Peaceful Profits Podcast Ep. 85 - This Is What Makes a Bestselling Non-Fiction Book
Synopsis:
In this uplifting episode of the Peaceful Profits Podcast, Tina Konstant—mindset coach, writer, and Peaceful Profits client—shares how redefining success through inner peace and focused intention transformed her business and life.
Tina opens up about letting go of hustle culture, embracing stillness, and how working with Mike Shreeve and the Peaceful Profits team helped her step into authentic alignment with her goals.
This is a must-listen for anyone feeling overwhelmed, stuck, or misaligned in their business journey. Her story is both grounding and powerful—a real-life Peaceful Profits success story.
Transcript:
Peaceful Profits Review: This Is What Makes a Bestselling Non-Fiction Book
[00:00:00] Chanelle: Hello and welcome to the Peaceful Profits podcast. I'm your host Chanelle Nielsen and I'm joined today by the fabulous Tina Konstant. Welcome to the podcast.
[00:00:11] Tina: Thank you.
[00:00:13] Chanelle: It's so fun to be here with you. Tina works with Peaceful Profits and has quite the impressive bio that I'm going to read. So Tina is an author.
[00:00:22] Chanelle: She's the host of the Waffle Free Storytelling Podcast and book lead for Peaceful Profits. Her first books on speed reading were published [00:00:30] by Hotter Education in 2000. Both of those books are still in print today. Since then, she's published Managing Information Overload by Hodder and Mental Space through Pearson Education, and self published The 49 Great Escapes from Writer's Blocks that helps writers get back into writing, Life Between the Covers, a short story collection, and more.
[00:00:50] Chanelle: And new waffle free storybooks every year. She's also ghost written numerous books for Peaceful Profits and reviewed several hundred books as a one book [00:01:00] millions book coach. So we have a wealth of experience and knowledge in Tina today, and we are going to talk books. And to start off, I want to just ask a question about you and the waffle free storybooks.
[00:01:13] Chanelle: Tell us about that. Tell us about your writing a little bit.
[00:01:16] Tina: Oh, my gosh. Waffle free storytelling. That was a COVID project. You get many wild and strange projects that came out of that time. Yeah. And I was looking for a storytelling podcast and kept finding plenty, but I would be [00:01:30] going through the podcast and listening.
[00:01:31] Tina: And for about 20 minutes, 30 minutes before the actual story happened, there'd be this chat and this chat. And yeah, this is what I had for breakfast. And it's and I found myself saying, just stop waffling. And waffle free storytelling. Now I know for the US audience, waffles are waffles, right?
[00:01:47] Tina: For a European and a British and a South African audience, waffle is chit chat, jibber jabber. The, that kind of, and and it was literally just enough for the waffle and waffle free storytelling, where it's like the descriptions in the [00:02:00] title, there is no waffle, no jibber jabber, it's literally, Hey, how you doing?
[00:02:04] Tina: Tina, yeah, let's go. And we jump into the story. And yeah, they're all just modern fables. I always say, it's like my family would read it and it's oh, that's the week you had. If you know me well enough, you can read the story and know the kind of week I had. Yeah. So no, that's storytelling.
[00:02:20] Tina: It's just wonderful. Yeah. Okay.
[00:02:23] Chanelle: And are they stories that you've written that others have written combination?
[00:02:28] Tina: No. All of mine. The [00:02:30] first six were traditional stories that I searched for and just love. And then I found that it was taking me as much time to search for a really good story as it does to write one that actually means something.
[00:02:41] Tina: Yeah. So no. All of them.
[00:02:43] Chanelle: They're all yours. Wonderful. Okay. Very cool. Today we're going to talk specifically about nonfiction with writing because that's what we do here at Peaceful Profits. We help people write their nonfiction books that help grow their business. We hear [00:03:00] over and over that writing can just seem hard.
[00:03:03] Chanelle: It can seem like such a daunting task. I don't think most people are like Tina and say, Oh, it's easier to write my own story than it is to search for a story. I think for a lot of people, it feels just like a lot. So in that case, for people who are feeling like this is really big, where should they start as far as writing?
