There are plenty of great reasons to write an ebook. So what’s stopping you? I think I know ...
You Already Know How to Write an Ebook ... So What's Stopping You? Skip to primary navigation Skip to content Skip to primary sidebarCopybloggerMenuArticles About Services Content Marketing Submenu Copywriting 101 Email Marketing Internet Marketing Search Engine Optimization Landing Pages Sales Pages Conversion Rate Optimization Certified Content Marketers Academy Type in your keyword and press enter to search Copyblogger.com:CloseSearch Copyblogger...You Already Know How to Write an Ebook … So What’s Stopping You? written by Ali Luke posted on September 1, 2011 TweetShareSharePin There are plenty of great reasons to write an ebook. A short, free ebook could be precisely the cookie you need in order for your email list to grow beyond a handful of members. A big, paid-for ebook could be an important part of your revenue stream — and the first product in your sales funnel. Being able to say, “I’m an author.” could give your credibility a massive boost. So what’s stopping you? I think I know … Maybe you think you don’t know how. Sure, you’re comfortable with writing blog posts, but an ebook is a totally different animal. Or is it? Everything you know about blogging applies to ebooks too Think of your ebook as a series of blog posts. Content-rich, in-depth posts that readers can’t wait to read and share. When you look at it that way, your ebook suddenly seems less … daunting. You already know how to write an ebook. Everything you’ve learned from blogging still applies. Just think of your ebook as a series, and each post as a chapter within that series. That way: Your ebook won’t become a bloated, “everything I’ve ever learned” guide to your whole field. It won’t sell — and you won’t have any room for your second ebook. Pick one topic, just as you would for a post series Your writing style can stay friendly, informal and engaging. You don’t have to come across all stilted and academic just because it’s an ebook. Your readers will want to hear your voice, just like they do on your blog Your chapters can be concise and information-packed — just like your blog posts. You don’t need to waffle on and on to fill the pages. After all, what would your readers prefer: straight-up information or a ton of padding? Your content-creation routine doesn’t have to change drastically. You don’t need to lock yourself away for two weeks in order to finish your ebook. You can just write a couple of short chapters each week — in the same way that you write blog posts on a regular basis You can use your current blog content too If you’ve been blogging for a while, you could repurpose some of your existing content for the ebook. For lots more on this, see Carol Tice’s excellent post, 12 Ways to Turn Your Old, Dusty Blog Archive into Cold, Hard Cash. For instance: You might use one of your popular posts as the introduction for the ebook You could turn a “how to” post into a worksheet A case study post could become a vivid example Your readers’ comments might inspire new chapters or a Q&A section Formatting matters just as much in ebooks as in blog posts Some bloggers seem to ignore formatting completely when it comes to ebooks. They’ll produce dull, grey documents densely packed with text … and they’ll wonder why no-one’s interested. If your ebook is going to be a pdf (and most info-products are), then you can use all the same formatting features that you’d use in blogging: Add images to grab attention, break up the text and show concepts that are hard to describe in words. Include subheadings to help signpost the way through the text Add hyperlinks so that readers can jump straight to the chapters that they need Use bullet-pointed lists to display information more clearly Create a style for block quotes so that these stand out from the text You already know how to do all of this You know how to write regularly. You know how to make your style engaging. You know how to use formatting to hold the reader’s attention. So let me ask you again: what’s stopping you from writing your ebook? About the Author: Ali Luke is a blogger, writer and writing coach. She’s just released a brand new ebook in her popular Blogger’s Guide series: The Blogger’s Guide to Irresistible Ebooks. If you’d like to write an ebook that your readers can’t wait to snap up, click here and check it out today. TweetShareSharePin TweetShareSharePin filed under: Blog Psychology, Blogging, Collaboration, Content Marketing, Copywriting, Creativity, Editing, Entrepreneurship, Freelance Writing, Internet Marketing, Personal Branding, Productivity Ali LukeAli Luke blogs about the art, craft and business of writing at Aliventures, where you can get her free guide to making time to write – however busy you are – plus other handy mini-ebooks. Check them out here. Reader InteractionsPrimary Sidebar Notice: JavaScript is required for this content. Fields marked with an * are required Want to understand the future of content