Decide what your book is for and who it is for
Before you outline or write a word, decide two things: the one result the book must produce for you, and the one kind of reader who can produce it. Every later choice, from the title to which stories make the cut, gets easier once these are written down. This stage takes an afternoon and saves months.
Why this comes first
A book usually stalls not because the author cannot write, but because no one decided what the book was supposed to do. Without that decision, every chapter feels optional, every story seems worth including, and the draft keeps growing in all directions.
A clear objective and a clear reader give you a filter. When you are unsure whether a section belongs, you ask: does this help this reader, and does helping them move me toward the result? If both answers are yes, it stays. If not, it goes.
Step 1: Pick the result the book must produce
The Scribe Method's chapter on book objectives asks authors to imagine it is a few years after publication and name what would make the effort worthwhile. For professionals writing nonfiction, the answers usually fall into four groups.
| Objective | What it looks like | What it asks of the book |
|---|---|---|
| Leads and clients | Prospects read the book, then call you. You hand it out instead of a brochure. | Teach your approach clearly enough that the right reader wants more of it. Show how you think, not a sales pitch. |
| Speaking | Event organizers book you because the book gives them a topic, a title and a reason. | One big idea a room can grasp in an hour, with stories that work out loud. |
| Authority | Media, partners and peers treat you as the person who wrote the book on your subject. | Depth and precision. A point of view your field will recognize as yours. |
| Legacy | Your family, team or industry has a record of what you learned, in your words. | Honesty and completeness for a known audience. Sales and positioning matter less. |
Two real examples, both from Scribe authors. Michael Erath mails 75 to 100 copies of Five Obsessions of Elite Organizations to targeted prospects every month and calls it the best lead magnet his coaching firm has (his story). Jesse Cole wrote Fans First to share his company's vision and win speaking and media opportunities, and his story reports a 500% increase in paid speaking after the book (his story). Note that neither measured success in copies sold.
Make the result concrete
Turn your objective into a moment you will recognize when it happens. The Scribe Method calls this the "champagne moment." Weak versions are fantasies outside your control. Strong versions are things the book can plausibly cause.
- Weak: "The book becomes a bestseller."
- Strong: "A CFO I have never met calls because a colleague handed them the book."
- Weak: "I get on a famous stage."
- Strong: "A regional industry association books me for a paid keynote on the book's topic."
Decision rule: if you list three objectives, rank them. The top one wins every tie. A book that tries to be a lead tool, a memoir and a textbook at once usually ends up doing none of them well.
Step 2: Describe the one reader who gets you there
Your objective tells you who the reader must be. If the goal is consulting work from mid-size manufacturers, the reader is not "business owners." It is the operations leader at a 200-person plant who is losing good people and has already tried the obvious fixes.
Write the reader down with this template. Fill in every line. If a line is blank, that is the line to research.
| Reader profile field | Your answer |
|---|---|
| Who they are (role, stage, setting) | |
| The problem they would say out loud | |
| The problem underneath, which they may not see yet | |
| What they have already tried, and why it did not work | |
| What they want instead (in their words) | |
| What they believe that your book will challenge | |
| What they already know (so you can skip it) | |
| Where they get advice now (podcasts, peers, newsletters) | |
| What they should do after the last page |
A worked example
This is an example we wrote to show the template filled in. The author is a fictional fractional CFO who wants more clients among growing service firms.
| Field | Example answer |
|---|---|
| Who they are | Founder of a services firm with 15 to 60 employees, past the startup stage, still doing the books with a part-time bookkeeper. |
| Problem they say | "We are busy and growing, but there is never any cash." |
| Problem underneath | They price projects on gut feel and do not know which clients lose money. |
| Already tried | A new accounting system, a line of credit, raising prices across the board. |
| What they want | "To stop worrying about payroll every other Friday." |
| Belief to challenge | That more revenue will fix a cash problem. |
| Already know | Basic profit and loss. They do not need a chapter on what a balance sheet is. |
| Where they get advice | Peer groups for founders, two business podcasts, their banker. |
| After the last page | Run a client profitability review on their last 12 months, then call the author if the results scare them. |
Look at how much this settles. The book does not need a primer on accounting. It does need a chapter on client profitability, stories of founders who grew into a cash crunch, and a simple worksheet the reader can run. The tone is peer to peer, not professor to student.
How to check your reader is real
- Name three people. If you cannot think of three real people who fit the profile, the profile is imaginary.
- Call two of them. Ask what they are stuck on and what they have tried. Write down their exact phrases. Those phrases often become chapter titles.
- Read where they talk. Forums, comment sections and the questions people ask you after talks. Repeated questions are a gift.
- Check the fit with your goal. If every reader you can name would never hire you, book you or need your legacy, the reader and the objective do not match. Change one.
Step 3: Write it in one sentence
Combine the two decisions into a single sentence you can keep at the top of your draft. Scribe calls this a North Star and offers a free North Star exercise. The shape is simple: "I will use my book to reach [reader], by teaching them [idea], which will lead to [objective]." For the example above:
"I will use my book to reach founders of growing service firms, by teaching them how to find which clients make and lose money, which will lead to more fractional CFO engagements."
You will refine the middle part, the idea, in Stage 2. For now it only needs to be true.
Mistakes to avoid
- Writing for everyone. A broad reader produces a vague book. You can still sell to people outside the profile, but you write for the one inside it.
- Writing for yourself. Your story belongs in the book only where it helps the reader. Decide the reader first and this sorts itself out.
- Choosing an objective you cannot influence. Bestseller lists and famous interviews are outcomes of many things. Pick a result the book itself can drive.
- Skipping the conversation. An hour on the phone with two real readers will change your outline more than a week of thinking alone.
Your Stage 1 checklist
- One ranked objective, written as a concrete moment.
- A filled-in reader profile with no blank lines.
- Three real people who fit it, and notes from talking to at least two.
- One sentence that joins reader, idea and objective, pinned to the top of your notes.
Common questions
What is the best reason to write a nonfiction book?
The best reason is a specific result you can name, such as more clients of a certain kind, paid speaking, or a record of what you know for your family or company. Vague reasons like "to share my story" are fine as a start, but they make the book hard to write because nothing tells you what to leave out.
Can a book have more than one goal?
Yes, but pick one to lead. A book that wins clients often builds authority too. When two goals pull in different directions, such as a memoir for family versus a lead tool for buyers, the lead goal decides.
How specific should my target reader be?
Specific enough that you could name a real person who fits. A job title, a stage of business or life, a problem they are stuck on and what they have already tried. If your reader is "anyone who wants to succeed," keep narrowing.
Should I write for my clients or for people who are not clients yet?
If the book is meant to bring in work, write for the person one step before they hire you: they have the problem, they know it, and they are looking for a way through. Current clients will still get value, but they are not who the book needs to persuade.
Sources: The Scribe Method, chapter 6 (Figure Out Your Book Objectives), chapter 7 (Figure Out Your Audience) and chapter 9 (The North Star Check); Scribe success stories for Michael Erath and Jesse Cole, read October 20, 2026. Reader profile example written by Scribe Media for this guide.