[00:03:24] Tina: As far as writing, what I really, anytime you're going to approach a book, the [00:03:30] very first thing you want to do is think about the problem you're trying to solve. I think this is one of the challenges I see with a lot of of folk who come through and are writing their books. They they think of their body of knowledge, years of experience, and everything they could possibly know, and everything they could possibly share.
[00:03:48] Tina: And then I have to remind people, it's there's your body of knowledge, And then there's a series and in between that is the one problem you're going to solve in one book. Because when you think of the kind of books that we are that we're writing and the [00:04:00] kind of books that will grow a business is you, people are coming to find the book with a single problem in mind.
[00:04:06] Tina: If you get a book, say on, Oh man, apple trees come to mind. Hey, Mike is always talking about it, but if somebody is coming with a particular problem about. apple farming in mind, then and your book covers every single thing they could possibly know. For starters, the book is going to be way too long.
[00:04:28] Tina: Second, they're going to be going through a [00:04:30] whole pile of information before they get to their single problem, at which point they've probably put the book down, quite honestly, because they're just feeling overwhelmed. A short problem solving book really should be kept short and problem solving. So what is the one problem you want to solve?
[00:04:44] Tina: And the wonderful thing is when you start thinking like that is everything else that you know. falls away. It doesn't disappear. It goes into a box for book two, for book three, for book four. And I think it's that mindset, is that when you're writing short problem solving books, don't stop [00:05:00] at book one.
[00:05:01] Tina: Because once you've written that book and solved that one problem, then lo and behold, people who have solved that problem are going to have a new problem. So what is that new problem? You write a short book to solve that one problem. One book, one problem. And when you think of it that way, then the greatness and the bigness of the project goes away because you're not trying to write a tome with everything you know in a single book.
[00:05:23] Tina: You're teaching people how to solve one single problem. And also you don't want it to be long. You want it to be like [00:05:30] 37, 000, 35, 37, 40 is like getting too long, less than 40, 000. So it's not even a long book. You write a thousand words a day. You've got yourself in a month. You've got yourself your book pretty much.
[00:05:41] Tina: So one problem at a time and then break it into small bits. A thousand words a day and you've got yourself, and you've got yourself a book. That's probably the first thing you should think
[00:05:50] Chanelle: about. I think that's so great. And I love that you brought up this idea of if you've got more than one problem to solve, just write another book.
[00:05:58] Chanelle: Because I think that's where people get tripped [00:06:00] up sometimes in, in the pre stages. I have so many things that I want to put in this book or I have so many problems I can solve. How can I narrow it down to just one? I do so many things and this is broader than people's books. This is in people's business too.
[00:06:15] Chanelle: I have so many things that I do. This program is so vast and so therefore their book needs to be so big and cover everything. So I love this. Just one problem in one book.
[00:06:27] Tina: I give you the first time I noticed the real [00:06:30] power of it. I had for a while many years ago a restless leg thing going on and it was Without fail, oh man, it must have been about six months going on, and I just wasn't sleeping.
[00:06:41] Tina: Every single day, two, three o'clock in the morning, I was getting woken up. And you can imagine all the follow on consequences from that, right? And so one particular morning, I get up at three o'clock in the morning, and it's no, I gotta go online. And my question is, How to cure restless leg syndrome.
[00:06:57] Tina: And I found a fella's book and it [00:07:00] was a short book, literally something he did. He did this beautifully. He not only thought about the one problem he's solving, but he also thought about when people are more likely to be buying his book. People are going to be buying his book at three o'clock in the morning.
[00:07:11] Chanelle: Yeah.
[00:07:12] Tina: It was a short book page one. This is how you solve your problem. And he literally, I read that book in a single sitting. I implemented his solution in a single city sitting and I have not had a sleepless night since. That is a short book that solves a problem that if that guy writes another book, I'm gonna go look for it.[00:07:30]
[00:07:30] Chanelle: Yeah,
[00:07:31] Tina: it's beautiful continuity.