marketing? Get our free email series, The Killer and the Poet: Email * If you are a human seeing this field, please leave it empty. Content Marketing and SEO Services from Copyblogger Get More Traffic You might also like: 5 Elements That Build a Roster of Terrific Freelance Writing Clients7 Copywriting Strategies the Great Copywriters Wish You KnewEmail Autoresponders: Meet the Lazy Marketer’s Best FriendEmbrace Bad Writing to Master Great WritingHow to Write a Blog Post Introduction That Grabs and Holds AttentionSee All Popular Posts → Previous article: 23 Reasons Your Blog Isn’t Making Any Money (And What To Do About It!) Next article: The Return of Copyblogger Radio … Reader Comments (111) Frank says September 1, 2011 at 8:20 am Using a free ebook as a cookie is definitely a good way to entice readers to join your newsletter. However, with so many blogs using this tactic, it may not be as enticing. So, I’ve noticed some bloggers…not all of them offer two free products to entice readers to sign up. I’m in the process of doing this myself and I’m hoping the results will show. Repurposing content from blog posts work as well. Darren Rowse of ProBlogger has done it before and it showed to work really well. Even though some may find writing an ebook to be intimidating, the true test is to just go ahead and do it. You’ll never know how well you did until you give it a go! Ali Luke says September 1, 2011 at 9:14 am Thanks Frank! I agree that a single free ebook isn’t as enticing as it once was — though it’s still a great start! Andrea Butje says September 1, 2011 at 8:49 am Thanks for the great post! I did just publish an eBook yesterday!! It was a great experience writing it and your advice is wonderful! I hope it ok to post the link to it. Here is the link to my eBook. This 113-page Aromatherapy Recipes eBook offers everything a beginner needs to get started with simple aromatherapy for your health and home. The eBook includes over 60 easy recipes to help you create natural, safe and environmentally-friendly products for beauty and skin care, your health, travel, emotional wellness and for cleaning. http://www.aromahead.com/blog/essential-living-aromatherapy-ebook/ Ali Luke says September 1, 2011 at 9:14 am Great work on getting your ebook written, Andrea! Sarah Russell says September 1, 2011 at 9:01 am Very true! Sometimes I catch myself thinking that since I’ve already covered a topic once on my blog, I shouldn’t cover it again – whether in another post or in a separate product. But really, I’m probably the only person who’s read every single post on my site, so repurposing content is probably actually helping my readers by bringing up relevant content that they might have missed the first time around. Thanks for sharing these tips Ali Luke says September 1, 2011 at 9:15 am Absolutely! Heck, *I* forget what’s in my archives from 2+ years ago, I can hardly expect my readers to go through everything… Justin says September 1, 2011 at 9:06 am Awesome tips! I’ve thought about writing an eBook for some time now, and I still think it’s a great idea to seriously consider. How does one go about publishing their content into an eBook that eReader users can find? Thank you!! Ali Luke says September 1, 2011 at 9:41 am You can use Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) on Amazon to publish your ebook for Kindle. You can also use a site called Smashwords to distribute your ebook to a number of retailers — though you don’t have so much control over the formatting there. Hope that helps you get started! Sherwin at imarketSB says September 1, 2011 at 11:07 am Oooh Gonna look into the KDP, thanks =) Liz Alexander says September 1, 2011 at 9:15 am Ali, everything you mention is process. What stops many from writing anything (from a short ebook to one that’s full-length) lies within the person. The obstacles can be emotional (some form of fear — maybe of getting shouted down or slammed with negative feedback; I swear people are meaner on the Internet (think one-star Amazon reviews) than they ever would be to a person’s face); mental (folks “know” things at different levels: it’s one thing to know how to do something technically, quite another to know that YOU can); and behavioral (the big impediment still being not knowing how to manage oneself, rather than blaming “time” which is usually cited as the culprit). Of all these “what’s stopping you?” issues, the one I see over and over among aspiring authors (and I remember thinking this when reading a recent Copyblogger piece about Eugene Schwartz’s method of writing copy some weeks ago) is second-guessing oneself. Again, it’s not a case of not knowing WHAT to do, it’s about the inner confidence to shut down that little voice– perhaps one’s fifth grade teacher — that questions whether you know what you’re talking about, whether anyone will want to listen to what you have to say, and that only experts write — so who the heck do you think you are? Funny, “What’s Stopping You?” was an earlier title of