Writing About Writing Wordle Ebookers
So you want to write an ebook and join the thousands of people skipping the slow, selective, traditional publishing route. This guide will outline the basic steps of creating an ebook and address some common questions along the way.This post contains affiliate links. If you click through and make a purchase, I’ll earn a commission, at no additional cost to you. Read my full disclosure. Can anyone write an ebook?Yes.
You do not need to wait for permission or approval. If you’ve got an idea for an ebook, write it. Can I make money writing ebooks?Yes. It takes work, but yes. Is the most legit person I’ve found who does this. He’s a traditionally published-turned-self published author making a great living selling his ebooks. He now teaches others what he does.
About the author (2010) Elizabeth Wardle is an associate professor and the Director of Writing Programs at the University of Central Florida. Her research interests center on genre theory, transfer of writing-related knowledge, and infusing composition classrooms with the field's best understandings of how writing works. Words I Use When I Write. This personal dictionary provides an initial list of 500 high-frequency sight words, plus plenty of blank lines for new words chosen by the student or teacher. Additional words can be selected from phonics lessons, spelling lists, literature, word walls, or other sources.
You might find useful. Is also excellent. If you’re really serious, he has an in-depth course called which opens twice a year. (I’ve bought it myself. You can read.) Why write an ebook?To make money. Many people have made excellent money through the sales of ebooks. If you plan to sell your ebook as part of your business, read my post.To give away for free. Perhaps you’d like to use your ebook as an incentive for people to sign up for your mailing list (called a ).
Or maybe you want to use it to showcase your expertise or establish your authority on a subject. Maybe you would just like to enrich the lives of others, no strings attached. All are great reasons to offer it for free.To get published (on your own terms). It used to be that traditional publishing was thought to be the only “legitimate” way to get published, but that’s no longer the case. If you long to be an author and don’t want to go through the long process and uncertainty of traditional publishing, self publishing is great. Read for more.To get in on the exploding digital book market. In 2010, digital book sales surpassed hardcover book sales on both and (Barnes & Noble). That alone is an outstanding reason to dive in. Get in on a trend that’s sure to continue.
How much does it cost to write an ebook?It depends on your goal. If you’re writing for fun or to give your ebook away, you can create it for free. However, if you hope to sell it, at the very least, expect to pay a few hundred dollars for an editor and a few hundred dollars for a professionally designed cover.
What tools do you need to write an ebook?You’ll need a word processor like or Microsoft Word. If you want to get fancy, a lot of writers swear by.Beyond that, if you plan to design your own cover (not recommended unless you have professional design experience), you’ll need an app like to do that.
How long should my ebook be?There is no standard length for ebooks. Traditional publishers need to justify the cost of printing.
Therefore, they are concerned about word count. (This was.) Ebooks are different. Make your ebook as long as it needs to be to say what you need to say.
In April 2010 I decided to write an ebook, mostly as an experiment. I was intrigued by the “launch your own product” process and wanted to figure out how it worked. It was completely uncharted territory for me.My plan was to finish it by the end of June, publish it in July and thenwell, I hoped to sell a few copies.Things didn’t go according to plan. June came and went, as did July. So did August and September.
Then October rolled around and the dark, unfinished project cloud prompted me to make a final push and get it done.I officially launched on October 26, 2010. By then, I was so relieved it was done I would have been happy with $10 so I could buy an ice cream sundae to celebrate.But that’s not what happened.I made significantly more than $10 that first day (like thousands more) and it continues to sell all these years later. Before this whole thing started, I never thought past the first week of launch. Table of contents.It’s a lot of workEven though it’s not particularly complicated, writing and publishing an ebook does take work. A lot of work.
Writing is the easy partMarketing is the hard part. You must have a solid, trustworthy platform from which to launch your ebook. Prepare to spend a lot of time marketing your ebook after you’re done writing it.Related: Don’t neglect your platformDon’t drop everything to write an ebook. Spend 10-20% of your time working on your ebook. Spend the other 80-90% of your time building your platform. A platform will make selling your ebook incredibly easier since people will know who you are.By the way, if you have hopes of becoming published, your platform is key.
You’re unlikely to find a traditional publisher who will sign you if you don’t have a platform. Connections with people drive ebook salesBefore you finish your ebook, develop genuine online relationships with others through social media, commenting and other not-spammy ways of reaching out to strangers.
When it comes time to sell your ebook, these are the people who are most likely to help you spread the word.Be strategic about the topic of your ebook. This is not a “write whatever and they will come” sort of endeavor.
