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Articles on Book Matters:

How to Write an Ebook?

The hardest part of writing is the first sentence. When you look at the whole project, it seems like an impossible task. That's why you have to break it down into manageable tasks. Think of climbing a mountain. You are standing at the foot of it and looking up at its summit vanishing into the clouds. How can you possibly scale such an immense and dangerous mountain?

There is only one way to climb a mountain; step by step.

Now think of writing your ebook in the same light. You must create it step by step, and one day, you will take that last step and find yourself standing on the summit with your head in the clouds.

The first thing you have to do, as if you actually were a mountain climber, is to get organized. Instead of climbing gear, however, you must organize your thoughts. There are some steps you should take before you begin. Once you've gone through the following list, you will be ready to actually begin writing your ebook.

Beginning Steps to Writing an ebook
First, figure out your ebook's working title. Jot down a few different titles, and eventually, you'll find that one that will grow on you. Titles help you to focus your writing on your topic; they guide you in anticipating and answering your reader's queries. Many non-fiction books also have subtitles. Aim for clarity in your titles, but cleverness always helps to sell books ? as long as it's not too cute. For example, Remedies for Insomnia: twenty different ways to count sheep. Or: Get off that couch: fifteen exercise plans to whip you into shape.

Next, write out a thesis statement. Your thesis is a sentence or two stating exactly what problem you are addressing and how your book will solve that problem. All chapters spring forth from your thesis statement. Once you've got your thesis statement fine-tuned, you've built your foundation. From that foundation, your book will grow, chapter by chapter.

Your thesis will keep you focused while you write your ebook. Remember: all chapters must support your thesis statement. If they don't, they don't belong in your book. For example, your thesis statement could read: We've all experienced insomnia at times in our lives, but there are twenty proven techniques and methods to give you back a good night's sleep.

Once you have your thesis, before you start to write, make sure there is a good reason to write your book. Ask yourself some questions:
* Does your book present useful information and is that information currently relevant?
* Will you book positively affect the lives of your readers?
* Is your book dynamic and will it keep the reader's attention?
* Does you book answer questions that are meaningful and significant?

If you can answer yes to these questions, you can feel confident about the potential of your ebook.

Another important step is to figure out who your target audience is. It is this group of people you will be writing to, and this group will dictate many elements of your book, such as style, tone, diction, and even length. Figure out the age range of your readers, their general gender, what they are most interested in, and even the socio-economic group they primarily come from. Are they people who read fashion magazines or book reviews? Do they write letters in longhand or spend hours every day online. The more you can pin down your target audience, the easier it will be to write your book for them.

Next, make a list of the reasons you are writing your ebook. Do you want to promote your business? Do you want to bring quality traffic to your website? Do you want to enhance your reputation?

Then write down your goals in terms of publishing. Do you want to sell it as a product on your website, or do you want to offer it as a free gift for filling out a survey or for ordering a product? Do you want to use the chapters to create an e-course, or use your ebook to attract affiliates around the world? The more you know upfront, the easier the actual writing will be.

Decide on the format of your chapters. In non-fiction, keep the format from chapter to chapter fairly consistent. Perhaps you plan to use an introduction to your chapter topic, and then divide it into four subhead topics. Or you may plan to divide it into five parts, each one beginning with a relevant anecdote.

How to make your ebook "user friendly"
You must figure out how to keep your writing engaging. Often anecdotes, testimonials, little stories, photos, graphs, advice, and tips will keep the reader turning the pages. Sidebars are useful for quick, accessible information, and they break up the density of the page.

Write with a casual, conversational tone rather than a formal tone such as textbook diction. Reader's respond to the feeling that you are having a conversation with them. Break up the length and structure of your sentences so you don?t hypnotize your readers into sleep. Sentences that are all the same length and structure tend to be a good aid for insomnia!

Good writing takes practice. It takes lots and lots of practice. Make a schedule to write at least a page a day. Read books and magazines about the process of writing, and jot down tips that jump out at you. The art of writing is a lifetime process; the more you write (and read), the better your writing will become. The better your writing becomes, the bigger your sales figures.

In an ebook that is read on the screen, be aware that you must give your reader's eye a break. You can do this by utilizing white space. In art classes, white space is usually referred to as "negative space." Reader's eyes need to rest in the cool white oasises you create on your page. If your page is too dense, your reader will quit out of it as soon as their eyes begin to tear.

Make use of lists, both bulleted and numbered. This makes your information easy to absorb, and gives the reader a mental break from dissecting your paragraphs one after the other.