my own ebook, Birth Your Book: Find, Nurture, and Sustain the Motivation to Write. Free sample here, if anyone’s interested: http://www.bookdoula.biz/books/birth-your-book Ali Luke says September 1, 2011 at 9:43 am Fantastic points, Liz — there are SO many obstacles when it comes to writing. Having confidence is an issue for pretty much every writer and aspiring writer, I think; it can be very daunting to put your words down and to set them loose into the world, and I know I’m very familiar with that little inner voice…! Sabrina says September 1, 2011 at 10:26 am Thanks Liz! Garry Stafford says September 1, 2011 at 11:05 am @Liz! Your comment is so on point. That’s what I’d have written if I were able to do so. Oh, DANG, there’s that insecurity rearing its ugly head! As you said so eloquently, “… it’s not a case of not knowing WHAT to do, it’s about the inner confidence to shut down that little voice … that only experts write — so who the heck do you think you are?” Bingo. @Ali, I really appreciate all of your perspectives, suggestions and resources. I was just considering an e-book that would include some case studies and useful information for a niche market with which I’m familiar, that might help me to open the door to assist. Thank you! I’m encouraged. Gotta go kick out an outline…. Charmaine Thaner says September 1, 2011 at 9:38 am I have heard advice to self publish a booklet instead of an ebook. The person giving this advice felt ebooks were too easy to pass on to others and/or copy for distribution. What are your thoughts about this? Charmaine Sabrina says September 1, 2011 at 9:42 am My concern is with the number of pages. As in, how many pages equal quality? Especially when asking for money. Also, are we talking about creating a published ebook (ISBN, graphic artist, Smashwords, etc) or an appealing pdf document? As you can tell, in my mind, one project could be more in detailed than the other. Any advice would be appreciated. Shane Arthur says September 1, 2011 at 11:03 am I’d say number of pages does not equate to quality, and a pdf doesn’t decrease quality. As long as you solve a customer’s problem, you have your quality. And try this. Give yourself an hourly wage, go to Google and time how long it takes you to find the information that you provide in your book. Multiply your hourly rate with how many hours you used. That should be a good starting point for your book price (and one hell of a selling point in your sales pitch too—a pitch I rarely see anybody using). Sabrina says September 1, 2011 at 11:37 am Thank you, Shane ~ That’s exactly the information I needed! Also, I’ve never heard of using such a technique for pricing. Gregory C. says September 1, 2011 at 12:46 pm An hourly wage? So the people that spend months writing their books should charge like $1,000 per book? An hourly wage is NOT a good way to price a book in my opinion. Shane Arthur says September 1, 2011 at 1:03 pm @Gregory: In my example, you’re asking your clients how much their time is worth, and comparing the time value of money to the “bargain price” of your product (and the overall benefit of your product to their bottom lines). If you polled people and asked them if $47 was too much for an ebook, many might say yes until you mention this comparison. So, I’m saying at minimum, charge someone the value of their time in finding similar material. And yes, If you’re a specialist like James Chartrand, you can charge $1500 for a product that will bring in thousands to those who purchased. In your example, if a person spent months working on their book and it didn’t bring $1,000 in value, they’d be better off looking for the average price for a similar product in their niche. My three cents. Ali Luke says September 2, 2011 at 1:44 am @Gregory: I think Shane means that you’d charge the hourly wage that it’d take to FIND all the information, not to WRITE it. Shane, correct me if I’m wrong! @Sabrina: If you’re writing a graphic-heavy book, PDF is (currently) a good format for ensuring that everything stays looking good! I’ve worked with .epub and .mobi (and Amazon Kindle too) which are perfect for novels or more traditional non-fiction books. Ultimately, the important thing is what your audience will want most. If the majority of them don’t have ereaders, go with PDF — it can be read on any computer (and also on many ereaders — my Kindle handles PDFs pretty well). Cheryl Pickett says September 1, 2011 at 2:30 pm This question came up recently over on LinkedIn. The answer I gave there was to not forget about print and use that as a guide. When ebooks started, they were mainly in the realm of internet marketing. I remember people calling a 10 page document an ebook. I’ve always disagreed with that. In the print world, a handful of pages is a report or maybe a white paper or even a booklet. There are standard expectations. Picture books are generally the shortest type and they are 32, but that’s an accepted norm. Just because the vehicle delivery changes, digital instead