Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips

Non-fiction books should be useful and recommendable. It is easy to lose sight of these qualities. A book by Rob Fitzpatrick is full of these qualities.

I recently finished reading a book of simple fundamentals for writing non-fiction. “Write Useful Books. A modern approach to designing and refining recommendable nonfiction,” Rob Fitzpatrick, 2021, ISBN-10: 1919621601, ISBN-13: 978-1919621609.

The two key words in the title are useful and recommendable. Consider when two persons are talking. One has a vexing problem. The other says, “I had that problem. I read a book and learned how to solve it. You have to read that book and follow its advice.” Useful and recommendable.

Okay, nice qualities. How do you do that. Fitzpatrick’s book is a pretty good place to start.

Consider the nonfiction book NOT as a book, but as a product.

Consider this product example: A Shower Valve Socket Wrench Set is a product. You have to work on a leaky faucet in your shower? GET THIS. It is useful and I am recommending it.

Front load the nonfiction book, i.e., put the most useful things first. People may read the first ten pages. Make them the most useful.

The Table of Contents is the proposal for the book. Chapter, section, subsection titles should be long and descriptive and full of action.

Teach the topic before writing the book.

Test the book with beta testers early before you put a lot of work into it.

The list goes on. Most of those above sentences are in the Table of Contents.

Cheesy? Maybe. Overly optimistic? Maybe.

Fresh and to the point? Absolutely.

Useful and recommendable? Absolutely.