Writing ebook - plan for success

By Thuai Kam Goon
Posted Friday, December 3, 2004

Do you know how to plan your ebook writing? This articles gives you tips on how to.

Writing an ebook is a major project by itself. The effort and time you need depend on the subject that you are writing and how familiar you are with it. As in any project, planning plays an important role. As the saying goes, 'If you do not plan, you plan to fail'. There are a few things which can help to make your writing journey a smooth sailing and successful one.

Create flow chart / action plan

No you need not be technical and know the nitty gritty of creating a flow chart. What is stressed here is that you know what needs to be done. At least in the sequence that's logical. You can substitute the flow chart with writing in point form etc.

Why I put in flow chart here is because it's graphic in nature and most of us tend to remember things and understand them better when it's visually presented. Besides that, flow chart has the advantage of simplifying things and you get to understand the flow immediately, without having to ready a page or two of description.

Set goal & create timeline

The purpose of creating flow chart/writing it down is for you to come up with a proper action plan. In your mind at least you know what you are suppose to do and in what sequence. However, the previous step only outlines a very high level action. In this step, you need to be more specific. If needed, put in the more detailed goals. Set deadline for each of your goals.

You should be realistic when setting goals. Do not be too ambitious and set a goal which is unachievable. Neither should you set a goal which is too lax, and not challenging at all. You know yourself best. Be realistic about it.

Write

Well this is a project to write ebook, so naturally writing is a major part of it. Once you've set your goals and timeline, start writing. This is the critical part. You may choose to write from the beginning, i.e. starting from chapter 1, so on and so forth. Another method is to pick the chapter that you can write off hand first, then only proceed to the harder chapters. Choose your preference.

Edit draft

Good writing requires editing to polish up. This is to ensure that your ebook is free from all typos and other errors. You may want to double check the facts that you have written especially when you are writing something which is very factual, e.g. a scientific based ebook.

Sell

This is the interesting part because this is where you get your money. Internet has facilitate the process of getting your ebook to the end user. There are many avenues where you can sell your ebook. The good news is marketing and promoting your ebook on the internet cost a fraction of those required under conventional publishing, i.e. selling your work in hard copy. A few places you can check out:

==> (http://www.amazon.com
==> (http://www.borders.com)
==> (http://www.booklocker.com)
==> (http://www.fatbrain.com/ematter/home.html)
==> (http://www.1stbooks.com)
==> (http://www.ebooknet.com)

I will be covering a few tips on selling ebook in the next article.

About the Author
Thuai Kam is a netrepreneur who has a passion in exploring creative ideas in internet business. She is the author of '8 Steps to writing your ebook from SCRATCH'. You can get business tools and resources from (http://www.homebizbay.com) and subscribe to free newsletter by mailing to subscribe@homebizbay.com.