How to write eBook
If you have not heard the recent news from Amazon, E-book sales outstripped paper book sales on Christmas of 2009. This is a turning point to pay attention to if you are in the publishing industry, especially if you are a content creator, author or expert in your field. This development speaks volumes about the future of publishing and presents a fabulous opportunity to anyone who has a desire to write or publish a book. If that is you and you
want to jump on the fast track plan, check out Joe Vitale and Jim Edwards eBook out on this very subject. Joe Vitale of The Secret fame is a multi published author, many of them successful eBooks and Jim Edwards is a online marketing master.
Additionally, Amazon shared their statistics regarding the 2009 holiday shopping season and the big news is that Amazon is claiming the Kindle, their eBook reader to now be the "most gifted item in Amazon’s history." This all spells “opportunity” for authors, writers and experts, but how do you go about taking advantage of this amazing opportunity? That is the question I hope to answer for you in addition provide you with some resources that I my self have used and found to be invaluable.
There are of course some basics; the fundamentals of publishing that will stay the same and there are something’s about this process that are unique to Internet publishing.
Provide Information That Matters – It is vital to that you choose a subject that has an existing audience that is ready to purchase the information that will solve their problems. The good news is that figuring this out is easy when you know where to look and how to evaluate. The best free tool is Google Keyword tool.
Create Great Content - There is no substitute for great content. Capture or create the solution to the problem and put it in writing in a way that people can understand and appreciate. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel, there are a number of ways to go about accomplishing this, presenting a polished product is easier than you might think. Here are a few ways you might consider:
- Write it yourself using amazing tools and software making the process fairly painless and fast.
- Hire a ghostwriter
- Buy quality PLR on the subject and edit to make it your own
- Voice record your content and have it transcribed
- Proofreading and graphic design can be easily and inexpensively delegated
Add Value to Other Peoples Lives – There is no such thing, as something for nothing. To make money you must add value to other people’s lives. The more value you add and/or the more people you help the more money you will make. This is why Internet publishing presents such an incredible opportunity for people like you and me. You can reach a lot of people with helpful information or you’re a wonderful story if you know how to do it. More about marketing later. Another question to consider is, how do you assess the proper price point for your product? A few tips I can offer, first, check out the competition and see what they are offering and for how much, secondly create some split test to your list. A split test is an option that quality email management companies offer and it is a very useful tool.
Distribution – The game changer, this is where things have really changed in publishing and it is why eBooks are such an attractive opportunity for people with an expertise to share or great story to tell. Traditional publishing (paper) is not going away altogether, I think there will always be books in paper form, just a lot less of them. Think about all those trees we are not cutting down and all that petroleum we are saving because we will not be shipping books all over the world. Those resources represent huge cost and now that there is a different way to distribute books and information it represents serious cost savings. In the past those were cost that the publishers had to pay to get your book out to the world and it was part of the very substantial risk a publisher took when they decide to publish your book. So now that there is the digital and the “print on demand” option, that major cost associated to distribution and print no longer exist with regard to eBooks. Traditional publishers as well as new pop up publishers including individual publishers have an opportunity to participate in somewhat of a leveled playing field because literally anyone who can write and has access to the internet can publish an eBook.
Marketing – Market the product and yourself as the expert /author. This too represents a dramatic change from traditional publishing and traditional publishers have an upper hand here because of their existing brand recognition and author pool. To guarantee your success you will need to learn how to use the Internet as an effective marketing tool if you want to make sales and gain momentum as an author. Not only will you gain money from the sale of your book but the name recognition that is associated with a book. Above I mentioned “your list”, if you don’t have an existing list you are going to need to build one. No worries, this is not rocket science. There are a number of proven techniques and tools on how to make this happen. If you have an existing list but you suspect that you are not getting the most from it or you would like to learn how to multiply you are in luck. There are whole books written on this subject alone but here are a few tips about list building.
