Persuasive writing is a mindset that focuses on the reader rather than the topic. Writing to persuade means that you never forget that you are writing to persuade a reader.

This mindset will help you avoid the “topic trap” that many writers fall into unawares. What is the topic trap? The topic trap is also a mindset. It is the tendency to think about the topic of your book without identifying why a potential reader would care enough about the topic to buy the book and read it.

In fact, a book is an interactive medium. You might not think so when you spend so many hours working by yourself to write it, facing the blank page or the empty screen.

Your objective, as you write your book, is to keep your potential reader involved every step of the way. You can easily lose sight of this objective while you are working alone on your book. The more you can remind yourself that your ultimate objective is to persuade potential readers to buy and read your book, the better your book will be.

The first question a writer asks about writing a book depends on whether the writer is thinking about the book from the persuasive writing mindset or the topic trap mindset. With the topic trap mindset, writers begin with the question: What is the book about? With a persuasive writing mindset, writers begin with a different question: Who would want to read this book? An even more important question to ask is: Who would actually pay to read this book?

Consider what happens when your book is published and available in the bookstores. Typically, a bookstore browser will look at a book for a few seconds before deciding whether or not to buy it. This means that you have only a few seconds to persuade the book browser to buy your book.

Although we are living in what is called “the Information Age,” writers with a persuasive writing mindset understand that many book buyers don’t want more information. They want to find a solution to a problem.

How do you make sure that your book solves a problem for your targeted reader? The best way is to focus your book on a problem-solving thesis.

At its most basic level, writing to persuade requires you to make a case to your reader to solve the reader’s problem.

This is why a persuasive writing mindset is your best strategy to sell more books. The more successful you are at persuading potential readers that your book will solve their problem, the more readers will want to buy your book.