Morning!
Over at my forums, the following question was asked:
How do I make an ebook?
and I figured that rather than answer the whole thing over there, I’d walk the walk I talk in Income Fitness and write up a comprehensive post HERE in my blog, and then add a note THERE that I’ve prepared a great resource for free. This delivers the following benefits to my readers:
1.) Folks on the forum get led back to this blog
2.) On said blog, I have additional ways to grow my list to assist me in future marketing!
3.) This blog post will get indexed not only in Google, but also have a chance to be tweeted/stumbled/FB’d etc. as well.
A win win no matter what!
So let’s get to it. I’ve been writing books and ebooks now since 1997…and here’s the exact way I do it. (And be certain you read to the VERY END – I include the absolute best resource for making an ebook you can find anywhere online).
Step 1.) Find a profitable problem.
I didn’t ALWAYS do this before, mind you. Back when I was starting, I’d write on anything that interested me.
That’s great for my ego but lousy for my bank account. You should ALWAYS ensure there’s a targeted audience for your final product!
- Starting a Viral e-Book? Choose a Good Topic
- Choosing a Best-Selling E-book Topic
- How to choose the right topic for your paid product
Next,
Step 2.) Define a HASHTAG!
Fooled you there, didn’t I?
But! A hashtag related to your future book can do wonders in promotion!
To wit, check out:
I started using that hashtag while considering just how to formulate my latest, Income Fitness. Heck, I even created a whole forum and community around it:
Anything you can do to promote your intentions with regards to your ebook – it’s a great thing indeed!
Next,
Step 3.) Write out your eBook’s Table of Contents
This step helps you decide just HOW you want your ideas to flow. One useful tip is to use free mind map software to help organize your thoughts – those (the software, NOT your thoughts) can be found at
And to write your TOC, check out these 2 resources:
- Why and How Creating Your Ebook’s Table of Contents First Will Help You to Write Your Ebook Faster
- How to Make a Table of Contents in Word
Ready to continue? Okay then, move to:
Step 4.) Tweet about your activities!
Start to seed the Internet with your intentions; let your Twitter followers know you’re happily engrossed in writing a tremendous resource!
Remember that hashtag you defined in Step 2? Now it’s time to start using it! Here’s 3 examples of what I’ve done:
-
RT @barbaraling I’m so excited – check out my FIRST! real live "it’s me!" #IncomeFitness #video! ping.fm/pSuTN.
-
Can YOU find the delightfully agonizing typo in my latest #video? ping.fm/bCKkF #IncomeFitness WAAAAHHHH!!!!!!! #marketing.
-
New #Squeeze page for #IncomeFitness – What do you think? ping.fm/89aU2 #marketing #money #business #wahm.
Step 5.) Choose a Layout for your eBook
Over the past 12 years or so, I’ve basically settled on one particular "Barbara Ling" ebook layout. But if you need some ideas, you can explore:
- Microsoft Word – it comes with a book template (My first book, The Internet Recruiting Edge, used this template).
- How to create an awesome eBook Template using Word or Apple Pages
- Open Office eBook Templates
Step 6.) Write your eBook
The fun part! Using your Table of Contents as a reference, start writing your ebook. Here are some important points to consider:
- Start off by telling your readers what you’re going to tell them.
- Tell them said material.
- Close by telling them what you just told them.
Believe it or not, the above is a very effective method of teaching (as well as as giving seminars too. But I digress. 
)!
Once the meat of your ebook is done, dive into:
Step 7.) Add some proactive marketing
You know how you can add headers and footers to your ebooks? It never fails to amaze me how sooo many authors simply forget about this valuable marketing technique!
You can include active hyperlinks back to:
- Your site
- Your newsletter
- Your social profiles
- Another product of yours
- Your forums
etc.etc.etc.
For example, here’s the footer on Income Fitness:
The Income Fitness community offers my readers quite a lot of benefits, including free Income Fitness Personal Journals, marketing help, Squidoo ideas and more!
