How to Write the Perfect Non-Fiction Book Intro with Jarvis Boss Mode

Full video transcript

Hey, what’s going on, Darby here, and today I’m going to just walk you through a little exercise that I’m working through, using Jarvis and Boss Mode to help you write the perfect — or at least get started writing the perfect — nonfiction book introduction.

Now, obviously, if people will put your book down, close it, and walk away before they even get past the introduction because you did a poor job explaining why this book is for them, why they should read it, and how it’s going to be different, it’s going to be hard to make anything come out of your book. So the introduction is probably the most important part of your entire book, and so it’s something that should take a lot more of your attention and focus in really crafting it.

This framework right here was broken down after research and discovery by Austin Distel when he went through the seven-day book challenge, and it includes the core elements: the hook, who this book is for, skeptics read this, how this book is different, how to read this book — including the origin story of how you came to discover this process — and that leads into the chapters of your book.

So first and foremost, what we want to do is really dive into the content description, which is essentially what the book is about in the first place — just a book overview. This should be something that you come into or develop before starting to actually use Jarvis to write out your hook and these different sections. Nothing to remember here is that you’re kind of playing with Legos at this point — you can mix and match these different sections, you can switch up the content description, and then mold it all together once you have the core pieces of content.

I’ll be using a tool called Voicein that helps me transcribe, and I’m going to be using “Book Published with Jarvis” as an example of how I might go back through and talk about a book — this is just the topic for an example showcase.

I write: “This is an introduction to a book about writing books with artificial intelligence.” The book, “Published with Jarvis,” teaches people how to go from blank page to published in seven days using AI — using Jarvis to smash writer’s block and get your book idea out there fast, using our process of creating a minimum viable book. This book is the step-by-step framework for how you too can become a published author faster than ever using artificial intelligence.

So we’ve got this content brief and content description, and this is probably the most important part of what we’re trying to direct Jarvis to do. Now that we’ve got this basic content description — and again, the more time you spend on this, the better — but you can also just put something together quickly for the different sections.

What I want to do now is go into the hook, which is the first part. The hook needs to really draw people in — either through a compelling personal story, or something absolutely shocking, or something contradictory. We use Jarvis and Boss Mode to play around with these different ideas to hook somebody in so they read the first chapter, the second chapter, and all the way to the end of the book.

I start by giving Jarvis some commands and letting it go from there: “Write me a compelling introduction for a book that’s about writing with artificial intelligence.” It generates a draft covering how an author can use an AI system that helps with writing in a few ways — real-time feedback on your work, drawing out your story ideas, and more.

I look at several of these generated introductions and pick out the pieces that resonate — for example, a version framed around being a writer who is too busy scrolling social media to get books done, and how AI helps get readers in. That angle — everyone being distracted, and how the book helps them get past that — becomes one option for the hook.

If you’re stuck and looking for different angles, you can also ask directly: “Write a list of five hooks based on the content description,” or “What are some shocking facts about people who want to write books but never do?” This is a good example of why you still need to fact-check Jarvis, but it can surface something like: most people want to write a book but never get around to it, and there are some shocking facts about why.

Then you can say, “Continue the last sentence, and give me an introduction as to some shocking facts for people who want to write books but don’t.” It’s all personal preference as far as what actually resonates with you — you can give it more direction based on that.

Next is the “this book is for you” section: “Are you tired of spending hours staring at a blank screen with the cursor of death, with no words to show for it?” This section is about calling people out directly — hand-raiser language. “This book is for you if you’re tired of spending hours staring at a blank screen with the cursor of death and nothing to show for it. If you’re the type of person who has incredible ideas but never seems to have enough time to get around to writing them. Are you an entrepreneur who wants a book for yourself and your business? Well, this book is definitely for you.”

This section is essentially telling the reader they are capable of completing this book — perhaps they need help with their outline, perhaps they’re spending hours on this already. “Are you ready to finally become a published author and use your book to grow your influence and business?” This also starts to call out some limiting beliefs and skeptics: “Use AI to organize your thoughts and publish books fast — the human controls the process, the tool is just there to help.”

Then comes “skeptics read this.” I ask: “What are some things a skeptic might say about writing a book with artificial intelligence? Give me five.” This surfaces objections directly: that this book is improbable, that it’s fraudulent, that the course to even do this is too expensive, that not enough people on earth actually read books, that it sounds impossible, that AI doesn’t optimize or sell content, only self-publishing. The response then works to correct these false assumptions and calm those objections — the point being that artificial intelligence can help you generate better-written books and larger, more profitable sales.

Then: “List out three ways that this book is different from other books,” and “List out 10 ways that this book is different than other books that teach people how to publish.” This is a great ideation exercise — calling out the skeptics again around how the course was developed, human creativity versus AI limitations, and so on. Some of what comes out isn’t necessarily true, but the point is generating a range of ways the book is different that you can then shape and refine as you go.

Next: “What is the best way to read this book for the best results?” This produces guidance like working section by section, making each chapter build on the last, experimenting along the way, and not worrying if the process feels unfamiliar at first — reminding the reader this is a normal part of the process. It does a good job distilling down what the reader actually needs to do inside the book, based on the content description given.

There’s also guidance in the output about using AI to write an entire book, working chapter by chapter, and eventually finishing and publishing — including not forgetting the marketing side of things once the book is done.

Then I move to the origin story: “Write a compelling story about my experience writing a book in 72 hours with artificial intelligence.” This produces a first-person narrative: being at a point of having nothing to write about, deciding to give it a shot, starting with one word and seeing what happens, being amazed at getting a first paragraph started, and how AI helped the writing flow.

Using that story, I ask it to identify the right person to read this book right now, and to write a conclusion paragraph explaining why this book is right for the reader and why the author is the right person to help them learn how to write a book with AI — ending with a call to action to read chapter one.

All told, we’ve got around 3,500 words listed out for us, going through the framework Austin Distel broke down after hours and hours of research through his book challenge, to create the pieces of a non-fiction book introduction.

Now, this is nowhere near close to finished. There’s a lot of human element that needs to come in and mold it, trim things away, cut out some fat, add in your own voice, add in some more story. But all in all, I’m really pleased with the amount of content I was able to get out in just over 20 minutes of my time — to where I can go take a breather, grab some water, go for a little walk, come back, and say, okay, cool, I’m going through the hook now.

You can take this concept and, if you like an idea, jump in and play with Boss Mode some more, rewording some of the content: “Rewrite the above paragraph in a more compelling tone.” Then you’d have version one versus version two that you can reference against each other and go in and change.

The whole goal of the introduction, again, is that you’ve got to hook people into reading the book and buying into you — knowing that this book is for them, knowing why it’s different, identifying the hook, who this book is for, who the skeptics are, identifying some things they might say about it, how this book is different, how to read the book, and the story of how the book came to be in the first place. And you’re off to a smashing start.

I really hope this video is helpful for you, and I’ll come back sometime soon with an updated edition on this video if you guys found it helpful — taking this content and trimming it back down so that you can use it to write your perfect non-fiction book introduction. Cheers, and have a great day.