[00:07:33] Chanelle: Yes, that's so okay. I love that example because I can see how he I know he knows more things than that and he may have wanted to you know, if you have restless legs on a plane if you have restless legs, you know instead like Here, you're gonna need this in the middle of the night, and here's what I have for you right now.
[00:07:54] Chanelle: Solve your problem. So I think that is a very powerful example that people can really hone in on. [00:08:00] Okay, how can I get that level of specificity to solve a problem? I love that. So in addition to this idea of one, one book, one problem, are there any rules?
[00:08:14] Tina: Oh, yes. You know what? Actually, no. I would say the cardinal rules, Cardinal rule number one is is to identify your problem.
[00:08:22] Tina: Cardinal rule number two is know who specifically you're writing your book for. And then cardinal rule number [00:08:30] three which is really more for you and your sales process than anything else. Cardinal rule number three is framing your book so that people can find it. Especially when you start, think of walking into a bookshop.
[00:08:41] Tina: You could have a Like the world defining solution to a problem for an audience that you can actually identify. But if you framed your book in such a way that people literally can't find it, your book isn't going to sell at all. And so it is that clarity. Ah, who was it? Brian Holliday. I want to say Ryan [00:09:00] Holliday, perennial seller.
[00:09:02] Tina: I might be wrong, we can check. He has a wonderful exercise where he says, when you are creating anything, especially when you're writing a book, creating an offer, anything like that, you start off by explaining what it is you are wanting to achieve, what problem you're solving in a single sentence, then a paragraph, then half a page, then one page.
[00:09:19] Tina: By the time you get to the one page version, if you find that you are speaking to that audience or that audience, know that you're going to have a problem with your book. But if you can write your senior, [00:09:30] the problem that you're solving and for who and who you're solving it for.
[00:09:33] Tina: And you can clearly state it one sentence, one paragraph, half page, one page, and you're not diverting into all sorts of other audiences then you've been, then you've followed the rules, those Cardinal rules. You're writing a book that'll work and you can identify who's going to buy it.
[00:09:49] Chanelle: Yeah.
[00:09:49] Tina: Beyond that.
[00:09:51] Tina: There are no rules. Okay. Clarity. If you can stick to the solve the one problem and let, make sure people can find your problem, then really [00:10:00] almost everything else is up for grabs.
[00:10:02] Chanelle: Okay, so I want to, I have one more, another rule. Okay, bonus rule coming in.
[00:10:07] Tina: Oh, sorry. Padding. Oh my god. That's another. Oh my, I keep saying cardinal rules.
[00:10:15] Tina: Suddenly we've got, we're going to have the card ones coming out. I tell you why. Is that again, we're talking short books and we're talking to solve a problem. I'll give you an example. When I first learned this lesson, it was my very first, my first two speed [00:10:30] reading books that went out. One was a very short book.
[00:10:32] Tina: The second one, the publisher wanted for another series. So they said, we love this first one. Can you write it for another series? But the structure, the template of that series, it's twice as long. So we need more words. Can you go and add to it? So I went, okay, yeah, I can add that. And I did, I went from a short book that had everything it needed, to a book twice as long to fit in with this new series.
[00:10:55] Tina: A very early, Amazon review, one star [00:11:00] that is probably still there said, this book is padding. Half of it is not, is unnecessary. People know padding people spot. So that is another. So just don't break that as you're writing your book. Think what is what I'm writing right now, deeply useful to the person I'm speaking to.
[00:11:17] Tina: If it isn't, don't put it in there because in a minute people will spot padding and it just puts them off. It'll, yeah it's, hey, it's a waffle again, right? Yeah. It's the waffle again. [00:11:30] Leave it out. Okay. Just always think of your audience. Always think of your audience.
[00:11:34] Chanelle: That's such a good idea. Just, it makes sense.
[00:11:37] Chanelle: But I think when a writer is sitting alone in their room they think, I've got to put more in here. So I look. More knowledgeable and I get everything in there. And yet, if you're really thinking of this person who's going to have to read it, do they need it? Everyone has so much information available to them.
