Everything about your book should maximize RX (reader experience)

Pedro Ribeiro Simões

Why should authors put in the work to create a better book?

The goal of a business book is to help the reader to succeed. Everything about it should support that goal. That means maximizing the value of the reader experience. Let’s call it RX, by analogy with CX (customer experience) and UX (user experience).

The steps in creating a good business book are all improving RX

For example:

• Why create a catchy title? Because a good title and subtitle make a promise that the book delivers on, delivering a satisfying RX.
• Why include case study stories? Because the RX is more enjoyable when you learn by identifying with people in case studies.
• Why remove fluff from chapters and make them as pointed as possible? Because a better RX is one that wastes less of the reader’s time.
• Why use an editor? Because they find flaws in your book’s RX and tell you how to fix them.
• Why get a copy edit before the manuscript is done? Because errors distract from the RX.
• Why worry about how pages are laid out? Because people reading in print have a better RX if you’ve laid the pages out appropriately.

You can even go further. Why spend time on book promotion? Because it gets more people to hear about the book, which spreads your good RX as widely as possible.

The more you think about yourself and how great the book will be for you, the more you’ll be distracted from RX. But the more you focus on a great RX, the more people will like and talk about the book. That’s where your success will come from.