An actionable guide with don’t-waste-another-second-book-writing templates to learn how to write a nonfiction book.
Close your eyes. Picture your book in your hands. Feel its crisp cover. Listen to the thwerp sound it makes as you thumb through the pages. Breathe in the fresh scent of newly minted wisdom.
This will be your reality in 2025… If you want it to be.
I’m Jordan, author of eight books under my own name, and ghostwriter/editor on many others.
My eighth book is the bestselling Nonfiction Alchemy, a book on how to write, publish, and market nonfiction books.
That book is everything I wish I knew about publishing when I started back in 2015.
You do not need to read that book to write your own book, but it’s helpful for those who want to look ahead to publishing, marketing, and beyond.
This blog post will show you how to write a nonfiction book in 2025:
- What to ignore: 3 tasks to stop worrying about.
- Templates to start your book.
- Resources to make early publishing decisions.
- An introduction to the Write-with-Why method so you never lose writing momentum.
- How to focus on getting a manuscript written and not worrying (yet!) about editing, marketing, and all that.
✅ Read and take action.
✅Save this blog post as a favorite.
✅Refer back to it as needed as you continue on your journey.
Let’s Start With 3 Tasks You Don’t Need To Do To Start Your Book
I researched various posts and other methods for writing a book when putting together this blog. I also read everything under the sun while writing Nonfiction Alchemy.
I’ve come across bad (terrible) pieces of advice.
To write your nonfiction book, You do NOT need to:
❌ Pick a style guide: This is a task for far later in the process. And if you hire an editor (which you should do) you will never need to bother with this question. That’s their job.
❌ Choose a sub-genre: Don’t do this. You will pigeon hole yourself too early in the process. Instead, let your outline and purpose for the book determine your genre.
❌ Decide on a title. Yes, pick a working title, but you don’t need to have a set-in-stone perfect title for your book from day one. Titling a book is an iterative process done over time.
Writing a book is a massive task. If you read too much on the subject, you will overwhelm yourself before you even start.
Ignore most of what you read online IF it gets in the way of starting to write.
All the Resources You need to Start Your Book
You could read this post and others just to get more information. And yes, that is important, but theory isn’t going to start your book.
If you’ve already convinced that writing a book is for you, you need actionable next steps.
This is how you start to write a nonfiction book in 2025:
- Get clear on your main idea: Decide what you want to write the book about and who you want to write it for. Synthesize your book idea into a framework in your head that you can easily share with friends over a meal.
- Start a book outline document: Do not skip this step. Use this book outline template to get started.
- Revamp your weak outline into a kick-ass outline: Complete my course, The Nonfiction Writer’s Roadmap to easily craft an outline that will write the book for you. This course is chock full of video screenshares, real examples, and encouragement to help you make progress.
- Learn what people love in nonfiction books: Download this free report to dissect the success formulas of 124 of the most popular nonfiction books of all time.
- Go to the bookstore (or, sigh, Amazon): Grab 10 books that relate to your book. Buy them. Read them. You will discover gaps, learn what you didn’t know, and will become that much more of an authority in your subject. 99.99% of authors won’t do this. This is one way to separate yourself from the pack.
So, do these steps first, and then come back here to pick your publishing path, and then learn how to never lose momentum when writing.
Think About This One Early: Pick Your Best Publishing Path
To go the traditional publishing route or to self-publish… This is the top of your decision funnel for publishing, and it’s the first step you must take toward making your book a reality. It’s also the most vexing for newbie authors.
But because all your publishing and marketing decisions and tasks stem from either choice, you can’t afford ignorance. Noodle on this well before the book is done.
When authors I work with ask me which one they should choose, I answer honestly: the best publishing path for you depends on your goals. For most people, self-publishing is the best choice, and the only choice.
Despite what many people say, your publishing path isn’t really a decision; you can pursue a traditional deal, but there is no guarantee you will get it.
You get to decide the best route for you because it’s your book and your path to walk, but let me give you the facts as I know them, along with a few opinions from my decade of experience here.
