Why Persuasive Writing Sells More Books | Writing

By KalindaRoseStevenson,PhD
Total views: 1
Word Count: 437

Persuasive writing is a mindset that focuses on the reader rather than the topic. Writing to persuade means that you never forget that you are writing to persuade a reader.

This mindset will help you avoid the "topic trap" that many writers fall into unawares. What is the topic trap? The topic trap is also a mindset. It is the tendency to think about the topic of your book without identifying why a potential reader would care enough about the topic to buy the book and read it.

In fact, a book is an interactive medium. You might not think so when you spend so many hours working by yourself to write it, facing the blank page or the empty screen.

The process of writing can be very lonely and it is easy to forget that your ultimate goal is to have someone buy and read your book. Your primary objective is to persuade book buyers to buy what you have written. This means that your potential reader needs to be part of the process from the very beginning.

The first question a writer asks about writing a book depends on whether the writer is thinking about the book from the persuasive writing mindset or the topic trap mindset. With the topic trap mindset, writers begin with the question: What is the book about? With a persuasive writing mindset, writers begin with a different question: Who would want to read this book? An even more important question to ask is: Who would actually pay to read this book?

For a moment, imagine that your book is finished and available in the bookstores. When a potential book buyer picks up your book, you only have a few seconds to turn your book browser into a book buyer.

Writers who write from the persuasive writing perspective understand the difference between offering information and offering a solution to a problem. Especially in the "Information Age," when most people are overloaded with information, it is critical to understand that book buyers are not really looking for more information. They are looking for solutions to problems.

The single best way to make sure that your book solves a problem for an identified reader is to write your book with a clear thesis to address a specific problem.

The most basic requirement of writing to persuade is that your book solves the reader's problem.

This means that the more you can persuade a potential reader that your book is the solution to a problem the reader wants to solve, the more likely the reader will buy and read your book. A persuasive writing mindset is your best strategy to sell more books.

About the Author

Kalinda Rose Stevenson, PhD. www.WriteToPersuade.com.If you need an easy guide to the contrast between the "topic trap" and writing a book with a thesis, "What's Your Point? A Writer's Guide To The Simple Idea Behind A Great Book," teaches you to choose your book thesis.

You are here Articles > Writing