, but will always be helpful if your book is teaching a skill or discipline like medicine, economics, or publishing. You may understand the terms and acronyms of your field, but your reader may not.

List each term with a short, single-paragraph definition or explanation. Your glossary will be of particular help to a general reader who is entering your area of expertise.

4. Outcome Benefits

Energize your reader by showing them what they will achieve. Use a success story example of what will happen if they implement your lessons.

A well-behaved dog, a successful cross-country ski trek, doubled income – paint a picture in their mind of what they can do and how they will feel after reading your book.

Your words will inspire your reader to keep reading by adding texture and clarity to their outcome. They will want to put your lessons into action to create their own success story. Success stories lead to better reviews on your book and more opportunities for you.

5. Mindset Principles

Explain the attitude and motivation your reader will need to reach success. Readers who don’t master the right mindset will probably fail at the lessons that follow.

They may not know to tackle the hardest thing first, or how to achieve the awareness and mindfulness needed to make decisions.

To absorb your practical lessons, your reader needs to understand how attitude affects outcome. Understanding mindset principles is key to working through self-help books on any subject.

6. The Body of Your Non-Fiction

Once you’ve led your reader through the logic, the dream of accomplishment, and the mental attitude necessary for success, walk them through the steps and practical tips they need to find the solution that motivated them to buy your book.

Be specific, outlining exact strategies they can take action on immediately. While you want to start chapters at a high level, sub-chapters should be full of granular advice and case studies showing how to use your advice in specific situations.

Don't include too much. Inform rather than overwhelm. Readers won't feel cheated by a shorter book so long as it teaches them what they want to know. Some of history’s most successful self-help guides are under 200 pages. Napoleon Hill’s classic Think and Grow Rich is a little over 200 pages.

On the other hand, don’t withhold vital information. Don’t save your best tips for something else. Readers want to be able to solve their problem now, not pay for a marketing pitch for a more expensive solution later.

The best self-help books tend to order the meat of their content in one of two different structures:

Content grouped into themes
Content structured in order of difficulty, from the fundamentals for newbies to advanced strategies for seasoned enthusiasts

Your content should always be logical and easy to navigate with clear steps that guide the readers to the information that they want. Beyond this, your structure should depend entirely on what will work best for your book.

Let’s work through some examples.

If your book is a memoir, you’ll want to make a point about what your life experiences have taught you. Your promise to your reader is to impart the conclusions you reached, and to tell them how they can benefit from your new understanding and philosophy of life.

Memoirs work best by grouping the content into themes. Select highlights from your life that illustrate your themes well. Readers don’t want to read your entire life story, only the bits that will help them.

If you’re focussing on a practical task, like learning a new skill, or are writing to address a specific set of problems, structure your chapters by the order of challenges. Start with beginner practices and build on each lesson.

7. Give Your Book Context

Readers who have read your book and liked your information will want more.

Once you’ve taught the reader all the information they wanted to learn when they picked up your book, set your lessons within a wider context. Follow up with suggestions for next steps and resources to expand their knowledge and build on their success.

For example, a book on growing a successful Instagram following can help people achieve growth, but your readers will want to know what to do next.

For example, they can leverage that following to solidify their place as an influencer on other platforms, or look into speaking gigs to grow their audience beyond the online sphere.

Give your reader ways to contact you, like joining your mailing list for more tips. This is your opportunity to guide readers into your sales funnel for courses or coaching, retreats, or adventures.

As eager as you are to share your expertise, you’ll find that planning the structure will help you write faster. This may feel like you’re slowing the whole process down but, with a solid structure, you’ll know what to include in each section of your book.

With your outline as your guide, you’ll find you write faster. You won’t have to stop and think about what comes next.

How to Follow the 7 Step Structure

Fill out notes for each of the seven sections. Where you’ll start, what your reader will learn, and any action steps for your reader.

When you get to the body of your book, organize the chapters by theme or progressive steps. Make notes about the content of each chapter. Again, where you’ll start, what your reader learns, and action steps.