of paper, I don’t think it’s right to try to redefine what constitutes a book. Even if it’s 10 pages of the most valuable info you’d ever find on a subject, it’s not a book to me. Also, now that ebooks are mainstream it makes even more sense to me to keep things in line. Someone buying a novel on Kindle knows they are not buying a short story. They expect a novel. I think the same should hold true whether it’s fiction or a how to. So when call you call it a book? My opinion is that 30 pages is the lowest you’d want to go. Ali Luke says September 2, 2011 at 1:48 am I often say “mini-ebook” (and I’ve seen “ebooklet”) for an ebook under 30 or so pages. In most cases, I’d expect a paid-for ebook to be at least 80 pages. It’s a tricky one, because print books have to be reasonably long in order to be economically viable — that’s why the novella is resurging in ebook format. There are short stories available on Kindle, though they’re generally clearly marketed as such. I think that it’s useful for ebook authors to put a page count (or even a rough word count) on their sales pages. Ultimately, though, a short, to-the-point ebook can be worth more than a long, padded-out one … ebooks cost time, as well as money, to read! Todd E. Jones says September 1, 2011 at 9:51 am I need the extra motivation myself. I am working on a training manual which I would like to turn in to an e-book to get folks to sign up for my email newsletter. Ali Luke says September 2, 2011 at 1:48 am Good luck, Todd! I’ve seen my email newsletter subscriber stats go up massively since adding a short free ebook, so I think this is definitely worthwhile. Michael Robinson says September 1, 2011 at 10:01 am Laziness Seems like I should get to doing that. Thanks for the pep talk. Ali Luke says September 2, 2011 at 1:49 am Any time! Ruth - The Freelance Writing Blog says September 1, 2011 at 10:05 am Thanks for helping to light a fire under my tush. I need to do it…and you’ve given me some good points to consider. Now I must roll up my sleeves and get started! Ali Luke says September 2, 2011 at 1:50 am Hurrah! That getting started bit is the hardest stage — once you’ve done that, it’s all downhill. Meagan says September 1, 2011 at 10:35 am I’m currently in the process of turning a blog series into a free e-book for my readers & the contributors of the series & I’m writing one to sell on my site. My biggest stress at the moment is the cover! They need to be eye-catching & professional, but I don’t want to break the bank on them either. I have to hire it out because I don’t have any of the software needed to do it myself! Uhhh! Sabrina says September 1, 2011 at 11:40 am If you go to the Smashwords site, I believe you can request a list of their “suggested” graphic artists. It’s contained in a list they reference as “Mark’s List” – http://www.smashwords.com/about/how_to_publish_on_smashwords. Ali Luke says September 2, 2011 at 1:52 am I’ve used Charfish Design for my ebook covers, and Charlie there has done a great job for me. I’ve also used my college-student sister…! She’s got a great eye for design (and spends the extra cash on shoes ;-)) — so it might be worth looking for anyone young in your own network who’s willing to do some work for you at a lowish rate, especially if they’re looking to build up their portfolio. Charlotte says September 1, 2011 at 10:47 am Brilliant thanks Ali I have bought your book and intend to start on mine tomorrow. Thank you for the useful templates too. Setting it up was always the bit I worried about and now I dont need to worry anymore. Ali Luke says September 2, 2011 at 1:53 am Yay, thanks for buying my ebook! Good luck writing yours, and hope the templates help out … I added them as a bit of an afterthought, but they’ve proved really popular. Christina Rodriguez | The Diva's Home says September 1, 2011 at 10:55 am Very good advice! I did exactly this, and the process was super easy! But I am still having problems growing my list. I also wrote a book that I am currently working to get on Kindle. I would love to share what I have and get feedback from those of you who are not close friends of mine. It’s the best way to get objective criticism Or even praise :)) You can get my ebooks for free at http://www.mydivabydesign/wordpress. I know that the sign up is at the bottom of the page and I am trying to fix that! If anyone knows how, I would appreciate that help as well Ali Luke says September 2, 2011 at 1:58 am I’m not sure why it’s appearing at the bottom (maybe it’s too wide for the sidebar, if it’s supposed to be there..?) A couple of quick suggestions: -> Cut down the “What is this place?” text in the sidebar — use it for an “About” page. It’s currently so small that it’s hard to read, and it pushes everything else a long way down the sidebar. -> Consider increasing up the font size for everything, especially the navigation. People will probably stick around longer (Daily Blog Tips had a great post on t… truncated (21,103 more characters in archive)