[00:11:58] Chanelle: If it's not necessary, if it's [00:12:00] not really solving that problem, they don't actually want it. It's just going to slow them down.
[00:12:06] Tina: Yeah. And what you can always do is take all of that extra beautiful information and you can go here you go. I've discussed this topic. You have everything in this chapter that you need on this topic.
[00:12:17] Tina: In the bonus section or in for go deeper. So that's where you put all the other extra stuff so that people, when it's okay, I've read the book and I've got the whole solution I need. If I want to go deeper on these topics, I can go and look at that course, read that book, [00:12:30] read that extra flyer, go to that webpage or what have you.
[00:12:32] Tina: But in the meantime, you're not interrupting the flow with something that's irrelevant to them. Relevancy is always the thing, and when you get onto running ads, whether it's going to be Facebook or Amazon, relevancy is. Going to be the single top thing of your list, which is not relevant to somebody.
[00:12:50] Tina: Like you say, in a day and age where there's just so much content, the gift is writing something short. Yeah. Giving people back their time. [00:13:00] Definitely. And that's a good thing you can do. You're giving them a solution and their time. Oh, hallelujah.
[00:13:03] Chanelle: Yeah. And you're meeting people where they're at.
[00:13:05] Chanelle: If you're adding this bonus section, then there is an opportunity, if you have more to say, okay, here's more for the people who really want more. And for the people who don't, here is the solution to your problem. And so people just get exactly what they need from your book. So I think that's genius advice to have that in there if needed.
[00:13:24] Chanelle: And for the rest of the people who don't need that, move on, that's good. [00:13:30]
[00:13:30] Tina: Because often, what you find is that if the author is writing and adding, then the question is, Who is going to sound awful, but I'm going to say it anyway. You're writing a book purely from a place of ego.
[00:13:43] Tina: If you do that, it's I'm writing this book so I can look really clever. Yeah. You're not helping the person at all. So when you write a book, I suppose that's another, you asked the question earlier on, on what to think about when people, when you actually start writing a book, you think in terms of service.
[00:13:58] Tina: What can I do that can [00:14:00] actually deliver a great service to this person? It's not about me. I happen to know the stuff because I've solved the problem for myself. I've sold it for other clients. I've done this. I've done the next thing. That's beautiful. Wonderful. But now when I'm writing my book for this person, how can I serve you?
[00:14:14] Chanelle: Yeah. Anything
[00:14:14] Tina: that doesn't serve that person, including the length, including the stories, including anything else. And you leave it out. You put it somewhere else or you create a second book or something like that. So think in terms of service and suddenly a whole bunch of stuff will go away. Your path will become very clear.
[00:14:29] Chanelle: [00:14:30] Yeah, I love it. Even
[00:14:31] Tina: choosing what book to write becomes, becomes an easier thing to, to decide on because you're thinking here's my whole business. What does somebody need help with most? How can I serve them best? That's how you think about how you serve people. That'll help.
[00:14:52] Chanelle: That's great. Now I want to circle back to one thing that you said, because you mentioned one of the rules is frame the book so people [00:15:00] can find it.
[00:15:00] Chanelle: And you gave an example, in a bookstore. And I think that I can very much wrap my mind around that idea of, okay in a bookstore, I'm going to go to this section. I'm going to find it. How do you, how does this apply when you're talking about what we do at Peaceful Profits? When you're talking about interruption marketing, where someone's seeing an ad, framing a book so people can find it, what does that mean for an online book?
[00:15:24] Tina: For an online book, that means everything you've got on the cover. It means your title. It means your subtitle [00:15:30] means your image. Your artwork is so important when you're, people always say, Oh, the cover is the most important thing on Amazon. And it really is whether it's Amazon or Facebook, wherever people are going to see the book, because how we are on Facebook is like scroll speedy, funny cat.
[00:15:42] Tina: Ha. Ooh. And then there's an image. And so your image your title, your subtitle, even the font that you use, which is why it's a really good idea to get a professional involved in designing your cover. Because the number of times I see books where you've got that [00:16:00] tiny little thumbnail, if you like, and you just can't read it, the image might be gorgeous, but if you can't actually read the title, you've lost everything.