Your writing needs to be as clear and easy to follow as possible in a non-fiction book. When you already know all of the steps and processes you are writing about, it can be difficult to see when you need to make something clearer or explain it in a new way.

Get someone else to read over each chapter of your book to check that they understand your process. This will help you see where your book might be confusing or require further consideration.

Writing Style

It might seem counter-intuitive, but one of the best ways to prove yourself as an expert in your field and a valuable source of information is to make your writing as simple as possible.

Jargon and long complex sentences might make you feel advanced, but they’ll make your work more challenging for your reader to understand and engage with.

Rather than aiming for the most impressive sentences possible, you should aim to for easy readability. To give you a head start, why not use ProWritingAid?

Readability scores tell you how easy it is for someone to read your work. The ProWritingAid Readability Report looks at factors like sentence length, syllable density, and word familiarity to tell you what groups of readers will be able to access your text.

The higher the readability score, the more advanced your text is and the harder it is to comprehend. Why not run a chapter of your non-fiction book through ProWritingAid to see how you score?

If you follow this structure when you write, your notes will guide you through writing each section to lead your reader to their personal success.

Your reader’s success is your success, so plan well.

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So you are ready to write your novel. excellent. but are you prepared the last thing you want when you sit down to write your first draft is to lose momentum., this guide helps you work out your narrative arc, plan out your key plot points, flesh out your characters, and begin to build your world..

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Zara Altair writes traditional mysteries set in ancient Italy under Ostrogoths rule in The Argolicus Mysteries. She teaches mystery screenwriters and novelists at Write A Killer Mystery. She creates semantic web content for a select clientele.

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28 Images Of 5Th Grade Non Fiction Book Report Template Intended For Nonfiction Book Report
Structure And Organize Your Non-Fiction Book
How to write a Non-Fiction book in Notion
Book Review: Fiction and Non-Fiction
Fiction & Non-Fiction Book Report
Non-Fiction Text Structures

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How to Self-Edit Your Nonfiction Book
The 360 Book Review
How to Say Babylon by Safiya Sinclair-A 2024 Women's Prize for Non-Fiction Book Review
The two approaches to Story Structure
The New One Minute Manager Book Review And Summary
All About Editorial Reviews for Your Book

