How to Plan Your Book: A Step-by-Step Case Study (Part 1)

📘 Smart Publishing Impact Series – Episode 42

If you’re someone who’s been talking about writing a book for years but can’t seem to get past the “Where do I even start?” stage—this episode is for you.

After taking a week off for Thanksgiving (and giving my brain a much-needed reset), I came back to the mic thinking… What haven’t I covered yet?

Forty-two episodes in, and let’s be honest—I’ve talked about almost everything.

So today kicks off something brand new:
📚 A Case Study Series.

This series takes you beyond concepts and into actual application—walking you step-by-step through planning a real book idea so you can finally see how the process works in action.

And we’re starting with the first and most important phase of writing your book: planning.

🌟 Why Planning Matters More Than Writing

I’ve said it hundreds of times, but it always deserves repeating:

The planning phase is the most important part of writing your book.

Not writing.
Not editing.
Not publishing.

Planning.

If you skip this step—or rush through it—your entire book suffers. You waste time, lose clarity, and often end up with a manuscript that doesn’t support your real goals as an author.

So today, I’m walking you through exactly how I would plan a book from scratch, using a real-life hypothetical concept people ask me about all the time:

👉 “How did you climb to the top as a minority woman in the corporate world?”

I’m Hispanic, and before entering the publishing world I built a successful corporate career, eventually landing in a C-suite position. People constantly ask me to turn that journey into a book—so let’s use it as our sample case study.

🔄 Step 1: Start With the End (Backwards Design)

Before you plan chapters or outline ideas, you must know:

What is your primary purpose for writing this book?

Examples might be:

• Inspire others through your story

• Build brand authority

• Get speaking engagements

• Teach a specific framework

• Support a business or value ladder

For this case study, let’s say my primary goal is:
🎤 To land speaking engagements.

This matters because it shapes everything—tone, structure, format, storytelling style, and even how you include calls to action.

🎙 Why Purpose Shapes Structure

If I want speaking opportunities, I’m going to:

• Write in a more narrative, keynote-like style

• Focus on transformational stories

• Make it engaging, emotional, and memorable

• Include clear takeaways

• Sprinkle in CTAs for booking inquiries

I’ll also likely record my book instead of writing it, because speaking my story naturally creates the tone event planners want to hear.

This is why planning must come before writing—you can’t structure a book well if you don’t know its job.

🧱 Step 2: Choose Your Structural Style

When writing a personal-but-principle-driven book, you have two main approaches:

Option A: Story-Driven (Instructional Memoir)

Chapters move through key life events, milestones, and transformational moments.

Option B: Principle-Driven (Conceptual Framework)

Chapters focus on topics, steps, or principles—with stories sprinkled in.

For a book meant to attract speaking gigs?
📕 Instructional memoir wins.

Because audiences connect more deeply to personal narrative than to bullet lists.

🌀 Step 3: Decide HOW to Tell the Story

Story-driven books don’t always have to be chronological. You can:

• Start at the beginning

• Start at the “big moment” (a la Quentin Tarantino)

• Organize by major lessons or pivotal events

• Move back and forth in time for dramatic effect

The key is this:
Whatever order you choose must make logical sense to the reader, even if it’s not chronological.

For example, I could start the book at:

• My C-suite promotion

• Buying a café at 19 without knowing a thing

• The burnout moment that changed everything

• A moment of discrimination—or triumph

• The launch of Smart Publishing

All are valid. What matters is the reason behind the starting point and how it pulls the reader forward.

📘 Step 4: Determine Core Elements You MUST Include

No matter the structure, your book needs:

✔️ Introduction

Explains:

• Who the book is for

• Why you wrote it

• What readers will learn

• How the book is structured

✔️ 8–12 chapters

The sweet spot for clarity, pacing, and reader retention.

✔️ Conclusion

Summarizes your biggest takeaways (your “If you remember nothing else…” moment).

✔️ Calls to Action (CTAs)

Important for authors whose goals include:

• Speaking

• Coaching

• Consulting

• Email list building

• Value ladder growth

For a CTA?
QR codes + URLs = perfect combo.

Because someone reading on their Kindle can’t scan their own phone. 😉

🧭 Step 5: Let Your Goal Guide Your Decisions

When your goal is speaking engagements, your planning must reflect that:

• Use storytelling that could easily translate to a keynote

• Use messaging that resonates with event planners

• Use emotional arc and memorable narratives

• Include booking info in the back matter

• Add QR codes for your speaking page

• Make the tone conversational and confident

This is why planning is the foundation of a great book—not just a great manuscript.

🏁 Final Word

This is only Part 1 of our case study series, but by now you can see why planning is everything.

When you know your goal, your audience, and your structure upfront, writing becomes 10x easier—and the final product becomes 100x stronger.

In the next episode, we’ll take this concept and build out the actual structure of the book… chapter ideas included.

Until then—
Keep writing your story, because the world needs your voice.
—Renee