How to Write an Ebook: Step by Step Guide (2020)

March 14, 2020

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You have writing skills and you want to share your knowledge and make more money. The best way to ensure financial independence is to write ebooks and put them up for sale online. How to successfully write your ebook? Are there standards to follow? How to successfully promote and sell your ebooks on the web? Follow us for detailed and precise answers to all your questions!

The software to use for creating an ebook,

For text: You can use either Word from Microsoft Office solution or free and open source Libre Office word processing software.

For images – For quality images and original cover, we recommend using Adobe Photoshop or The Gimp. If you don’t have Web design skills, you can use the skills of a Freelance.

For ebook – Among the best software for creating e-books in EPUB format is Sigil. Easy to use, Sigil is compatible with all operating systems.

Among the features offered by this software, we find: the automated creation of the table of contents, the creation of links between the different parts and chapters, the preview of your ebooks, etc.

No matter what it is you do, you should have an ebook.

Whether you are a stone mason or a data miner, own a small music store or a chain of bakeries, an ebook would be beneficial to you.

Ebooks are the perfect way to deliver in-depth content to your target audience, and can provide a huge return on your time investment if done well.

Here are Some Benefits of Writing an Ebook:

Gain Email Subscribers: There are few better ways to build your email list than to offer an ebook. This is one of the highest preferred forms of content, and visitors will gladly give you their email address if they perceive it as valuable.

Give Your Audience More Value: As a business, you must give before you can get. This is just another piece of valuable content you are giving your prospects as you move them down the sales funnel.

Establish Yourself as an Industry Thought Leader: Bottom line, writing an ebook makes you look influential.It shows your customers that you are knowledgeable in your field and ensures them that they are dealing with a reputable business.

Generate More Traffic: In addition to the added searchable content, a good ebook will get linked and shared numerous times through social media. Every additional link is another chance for a new visitor to land on your page.

Table of Contents

The Steps to Create an Ebook

Writing an ebook is a great idea for making money while providing people with interesting topics and themes. It is by creating an ebook and publishing it online in addition to the paper version that you will be able to reach a wider audience and get your sales off the ground.

Indeed, the digital format makes it possible to respond to a growing specific demand. Here are the important steps that will allow you to write your ebooks correctly.

Step 1: Find The Subject

This is the first step and the most important step. You have to find the subject capable of arousing the curiosity and interest of Internet users and which meets what they were looking for on the internet. You must also have the analytical skills and the information necessary to successfully write your ebook. Your information must be precise, relevant and based on reliable bibliographic references.

Picking a topic that truly interests you will help you push through those tough moments of writer’s block, or stagnation that every writer experiences.

This is a great place to start. What do you want to write? A romance novel for the young adult market? A how to guide? An ebook about how to write an ebook? You pick, it’s entirely up to you. Whether you want to cater to a specific audience or you just want to write from the heart, pick a topic that you’re passionate about.Picking a topic that truly interest you will help you push through those tough moments of writer’s block, or stagnation that every writer experiences.

Step 2: Develop Your Ideas

From the basic idea and the main subject of your ebook, you need to develop new ideas to be able to create several chapters and different sections.

Let’s take an example ! You want to write a book on organic cosmetic products. The main topic is to present the benefits of these products. Several other pieces of information must be presented, such as the composition of these products, the people who can use them, their selling prices, the manufacturing processes, the selection criteria, etc.

Okay, you have the topic. Now it’s time to break your big idea into a series of little ideas. Write down all the subjects you want to cover in your book, then separate them into chapters. If you’re writing a story, the same process applies. Think about how you are going to begin the story, and of course how you’re going to end it. Then have a list of major events that will eventually lead to the climax of the story. This applies to fiction or non-fiction, you want to start strong and end strong.

Once you have your big idea broken down into more realistic and digestible pieces, it should be easier to proceed from there.