[00:16:09] Tina: And so it's that that, that capture ability that is going to capture your audience. And when you know who you're writing your book for, then you will know the kind of images and the kind of wording and the kind of language. But it's your title, your subtitle, and your image the graphics that you use on your cover.
[00:16:24] Tina: And that's the interruption, if you like for the actual book. Because I think within Peaceful Profits, it's a whole pile of testing [00:16:30] done. And the cover of the book is the, is one of the best converters for the ad. And so you want to really use that cover. You want to use that image, because that's going to be everywhere.
[00:16:40] Tina: Yeah, social media on your website, and you're creating a brand when you're doing that, right? So title, subtitle and the and the image itself. Okay. To slow people down.
[00:16:51] Chanelle: Yeah. That's really helpful because that's very different than what we do in a bookstore. And it, it's a different, a whole different [00:17:00] process.
[00:17:00] Tina: It is. In a bookstore, you go in and you're looking at the spines. Ding ding. It's even more limited. Even more limited because it's only a very few number of authors who will actually have their book cover forward on a bookshelf because of how much more space it takes. You don't literally pay for that space.
[00:17:16] Tina: It doesn't, it's not, the person who runs the bookshop to say, Oh, I'm just going to decide that this one is going to be faced a different way. People, publishers pay to have their books displayed in a certain way in a bookshop. And and so in a bookshop, you're just looking at the spine.
[00:17:29] Tina: So [00:17:30] you have even less chance. In fact, if anything, it's better on Facebook at all better on Amazon, because you do get to see the cover where most of the time you don't. So that's where then the discoverability is in the keywords that you use. And again, if you don't have the right kind of if you haven't angled your book or positioned it in a way that people can find it.
[00:17:50] Tina: Then whatever keyword they're using isn't going to bring up your book. We're back to relevance again.
[00:17:55] Chanelle: Yeah. So it's
[00:17:55] Tina: that whole path of clarity. Even back to Ryan Holiday's [00:18:00] one pager, if you like. When your idea and the problem that you're solving is crystal, crystal clear, then your audience is clear, the image you use is clear, your title, your subtitle will be clear because you're not looking to, because you know exactly what it is you want to say to people.
[00:18:13] Tina: All of your ads and the keywords and the categories that you use when you advertise a book, that's going to be crystal clear. You have this beautiful straight line that leads from you right into your authors, into your reader's mind. It's that, that you're looking for. And you can do a test when you [00:18:30] have one problem for one book for one problem that you're solving.
[00:18:33] Chanelle: Okay. Nicely. Perfect. I love that. We have so many good overarching concepts that we've covered. And now I want to get into the nitty gritty a little bit of, so we have these ideas, you know what the book needs to do. We have some specific rules and guidance. What about now we're ready to write the book.
[00:18:51] Chanelle: How do you make a good outline or is that even the process? Is that where you go next? Let me ask it that way. It definitely
[00:18:59] Tina: is. [00:19:00] Okay. Now immediately I'm going to say for a good outline, read OBMM and use that. Yeah. Step one, just do that. But you know what? Here's the other thing. There are some people actually, no, I'm going to have a whole bunch of caveats with that.
[00:19:14] Tina: So the outline in OBMM and when you are part of Peaceful Profits and you get that whole structure that leads from the introduction all the way to the quick wins at the end, it is. It is a profoundly powerful outline because it takes people [00:19:30] through this journey of of introducing the whole problem solution, if you like, in the very beginning.
[00:19:37] Tina: Identifying their problems, who it's for getting to their secret key, the catch the whole works that whole first part of the book is this wonderful path of persuasion. Helps people identify not only that they have the problem, but how deeply they personally have it. And then into part two where you get the solution and then finally the quick ones at the end.
[00:19:56] Tina: So that is a profoundly beautiful structure [00:20:00] and I never recommend people move away from that. The only time, the only thing I do recommend is sometimes you explain to people is okay, if you've got the whole outline for your book, but it doesn't quite fit the way you want to present your information, then you treat the different components of an OBMM book like a bag of marbles.
