Featherstone 
Your Job as a Non-Fiction Author: Zero in, fill the gaps!
So many non-fiction books try to be everything to everyone. Every lesson the author ever learned, every self-help tip listened to, every skerrick of research crammed in as though the reader has a zillion problems to solve rather than just one pressing one.
But readers are often moved to buy a book because of its specificity…not its breadth.
In Look-It’s Your Book! I write about finding and then drilling down into your non-fiction subject niche. For example
- Italian … gluten-free meals … for vegans
- make-up tips … to create the perfect zombie look
- macrame … for men
You get the picture.
So, it was refreshing when career services specialist and first-time author Linda Oakey told me about her drive to create a short book to help people back into the workforce.
She wasn’t targeting all ages though or targeting everyone including school and university leavers. She wasn’t even targeting every person over the age of 45. She knew her audience clearly … job seekers over the age of 45…who were coming back to work … after a career break.
Her book, Job Gaps to Job Offers for 45+, is brief and to the point (i.e. no unnecessary page-filling fluff) and lays out the very practical (basic for some, revelatory for others) steps to take to overcome those gaps on your resume. The gaps may have been created through redundancy, caring for others (been there!), travel (I wish!) or health reasons, but many of the steps back into the workforce are similar.
The book makes no impossible promises but has measured and useful information, especially for those who have been out of the workforce for some time or looking for entry-level and up positions. It’s wonderful to see someone such as Linda, who cares so much about helping people back into the workforce, put their knowledge into usable book form.
You can find Linda’s book through your favourite online retailer or ask for it through your book store. Congrats Linda!
What kind of gap will your book fill?