Julie Broad explains how to write a nonfiction book that stays relevant for years. Focus on mindset and human behavior instead of narrow tactics, avoid dated pop-culture references in favor of fables and history, and use classic story structure with sensory details to make narratives timeless.
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Seven Habits of highly effective people who moved my cheese what to expect when you're expecting the power of positive thinking the secret how to win friends and influence people these books have had staying power, haven't they? What do they have in common and how can you mimic their approach to maybe, just maybe mimic their results too well? If you're wondering how to write a book that lasts a lifetime, this video is for you. Hey there, I'm Julie the book broad from Book Launchers where your professional self publishing team helping you write, publish and promote a nonfiction book that will help you have a huge impact on your readers and done right will also help you grow your brand, build your business, and make you money. The best part? You keep all rights and royalties. There's a market for books that dive into tactics and specific how to details. This video is not trying to convince you that you should not write that kind of a book because those books provide a valuable piece of the success post for so many readers. That step by step guidance to get results is often exactly what people need. Whether you're writing a book and talking about the keto diet or the best way to invest in cryptocurrency or sharing insights about politics of today, or you're doing something to try to make change happen in this current environment, or even just building a business with the latest marketing and promotion techniques, including email marketing and social media and video, those books have value. Don't stop writing them, but you may want to start mentally planning to write write a book that you'll be referring to and using for 10, 20, or even more years than that. So what kind of books stand the test of time? The examples I gave at the start all have one thing in common, and it's the first thing on my list of three things to write a timeless book. The first thing is that those books that I mentioned and many others that have stood the test of time are really more about humanity and mindset. They're about the way people think about a problem or the way to think about communication versus the actual how to do it. Even a book like Rich Dad, Poor dad is more mindset and strategy strategy than it is tactical investment advice. So it's got staying power too. So if you want to write a book that you'll be still selling and still Talking about in 10 years, the first thing to do is write a book that is more about the way to think about a problem or how to strategically handle a situation versus a specific tactical solution. How to Book let's say you're a financial advisor. You could talk about the most current popular funds, current investment environment, technology, tools that work for folks today. And this is all very important and valuable, but it's going to go out of date. Or you can write about your investment philosophy and how to set someone up to make the right investment choices for their life. Both books could perform really well and help your business grow, but the investment philosophy book will last as long as that remains your core belief and approach to investing. The second thing you want to do is choose your stories and references in this book carefully. Pop culture references can be fun to make, but they date a book really fast. So rather than referencing the latest TV shows or the latest music sensations, try fables, historical examples, or stories from your own life worded in a way that doesn't date them too badly. In other words, you wouldn't say last year, you'd say when my business was two years old. And facing this issue, the third and final tip I want to share is, and while you see this in the books that I mentioned at the beginning is they have story arcs and they also have specific details that make that writing more timeless. So they've got that first act as the setup, you know, the inciting incident that sets you off on your adventure, the call to adventure, the thing that gets you off your butt doing something that leads to act number two, which is where everything gets intense. You know, where act one may have led you to start a business, but Act 2 is where you find out your loved one is sick with cancer and the bills are piling up and your most valued employee and quits. So now there's nobody to run the business while you focus on the cancer care. And then the government makes you close your doors because of a pandemic, and now your income is cut in half. So that all happens in Act 2. And then Act 3, the resolution. This is where things start to get resolved and you start to draw out the stories and the emotions and the lessons of all of this journey. That's a classic story structure, and it makes the reader connect with the moment that you're in in the book, no matter when in time that moment was. And then when you add in details with those layers, you'll really transport the reader to that moment. Now, when I say details, a lot of people think I mean the painstaking, every single thing that happened kind of details. But what I actually mean is little things like choosing words. Like instead of saying walk, you would choose shuffle or plotted or tramped or strode. You can actually see it in your head how this person was walking. It's describing what you smelled when you walked in a room and who was there, or saying little details like the tree House was 12 steps from your back door, it had a red checkered tablecloth covering the door for privacy and your favorite memory was when mom baked fresh cookies and brought them to you to eat when you were up there coloring pictures of race cars and robots. Right? That those details transport you to that place and that moment and you don't actually think about when the book was written or whether it's relevant to today. Now, not every book should be like this. Readers want how to action taking type books. But as an author you may want to write a few tactical books and a long lasting book that lays the foundation for everything you do in your business to help your clients. If you're a speaker or you want to be paid to give keynote talks, I think think the insights into humanity or the how to think about a problem kind of talks and the books that support them are a golden recipe for success. Especially if you can make people laugh like this. Tip. Go ahead, smash that thumbs up button. Try it. It feels so good. And what else do you think makes a book stand the test of time? Let's chat about it in the comments below. And when you comment the day a video is released, you'll be entered to win some sweet book launcher swag like this noboringbooks mug where coffee, tea and hot chocolate taste better in it. Or our oh so soft journal for writing down your brilliant book ideas. You're quite lovely to spend time with. Shall we keep hanging out? If you're writing a memoir and watching this to learn how to make it stand the test of time, you also really should check out this video on the most common memoir writing mistakes. And if you think you'll need help to make all this happen, maybe you should consider a book coach. This video right here explains what a book coach does and how they help. Both videos are pretty great if I say so myself. So please click on one and I'll see you there.