Finally, decide on an easy-to-read design. Find a font that's easy on the eyes, and stick to that font family. Using dozens of fonts will only tire your readers out before they've gotten past your introduction. Use at least one and a half line spacing, and text large enough to be read easily on the screen, but small enough so that the whole page can be seen on a computer screen. You will have to experiment with this to find the right combination.

Of course, don't forget to run a spell and grammar check. You are judged by something as minor as correct punctuation, so don?t mess up a great book by tossing out semicolons randomly, or stringing sentences together with commas. (By the way, that's called a "comma splice.")

Last of all, create an index and a bibliography. That's it! You've written a book! Now all you have to do is publish your ebook online, and wait for download request from your website visitors.

By, Charlie Yeoh
The Marketing Institute Online
21 Nov 2006

Charlie Yeoh http://www.themarketinginstituteonline.com is the owner of: The Marketing Institute Online http://www.themarketinginstituteonline.com. Learn the strategies of making money on the internet on: http://www.themarketinginstituteonline.com
Check out our blog: http://www.themarketinginstituteonline.com/blog

Do You Know What It Takes To Sell 1,000,000 Copies of Your Book?

Almost everyone who contacts my office about helping them with their book publishing needs, believe they have the next million-copy seller. Because do not make a habit of stepping on anyone's dreams, I always listen politely before asking the question: "How do you propose to sell 1,000,000 copies?"

Usually, I get the same answer: "Everybody in the world will want this book ... " Most people cannot fathom, what it takes to sell 100,000 copies, 10,000 copies or 1,000 copies for that matter, let alone 1,000,000 copies.

According to the Author's Guild, a successful fiction book sells 5,000 copies and a successful nonfiction book sells 7,500 copies. Major publishing companies will take a book on if they believe it can sell at least 50,000 copies.

However, the statistics for self-publishers prove dismal. The largest author services companies report: An average of 100 copies sold per title. 14.3% of authors sell more than 200 copies. 3.4% of authors sell more than 500 copies.

Why then, do we see so many people writing books and seeking to be on the New York Times' bestseller list? Simply put, because you never know where your book will wind up.

According to the New York Times' (Edward Watts, March 15, 2006) "Joel Osteen, a television evangelist, has signed a book deal with Free Press, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, that publishing insiders say is potentially one of the richest for a nonfiction book and could bring the author more than $10 million." While his book Your Best Life Now is good, the marketing machine behind it really caused him to sell three to four million copies.

As senior pastor of the "nation's largest church" with a media ministry that reaches 200 million households, Osteen could write the Gospel of Humpty Dumpty and sell thousands of copies easily. The point being, he used his circle of influence, brilliantly, I might add.

You must do the same. I know you probably don't possess the same scope, but the principles remain the same.

1. Who do you know? 2. Who knows you? 3. How can you reach them?
You should start "selling" your book while in the process writing it.

I don't believe in "stealth" writing, where you hide away from the world and never let anyone know about your project until it is completed. Of course, you want to be selective, but if it takes you two years to write your manuscript, plus another six months, nine months or more for production, that is time that would be well spent in marketing your book.

Start by making a complete contact list of your relatives, friends, associates, business relationships, memberships, etc. Call, write or email them and let them know about your book and the expected completion date. Ask them to help you spread the word.

They may also know of networking or speaking opportunities whereby you can pitch your book - before it is published. The idea is to leverage your contacts as much as you can.

Prompt them for a commitment to buy multiple books at a discount or with a special incentive once the book is published. That way there is a possibility that you will already have hundreds or thousands or customers waiting for your release.

Once it is out, follow the rule of five as outlined by John Kremer, author of 1001 Ways To Market Your Book. Kremer states, "All you have to do is follow this one rule: Do five promotions a day. That's it. Do five promotions each and every day (with a day off every once in a while for good behavior). Make a phone call. Write a letter to an important editor. Send out a catalog to a key sales contact. Handwrite a little note on the news release you send to targeted media. Make a follow-up phone call. Do at least five promotions a day, and within a year you'll have made over 1,500 prime contacts. I guarantee you that if you make five legitimate contacts each and every day for a year, you'll make sales. But you have to be consistent. That's the inside secret. Now that you know it, do something about it."

Marvin Cloud
21 Dec 2006

Marvin D. Cloud provides a self-publishing alternative at mybestseller.com. For a free writers' workbook and online marketing tips, go to http://mybestseller.com/html/marketing_tips.