10 Secrets to Write Your eBook Like a Winner!
You already have what it takes to write your first e-book. And like other winners you can create or increase your passive income stream each month. Your winning competitors wish you would never discover these secrets.
You may be asking "What if I don't have the mind of a techie?" You can still write your winner e-book and start earning in a few weeks. Start by solving your readers' problems using your expert knowledge. You know the articles and reports already in your files. Expand one of your articles or speeches into a short book by adding a short story or some practical how-to steps.
If you want to increase your present book income or just get started now, read these ten secrets and apply them:
1. Secret One.
Write a short e-book first to test your market. I know short doesn't mean the same thing to every person. For e-books, let's agree 10-90 pages is short, even 5-27 sounds less intimidating. Your future customers are busy and usually download only the pages they want at the time.
Make your e-book simpler, shorter, and punchier than your print book. Shorten your sentences, stories and analogies. Your winner format will include a strong heading (question) your reader needs answered and the answer. This winner formula presents the problem and solution quickly without a lot of words.
2. Secret Two.
Focus on one topic in your book. It's a known fact bestsellers focus on one main topic. Focus on one topic then write each chapter to support that subject. When you overload your reader with information, you come across as disorganized, wordy and flat. Instead of including everything you know, stick to one how-to subject and include plenty of simple details with examples to make it useful to your reader.
3. Secret Three.
Brand yourself, your business and your book. Think about the greatest benefit that you offer through your book or service. Consider your book and chapter titles. Now think about your keywords and headings on your website. Do you see a repeating word that stands out? For example, the book "Win With the Writer Inside You" the author threads some form of "win" throughout her materials. Ever heard of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series? The title changes in its audience but the Chicken Soup brand stays the same. For example, there's a Chicken Soup for Teen-agers, Chicken Soup for Mothers, and so on.
4. Secret Four.
Get a professional editor and/or book coach. Yes, its o.k. and you should get feedback from family, friends, local writing group, etc. But you need to get a professional viewpoint of your work to weed out the passive voice, bad grammar and all the things that slow your readers down to a standstill. Copy that appeals to the emotions of your reader sell your books. Your future customers want word pictures that they can respond to with their emotions.
5. Secret Five.
Target and get to know your audience. Let's face it not everyone will want to read your book. Most newbie authors think up what they feel is a great product; spend tons of time and sometimes money looking for people to buy it. Instead match your expert knowledge with an audience you can serve. Consider their needs, problems and how you can help solve them. Business people are a hot audience right now. They are hungry and willing to buy what will improve, make profitable their life and business. Right now think of one to three preferred audiences in your area of expertise. Then write the book your customers will be looking for.
6. Secret Six.
Automate your business. Don't get frustrated if you are a non-techie, like me. You can do it. Take your time or at least decide to learn at your own pace. Years ago, the author knew very little about the internet now she owns many websites. She has published 5 inspirational e-books and several on internet marketing and e-book writing/publishing at the time of this writing.
Write your e-book quickly but offer a quality product. Aim to give your customer more than they have asked. Market your book on your site, on the site of others, everywhere basically. A good place to start is eBay or Booklocker. Don't forget to offer your e-book for sale through an 800 number. Ureach is an excellent service 888-506-7790. Setup a download link for people to access your product. Consider Paypal, Clickbank and/or 2Checkout and/or your own merchant account for offline purchases to offer your customer choices. They will reward you by choosing one.
Whenever you are ready, think delegation, delegate some of your work to a computer assistant. For some perfectionist (not me) delegation may sound like a dirty word. Contact your local high schools and technical schools where bright techies live. The expense is low in comparison to the results you can gain.
7. Secret Seven.
Sizzle Your Title. Your title may well be 90% of the pulling power for your book. An excellent title is short. The top titles are benefit driven. Don't forget to heat them up with emotion. Use terms your audience can relate to. Use action words and verbs. Quantify change with ways and time limits. Use one or two word ideas to tell a story. Pledge change. Spark interest. Instead of "How to Write an E-book" the author chose the title "Ten Secrets to Write Your E-book Like a Winner." She quantified change, sparked interest and branded her title.
Have a meeting of the minds with friends or associates. Let them help you choose the best title from the list. Find out which will make them pull out $15-20 or more to buy your book.
8. Secret Eight.
Leverage Your Sales Potential. Think for a moment about the valuable knowledge that you have packed into your e-book at $20 a sale. Remember the principle "Divide and conquer" Web users love chunks of information. To leverage your sales conquer and divide your e-book into an e-course. With minor revisions, you can set your book up as a how-to course or mini-course. In the e-course format you can double your price and up. Don't forget to bundle several lower cost e-books and offer a discount. At one of the author's sites she sells 2 e-books for 20.00 separately, bundled she sells them for $30.00
9. Secret Nine.
Add bonus value to your e-book. When you add bonus value (2-4 how-to lists, articles, special reports, sample chapter or mini-course) at the end of your e-book document, you increase its value. Many (author included) will buy for the bonuses alone. Most people love bargains and valuable free stuff. Everyone is looking for original but useful information. Implement this secret of bonuses and watch your subscriber rate and sales go up.
10. Secret Ten.
Market before, while and after you write. Most writers want to avoid marketing. I overheard a writer saying, "I wrote the book. Why should I have to market it too?" Whine, whine?No really as you know marketing can be hard work. From my marketing friend Judy Cullins there are seven hot selling points that will make it much easier: Put marketing into each chapter title, each chapter's questions you will answer, rough draft of e-book's back cover (sales letter), the one-minute tell and sell, targeting your audience, thesis, and table of contents. You can implement these before you write a single chapter.
It's faster to write an e-book if you know how. People surf the net daily looking for practical information and knowledge that you have. Don't let your ideas, knowledge and expertise fade away. Put it to work for you in an e-book. Remember, if you need help contact a professional book coach or take an e-course to inform yourself.
©Earma Brown, 10 yr. Entrepreneur, Author, Speaker, Empowers entrepreneurs and writers to realize their book and web dreams.