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How to Write a Nonfiction Book Review
Be succinct, but give enough to serve the purpose of the review. Points to Consider: What if you really don't like the book? Always write your reviews with integrity. If you honestly don't like a book, write your review as if you are in a critique session with the author. Use positive words and avoid sarcasm.
How to Write a Nonfiction Book Review
A great example of this is fellow nonfiction book blogger Paula Ghete 's book reviews such as this one of Cosmos by Carl Sagan ( which you can compare to mine to see how greatly our styles vary). Her book reviews are structured this way: 10-Word Summary: We can understand the Universe only if we study it.
How to Write a Nonfiction Book: 9 Nonfiction Book Structures to Consider
This structure begins by identifying and thoroughly exploring a problem, setting the stage for the book's primary focus. In this phase, you'll delve into the nuances of the issue, often incorporating statistics, anecdotes, and historical context to give the reader a comprehensive understanding of the problem's significance and impact.
How To Write a Book Review, With Examples
4 tips for writing a book review. 1. Avoid repetition. A book review is its own piece of writing. By that, we mean your book review shouldn't just repeat the book's plot. It should add a new perspective about the book. 2. Be concise. Don't ramble in your book review.
How to Write a Book Review: Formats + 7 Examples
Personal Book Review Structure: There's a lot of wiggle room when it comes to learning how to write a book review for your blog, friends, or just to post on the book's sales page online. ... Book Review Example 4 - Nonfiction Amazon Review. Nonfiction books typically serve a specific purpose. They're teaching, informing, arguing, or ...
How to Structure Your Nonfiction Book
Method 3: Use a Classic Structure. The third approach you can take to structuring your book is to choose a classic structure. By classic, I mean that there are classic outlines that have stood the test of time. Let me give you a few examples.
How to Write a Non-Fiction Book Review
If You Decline. Give the author a thoughtful and honest response. Say you appreciate the honor of being considered to write a nonfiction book review, and explain why you have to give his or her project a pass. Wish the author the best of success in the project. Pat Iyer loves it when she gets reviews of her books on Amazon.
How to Write a Book Review in 3 Steps
Be sure to mention the authors of the title and what experience or expertise they bring to the title. Check Stefan Kløvning's review of Creativity Cycling for an example of a summary that establishes the framework of the book within the context of its field. Step 2. Present your evaluation.
How to Write a Nonfiction Book in 6 Steps
Hold onto that book idea of yours, and let's see how we can turn it into something that readers will love. How to write a nonfiction book: 1. Determine what problem your book will solve. 2. Outline your book with a logical structure. 3. Choose a style guide to remain consistent. 4.
How to Structure Your Nonfiction Book
You're tackling a nonfiction book, and you're making progress as you research and take notes, but you stare at all these ideas and wonder how to best present...
The Only Book Review Templates You'll Ever Need
Blog - Posted on Thursday, Nov 11 The Only Book Review Templates You'll Ever Need Whether you're trying to become a book reviewer, writing a book report for school, or analyzing a book, it's nice to follow a book review template to make sure that your thoughts are clearly presented.. A quality template provides guidance to keep your mind sharp and your thoughts organized so that you can ...
How to Write a Book Review: The Ultimate Guide
The real value of crafting a well-written book review for a student does not lie in their ability to impact book sales. Understanding how to produce a well-written book review helps students to: Engage critically with a text. Critically evaluate a text. Respond personally to a range of different writing genres.
17 Book Review Examples to Help You Write the Perfect Review
Book review examples for non-fiction books Nonfiction books are generally written to inform readers about a certain topic. As such, the focus of a nonfiction book review will be on the clarity and effectiveness of this communication. In carrying this out, a book review may analyze the author's source materials and assess the thesis in order ...
Outlining a Nonfiction Book: 3 Steps to Success
Step 2: Structure your book to best address the main problem. Now's the time to organize all your thoughts and create a rough skeleton of your book. You'll need to arrange your knowledge into a logical string of thoughts that will best help readers find the answer to your question.
How to Structure Your Non-Fiction Book
How to Follow the 7 Step Structure. Fill out notes for each of the seven sections. Where you'll start, what your reader will learn, and any action steps for your reader. When you get to the body of your book, organize the chapters by theme or progressive steps. Make notes about the content of each chapter.
How To Write A Nonfiction Book: 21 Steps for Beginners
How to Write a Nonfiction Book in 21 Steps. #1— Develop the mindset to learn how to write a nonfiction book. #2 - Create a Book Writing Plan. #3 - Identify your WHY. #4 - Research nonfiction book topics. #5 - Select a nonfiction book topic. #6 — Drill down into your book idea. #7 — Schedule writing time. #8 — Establish a writing ...
How to Structure a Nonfiction Book
Outline the three parts of your story to lay the plan for your nonfiction book. Obviously, all stories have a beginning, middle, and end, but the three parts I suggest you consider are these: What it used to be like. What happened. What it's like now. Start with what life was like before the change happened.
How to Write a Book Review: Definition, Structure, Examples
Step 1: Planning. Create an essay outline which includes all of the main points you wish to summarise in your book analysis. Include information about the characters, details of the plot, and some other important parts of your chosen novel. Reserve a body paragraph for each point you wish to talk about.
How to Write a Nonfiction Book in 8 Steps
Level Up Your Team. See why leading organizations rely on MasterClass for learning & development. Writing about others is no trivial act. It's not merely entertainment or a distraction. When readers and nonfiction writers turn to factual topics, they are in search of something powerful and fundamental about what it means to be a better person.
How to Write a Nonfiction Book: A Step-by-Step Guide for Authors
Choose the structure for your book. Draft an outline. Choose your style guide. Write, write, write. 1. Get clear on what you want to achieve with your nonfiction book. Before you embark on your writing journey, you need to know why you're going on this journey in the first place.
Structure And Organize Your Non-Fiction Book
Structure And Organize Your Non-Fiction Book. "Non-fiction requires enormous discipline. You construct the terms of your story, and then you stick to them.". Barbara Kingsolver. Although non-fiction books don't contain the classic narrative arc of novels, they still need to take the reader on a journey of understanding.
5 Steps to Writing a Captivating Nonfiction Book Synopsis
2. Take a Cue from the Tone of Your Book. Your summary should be an illustration of your writing prowess and style. You should be telling the reader about the book in a way that demonstrates what they can expect when they read the book itself. If your book is funny, your summary should make the reader smile.
Writing About Non-Fiction Books
TIP Sheet. WRITING ABOUT NON-FICTION BOOKS. At some point in your college career you may be asked to review a non-fiction book to enable you to learn more about some aspect of your course work. The assignment is demanding because you are required to describe and evaluate an author's contribution to a subject that you may know little about.
50 Best Nonfiction Books of All Time
Behind the Beautiful Forevers rightfully earns its spot on this list of the best nonfiction books—it's one of the books everyone should read in their lifetime. Via Amazon.com. 2. Freakonomics ...
Reese Witherspoon's Literary Empire
Witherspoon preferred not to elaborate on a few subjects: competition with other top-shelf book clubs ("We try not to pick the same books"); the lone author who declined to be part of hers ...
Book Review: 'Skies of Thunder,' by Caroline Alexander
In the riveting "Skies of Thunder," Caroline Alexander considers what it took to get supplies to Allied ground troops in China. The Curtiss C-46 Commando aircraft, used to fly over "the Hump ...
Book Review: 'The Infernal Machine,' by Steven Johnson
THE INFERNAL MACHINE: A True Story of Dynamite, Terror, and the Rise of the Modern Detective, by Steven Johnson. The old-time image of an anarchist that has long been fixed in popular imagination ...
20 Best Nonfiction Books for Kids 2024
Published in 2017, it's a great introduction to cultures and countries around the globe. Starting babies off with these kinds of gentle stories is one of the early reading habits that make young ...
Book Review: 'Tits Up,' by Sarah Thornton
Eighteen books were recognized as winners or finalists for the Pulitzer Prize, in the categories of history, memoir, poetry, general nonfiction, fiction and biography, which had two winners. Here ...
Recent developments in synthesis of attapulgite ...
Attapulgite clay, due to its unique crystalline hydrated magnesium-aluminium silicate composition and layer-chain structure, possesses exceptional adsorption and catalytic properties, which enable it or its composites to be utilized as adsorbents and catalysts for wastewater treatment. But the drawbacks of attapulg