[00:20:21] Tina: As long as they're all in the bag, It doesn't really matter what order they're in. You can mix it up, but just make sure it's all in there. And so again, when you're thinking about the outline [00:20:30] of your book, imagine you're having a conversation with somebody who doesn't know you, but does have the problem that you're solving.
[00:20:38] Tina: When you look at the outline for OBMM, for Mike's book in particular and when you look then at the structure that we teach at Peaceful Profits, you will find that follows. exactly the conversation you would have with someone. And I stress conversation because that's what it is. People get really tired and nuts about, Oh, I'm writing a book.
[00:20:57] Tina: You're not, you're teaching a book. [00:21:00] You're teaching somebody the solution to the problem that they've got in the simplest way possible. And so when you are thinking about the book you want to write, think about the conversation that you might have with someone. So there's going to be the introduction.
[00:21:13] Tina: This is who I am, and this is why you should listen to me. And this is why you should listen to me. That's what the introduction is. And then you're moving into that first chapter is and this is why you should listen to me. It's because I've helped all of these other people. And suddenly it's oh, okay, I get that attention.
[00:21:28] Tina: And then you're moving on to, this is what the [00:21:30] world could look like. So now you've met me. You trust me. Now I'm going to give you a beautiful new world view. Then I'm going to say, oh, hey, but I also know where you're at. Because there are problems that you're going to face. And I want to make sure that those are cleared away right from the very beginning.
[00:21:42] Tina: So let's deal with that first. Thank you. So there you go, your chapter three, there's now that you've solved this problem, it's okay, I'm going to sneak peek because this is the thing. If you do nothing else, in fact, if you stop reading this book right now and you do this one thing, here you go, it's the holy grail.
[00:21:57] Tina: That's your chapter four. And then you move to the end of part [00:22:00] one of yeah, okay. I get it. You've got it. There still might be some issues. Let's just deal those before we get into the real solution. And so you can see, you could literally be sitting opposite someone in a coffee shop, having the best conversation.
[00:22:12] Tina: And that is the natural path. It would take, which is why the structure of the book works so well, because when people read it, It feels like that conversation. You're not starting the book to say, Here is the solution! And somebody's going, Yeah, but I don't even know who you are yet. Why should I trust you?
[00:22:29] Tina: Why should I believe you? [00:22:30] You're giving people this beautiful launch pad. This is who I am. This is how, why you can trust me. This is what the results are. And so you go until they get to the solution that now can be embedded. Because they understand the background, they understand who you are what you can do, and you know what?
[00:22:46] Tina: If you write a book that leads like that conversation, and has a great solution to that one problem, you pro you pretty much don't even have to put a single call to action into your book. Except right at the very end, where you say, Okay, [00:23:00] this is a whole bunch of book, you and I have spent a few hours together, and you're a beautiful human being, and if you need more help with this, then, hey!
[00:23:06] Tina: Get in touch by then people are so settled and so unsold to that when they need more help, they're going to pick up the phone. One of the biggest mistakes I've seen people make is confused whether they're writing a book or a brochure.
[00:23:22] Chanelle: Yeah.
[00:23:23] Tina: Even though you're writing a book that is designed to grow your business, you're not [00:23:30] writing a sales brochure.
[00:23:31] Tina: And here's where you think about People's mindsets when they pick up a book. Oh, I'm going off track. Real me in, please. But I'm going to finish this point. No, this is so
[00:23:42] Chanelle: good. Keep going. I don't want to reel you in. I want more.
[00:23:45] Tina: Okay, that's fine. It's because you, from your point of view, you're writing a book that's growing your business, right?
[00:23:52] Tina: And that's a beautiful thing. But from the reader's point of view, they're picking up a book. Now, whether they are picking up a book from Amazon or a [00:24:00] bookshelf or anything like that, their attitude Towards the thing that they're picking up hasn't changed since the Simon Sinek book they picked up last week, a book as a book as a book.
