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So, here in the Author's Preface, St. Francis explains quite clearly what's so special about his "Introduction."  I heartily agree with him, and I think you will too:  namely, that it's for ordinary people.

St. Francis says:

This Introduction contains nothing which has not already been written; the bouquet that I offer you is made up of the same flowers, but I have arranged them differently.

What's different about his approach?

Nearly everyone who has written about the spiritual life has had in mind those who live apart from the world, or at least the devotion they advocate would lead to such retirement.

 My intention is to write for those who have to live in the world and who, according to their state, to all outward appearances have to lead an ordinary life;

and who, often enough, will not think of undertaking a devout life, considering it impossible; no one, they believe ought to aspire to the palm of Christian piety while surrounded by the affairs of the world.

I had skipped reading the preface, and had still immediately seen what Francis was driving at.  He is trying to grab people who are swamped with duties in the world.   People with jobs, families, problems that keep them busy.  Ordinary people. So many of us think that we don't have time for real devotion.  We long for the days when the children are grown, when we can work less, when such-and-such a problem has been resolved; then we'll be able to practice the devout life.  

St. Francis is saying, Don't wait.  So you aren't a contemplative in a convent.  So you have many duties.  You live in the world.  Live that life in the world devoutly.  It's possible.  I will show you how.

I will show them that a strong and resolute person may

• live in the world without being tainted by it,
• find spiritual springs amid its salt waters and
• fly through the flames of temptation without burning the wings on which they soar to God.

True, it is no easy task and must be undertaken with much more zeal than many have so far shown, and I hope that this work will help those that undertake it with a generous heart.

Francis then explains how he came to write this work (it was originally a set of notes for spiritual direction of a particular person) and apologizes for the brevity and hasty organization.

What I have treated I have explained clearly and simply, at least that is what I have aimed at, but I have given no thought to style, as I have too much else to do.

I think I can forgive the good bishop, no?

He goes on to list the five parts:

In the first part I seek to lead Philothea from a simple desire for the devout life to a strong resolution to embrace it…

In the second part, I show her two great means by which she may unite herself more closely to [her Saviour]:  the Sacraments, by which he comes to us; prayer, by which we unite ourselves to him.

In the third part, I show her how to practise the various virtues…

In the fourth part, I show her some of the snares of the Enemy, how she may escape them and go forward.

In the last part, I make  her go aside for a while to refresh herself, take breath and renew her strength for further progress in the devout life.

Then he defends his decision to write such a guide for individuals, even though as a bishop he is quite busy:

…[M]any will say that it is the task of religious and spiritual directors to guide individual souls on the way to devotion,  that such a work requires more leisure than a bishop with a diocese as large as mine can well afford, and must prove a distraction from affairs of greater importance.  I answer… that it belongs primarily to bishops to lead souls to perfection…, so their leisure could never be more worthily employed.

…To guide individual souls, I will admit, is exacting; but it is consoling work like that of the labourer in the vineyard, who is happiest when he has most to do.  It is a work which refreshes the heart of those who undertake it, being a source of joy.

And he hopes that he will become more devout through this work:

It is true that I write about the devout life without being devout myself, though I certainly desire to be so, and it is my desire for devotion that encourages me to write.   As a wise man once said, 'To become learned it is good to study, better to have a learned master, but best of all to teach others.'…  

I undertake the work most willingly, as much to fulfil my duty as to become more devout myself through imprinting this virtue on the hearts of others, and I hope that if ever God sees that I truly love devotion, he will give her to me in an eternal marriage.

I really like all this.  I don't think St. Francis's humility ("without being devout myself") is put on or false in any way.  There is a tendency to say, "Yeah, Francis, you're not devout, suuuuuurrre, what with all the sainthood and all," but he's quite serious and it's not as self-deprecating as you might think (especially if you've just opened the book instead of, like me, coming back to the author's preface after having finished the rest of the book).

Because remember, all through the book Francis has been writing to encourage people to be grateful to God and to praise Him when they notice small good signs of improvement in themselves.  Devotion is the thing which we seek; and Francis wants us to acknowledge frankly that we are not devout yet and that we must become more devout; but at the same time he wants us to acknowledge that we have made progress, because we desire devotion, because we love devotion, and that itself is a good thing, a wonderful thing, a thing to be glad about.   It's not humble to ignore the good things in ourselves; it's just false, and it deprives us of the opportunity to praise God for them.  

And so here, Francis says quite simply that he "desires" devotion, that he "truly loves" devotion.  This is the same thing he has been encouraging people to be glad to see in themselves.  Yet he knows he is not "devout."  

So if you're not devout, St. Francis, where do you get the idea you are qualified to write a treatise on how to become devout?  I think it's pretty clear that Francis is confident that he's qualified to do it, for four reasons.

(1) He has a fully developed love for devotion.  

(2) He has been progressing towards devotion for long enough that he is capable of showing other people the first steps on the journey (and that's really all this book is:  how to begin becoming devout).  A graduate student in physics could write an introductory text without having finished his doctorate; so St. Francis, who's been "practicing" devotion for a long time, can tell the beginner how to start.  He can put the initial difficulties into perspective.  

(3)  The good bishop has been a spiritual director.  He's taught people in person and by correspondence.  They've come back to him and told him what was working and what wasn't working.  So he has a significant amount of what you could call "clinical experience."

(4) He has the capability and authority, by virtue of his sacramental office as bishop.  Whatever his human weaknesses, he is confident that he will be given the necessary grace to be of at least some help to the faithful through his labors.  "We always do enough, when God works with us," he writes, and of course he believes that through the sacrament of Holy Orders God is  working with him when he performs his duties as a bishop to lead and instruct the faithful.

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I'm not done with the book yet.  I'm going to go over what I've written about it and see if I can't put together some organized suggestions for how to use Introduction to the Devout Life, handbook-style, as a program for learning devotion.