When it comes to imparting your knowledge to help other people, getting the text right is important for many reasons. As an editor, here’s what I am doing in editing to make sure your self-help book is in the best shape it can be.
Writing a self-help book
Writing a self-help book differs from writing any other sort of book. Whether you are writing showing how others can overcome a problem you experienced or you are writing from a professional perspective, it’s really difficult to not patronise, make statements that aren’t going to work for everyone or present information in a way that is not engaging for your reader.
Self-help often crosses over into memoir and keeping your writing focused on self-help is crucial. Keep your reader in mind as you write. What is it you want them to learn and how best are you going to help them overcome the difficulty or problem you are writing about?
The structure of a self-help book typically follows a pattern:
- Introduce the problem, connecting with the reader
- Background information about the problem
- Set the reader up to take the actions to overcome their problem
- Describe, in detail, how to overcome the problem
- Looking to the future
After setting up the problem, it’s a great idea to connect with your reader through personal anecdotes or your professional qualifications. Make the reader trust you without it becoming your life story.
Setting the reader up is a crucial stage and you need to think carefully about how you prepare somebody to make positive changes in their lives. You do all this through the written word and through any exercises or tasks you may set in your book.
Then, finally, looking towards the future, providing a light at the end of the tunnel or a sense of a better future is a great way to round off the book. It should leave readers feeling hopeful that their lives can be better by following your steps to success.
Developing your self-help book
If you come to me in the early stages of the process, a developmental edit will help you to create a manuscript that is structured well and gives your readers all the help and advice they need in the way you want to present it.
Working with me to developmentally edit your self-help book will ensure that:
- Your information is factually correct and relevant
- The help you are offering your readers is specific and focused
- The structure of the book takes readers through from identifying their problems or issues to a successful resolution
- The book contains enough information that is relevant, including information about you
- The reader is left with a clear action plan
- Your information is provided in ways that you want it to be, through exercises, bullet points, etc.
Getting a developmental edit early in the process allows you to consider all the feedback and advice you get so that your later drafts are the best they could possibly be.
Copyediting your self-help book
Copyediting is the stage where your writing is polished and made ready for the reader. I take the text of your book and work with it sentence-by-sentence, addressing everything from spelling, punctuation and grammar to overall sense and flow.
I like to break copyediting down into these five C’s:
- Consistency
- Clarity
- Conciseness
- Correctness
- Conscious language
Creating a bespoke style sheet for your book, I will ensure that all style decisions, spelling variations, numbering systems, etc. are consistent across the book. This includes things like acronyms and initialisms and their definitions, italic use and punctuation styles.
Copyediting is also the stage where I ensure that your book is clear for the reader, every sentence makes sense and that your writing is concise and to the point. No one wants to wade through a difficult-to-read self-help book – that’s not going to help anyone! Copyediting will ensure that each word is working hard to achieve your goals of supporting your readers.
Of course, at this stage, I will also be fact-checking any claims you make, ensuring that you keep out of any legal or other difficulties and will ensure that your language is clear from any biases or use of problematic words or phrases.
Once copyediting is complete, your text should be almost ready for your readers. After typesetting and formatting your book, a proofread will check for any last typos or errors and then you are good to go!
What self-help books have I worked on?
Here’s some of the self-help books that I have worked on and that I can share with you here.
Nick (he/him) is an experienced, professional editor and proofreader, specialising in LGBTQ+ writing. Use this form to get in touch right now!
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