Ebooks are all the rage these days. You’ve probably heard stories of authors making tons of money on them, selling thousands of copies, giving them away, using them to build their mailing lists, and producing them quickly and inexpensively. You might even read about successful ebook authors who have landed traditional publishing deals. All of this is true–and possible for you as well. Today, Ellen Violette, known as the Ebook Coach, offers a guest post to give you some great advice on how to write and produce an ebook in 30 days. NA
The most time consuming part of writing an ebook is figuring out what you are going to write about (if you don’t already know what niche you are going to be focusing on), how you are going to approach it, so that it sounds fresh and worth reading, and deciding on the offer you are going to make in your ebook to get people to take the next step with you.
You want a niche that is already selling because then you know you’ll have buyers. And you don’t want a niche where you have to educate people to want what you have to offer because that takes too long to get buyers. You want your potential buyers to already be on the edge of their seats with baited breath waiting for your ebook to go live!
That’s why weight-loss ebooks and books continue to be best sellers. There’s a new diet every week and what works for one person doesn’t necessarily work for another. So, people who want to lose weight will buy several weight-loss ebooks/books. If you look at weight-loss titles, you’ll see that it’s the unique approach of each one that makes it a best seller, even though so many have come before it. For example:
- The Atkins Diet
- The South Beach Diet
- The Zone
- The Alkaline-Acid Diet
The Dukan Diet: 2 Steps to Lose the Weight, 2 Steps to Keep It Off Forever
You get the picture.
The key in each one is to approach the subject from a new perspective.
Once you’ve done that, figure out what your offer is going to be. Most authors don’t make their money from ebook sales (although they can be lucrative) but by teaching people how to consume the information-with upsells that come after the ebook purchase.
Next, decide how you are going to publish your ebook.
Are you going to publish on Kindle, use a self-publishing platform (your own website, your own affiliate program or use a 3rd party site) or both? I recommend that you do both, but what you do first depends on what you are trying to achieve, and I’ll say more about this at the end of this post.)
Next, you need to write a killer title; one that will capture the reader on an emotional level and gives the benefit of what they will discover by reading it.
Then, organize your ebook. Ask yourself, “What do I want to write about first?”
Then “What do I want to write about next?” etc., until you have 6 to 8 chapter headings.
After looking at your chapter headings decide if you need sections in your ebook. These are groupings of chapters. It could be a chronology like “Help! This Move Is Driving Me Crazy! The ultimate guide to organizing your move to save time, money & your sanity” (Formerly, The Moving Cure), which is in 3 sections: before the move, during the move and after the move, or it could be by subject, like a health ebook that might have an emotional, spiritual, and physical well-being section.
Then, decide what points you want to make in each chapter. Write them down.
And finally, once you’ve done the preliminary research, you MUST decide on a writing plan to get this done within 30 days.
Give yourself no more than 2 weeks to write your ebook because you’ll need the extra time to put the finishing touches on your ebook and get it ready for publishing.
Now you are ready to write your ebook.
Note: If you find yourself trying to edit or you’re judging while you are writing it, try talking it instead. You can use a tape recorder, or a 3rd party recording site like
www.instantteleseminarsnow.com
Once you’ve finished writing your ebook, you have to add the other pieces that go into an ebook:
- Table of Contents page
- inside cover page
- About The Author page
- copyright information
- limit of liability (be sure to contact an attorney to do this properly)
- your offer or upsell
- resources (optional)
And, then publish it.
Note: Publishing in Kindle is a lot faster and easier, but you generally don’t make as much money as with self-publishing (if you do it the right way.). But, if you are trying to get it up and selling within a 30-day period, you’ll probably want to start with Kindle.
Follow this step-by-step process and in 30 days you’ll be a published author!
About the Author
eBook/Self-Publishing/Internet coach, Ellen Violette, teaches people how to create a unique message and an irresistible brand through easy-to-create FAST ebooks, and Internet-marketing strategies. Get her FREE Special Report “9 Deadly Mistakes to Avoid for Outrageous eBook Profits” at www.theebookcoach.com
Photo courtesy of Istock Photo
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