Most authors start with the chapter outline. Smart authors start with the job description.
Before you write a single word, your book needs to know what work it’s going to do for you. Is it your business card on steroids — handed to prospective clients to establish authority before the first sales call? Is it your speaking platform’s calling card — the thing event organizers see before they book you? Is it the prerequisite reading for your $50,000 program — the filter that makes sure only serious people apply?
Each of those jobs requires a different book. The same content, structured differently, sells differently. A book written to attract clients is short, prescriptive, and full of “you should do X.” A book written to establish authority is longer, evidence-rich, and full of “here’s why this works.” A book written as a course primer is teaching-heavy with calls to upgrade.
When I sit down with a new client, the first question is never “what’s the book about?” It’s “what do you want this book to do?” The answer determines everything downstream — length, structure, voice, even the table of contents.
Books without a job description sit in boxes. Books with a job description get deployed — into sales conversations, speaking gigs, podcasts, media bookings, client orientations. That deployment is what generates the return.
So before you outline chapter one, draft a one-page job description for your book. What does it open doors for? Who does it sell to? What does it replace in your current sales process? What’s the call to action at the end? Write that first. The book gets easier from there.