- Set up an account with a well respected email manager such as Get Response for AWebber or mynewsletter builder.com
- Put a “sign up form” on your website – offer a bonus for their email address
- Learn to maximize social media sites such as facebook, twitter, you tube and linkedin
- Start a blog about your subject and start pre-promotion on your book and then post your entries on your social media sites.
Generating Traffic – This is by far the most important fundamental skill of Internet marketing. This is true for everyone who is selling or doing anything online. You could have the best product with the most valuable content in the world but if no one finds it or knows it is available then no one will benefit from it, including you. It could take years of hit and miss – trial and error to figure this one out. Do your self a big favor and invest in your business, your idea and your self and get some solid information on how to effectively do this. There are some great tools, techniques and teachers that will make all the difference in the world. There is nothing worse than pouring your heart and soul into a project that you believe in and then it flops because no one knows it is available. Don’t let this happen to you. Here are some great resources that I have used and know work.
Getting paid – Add value to the marketplace and you will be rewarded as a natural result of doing the right things in the right order at the right time. My advice on this is to create a product you are proud of and that you know adds value, either by solving a problem, answering a question, entertaining or inspiring someone. Distribute and market it effectively, make sure to have all the money collection devices in place and build your audience and your bank account.
E-books allow the author to maintain control of their project. There is no one there putting your project on the shelf because of internal politics at a publishing house. There is no one to prevent you from publishing your book in the first place, no hoops to jump through and no publisher rejection. Publishers pass up good books all day long because they simply can not afford to take the risk of something that might not sell, that does not mean your book is not good it just means that you did not get it in front of the right person at the right time. Now, if you book is not well written or relevant you will quickly find out from the opinions that count, the buying public, so you want to go to any length to make sure you are putting out your best work.
With eBook publishing, the upside for potential income is literally unlimited because a properly formatted eBook online can generate as many copies as needed. The book should be available online so that it can be easily downloaded by the customers from the site. You can also set up distribution for email delivery making the distribution process very easy and cost-effective, some authors prefer this method. Over the past few years “print-on-demand” has become an attractive option for anyone who would like an actual physical traditional style book and this is relatively easy to set up a there are companies that specialize in this service.
Much like traditional books in some genres, eBooks are used to promote a person’s career or service. Many websites use short eBooks offered for free to entice a web visitor to submit their email address. This is a very effective marketing technique used to build email list.
Another benefit of digital self-publishing is audience development in order to attract a larger publisher with brand recognition and massive marketing budgets. If you create your own audience successfully you can very possibly catch the attention of large publishing houses that can take your writing career to a new level.
If you are currently writing for a publishing house you may already be experiencing the larger percentage of commission on your electronic products verses your print product and there is no print run to consider so there is more money to pay the author.
After spending the last twenty five years in the world of print publishing I might sound a little jaded but honestly I think there has never been a better time to be a writer becasue the door is wide open but you still have to take action to make it happen.
Blogs on eBooks and eBook Publishing
Epublishers Weekly: Zorba’s Guide to Free Ebooks
This extraordinary resource is Chapter 3 from my book 50 Benefits of Ebooks: A Thinking Person’s Guide to the Digital Reading Revolution. That book is updated twice yearly, in Marc fef h and September..
Getting Started with Writing and Marketing eBooks
eBook is a great way to publish easily shareable information. By creating one, you can instantly become a published author and possibly make some money as well. Or you can promote the eBooks of others as an affiliate.
E-books on the mom radar: Oh, no! Is the apocalypse nigh
Over the holidays, I had my first inkling that either the apocalypse is nigh, or e-books are finally entering the mainstream—my devoutly non-techie mother.
Print vs. e-books: Yet another swipe at an old argument
CA Bridges is a newspaper writer and a veteran e-book-reader—his bio appears at the end. Welcome, CA! – DR Readers of e-books already know this.
Southern Review of Books: Smashwords now supplying ebooks
E-Books : 21 Income Streams- Multiple Ways to Make Money Online Who Else Wants to Learn How To Make Money Online? Brand New Ebook Reveals 21 Proven Income Streams That You Can Use to Make Money Online Anytime You Want!
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