So I want to drive traffic there as well.
Step 8.) Add a Recommended Resources Appendix
In this section, you can add affiliate products that you recommend ALONG with your affiliate link embedded! If someone buys…you get the commission.
You should also cloak your affiliate links too.
are some popular threads on our community for that.
Step 9.) Add an Acknowledgements section
It’s always nice to offer a shoutout for people who have helped you in the past!
Here’s mine:
Acknowledgements
A public thank you – I’ve been making my living online now for over a decade and during this time, have been blessed by the following individuals:
· Bill Vick, Wallace Harkness, Dr. Ilyse O’Desky, Terry Zappulla, Ed Horch, Mary Ellen Ferrara, Tony Blake, and bunches more.
· I’m also deeply grateful to the blogosphere and the super folks from whom I learned including Liz Strauss, Mark Davidson, Suzie Cheel, Joanna Young, Brian Clark, Darren Rowse, Maureen Sharib, Jim Stroud, Judi Sohn, Catherine Lawson, Maki, Wendy Piersall, John Chow, Gab Goldenberg, James Chartrand, Skellie, Crow, Joel Falconer, Melinda, Lorelle , Brad Shorr, Cath Lawson, Barbara Swafford, Ulla Hennig and many more as well.
· And I would most remiss indeed if I neglected to mention Bonnie and the RocketMoms of Squidoo! They taught me an incredible amount about how terrific Squidoo is for anyone online.
Next, I am indebted to:
o Donna Gillespie, author of the life-changing books The Light Bearer and Lady of the Light – one of the most superb writers today.
Last but never least:
My family. My wonderful husband, Moses Ling, my terrific kids, my wondrous mooses, my absolutely fantastic parents – none of this would be possible whatsoever without their love and support. This one’s for you, folks!
Dedication
To my husband:
Income Fitness is dedicated to my husband, Moses Ling…the man in my life who keeps me sane and gives me the truest meaning to my life.
I love you the mostest. Always.
Barbara Ling
Fortune favors the bold.
People read the acknowledgement, make no mistake about that! So make it worthwhile (and provide active hyperlinks back whenever possible. It’s just a nice thing to do.
Step 10.) Make a PDF copy of your ebook, test out the links and secure it!
Once your book is done, make a PDF copy of it and test out the links. I personally use Adobe Acrobat Distiller – other resources include:
And THAT’S one way to create and write an ebook from scratch.
Want some other soup-to-nuts ebook creation ideas? Check out:
Oh, and I’d be remiss if I forgot about:
The BEST eBook Creation and Writing Resource I’ve found!
I reviewed it over at
MUST SEE for newbies regarding ebooks
and let me tell you – it’s worth its weight in Gold. Go visit the site yourself – you’ll see what I mean.
Hope you found this tutorial useful! Please do feel free to tweet about it and send it to your colleagues – I’ll bet they enjoy it as well.
Thanks!
Best wishes,
Barbara Ling
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I only wish I had this information before I published two of my books. I went the traditional path with one book that I co-authored with my Australian buddy Des Walsh, but the second book was self published as an Audio book with a PDF book included.
The books are LinkedIn For Recruiting and Big Biller, both focused on the recruitment marketplace.
This is the kind of information that could have saved days and days of time and thank you for publishing it.
Bill Vick´s last blog ..Top 10 Careers With the Most Growth Potential
My pleasure – it’s been years of hard-earned knowledge.
Great informations! I’m currently writing an ebook and really appreciate yours advices! Thank you! Is that site different from the one I visited before? the design is very nice!
Benjamin Cip´s last blog ..How To Increase Your Blog Traffic
Hey there Benjamin, glad you enjoyed it! To which site in particular are you referring?
Excellent post. I liked the way you mixed twitter into the strategy. I would have never thought about that.
That could also result in tweets back and forth with more ideas to add to your product.
Ravi@Make Money Online´s last blog ..Backlinking Strategies that Work
Thanks! Glad you liked it.