E-Book Publishing Checklist
By Milana Leshinsky
Posted Tuesday, January 4, 2005
E-books are the latest craze on the Internet. Why? Because they are easy to produce, free to deliver, and can create an unlimited income if marketed correctly and consistently.
You can write an e-book about anything! As long as people are willing to pay for that information, it will sell. It is also a great way to self-publish fiction without spending a fortune on print publishing.
How do you get started? Follow this handy checklist:
Choosing a Topic
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- Create an inventory of your skills - Narrow down that list to the topics you are passionate about
- Choose the topic that most likely to have a wide and growing audience
Define your Target Market
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- Find your competitors using search engines
- List some problems and challenges your target customers might face
- Think of 4-5 possible titles for your e-book
- Get other people's opinions on each title
- Post your titles on relevant forums to see which one people like best (try )
The Ultimate Goal
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Decide what you want to accomplish writing this e-book:
- Use it as an introductory product to a high-end product or service (has to be of high quality and reasonable price, and you must have the back-end ready)
- Make it your primary product for your business (should be a decent size e-book, with many extras, possibly a consultation included, can be mid-to-high price)
- Generate quick profits by selling reprint rights to this e-book (topic must be able to support a large audience and be unique from your competition)
- Use it as a lead generation tool (has to be free, enticing, and still have useful information)
Content Brainstorm
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- Decide on the final topic and title for your e-book - Write down everything you know about the subject - Organize your list into sections, putting related points together
- Build your table of contents, with chapters and sections within chapters
Write Your E-Book
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- Use your text editor or word processing program to write your book
- Spell check and re-read your book to ensure good flow - Send it to your friends to read and ask for their testimonials
Design and Assemble
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- Choose an e-book compiler (list of most popular compilers:)
- Find good images for the interior of your e-book (try )
- Put all the files and pages together and compile into an e-book
Build a Web Site To Sell Your E-Book
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- Put a web site together (get a free start-up guide at )
- Set up an online payment system to accept credit cards on your web site
- Password-protect your e-book files - Write a sales copy - text for your web site - Add bonuses, guarantee, list benefits of your e-book
Design an E-Book Cover
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- Do not underestimate the power of a good book cover. A great looking e-cover is known to increase sales 300% for many authors
- Decide if you want to create your own e-cover or hire a professional designer - If you think you are going to write more than 1 e-book, and want to save money, get the brand new eCover Generator program which will create your book covers in minutes: ()
Time to Promote
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Depending on what your "Ultimate Goal" is, your marketing methods may vary.
- Create a free demo (or a free chapter) of your e-book and allow your visitors download it & give away to others - Set up an autoresponder to follow-up with them later to upsell your back-end product or service - Write articles, place classified ads, submit to search engines, start a newsletter, etc.
For more e-book resources such as compilers, online payment systems, idea generation tools and e-book promotion, visit the E-book Resources at (http://www.mycoachingwebsite.com/ebook_resources.html)
About the Author
Milana Leshinsky is a full time web developer and the author of two e-books: "Create Your First Busines Web Site in 10 days" and "65 Instant Web Design Answers". (http://www.firstbusinesswebsite.com) (http://www.instantwebanswers.com)