Step 3: Organizing The Details

After making a list of ideas to discuss, you need to rearrange them in a logical vertical plane. The main ideas and basic elements should be put at the beginning.

Each idea will correspond to a chapter of your ebook. You can also detail the chapters in different sections for easier reading.

Now that the hardest part is over, it’s on to the fun stuff! Add graphics to help get your points across and make your book more aesthetically appealing. Examples of appropriate visuals include charts and graphs to display data, complementing pictures, and small graphics to highlight important tips or quotes.

Step 4: Writing the Ebook

Based on the table of contents, you can start writing. You can start, either with the first parts, or “in the middle” while respecting the plan. Writing an ebook is time-consuming, so we advise you to create a visualization board and to reserve time each day (one, two or three hours) to write a game or to wait for a certain number of words.

Step 5: Edit

With your rough draft in the books and a fresh mind on your shoulders, it’s time to make revisions. A good approach to this is to edit for structure first and style second. When editing for structure, pay close attention to headings and subheadings, and skim the bodies. If topics seem out of order or you missed a point that you wanted to make, now is the time to fix it. Now, you edit for style. Read every single word of your ebook out loud to yourself to make sure it flows well and your tone is consistent. This is also the time to correct any grammatical errors.

Step 6: Format

This is where your ebook really comes together. Take your time with this step and make sure everything is consistent. Make your headings and subheadings large and easy to read, break up long chunks of text, and create your headers and footers. This is also the point where you will design your cover. Allocate some time to take photos. No wants to see the same stock photos in every ebook within your industry. Make sure the image isn’t too complex, as you still want it to look good as a thumbnail.

Step 7: Proofreading and Correction

Once the writing is complete, the most important step comes: proofreading, modification and correction of mistakes. Start with an overview and make sure the chapters follow a logical order. Like writing, editing and proofreading take a lot of time. Do your best to check for spelling and syntax errors. You can also give the rough version of your ebook to one or more friends for their opinions and to help you make the necessary modifications.

Step 8: Create and Add an Original Cover

An attractive cover is an asset to be able to sell on ebook on the internet. The cover of your ebook must be original and must make you want to click on it to discover the content. Several tools allow you to create 2D or 3D covers (Photo Filter Studio for example).

Before you send your ebook to an editor, it may be a good idea to get your work copyrighted. The last thing you want after all your months or years of hard work is to have someone come and steal your material. You can go to www.copyright.gov fill out the necessary forms, pay the fee, and gain some protection for your written work.

Step 9. Convert to PDF

Converting your file to a PDF will be an almost instant process. If you created your project in Microsoft Word, you can directly export it as a .PDF. If not, there are many software options (some free) that will convert for you. Now, it’s time for your final proofread. Don’t be too thorough here, just make sure your graphics look good, all of your links are clickable, and there are no typos! You’re so close!

Step 10: Become The Caring Critic

Now that your work is complete, it’s time to take off the writers cap and put on the editors cap. Go through your ebook with a fine toothed comb and look for any spelling and grammatical errors. After that, read through your ebook from start to finish. Does it flow from sentence to sentence? From topic to topic?

Keep in mind, since you wrote your ebook, you’ll be very familiar with it. Really think to yourself, if you were a first time reader of this material, would you get it? Does it make sense? Are there any holes in the story? Are the explanations complete? Helpful?

Also, don’t be afraid to use a program like Grammarly to edit your ebook. It may catch errors that you have overlooked, and as of right now, the program is free.

Though it’s not a necessity, we recommend that you send your ebook to an editor. You can find a reasonably priced editor on Fiverr.com or you can search for an editor online. Aside from grammar corrections, an editor may give you suggestions on sentence structure, information missing from your plot or subject matter, and about the overall layout of your content.

Maybe you’ve written an excellent paragraph but it’s just too big. It may be more pleasurable for the reader if that massive paragraph was broken down into much smaller ones. Among many other things, an editor can help you with these issues.

