you need to explain exactly how you’re going to help them solve their pain and get to their benefit. Make sure this is so clear and simple that even a seventh-grader could understand. It should be as basic as, “I’m going to show you precisely how to do this. I’ll walk you through, step by step by step, until you have mastered everything necessary to get your results.” You can even frame this as a bulleted list of what they will learn in the book. Just make sure that it sounds appealing, and not boring. Remember you are still selling them on reading the book. PART 5: DESCRIBE YOUR BACKGROUND/ORIGIN OF BOOK Once you’ve hooked the reader, appealed to their pain, and shown them the benefit they can have if they overcome it, now it’s time to explain who you are, why you wrote the book, and why the reader should trust what you have to say. Essentially, you’ll establish your authority to be their guide, and contextualize the book for them. The best way to do this, again, is to tell a story. Why did you write this book? Why does this subject matter to you? How did you learn enough to be in a position to teach what you know to people? Why are you qualified—even uniquely qualified—to write this book? Why should the reader credit what you have to say? This is where you can talk about your hero’s journey story—what it took for you to get to this place—because this is where the reader is wondering why they should trust you. After all, if you are going to help them by teaching them so much, they need to know why they should listen to you. But, and this is VERY important: remember that the reader doesn’t care about you. They only care about you and your story insofar 112 · ThE SCriBE METhOD