Spoiler alert: I prefer self-publishing. I see more advantages here over the traditional model for what most people I work with aspire to do with their books. I don’t like gatekeepers, and I don’t like loss of creative control. So, let me sway you if you will, but please, disagree with me here and seek out your own way forward if you see fit.
The difference between the two publishing avenues is not what you’d expect. It comes down to one key factor: who owns the rights and royalties for your book. If the author owns the rights and royalties, it’s technically a self-published book. If the publishing company owns the rights and royalties, it’s traditionally published.
So, start by asking yourself honestly, what is my likelihood of getting traditionally published?
- Am I famous?
- Do I have an engaged audience of 100k? 200k? 300k?
- Do I have connections and contacts in the industry?
Even if you’re a well-known business professional making millions of dollars per month, publishers still want to see an established audience that is ready to buy your books. They want to know that their investment in you and your book will pay off, and they are annoyingly picky.
Byrd Leavell, a literary agent at United Talent Agency and representative of New York Times bestselling authors, says this about traditional publishers:
Publishers aren’t buying anything that doesn’t come with a built-in audience that will buy it. They don’t take risks anymore, they don’t gamble on authors, they only want sure things. I won’t even take on an author unless they have an audience they can guarantee 25k pre-sales to.
Whether or not a traditional publisher will accept you also depends on how engaged your audience is and how many books you can sell to them during launch.
A myriad of other factors come into play with regard to how many books you can sell, but not having a preexisting following is a real barrier for the new author who wants a traditional book deal. You must be able to demonstrate you have an audience and that they’ve bought from you in the past.
So with traditional publishing, you have to get past several gatekeepers: an agent and a publisher. With self-publishing, you don’t have a gatekeeper until after you publish: your audience. Other than your audience and readers, no one can get in your way or tell you no.
No one can tell you that your book is trash and doesn’t stand a chance in the market. Nothing will stop you but your ability to hustle and prove everyone wrong.
And yes, you can publish a book that is absolute trash, but the true gatekeepers, the ones who matter, will have something to say about it.
Think on this one early on and make your decision from there, because the milestones and deliverables change depending on which path you choose.
These are the milestones of the self-publishing route:
- First draft completed
- Editing
- Finished Manuscript
- Book cover design and formatting
- ISBN purchase
- Pricing strategy
- Uploading your book to various platforms for distribution
- Launch and marketing
Traditional publishing path milestones:
- Book proposal created
- Research agents
- Write a query letter and synopsis
- Query agent
- Sign an agent
- Manuscript and/or proposal submissions to publishers
- Publisher acceptance
- Editing with publisher’s team
- Launch and marketing
Traditional publishing just isn’t something most authors should pursue. It’s most often a waste of time and resources, and since there isn’t a lot of carry over between the two paths, if you decide to pursue traditional publishing and hit a stone wall of rejections, you’ll have to start the self-publishing path from the beginning.
The cost of your time in seeking a traditional publishing avenue is something many people fail to consider, but it should weigh heavily on your decision.
But let’s say you still want to pursue the option to traditionally publish your book. If so, good for you. I applaud your gumption. But know that:
- Seeing your book in print takes forever: This is my primary reason for advising authors against traditional; it will take significantly longer than you want it to. And while I don’t like to think of it as a waste of time, what happens if you spend time and resources to land a great agent, write an epic proposal, and pitch it to publishers only to land a date years in the future? Your business needs your book now, not three years from now (which is how long this process could take).
- You fork over the rights to your book: Your publisher will only care about selling copies of what is now, for all intents and purposes, their book. Your upsells beyond the book mean nothing to them, even if they’re your primary money-makers. You also make a lot less money per book in traditional vs. self-publishing.
- You still may need to hire an editor: If you get chosen for a publishing deal, they will assign you an editor. However, the big caveat here is that with the book proposal, you may need to include a chapter or two. So, if you want to get chosen, these need to be as good as you can get them. And in order for them to be good enough, it may behoove you to hire your own editor. This decision point can be challenging and costly if you aren’t totally bought into traditional.