Step 11: Send your Ebook to Those Around You

When you’ve finished writing, proofreading, optimizing your ebook, and creating the cover, you can send a copy to friends and family for their impressions.

Now that your body of work is complete, you’re quickly closing in on the final steps of creating an ebook. Start thinking about what you want your ebook cover to look like.

No matter how amazing the content of an ebook may be, if the cover is boring, people may skip past it and move on to the next ebook that has a more eye catching cover. If you are in need of a graphic designer to create the cover art for your eBook, look no further than Fiverr. There are literally hundreds of artists from all over the world that you can choose from to create the exact cover art you’re looking for.

Step 12: Find a Home for your Ebook

If you think you’re ready to share your ebook with the public, you’ll have a tough time finding a market bigger than Amazon.com. Though there is more competition on Amazon, if you’re content is unique enough, you shouldn’t have a problem standing out from the rest of the crowd.

Once you’ve entered in all of your information, you’ll be ready to publish and make money from your ebook easy to use templates.

Once you’ve published your ebook on Amazon.com, you can wait for people to come across it by chance, but it may be a better idea to tell the world where to find your ebook.

Here are a few things you can do to direct the masses toward your ebook, so that it will get the attention it deserves:

Create a Facebook page – there are millions upon millions of people on Facebook. Start a page, make friends, join groups, and start telling everyone about your ebook.Create a Website or Blog – having a dedicated site for your ebook is a great marketing tool. You can share information about your ebook, yourself, and of course use it to direct people to where they can buy your ebook.Create a Marketing Plan – if you don’t want to randomly advertise your ebook, it may be a good idea to come up with a plan first. Do some research online about marketing plans or get a program that will show you how to grow your fanbase on social media.

There are several programs that can assist you with online marketing, but if you want a great program that will help you build a social media presence on Facebook, you can find one here.

Once you have a dedicated audience online, especially on Facebook, the next step is simply directing them to your ebook.

Step 13: Make Other Improvements

Depending on the feedback you get to know, you can make other changes to improve your ebook.

Before publishing your work on the internet, you must be sure that it is perfect.

Make sure the ebook is formatted correctly. We have come across many ebooks that are loaded with unbelievably useful information but the organization of the material is a bit chaotic to say the least. There are several programs out there that can assist with formatting. Whether your ebook will viewed on an Amazon Kindle, iPad or an android device, ensure the formatting is correct so the material will look the way you envisioned it.

Step 14: Publish and Promote

The last, and most satisfying step. Upload the bad boy to your website, and promote the crap out of it. Place calls-to-action on your website and social media outlets, give it its own landing page, email the announcement to your subscribers, or dedicate a blog post to it.

Conclusion

We’ve covered a lot of content, so here is a quick checklist that will help you on your ebook creation journey:

Choose a topic to write about and then break it down into smaller topicsStart writing immediatelyCritique your work – get help from experienced editors onlineCopyright your workFormat your ebookPublish your ebookTell the world about itMarket your ebook on social media

Writing an ebook may not happen overnight but if you stick to it, you can bring your passion into reality sooner than you think.

You’re venturing to do what many people only dream about doing. In order to make it happen, you have to get started, don’t hesitate, get started today.

Some useful tips

Always save your work on multiple storage media and online;Sell your ebook on several online sales platforms;Outsource certain work such as creating covers, layout and correction.Always choose basic fonts (Arial and Times News Roman …);

If you’ve ever gone on Amazon.com, undoubtedly you have come across the ebook section. It’s a massive collection of books covering almost every topic you can imagine. So who’s writing all those ebooks?People like you, or hopefully sooner than later – you. Though the trend of buying ebooks has been growing for a long time, there probably hasn’t been as much interest in writing them as it is now. Many people are ready and eager to jump into the ebook market, but they don’t have a clue where to start.That’s okay. If you want to know how to write and publish and ebook, you’re in the right place.

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