How to write the introduction to a nonfiction book
A reader who opens your introduction has not yet decided to read your book. The introduction's job is to make that decision easy. Here is what it has to do, how it differs from a preface, foreword or prologue, a template you can fill in, and an annotated example.
What the introduction must do
The Scribe Method's chapter on outlining the introduction notes that readers skip introductions because too many summarize the book instead of engaging the reader. Its point about cost is worth keeping in front of you. A reader is not worried about spending $10. They are worried about spending hours on something that does not hold them. The introduction answers one question for them: "Why should I read this book?"
In practice that means five jobs, in roughly this order:
- The reader. Show early that this book is about someone like them.
- The problem. The problem they came with, in their words, told as a story.
- The promise. Where they will be when they finish: your book's promise, told as a picture.
- Why you. Just enough background to trust you as the guide.
- How to use the book. What it is and is not, how to read it, and a hand into chapter one.
Scribe Media's article on writing a book introduction calls it more like a sales pitch than an information piece.
Introduction, preface, foreword or prologue?
These four get mixed up. Here is what each one is, using dictionary definitions and Scribe Media's article on preface vs foreword vs introduction.
| Part | Who writes it | Where it goes | What it is for | Do you need one? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Foreword | Someone other than the author | Before all other content | Lends credibility and gives context the author cannot give without sounding self-promotional | Most books do not. The Scribe Method suggests it rarely exceed 500 words |
| Preface | The author | After the foreword, before the introduction | Why the author wrote the book; in biographies, often the research approach | Most books do not |
| Introduction | The author | Right before chapter one, as the start of the main text | Persuades the reader to read the book, and sets it up | Yes: Scribe says every nonfiction book should have one |
| Prologue | Varies | Before chapter one | An opening piece, often a scene, that introduces the story | Rare in nonfiction that teaches (our view, below) |
Foreword, preface and introduction rows from Scribe Media's article linked above and The Scribe Method's chapter on forewords. Prologue row from the Oxford Learner's Dictionary definition and our own judgment.
The Oxford Learner's Dictionary definitions line up with this. A foreword is "a short introduction at the beginning of a book, usually by a person other than the author". A preface is "an introduction to a book, especially one that explains the author's aims". An introduction is "the first part of a book or speech that gives a general idea of what is to follow". A prologue is "a speech, etc. at the beginning of a play, book or film that introduces it". The Chicago Manual of Style's free Q&A adds a small detail: prefaces are often signed at the end.
Our view on prologues. None of the Scribe sources above covers prologues, so this is our judgment. In memoir, a prologue can drop the reader into a scene. In a book that teaches, it usually delays the introduction's real work; use the scene as the introduction's hook instead.
Forewords, when they fit. The foreword chapter's rule of thumb: if you would not put "Foreword by [Name]" on your cover, ask for a short endorsement instead. Two Scribe author stories list a foreword as a highlight: Ian Hart's lists Wim Hof, "Wrote the foreword" (his story), and Chris Heivly's lists Brad Feld, "Wrote the foreword" (his story). In both cases the writer had a connection to the author before the book: Hof had heard Hart's story, and Feld pointed Heivly to Scribe.
The seven parts, one at a time
The Scribe Method's introduction chapter gives a formula. Here is each part with what to write.
- Hook. A question, a surprising claim or a short scene. Scribe's article suggests asking what the most interesting story or claim in the book is, and notes the hook is often the story people always ask you about, and never the one that makes you look best.
- The reader's pain. A story of the problem as your reader lives it. Not statistics alone: a person, a moment, a cost.
- The transformation. A picture of life after the book works. Make it specific enough to believe.
- What they will learn. A plain overview, simple enough, the chapter says, that a seventh grader could understand it.
- Your credibility. A short story of why you wrote the book and why you can be trusted. The chapter's reminder: this part is about them, not you.
- What the book is and is not (optional). Scribe's article notes that underselling a little here works well.
- Call to action. A transition that sends the reader into chapter one.
When to write it: Scribe's article says most authors find the introduction the hardest part to write, and recommends outlining it last, once you know the full scope of the book.
A fill-in template
Fill in the brackets. Each line is a prompt, not finished prose: write a paragraph or two for each, then cut.
- Hook: Start in the middle of [the most intense moment / the claim people argue with / the question your reader asks at 2 a.m.].
- The reader: If you are [the reader's situation, in their words], you know [the moment they recognize].
- The problem: Here is what that costs: [one story of the problem, with a person in it]. The usual advice is [what they have tried], and it fails because [why].
- The promise: It does not have to be this way. Picture [the after, concretely]. By the end of this book you will be able to [the change, in one sentence].
- What you will learn: In [number] chapters, I will show you [the method or idea in plain words]: first [part one], then [part two], then [part three].
- Why me: I learned this [how: the job, the failure, the years with people like you]. [One short story that earns trust.]
- What this book is and is not: This is not [what a reader might wrongly expect]. It is [what it is]. Read it [in order / chapter by chapter as needed].
- Into chapter one: It starts with [the first idea], which is where [the reader] usually goes wrong.
If you have not yet written your promise in one sentence, do that first; the book promise worksheet gives you the raw material for lines 2 to 4.
