We begin by having our authors identify how they see their book serving readers. Once you can pinpoint the benefit your readers will receive, you’ll see how to connect their support to your goals. Here are some common ways authors want their book to serve their readers: 1. Help Solve A Problem/Get Something They Want: This is usually the big one, and can vary across a wide range of benefits, but the point is that every reader is buying your book because they anticipate it is going to get them something they want—so what is that thing? 2. Gain Knowledge/Wisdom/Information: Sometimes that thing the author wants will come from learning something, so this is often intimately tied with solving a problem, but they are not always the exact same thing. 3. Inspired/Motivated/Empowered: This is about how the read- ers will feel coming out of the book. 4. New Perspective: This is not as common as the above, but still fairly frequent. Many authors want to give readers an entirely new way to look at something. EXAMPLES From a book about learning faster and more effectively: • First and foremost, I want to inspire them, and convince them that they aren’t stuck where they are now—that they can improve and unlock their full potential to learn anything and everything, fast. • I’d like to give them tools and techniques (and then the confi- dence) to actually learn faster. • Finally, I’d like to open their eyes to an alternative way of living, from health to lifestyle design, to their career. I want to ultimately inspire and empower them to live the lives of their dreams. 58 · ThE SCriBE METhOD