A little research is helpful, as is some serious thought.This guide covers nonfiction writing although fiction writers are sure to gain a solid understanding of the process as well. (I don’t have any personal experience with fiction, but I would recommend you check out by Michael Hyatt.) Think PFCFor a non-fiction ebook, choose to do one or more of the following:. P – Solve a Problem. Be helpful. “How to” topics are excellent choices for ebooks. Find a hole and fill it.
The hole you find doesn’t have to be huge, it just has to be common to a decent-sized group of people. F – Address a Fear. Most of us have fears and we do our best to avoid them. Our fears range from “What are people going to think of me?” to “What if my spouse gets cancer?” to “What if we run out of money?” to “What if I die?” to “What if my children turn out to be tyrants?” and on and on. If you can come up with a topic that addresses a common fear and offers a way to relieve that fear, you just might have a winner of a topic.
C – Satisfy a Curiosity. People wonder about stuff. This is why celebrity gossip is so popular and why reality shows are captivating for many. What’s it like to live in a family of 19? How does so-and-so run his business successfully? Who’s going to be wearing what at the Oscars? You get the picture.
The bottom line is, we are intrigued by information that’s not readily available. If you have an inside peek into something the masses might like to know (and are free to share that information), it might be a good ebook topic.In, I tried to tackle both the P and the F. I address the fear of living a lackluster life with the how of managing your time in a simple, straightforward 4-step way. Choose a topic you’re passionate aboutOnce your ebook is launched, people are likely to ask questions about your topic. If you’re writing to make a quick buck but know nothing about the subject, things will fizzle when you can’t answer their questions.
Or, you’ll be frustrated having to answer questions about something you could care less about. Choose a topic you’re good atDo others ask your advice about a particular topic? What do you do that people marvel at?
What are the questions you get most often? We’re all an expert at something.For me, I enjoy organizing and most of all, efficiency. So an ebook on time management wasn’t a stretch at all. I also had already gotten positive feedback on the information so it made me confident others might find it helpful as well.
Choose a topic with substanceI read once that an ebook should be at least 25 pages long. That seems reasonable to me. If your topic can be sufficiently described in less than 25 pages, write a blog post, a blog series or a guest post.Related:I’m dancing on the line of this one with coming in at about 28 pages. However, this was somewhat purposeful in that I was deliberately trying to keep it succinct to align with my Unique Selling Proposition (USP) which is a book on time management that isn’t time consuming. Choose a topic that fits with your established online identityIf people know you as the woman who is an expert knitter, your ebook will be easier to sell if it has something to do with knitting.
Mark Dawson’s Ads for Authors course is excellent.There is no shortage of marketing tips available online. I certainly won’t attempt to cover everything (nor could I) but here are some things I did to get the word out. First though, some explanations so we’re all on the same page Marketing and Advertising. What’s the difference?I like this explanation:The best way to distinguish between advertising and marketing is to think of marketing as a pie, inside that pie you have slices of advertising, market research, media planning, public relations, product pricing, distribution, customer support, sales strategy, and community involvement. Advertising only equals one piece of the pie in the strategy. There’s a lot of stuff in there, but for our purposes, let’s just say marketing is how you’re going to spread the word about your ebook. Give your ebook away in a pre-releaseConsider giving a way a free copy of your ebook to a handful of people.
The key here is to be selective and strategic. Don’t be stingy and definitely don’t be spammy.The people I would recommend you give it to are people who have some influence in your niche, have a good, solid following (although not necessarily a large following) or would make a good affiliate.
The best people are the ones with whom you already have an established relationship.A brief, to-the-point email asking them if they’d like to take a peek at your soon-to-be-released ebook is sufficient. Let them contact you if they are interested. If you don’t hear back from them, just move on. Gather testimonialsTo those who take advantage of the pre-release, give them a week or two to read it and then shoot them a personalized email providing affiliate information if they are interested and ask them if they’d like to submit a testimonial to be included on your sales page.We all know and understand the importance of word-of-mouth and the power of personal recommendations, so having testimonials about your ebook can be very helpful.Great testimonials are those that pack a quantitative punch.
For example, instead of a testimonial that says, “This is a great ebook!” choose one that says, “Wow! After reading this ebook, I saved $50 on shopping over the course of a month!” Guest post or be a guest on a podcastGuest posting is a good way to get your name out there and tell ’em about your ebook in your bio.
And oftentimes, podcasters are looking for relevant and interesting people to interview. Social media & forumsTake part in discussions in forums, comments on blogs and social media. Create a steady stream of promotional content that gets pushed out to all your social media channels. Leaving the link to your ebook sales page in your email signature is helpful too. Plan a sale (or sales) or eventLook at the calendar and figure out when you could have a few sales on your ebook. Sales generally create some buzz.