An annotated example
An illustration written for the first-time manager book used in our outline guide. The author and story are invented; the notes show which part each passage is doing.
| Sample text | What it is doing |
|---|---|
| "On my first Monday as a manager, I fixed a bug that one of my engineers had been working on for three days. I thought I was helping. By Friday, he had asked to move teams." | Hook. A moment that makes the author look bad. |
| "If you were promoted because you were the best at the job, you have probably done some version of this. The skills that got you promoted are now getting in your team's way, and nobody tells you which ones." | Reader and problem, in the reader's terms. |
| "It does not have to stay this way. A year from now, your team can bring you problems early, you can hand off work without checking it twice, and the people who used to be your peers can trust you as their manager." | The transformation. Concrete pictures, not adjectives. |
| "This book walks through your first year in seven chapters: what to stop doing, how to listen in your first month, the one meeting that matters most, handing off your old job, giving hard feedback, and managing friends." | What they will learn. Plain, short, in reading order. |
| "I learned most of this by getting it wrong, then spent the next ten years coaching new managers through the same year." | Credibility. One sentence of background, tied to the reader's problem. |
| "This is not a book about leadership theory. It is a book about Monday morning. Read it in order the first time; keep chapter 5 for the week you dread." | What it is and is not. Undersells a little, and says how to use the book. |
| "So let's start where you started: with the skills that got you promoted." | Into chapter one. Hands the reader to the first chapter's title. |
An illustrative example, not a real book. A full introduction would develop each part further.
For a real opening, Scribe's foreword and introduction article points to Nick Bare's 25 Hours a Day, which begins with a lesson from his father's family farm: "If you don't feed the cows, the cows die." He explains what you will learn only after the reader is pulled in.
How long? No source we found sets a word count; Scribe lists "too long" as a mistake. Our suggestion: shorter than your average chapter.
From the introduction to chapter one
The introduction sells the book; chapter one starts delivering it. The reader has said yes, so do not make the case again. Give them the first useful idea, and make it one of your strongest.
The opening of chapter one still needs a hook. Scribe Media's article on opening sentences says the best hooks start in the middle of the highest intensity: if the story is about being chased by the police, start with the chase, not breakfast. A document can work too. Paul Hobby's story on scribemedia.com lists 1938, "The speech that opens chapter one": he reproduced roughly two thirds of his grandmother's 1938 speech in his first chapter, because it read as if it could have been written today.
What most people get wrong
- Summarizing the book. The first mistake both Scribe sources name. A chapter-by-chapter rundown is what makes readers skip introductions.
- Starting with your life story. Scribe's list of what an introduction should not do includes starting at the beginning of the author's life. Your background earns a short paragraph, late.
- Writing it first and never revisiting it. It describes the finished book, so draft it last or rewrite it at the end.
- A vague promise. If the transformation paragraph could appear in any book, go back to the promise and make it specific to your reader.
Your introduction is built from your reader, promise and chapter list. The free book idea starter puts all three on one page, which is most of the raw material for the template above.
Scribe Media, which makes this site, sells book coaching, ghostwriting and publishing, including Scribe Compass ($5,000, scribemedia.com/pricing), in which a book coach helps define the audience, purpose and chapter-by-chapter roadmap the introduction rests on. Everything on this page works just as well on your own.
Common questions
What is the difference between a book introduction and a prologue?
An introduction is the author speaking to the reader about the book: who it is for, the problem, what they will get and why to trust the author. Scribe Media calls it the beginning of the book's main text. A prologue, in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary's words, is a speech or similar piece at the beginning of a book that introduces it, and it is mostly associated with stories. In a nonfiction book, an opening scene usually works better as the hook of the introduction or of chapter one than as a separate prologue.
What should a book introduction include?
The Scribe Method's formula has seven parts: a hook, the reader's pain, the reader's transformation, what they will learn, the author's credibility, an optional note on what the book is and is not, and a transition into chapter one. The template on this page turns those into sentences you can fill in.
What does a good book introduction example look like?
It opens with something the reader cares about, not with the author's biography or a chapter-by-chapter summary. Scribe Media's article on forewords and introductions points to Nick Bare's 25 Hours a Day, which opens on a farm rule: "If you don't feed the cows, the cows die." The annotated example on this page shows all seven parts in a short sample.
What goes on a book introduction page?
The heading "Introduction" (or a title of its own) and the text itself. It comes right before chapter one, after any foreword or preface. Scribe Media's guide to the parts of a book lists the half title, title page, copyright page and table of contents as the front matter most books need; the introduction belongs to the main text, not the front matter.
How do you write the first chapter of a book?
Open with your strongest material, as Scribe Media's article on opening sentences puts it, in the middle of the highest intensity. Then give the reader the first real piece of what the introduction promised. Chapter one should not repeat the introduction's case for reading; the reader has already said yes.
Sources, checked October 21, 2026: The Scribe Method, chapters on outlining the introduction and writing your book foreword; Scribe Media, How to Write a Book Introduction, Preface vs Foreword vs Introduction, Parts of a Book and opening sentences; Oxford Learner's Dictionaries entries for foreword, preface, introduction and prologue; The Chicago Manual of Style Online, Q&A on prefaces; author stories on scribemedia.com for Ian Hart, Chris Heivly and Paul Hobby, linked above; scribemedia.com/pricing. Published by Scribe Media.