Week 1 of 13 · Phase 1: Architecture

Define your reader
and your outcome.

Before any chapter is written, you decide exactly who this book is for and exactly what changes in their life because of it. Everything else flows from this.

The Assignment

One page on your reader. One page on your outcome.

This week you produce two short documents. A Reader Profile that names the one human being you are writing this book for, and a Book Outcome Statement that names exactly what shifts in their life when they finish reading.

No chapters this week. No drafting. The entire purpose of Phase 1 is to build the structural blueprint that makes drafting effortless. Authors who skip this phase write books that meander. Authors who complete it write books that convert.

Word count target: 500 to 750 words total, across both documents.
The Framework

Reader Profile

Answer every question in writing. Write your first answers fast. You can refine with your coach later.

  1. Who is the single person you are writing this book for? Give them a name, a title, and an industry. This is one human being, not a demographic.
  2. What is the primary professional problem they face right now that your expertise solves?
  3. What have they already tried that hasn't worked?
  4. What do they believe about this problem that is either incomplete or incorrect?
  5. What would change in their professional life if this problem were solved?
  6. Where do they currently go for information on this topic? Books, podcasts, conferences, mentors.
  7. What is the emotional state they are in when they pick up your book? Frustrated, curious, skeptical, desperate, ambitious.

Book Outcome Statement

Fill in the blanks below in your own document. Specific is the bar. Generic is the failure.

After reading this book, Reader Name will be able to specific capability which will result in specific professional outcome. They will stop current behavior and start new behavior. The single biggest shift in their thinking will be belief change.
If You Get Stuck

I'm struggling to narrow my reader down to one person. Here's what I have so far: [paste your notes]. Help me identify the single most valuable reader for my authority positioning.

Open Dave Open Paige
Completion Check
You are done when: You can describe your reader to a stranger in 60 seconds and they immediately understand who this person is and what problem they have. Your Book Outcome Statement is specific enough that someone could verify whether the book delivered on its promise.

Finished Week 1? Unlock Week 2.

Marking this week complete unlocks the next module immediately. Move at the pace that fits your life. The 90-day window is the ceiling, not the pace.

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