[00:24:11] Chanelle: Yeah.
[00:24:12] Tina: They suddenly pick up a book and within the first couple of chapters, they feel like they're reading a sales letter right in your face. They're going to put it down. It's what the heck am I reading here? And they're going to stop reading it. So it is that fine line that you're walking. It's like you're teaching people, but you're teaching people everything.[00:24:30]
[00:24:30] Tina: You are treating this beautiful item exactly for what it is. It is a book. And when people put a book down, they expect to have the whole solution. They don't expect to be shortchanged. They don't expect to get to the end with some kind of bait and hook thing going on. They expect a complete solution because it's a book.
[00:24:48] Chanelle: Yeah.
[00:24:48] Tina: If they wanted only half a solution, then they would go and read a sales letter or they would go read a blog or something like that. But people expect to get a whole solution in a book. And that is, Oh, there's another rule. We're going to [00:25:00] need a list of these whole solution, put the whole solution in the book because that's what people expect.
[00:25:07] Tina: And so if somebody is picking up your book and they get to the end of it and they don't have the whole solution and. There's been a whole bunch of wonderful call to actions, but they've all been really salesy. It's going to fail as a problem solving book, and it's going to fail as something that grows your business.
[00:25:27] Tina: If you put the whole solution [00:25:30] in in a conversational way that doesn't mess with people's heads or sell them hard. If you read O. B. M. and Mike's book, he has a whole heap of call to actions, but they are so beautifully, softly couched that you almost. You almost, when you get to it, you say, Oh, thank heavens you can help.
[00:25:47] Tina: Because yes, that was a complicated section. I'm glad your team's okay. I'm going to keep reading, but it's good to know it doesn't put you off. It doesn't trip you off. It doesn't tie you in knots. And if you follow the OBMM structure in particular, it [00:26:00] doesn't have to be in order as long as all the marbles are in a bag.
[00:26:02] Tina: Then by the time you get to the end of it, like I said, even if the only call to action you have is right at the very end, people are still going to pick up the phone because the book has done its job. You've treated the reader with respect. It's not a baby book sales letter. Yeah. I think it goes back to the piece that you said about having a conversation.
[00:26:23] Chanelle: If you think of your book as a conversation, as long as you're [00:26:30] not that stereotypical, car sleazy car salesman having a conversation, you'll go right. Because you're going to talk to someone. With respect, you're going to talk to them as a human, you're going to give and serve and all these pieces that you've talked about.
[00:26:45] Chanelle: And then it becomes this beautiful thing instead of a sales pitch book. And so I think there's so much to that framework. If people come from that idea of sitting across from someone and [00:27:00] having a conversation and helping them. It will change everything in how this book is written.
[00:27:07] Tina: It's almost the question you want to ask for yourself is that page that I've just written, is there, will that page take somebody a step forward?
[00:27:14] Tina: It's almost like writing a thriller in fiction. Is there some wild thing that happened that will make the reader go to the next page? And in that next page, did something really happen that'll make people go to the next page? And it's the same with nonfiction. Every if you have a [00:27:30] part of your solution or a part or a solution to any elements of your problem, like every page, people are going to go, Oh my gosh, what's next?
[00:27:36] Tina: Oh my gosh, what's next? And so the pages get turned. It's when you fill it with stuff that is not relevant or is beyond the scope or is too self serving. And that's where we talk about how much of your personal story you want to put into your book. You put as much as will serve the solution, anything else you leave out.
[00:27:57] Tina: It's very easy to go, Oh, I created the [00:28:00] solution. I did this. And I did that. Within about five minutes, people are bored because we are an incredibly selfish species. We are only interested in ourselves and how you could help me. I don't really care that much about your story, but if you can weave the snippets of your story in between, then you can actually tell a good deal of your story, but also use that story to help the reader.
[00:28:19] Chanelle: Exactly.