- You lose creative control: If you go traditional, they hold the final say for every word inside and outside of your book, even your author bio. If it doesn’t fit your brand… Too bad… As long as it helps sell more books, it’s all good. If you want to make an audiobook or sell the rights to the book to another country or language? Gotta ask permission or make sure it’s in your contract, or you can’t do it. Sorry.
- Various marketing restrictions: Want to give away free copies of your book at a speech? You might not be able to. What about a free copy on your website as a lead magnet? Nope. You probably can’t give a free PDF copy of the book away as a download either. You also can’t make pricing decisions with your book.
- Distribution: You don’t have to “worry” about this if you go traditional, but you also don’t have any say in where your book goes. You might not be guaranteed to get the book into bookstores.
According to Hugh Howey, a New York Times bestselling author of over a dozen novels,
“self-publishing allows you to complete your work, make it available, and then move on to the next project. There is less chance of burning out or getting discouraged.”
“For many authors, self-publishing is the most attainable—and even profitable—method of publication.”
And Amy Suto, author and digital nomad adds,
“So while traditional publishing can give you a bit of a shine of status, it’s a lengthy, bureaucratic process where you give up power, ownership over your book, control over the process, and end up waiting years to see your book hit shelves.”
Self-publishing is the first choice for most authors. According to The Big Indie Author Data Drop by The Alliance of Independent Authors,
“Younger authors are making self-publishing their first choice: ‘Less than half of authors under 45 years old would prefer to have their next book traditionally published.’
But it must be said: most of the issues with traditional publishing don’t feel as important when you manage to score a $100k (or more) advance. The sweet, sweet nature of money makes it a lot easier to say, “Sure, do what you want, as long as I get a check!”
But still, if you’re thinking long term (and I bet you are), even a $100k advance might not be worth it, especially considering the loss of creative control of your book.
What if the traditional publisher wants to change your book’s contents in a way that doesn’t match your ideal coaching client? Too bad. In this case, you may sell copies of your book, but the funnel has been pierced by corporate greed.
This is what I think (take it or leave it): The answer to the question of self-publishing vs. traditional comes down to creative momentum. What will allow you to get your book to your potential clients faster?
For most business owners, self-publishing is the only real answer.
Write. Take a break. Write. Get Stuck: Write with Why
You’ve started your outline and you’ve chosen your publishing path. Congrats! Now you got to get your butt-in-the-seat and get writing.
Schedule your writing sessions in advance. Look ahead at your week, cut less important activities, and focus on setting your new writing priority.
Your book will never get written unless you dedicate at least 5-10 hours per week OR hire a ghostwriter like me to do the heavy lifting for you.
The fact is, writing a book takes a ton of time.
You can’t use ChatGPT or other AI to do it for you (unless you want a piece of garbage to hand to your audience).
You need to be ready to put in the work. It’s HARD work, but oh so rewarding.
But the hardest part of writing a book isn’t thinking about what to say. It’s not overcoming fear of not being good enough. It’s not wondering how you’re going to sell the book once it launches.
The hardest part of writing a book is convincing yourself it’s worth all the effort.
- Is it worth it for me to spend upwards of five hundred hours writing? (FYI, this is why quality book ghostwriting costs more than other services because it takes a ton of time, experience, and value.)
- Is it worth it to spend money on writing help, editing, marketing, platform building, etc.?
- Why do I have this blank document opened?
- Why am I writing a book when I could record a podcast, take a video, or finish xyz that I need to get done for my business?
- Is it worth it to go through all this?
Morgan MacDonald, in her book, Start Writing Your Book Today says:
In my years as a writing coach, I’ve come to realize that starting the first draft often seems like it will be the hardest part, but it’s not. Convincing yourself that your book is worth all the sacrifice of time, energy, money, and everything else in life—that’s the hardest part of writing a book.
You will face these questions at an increasing rate without the Write with Why Method. This lack of motivation can be crippling, but it needn’t last. This method is a simple process of answering a question I ask all my clients at the beginning of the book-writing process:
“Why are you writing this book?”
I get nonspecific answers at first. This is normal, but then I dig deeper.
