When Jordan Ring emailed asking if I’d review his book Nonfiction Alchemy, I was about to start a rewrite of a workbook on self-compassion. It seemed an ideal opportunity to create mutual benefit and this review looks at how Nonfiction Alchemy affected my approach to the workbook.
As it says in the blurb on the back, Nonfiction Alchemy is for you if you are: “a coach, entrepreneur, or business owner” and “he’ll show you how to write like an author….”
I work as a coach, so I fit into the target audience – sort of. Nonfiction Alchemy is mainly for people who are not practiced at writing, and I’ve been writing for decades. And since my book is a workbook, it also only sort-of fits: for instance there are no chapters in it. Nevertheless, my writing has mostly been fiction and occasionally short nonfiction, but never book-length nonfiction so I was fairly confident Jordan Ring had something to teach me, and I was ready to learn.
The benefits of outlining
Jordan Ring’s approach to writing is to outline, plan, break into sections and chapters, and outline some more. This is great advice, and his reason is equally sound: if you have an outline, it will help you keep going when you inevitably stall at some point in your book.
But – you knew there was a “but” – my brain just doesn’t seem to work that way. Fiction writers often describe themselves as “plotters” or “pantsers” (flying by the seat of their pants.) I fall somewhere in between: I have an overall idea (and yes, I do even outline that) but when it comes to the actual writing, I plan a bit, unintentionally slip into writing narrative but enjoy it so much I keep going, and then after a while the narrative slows and I do some more planning. The first draft of my nonfiction book followed a similar pattern: I had a plan(ish), followed it to start with(ish) but soon I was firing out sections in whatever order they came into my head.
I even tried to write an outline of this review, but it sounded like something AI might generate.
Jordan Ring and I agree on this: don’t use AI.
Actually, we agree on a lot of things, and I did find this book useful – even the outlining advice. After reading it, I wrote an outline for the second draft of my workbook and it helped me to see where I had repeated topics first time around, as well as topics I’d missed. So even if, like me, you’re more of a “pantser” when it comes to writing nonfiction, yes, I’d recommend Nonfiction Alchemy.
Finding your “why”
Apart from sort-of following the advice about outlining, what else did I gain from reading it? Jordan Ring breaks Nonfiction Alchemy into sections and the section on Starting Your Book of course includes outlining! But before that, he guides you through common fears that might prevent you ever starting your book and gives strategies to overcome these. In Drafting Your Book, he writes about finding your “why” and includes an exercise on how to do this. This isn’t a section to simply read and move on from, but to delve into and genuinely find out what motivates you. It’s worth taking time: exploring the questions in this section helped me get clearer that my book was worth carrying on with (something that like most writers I’d had doubts about from time to time.)
It might surprise you to learn that marketing features in the section on drafting your book. But Ring says marketing starts when you start writing. At this stage, marketing is mostly about making connections, and some of his suggestions were things I would never have considered. (But am now considering!) I was pleased to see I was already well on the way with other suggestions: for example, Ring says getting feedback is crucial and explains different types. Since I’m writing a workbook, getting feedback has been part of my writing process almost from when I’d written the first page.
Tips on how to improve and sell your book
After you’ve drafted your book, you’ll move on to Enhance Your Book. This section includes tips on how to self-edit, as well as tips on how to find and hire an editor, beta readers and other essential forms of feedback. Then, in Give Your Book, he guides you to choose your publishing path, detailing the steps, risks and costs involved in traditional or self-publishing and various options in between. I’m spoiling no secrets when I say Ring recommends self-publishing: this is clear from the back cover! I can see that as his book is mainly aimed at entrepreneurs and business folks that for them self-publishing could be a good route.
For me, I’m not so sure. Right back in the introduction, when Jordan Ring addresses fears that prevent people writing their books, he includes fear of zero ROI in the list. He describes writing a nonfiction book as an investment that will help expand your business. This isn’t really the purpose of my workbook. I see it as a way to support people who might not otherwise learn self-compassion because they can’t afford the services of a coach. So the $1,000s – $10,000s Jordan Ring lists as possible costs of self-publishing feels a little off-putting. But I’m considering it, and considering ways those $1000s might not have to come from my own pocket – or bank balance, since I’m not in the habit of keeping large wads of cash in my pockets! One addition to the Nonfiction Alchemy I’d have loved would be a section on how to go about crowdfunding to finance your book.
The bottom line: is Nonfiction Alchemy worth reading, even if you’re not an entrepreneur or business owner? Yes.
Is it worth reading even if your writing process is more “pantser” than outliner/plotter? Yes. Is it worth reading even if you’re not sure you want to self-publish? Yes.
All in all, Nonfiction Alchemy is an enjoyable, interesting and informative read.
Disclosure: this post contains affiliate links. If you click on a link and buy from Amazon, I will receive a small commission. If you do, thank you!
