Writing an e-book

[Merr]

I'm seriously considering writing an e-book on an area of expertise that I have. I'm in the planning stage and the book is in my mind waiting to be written... in terms of the practicalities (e.g. website, advertising, etc) I am completely clueless. Any ideas would be great, especially from anyone who has published an e-book. Thanks.

[Clint Cora]

I've done five of them. The writing and editing process is much easier if you can recruit an editor. Also, be aware that formatting should be different for ebooks compared to versions to be printed as softcovers.

[Agota]

Pat Flynn has an excellent free e-book about, well, e-books.

You can get it by signing up for his list Passive Income: The Smart Passive Income Blog

[Peterw]

I read a really good ebook on this topic called "Desperate buyers only" - not free but I highly recommend it.

[Merr]

Thank you for the responses. I will check out the recommended e-books! I am a bit concerned about the costs at the outset though. Is it very expensive to set up a website and sell an e-book? I don't have much money but I favour an e-book over a published manuscript for several reasons:

-It will reach an audience quicker.
-It is aimed at a younger audience who are more likely to google than to purchase a book on what I plan to write about.
-The length of the book will be approximately 20,000-30,000 words in total, shorted than a published book would normally be (I've noticed it tends to be 50,000 minimum).
-The writing style I plan to use is more like the style I have seen used in e-books than elsewhere.

Generating money is one of the main reasons I have for writing an e-book so I don't want to spend too much money. I know there's the cliche that you have to spend money to make money but I am not wealthy, so the expenditure has to be limited. I don't mind not making much from this endeavour as other motivations include the fact that I would like to share my knowledge/experience with a wider audience. I also think that the process of writing a book will be beneficial to me personally as a learning experience and an accomplishment.

Clint- In terms of getting an editor on board, do you mean a professional editor or even just someone I know and trust who has skills at editing? How much would a professional editor cost for something like this?

[Agota]

Originally Posted by Peterw

I read a really good ebook on this topic called "Desperate buyers only" - not free but I highly recommend it.

I'll take a look at it as well, thanks for recommending!

..without the recommendation, I would have dismissed it instantly because of their sales site

- - -

What's your budget for an e-book project?

[Peterw]

Originally Posted by Agota

I'll take a look at it as well, thanks for recommending!

..without the recommendation, I would have dismissed it instantly because of their sales site

- - -

What's your budget for an e-book project?

No worries - it's one of the Warrior forum classics.

I've never outsourced an ebook project but I'd probably gauge the investment by the potential of the niche and competition. Probably use the adwords tool to get an idea of profitability then work out how much to invest from there.. I'd probably do a lot fo the interesting work myself then outsource the boring stuff.

[Clint Cora]

Originally Posted by Merr

Thank you for the responses. I will check out the recommended e-books! I am a bit concerned about the costs at the outset though. Is it very expensive to set up a website and sell an e-book? I don't have much money but I favour an e-book over a published manuscript for several reasons:

-It will reach an audience quicker.
-It is aimed at a younger audience who are more likely to google than to purchase a book on what I plan to write about.
-The length of the book will be approximately 20,000-30,000 words in total, shorted than a published book would normally be (I've noticed it tends to be 50,000 minimum).
-The writing style I plan to use is more like the style I have seen used in e-books than elsewhere.

Generating money is one of the main reasons I have for writing an e-book so I don't want to spend too much money. I know there's the cliche that you have to spend money to make money but I am not wealthy, so the expenditure has to be limited. I don't mind not making much from this endeavour as other motivations include the fact that I would like to share my knowledge/experience with a wider audience. I also think that the process of writing a book will be beneficial to me personally as a learning experience and an accomplishment.

Clint- In terms of getting an editor on board, do you mean a professional editor or even just someone I know and trust who has skills at editing? How much would a professional editor cost for something like this?

What I did was by networking. When I was with Toastmasters, another member was taking a community college course on writing and when I talked to her, she loved the idea of having the opportunity to be an editor for a book that will be released to the general public. So she did it for free since this was her first project and she got the credit in return.

At the very least, such a project need not be expensive. You can get a low cost hosting service and use Wordpress as your website platform. See my website tools on what I use. Then build your readership through blogging while paying attention to search engine optimization. You can initially use PayPal as your method to accept orders too or use Clickbank.

[Merr]

Originally Posted by Clint Cora

What I did was by networking. When I was with Toastmasters, another member was taking a community college course on writing and when I talked to her, she loved the idea of having the opportunity to be an editor for a book that will be released to the general public. So she did it for free since this was her first project and she got the credit in return.

At the very least, such a project need not be expensive. You can get a low cost hosting service and use Wordpress as your website platform. See my website tools on what I use. Then build your readership through blogging while paying attention to search engine optimization. You can initially use PayPal as your method to accept orders too or use Clickbank.

I have a couple of friends who are great at editing and giving critical feedback. I will ask them if they can help me with the editing side. I've checked out your website and the tools that you recommend look pretty cost-effective. Thank you for your advice. I will get writing, see if I can get people on board who can help me with this project in return for my help elsewhere.