How to Write a Nonfiction Book Review

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She Seeks Nonfiction

How to Write a Nonfiction Book Review

Mark up your book

Answer these three questions

Does it accomplish its goal?

Do I like it?

Does it speak to a target audience?

Decide whether you want to stick to a formula

How my own book reviews take shape

Final thoughts

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How to Structure Your Nonfiction Book

Method 1: Discovery

Discovery Methods: Sticky Notes, Scrivener, Index Cards, Freewriting

Method 2: Determine Your Book’s Structure in Advance

Plotters and Pantsers

Structure with Outlines

Nonlinear Option: Mind Maps

Linear Option: Outlines and Lists

Before You Write, Think and Plan

Method 3: Use a Classic Structure

Classic Structure 1: Problem-Cause-Solution

Classic Structure 2: Past-Present-Future

Classic Structure 3: Narrative

Method 4: Borrow (and Adapt) Another Structure

Study a Book’s Structure

Borrow from Other Genres

Restructure at Any Point in the Creative Process

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How to Structure Your Non-Fiction Book

Zara Altair

Your Book’s Promise

1. Table of Contents

2. Introduction

3. Glossary

4. Outcome Benefits

5. Mindset Principles

6. The Body of Your Non-Fiction

7. Give Your Book Context

How to Follow the 7 Step Structure

Writing Style

Are you prepared to write your novel? Download this free book now:

The Novel-Writing Training Plan

Be confident about grammar

Get started with ProWritingAid

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