“How will writing this book change your life, your business, your family, etc.?”
This is where the magic happens. Unless your only answer is to become a millionaire (a ridiculous notion if you’re writing your first book), the wheels are turning and you start to see how a book can help you and your business.
And don’t get me wrong, you should expect to make money with your book, especially if you align it with your brand and/or your business. In fact, in a survey of 150 entrepreneurs-turned-authors done by the Grammar Factory, 34 percent of the entrepreneurs surveyed reported their earnings doubled since the publication of their book.
So, why are you writing your book? Answer this for yourself and your project. If you discover your why for writing, it will push you forward when the going gets tough. Make sure the reason is realistic and not bound to factors outside of your control.
To get your mind churning, use these reasons below to write a book, but remember, your reason needs to be unique and important to you, or you’ll hit 10k words and quit, or worse, you’ll get to the completed manuscript and forget why you even started this arduous task:
- To share your knowledge or unique expertise: Everyone should write a book (or tell their story in some form) because we’ve all had unique experiences that helped shape who we are. Every single person has valuable content just waiting to be expressed. Your ideas are absolutely worth sharing.
- To tell a story: Writing a book is an excellent way to share your hard-fought personal experiences and triumphs.
- To inspire or motivate: Books change lives. Your story will motivate someone and change lives too.
- To book speaking engagements: In the same Grammar Factory study mentioned above, 72 percent of the entrepreneurs-turned-authors booked speaking engagements after publishing, and a whopping 33 percent were paid to speak at these events. This is a huge win.
- To establish authority: Writing the book on it makes you an automatic expert. It doesn’t mean you are better than anyone else, but people (hint: potential clients) place a high value on the time and care it takes to put an expert-level book together. Once again, in the Grammar Factory study, entrepreneurs reported that they used their books to establish new strategic partnerships, with “74% finding new referral partners, 42% getting distribution partners, and 26% partnering with big brands in their industry.”
- To leave a legacy: For many people, writing a book is the perfect way to leave a lasting legacy and share their wisdom or experiences with future generations.
Now is the time to consider your reason for writing, a why that tugs at your heartstrings enough to fuel you when it gets tough. Your reason for writing needs to go beyond hoping to make a quick buck; you can make money in many other ways. Find a powerful spark of undying motivation that speaks to you, capture its essence, and use it to write your book.
Writing a book sharpens our ledger in the permanence of time and the written word more than almost any other creative endeavor. It’s also a uniquely cathartic and freeing experience to get the words out on paper. Whether your goal is to make money, help others, or reflect, reevaluate your reason for writing.
Find a reason for your book that makes you write no matter how it feels to write on any given day. Have a strong why for writing your book that goes beyond a delusional aspiration of becoming a NY Times bestseller.
A driving purpose is how you stay motivated throughout the long and arduous writing process. Answer this question before you go any further:
I’m writing a book because:
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
Later tonight, when you sit down to write (or early the next morning for you sunrise lovers), remember your motivation for writing. Write it on a sticky note, create a new desktop background, or burn it on your retinas.
You’ll need the reminder once you get started. A lucky few will find a flow that carries them all the way from word one to fifty thousand, but this isn’t common.
It’s sometimes maddening, sometimes joyful to sit down and get the writing done. The only way to finish is to have a clear reason for the joyfully agonizing process of writing a book. This is my why for my most recent book:
Nonfiction Alchemy will enhance my credibility as a writer and author. With it, I will be able to secure higher-paying ghostwriting and editing jobs, increase signups for my email list and book outlining course, and most importantly, inspire people to get their own ideas out of their heads and onto paper.
The purpose of your book may emerge over time. You don’t need to know it right away. What is written above was changed several times from the original version to keep me going.
At the risk of going overboard on some tactless inspiration, you need to write the effing book already. We only get one shot at this life. So don’t just think about it. Do it. It’s okay to think about your book and wonder about the possibilities, but at some point, you just need to stop wondering and write.
Good luck writing your nonfiction book in 2025.
All the best.
And joyful writing to you,
-Jordan
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