[00:28:20] Tina: Yeah, no outlining your book, think in terms of what is the conversation I want to have, start from the beginning, follow the Obieman process, follow Mike's book. [00:28:30] Oh, little wee PS on that one, follow Mike's book. Don't use Mike's book. The number, please. Gosh. And even in the structure, Mike's book is a beautiful thing at the beginning, I'm writing this book for two reasons.
[00:28:45] Tina: Reason one, reason two, and off you go. And I would say about 85 percent of the books that come through, Use exactly that same structure. And it's it's not going to take much before people are buying two, three, four, because a lot of books go through Peaceful Profits. They're in three, four books with [00:29:00] that same structure.
[00:29:00] Tina: So make it your own. So you follow the principles of it. But it is always your book. It is always your book. And and you make sure that from beginning to end, it's your voice, it's your structure, it's your message, it's your style, and you'll have a winner.
[00:29:16] Chanelle: That's good. It's so hard to do because Mike's is so good.
[00:29:20] Chanelle: You just, Oh, that's so good. I want to use that. I want to use that. It's
[00:29:25] Tina: all so good. But I would say is you follow the principles and the elements, [00:29:30] but not the language structure or the words. That's pure Mike. Come on. Yes. Yes.
[00:29:33] Chanelle: Yes, definitely. Okay. So good. Now I want to reiterate for listeners, the five rules that you have outlined today.
[00:29:42] Chanelle: So identify the problem. I always take notes and I know as people are listening, there's just been so much good stuff and I want for people who are not sitting here with notebook and pen like me to be able to have these top of mind. So the rules are one, identify the [00:30:00] problem very clearly in your book.
[00:30:02] Chanelle: Number two, identify the audience. Who is this book for? Number three, frame the book so people can find it. And we talked about what does that mean? That's getting really. Specific on good cover title image, all of those things down to the font. Number four is beware of padding. Is this useful or am I just throwing stuff in here?
[00:30:24] Chanelle: And number five is put the whole solution in. I think those are fantastic rules, [00:30:30] fantastic guidelines. As we finish up here, Tina, anything else that you would send listeners away with?
[00:30:38] Tina: I would say the most important thing you can do in any book that you write is put your heart, your soul, and your whole truth into it.
[00:30:48] Tina: Yeah, I've read a few books that don't follow any of the OBMM structures, if you like, or even any structures that, that, that would account for a [00:31:00] nonfiction book. But the story is so real and the story is so honest that as you read it, you can't help but be attracted and intrigued by it. And I think when people sit down to write a book, there's often the mistake of saying, okay, I'm going to write a book. And there's that mindset of having to somehow step out of yourself to create this piece of work. That's going to go into a shelf or it's going to go into Amazon. What's going to be actually published and people [00:31:30] might buy it and they step out of themselves. And that's when you get stuff that is There's somehow a disconnect between the author and the message and it feels like it's trying too hard.
[00:31:40] Tina: Whereas if you sit down and you say I am writing a book that is on a topic I am fascinated by or I just love a great deal or has really helped me and I have helped a whole bunch of other people coming to the writing of your book with that level of honesty and care is really all you [00:32:00] need.
[00:32:01] Tina: Because then the message that you want to give across, the message you want to put across, the solution that you're sharing, the little bits of extra information, the stories that you want to put across, all suddenly flow quite naturally because you actually mean what you say. And that is the type of book that readers want and need.
[00:32:20] Tina: Because if you have got a problem and you're looking for a solution to that problem, what you want is somebody who actually cares. And if [00:32:30] you're writing a book from a place of care, your audience is going to find you and they're going to love you. And that's how you grow your business, because they pick up the phone to talk to people who care.
[00:32:41] Chanelle: Yeah. Beautiful. Beautiful. So true. So poignant. I love it. And I think that comes through in one book millions method, that level of care. And that is that's the heart piece and we see it over and over. So for listeners, if you want to [00:33:00] write your own one book millions method style book, if you want help with that Peaceful Profits.
[00:33:05] Chanelle: com forward slash call, you get to work with Tina and our other. Fabulous helpers here at at Peaceful Profits. So thank you all for listening. Thank you, Tina, for being here and we will see you next time. Bye.