Perhaps you’d like to ramp things up and create an online event related to your launch. GiveawaysOnce your ebook is launched, host a giveaway on your blog. Get your affiliates involved too. Brainstorm continuouslyKeep a running list of ways you might be able to get the word out about your ebook.
Take advantage of calendar events, seasons and other similar ebbs and flows. Watch what others do and see how you can adapt their strategies and tactics.Did you find this post helpful? I’d love it if you shared it with your readers and followers!Originally published January 18, 2011.
Wordle For Kids
Hi AmyI stumbled on this part of your website from a twitter link to a post on customising a WordPress theme. I am currently writing an eBook under Liam Naden’s eBook Mastery course (which I recommend). So far I have only read your intro post on eBook writing & I hope to view the other parts later.Great to hear you got the success the work deserved for your eBook-making a quality eBook is not a trivial process.
Writing About Writing Wordle Ebookers Reviews
I hope to emulate this with my eBook (Programming for success for non-programmers) which I’m also hoping will be finished within the next week. Keep enjoying the blogging & writing 🙂.says. I got here looking for information, for my father, 88, on how to publish an ebook and saw all the stuff you have on blogging, particularly on gaining traffic.
My business and blog are dead in the the water but I’m continuing, hoping to gain traffic and get the business moving. AwareNewJersey is intended to be a directory of unique, small, local independent businesses in New Jersey in a handful of niche markets: wellness, spirituality, wildlife and animal welfare, natural and artisan foods, and more. Stuff that’s not mainstream.
I love all the great little businesses I’ve found but haven’t had any traffic. I’m hoping your tips will help. Thank you.says.
Amy,I’m just starting into the series as I found your site tonight in a Google search. I am impressed and a bit intimidated by the quantity of material here. I don’t mean that in a negative way at all just a lot to consider. I appreciate that you start the series with a frank statement of what lies ahead in the ebook writing process and whether it’s worth it or not.One thing that isn’t spoken about in the media’s gushing over ebooks is the fact that there isn’t much money to be made in most cases. I like your recommendation to spend more time on blogging.
You’ve given me much to think about. Thank you.Amy says. Amy,I have been writing a book over the past few months, and using your guide.
Thanks so much for all of the helpful tips!! I am so excited that it will be coming out soon.
I will definitely be sending you a copy! I was wondering if you have any tips about copyrighting? I know that it takes 3 months to register & copyright with the government, and I am hoping to release it next week, so I don’t think that I can do that? I know that there is already an automatic copyright once you have written it, but I was not sure if I should do more or not? Also, did you get an ISBN number? Any advice on this would be appreciated.
Rene.Amy says. Good morning!I am asking (begging) for your help!
I have searched everywhere but get confused with all the “help” on the web. (besides the fact I’m a 63 yr old man LOL)I cannot seem to find the code for a blog button to post on my website that will allow visitors on my web to follow my blogs. All I know is I want the “B” from blogspot.com and just get frustrated trying to find it!!Can you please email me the code with instructions (I do know copy and paste lol) or tell me the url where I can get the code I want.Your help will be appreciated.Thank youSteve Gan‘.Amy says. I’m a little confused as to why people should listen to you or take you seriously?Per your bio“Hi, I’m Amy.
I’m just a regular gal who wondered if there was a legitimate way to work from home. I’ve done it, and you can do it too. Here’s my easy peasy, step-by-step guide. You might also like the quick tips I share on Facebook. And here are my blogging tutorials. Check out my FAQ for my take.”And yet the second sentence you write states that “This was completely uncharted territory for me and given that writing is not my favorite thing to do, I”I guess you really have to love the internet these days where anyone and EVERYONE is a self proclaimed “Blogging EXPERT” or a “Social Media GURU”just for fun I am going to proclaim myself “Lord King of all Things Blue”That is all.Amy says. Well, I’ve gotta say that you’re doing a great job of building up suspense over this series.
I’m dying to read what you’ve got to say on this ebook venture.I’ve typed up 2/3rds of the second draft of my ebook. I love writing, but it’s still hard. Those self-doubts creep in. Making something worthy of selling puts your writing in a different category than just slapping it up on the blog, take it or leave it. As I write, I come up with more ideas and more ideas. This thing could become another War and Peace if I don’t cap it off!.Amy says.
Amy, OMG, since stumbling onto your website a few days ago, I have been just amazed. I have been searching for ‘just the right’ information.
I love writing, have always loved writing, have created several blogs and written a number of articles trying to figure out just the right thing your site has done it for me. I now know the direction I need to take my writing (I have an ebook that has been in the making forever) Thank U, Thank U. Your website has been an absolute God-send for me. God Bless U for your willingness to share (will keep you posted).