When I sat down to write this post, I started thinking about my experience editing non-fiction. It’s actually how I got started in my business, and I’m pretty proud of what I’ve done so far this year: I’ve already edited four non-fiction works that became best-sellers for two different authors. Wow! (I’m even surprising myself.)

In less than seven months, I’ve had the pleasure of editing four non-fiction best-sellers from these authors, and it’s been an amazing experience for me. Not only was I able to shape the construction and lovingly encourage the verbiage as it developed, but I also gained insight and inspiration from the books. If you’re curious about them, please refer to our authors’ book page.

When you’re writing inspiring non-fiction, it can be easy to fall into a didactic tone where you are instructing your reader to follow steps to achieve or a story-telling pattern where you tell the reader what happened for the bulk of the book. Let’s take a step back from that, though. Do you think that your reader will truly feel engaged if you are talking at them like that? What sort of experience do you want your readers to take away from the book? Can you inspire them while making them feel like they personally know you, like they were there for the event, or like they have a connection with your story?

Part of this lies in how you write, and the rest lies in how you encourage the lesson and the connection when they are done reading.

As you edit your completed work, look at it with an extremely critical eye. Ask yourself—

• Do I engage my readers, or am I just talking at them?
• Do I provide occasions for the reader to reflect on what they read? Do I ask questions, request that they take action, etc.?

When you reviewed your work, were you getting bored with your own writing?

If you fall short, why do you think you aren’t engaging your readers? Take a closer look at the structure of your work. Are you telling your readers about something or showing them? Do you incorporate dialogue you recalled from that special summer day and refer to your grandmother as “Nana” or whatever you actually called her? Bring the reader closer to your heart, and they will follow. Involve them in the story.

You want a reader to feel like they are within your inner circle and sharing your secrets. Let them know how you feel/felt as you write. Emotion is a huge connector, both in person and on the page, so make use of it! Especially if you want to inspire them, tell them about how the situation made you feel frustrated, broken, discouraged, enlightened, determined, or whatever. As the author, you are lucky to have the platform to reveal the inner workings of your mind, so take advantage.

If you want the reader to glean a lesson from the text or follow through with steps on their own, consider adding some questions at the end of each chapter or explaining the steps to take to follow the same path you did. Ask the reader to analyze their situation and write about it. This may encourage them to read back through some of the text, ensuring that the message sinks it. Writing about it helps them directly apply what they learned immediately after they read, which also helps with retention.

Taking this idea a step further, you could develop workbooks or worksheets or even other materials to accompany the book, something that keeps the ideas in their head long enough that it actually impacts the reader. Chances are that if they bought the book and enjoyed (and feel a connection to you now), they will want to work on what they learned.

Including a link in your book to a Facebook support group, your YouTube page, or simply your website (all of which you should do anyway) can give you another level of connection. Authors today don’t have to be so disconnected from their adoring public. We can give them advice daily in a Facebook group and encourage the growth of the group as they support each other. Offer a few free downloads of you summarizing the main points of each chapter. Or provide prompts to the group that develop community. We can inspire and encourage further through weekly videos on our YouTube channels. The possibilities are endless!

Here’s the best part for you authors of inspiring work: if a reader feels connected and sees you on social media frequently, you already have them primed for your next book! What a win! So think about the big picture, and make a plan that will keep your audience hooked.

What do you do to make sure your audience feels connected to you, the author? Let me know in the comments!