Stumble It!
How to Write a Killer Table of Contents
Your Table of Contents will either make or break your sale. In the bookstore, 40% of the people who pick up your book will open it, read the table of contents, and make their buying decision right there, so if your Table of Contents doesn’t compel the reader to BUY they’ll put it back…
Your goal is to sell as many books as possible. That’s how you become a bestseller.
Let me share with you how I’ve found the best, most effective and simplest way to write a Table of Contents (TOC) that will make the sale.
First of all, think of each chapter title as a sales headline! Each title needs to stand out on its own and compel the buyer to buy. The TOC is the mini sales piece for your book. It’s actually a lot more than mini — it’s huge!
Your TOC is similar to the headlines in your sales letter. Once someone reads your TOC, you want them to stop everything and get emotional so they feel compelled to read your book right there and now.
When your prospect is emotionally involved, they will buy. So, how do you strick a cord with their emotions?
One of the most effective ways I’ve found to write compelling titles to the chapters is to do a little research. You need to find out what does the reader want.
Go to www.magazines.com and look for a magazine that is similar to your topic. Take a look at the titles of the articles on the cover. See how they are written. These magazines publishers know what their customers are compelled to read so they sell more magazines.
You’ll see titles like
• 8 Simple Ways to . . .
• 25 of the Best . . .
• What You Absolutely Need to Know About . . .
• How to Get Results . . .
Are you starting to get the idea and pay attention to the words they use? I call these power words and action words. You can massage these titles and make them work for your chapters.
Take advantage of their research and see how you can convert headlines for your book titles.
Here’s another idea. Look at the Tabloid magazines as you stand in line at the grocery store. They are full of compelling article titles. Use their ideas to craft your chapter titles and table of contents.
Remember, you don’t want them to put your book back on the shelf.
Are you ready for another killer strategy?
Go to http://news.yahoo.com Scroll down the site and take a look at the “Most Popular” stories. Read the headlines and see how you can massage that into the title of your chapters.
Okay, still another secret I’ll share.
Go to www.usatoday.com Look under the headlines. Search through the categories of most popular and the titles of articles and blogs that get the most clicks. Look at most read, most recommended and find out what people are interested in.
My company is constantly researching these same resources to find out what’s hot and what readers want.
Your goal is to create titles that create an emotion that they feel they need to read your book immediately.
For more strategies on how to write a highly profitable book and how to grab the attention of book buyers, become a member of the Automatic Bestseller Inner Circle today.
March 15th, 2008 at 4:42 am
So what you are saying is that the table of contents needs to serve as an introductory to the book???
Very cool stuff!
I’ve also agree with Chris’ comment that the language used to describe each chapter must be carefully crafted to create the maximum impact and also act as a succint summmation of the chapter.
Keep it comin…
March 16th, 2008 at 12:35 pm
Great article. My table of contents was obviously too direct and not exciting enough.
Thanks for the tip!!!
March 17th, 2008 at 10:39 am
Wow — I was drawing a blank on my table of contents. Now following these steps — I am trying to decide between two or three choices rather than having none!
March 18th, 2008 at 6:18 am
Doh! I read so many magazines, yet spent weeks putting my TOC together. All the while, the answer was right under my nose.
Thank you again Christopher. Your ongoing commitment to helping others is a blessing
May 4th, 2008 at 10:23 am
This is really interesting. I used to work in a university library –in the department that ordered new books — and I think it’s definitely true that people who are trying to decide what to buy, either for themselves or for a group, will look at TOC or chapter titles — just to get a feel for what the book is about. Some of the services that provide reviews of new books also include a copy of the TOC, so it’s definitely good to have one that hooks the reader’s attention.
May 4th, 2008 at 4:13 pm
The first thing without fail that I do when looking at a new book, is to look at the table of contents. I will then browse through what I find the most interesting. This is also the very thing that makes or breaks me into buying a book.
May 6th, 2008 at 8:17 am
It’s funny how you manage to hone in on things that we do but have just never noticed that we do it, Chris.
I always look at the table of contents and if it’s sounds boring, I’ll look for something else but yet I never thought of applying that information to writing one. Plus I’m drawn to article titles with numbers in them, like “10 ways to do…” etc. and probably read them more than most.
Thanks for the tips!
May 20th, 2008 at 6:45 pm
Thanks for the great tips. I did not realize how important Table of Contents was. Amateurs would think it would be the cover of the book. I used to think it would be the name of the book. But now that you mention it, I do take notice of the table of contents when flipping through a book. It is a sad fact that people judge books this way, but this is a psychological thing. There is no getting around it.
May 26th, 2008 at 2:21 pm
I don’t think it’s sad that people use these shorter pieces to judge the whole quality of the book — it’s the same kind of thing you do with other shopping. You use a sample to decide if it’s something you will like and that will be worth your investment.
If your book overall is excellent, then the table of contents and the cover should reflect that.
May 29th, 2008 at 5:56 pm
Maybe we shouldn’t judge a book by it’s cover, or TOC, in this example, but with so many books out there to choose from we have to have some ways of narrowing the field of what we want to buy. I always read the back cover, any inserts the book may have and the TOC. I don’t want to waste my time on a book that doesnt’ do anything for me.
June 2nd, 2008 at 1:26 am
This is a new knowledge for me. I don’t have any idea that a table of content can be so important. But judging from your reason, I think you’re right. As a reader I always interested with books or magazines with an interesting headline. Like “10 Simple way” or “Guaranteed way to..”. The reader will be curious to read more, so it can help to sale.
June 4th, 2008 at 3:24 pm
Yeah, but you know, even though I have always looked at the TOC, I didn’t really ever think about it before. It didnt’ occur to me how important it was.
June 7th, 2008 at 11:02 am
You know sometimes the table of contents is very important especially for quick reference, but some of them are so poorly written that it makes you wonder what they are doing. When trained how to properly write them you have a better chance of selling your book and keeping people buying more from you.