Sylvia MelenaWatch the Video
The following video shows you how New York Times Best-Selling Author Kevin Kruse uses the topic-based structure to create a professional nonfiction business book:
What Is Topic-Based Nonfiction Book Structure?
The topic-based book structure organizes the overall nonfiction book and its chapters by topics.
In a pure topic-based book, the topics are not listed in any particular order. Readers can open the book to any page and get value from reading the topic without knowing the rest of the content. Each topic is a complete and concise piece of content.
How to Structure a Nonfiction Book Using Topic-Based Style
Here’s how to quickly organize and structure a topic-based book.
Select Your Book Topic
Structuring your book using a topic-based format is professional and easy to do. First, select your overall book subject or what your book will be about. This is also referred to as your book topic and is generally broad yet focused.
For example, instead of writing about leadership, you can select a more focused subject, such as leadership development, leadership inspiration, or leadership tips.
Similarly, instead of writing about real estate, your book can focus on buying a house, selling your home, or house hunting tips. These are just a few examples of broad but focused topics.
Select Your Chapter Topics
Once you’ve decided what to write your book about, select a handful of subtopics that cover important tips related to your book’s broader theme.
Fictitious Example of Topic-Based Book Structure
For example, here’s what a topic-based structure for a book about selling your home could look like:
Book Topic: Selling your home
- Chapter 1: Getting clear on why you want to sell
- Chapter 2: Pricing your home
- Chapter 3: Getting your home ready to sell
- Chapter 4: Finding the right real estate agent
This is a brief example, and you’ll have more than four chapters in your book. I recommend identifying between seven (7) and ten (10) chapter topics for your first nonfiction business book.
Also, these are not the book and chapter titles. They’re just topics. You’ll craft titles that sell later in the book writing process.
Real-Life Example of Topic-Based Book Structure
Great Leaders Have No Rules by Kevin Kruse1 is an excellent example of how to implement a topic-based nonfiction book structure. Kevin is a prolific book author who is highly regarded in the leadership space.
His book title and subtitle, Great Leaders Have No Rules: Contrarian Leadership Principles to Transform Your Team and Business, reveal the exact topic the book covers.
To support the book’s theme, Kevin uses highly relevant chapter topics and titles, giving you a glimpse into what his book is about. Here are a few of his chapter titles:
- “Close Your Open-Door Policy,”
- “Shut Off Your Smart Phone,”
- “Have No Rules,”
- “Be Likeable, Not Liked,” and
- “Lead with Love.”2
These chapter titles support his overall book topic. Also, they’re related to leadership but are not in sequential order. You can shuffle them around, and the revised order will still make sense and work for the book.
How to Structure the Chapters of a Topic-Based Nonfiction Book
In addition to overall book structure, you must also create a consistent format for all your chapters.
Kevin uses a simple but effective chapter structure for his topic-based book. He writes an intro to the chapter followed by headers to further organize the content according to chapter subtopics.
Here are four headers, or subtopics, from his first chapter, “Close Your Open Door Policy:”3
- “Got a Minute?”
- “In Search of Communication and Transparency”
- “But I Don’t Want to Speak Up”
- “Leapfrogging the Chain of Command”4
Notice these headers are also not in sequential order, and you can also move them around.
The Benefits of Using the Topic-Based Book Structure
The beauty of a topic-based nonfiction book is that it’s extremely easy to organize and write.
The chapter topics are completely independent of one another and do not require you to organize them in any specific order. The same applies to the headers, or subtopics, within each chapter.
This flexibility not only speeds up your book writing but also empowers your readers. It allows them to access the content they need anywhere in the book without feeling the need to read the preceding pages. This puts them in control of their reading experience.
Topic-based books are flexible and valuable tools for your ideal client and reader. And the ease of implementation allows you quickly structure and a write professional nonfiction business book.
About the Author
SYLVIA MELENA is the Founder & Principal of Melena Consulting Group, a company specializing in leadership and organizational development and business book writing and publishing. Sylvia is a two-time international award-winning and three-time best-selling author and publisher. She is also the former Vice President of the San Diego Book Awards Association and a four-time marketing judge for the National Association of Hispanic Publications’ José Martí Awards. Her leadership philosophy has been featured in the Society of Human Resources Management HR Today, the Human Performance Association, Entrepreneur, LEADx, My Quest for the Best, and other outlets.
Reference: 1, 2, 3, 4 Kruse, K., & Bradberry, T. (2019). Great leaders have no rules: Contrarian leadership principles to transform your team and business. Rodale Books.
