Have you ever considered writing an eBook? Chances are you have; you’ve probably stumbled upon one on the internet or while browsing through a book store. An eBook (short for electronic book) is digital literary work that can be read on a computer or smartphone. It usually comprises a series of digital snippets – such as images, videos, or text – that are tied together with hyperlinks or jump pages to lead the reader to different parts of the publication.
While traditional books are still available, the rise of the eBook has enabled digital literary works to gain popularity. Thanks to the relatively low cost of putting one together and the ease of distributing them, publishing an eBook is now possible for anyone. If you’ve ever wanted to try your hand at writing, you can certainly take advantage of the current climate and publish an eBook in a weekend! Here are some helpful tips on how to write an eBook in a weekend, so you can get back to spending more time with your family and friends.
Set A Goal
Writing an eBook isn’t as simple as it seems. While most people can write a brief novel in a few days, churning out an eBook that is both compelling and commercially viable takes much more time. You’ll need to buckle down and set a solid objective in mind if you want to tackle this task successfully. The first thing you should do is set a goal for yourself; how much can you reasonably hope to achieve in such a short time?
For instance, say you wanted to write an eBook on the history of the United States. You may want to aim for a completion rate of around 25,000 words, which would translate to just over 100,000 characters. You could set yourself a target of two weeks to complete the project – meaning you would need to write for a total of four weeks in order to meet your goal. This is a very achievable goal for most individuals, and with a little bit of luck it could be done in two. Keep in mind though that writing an eBook isn’t just about typing out words on a screen; you will also need to format the file appropriately and make it easy for readers to access the information they need. This brings us to our next point.
Find Your Niche
One of the first things you’ll need to determine is what kind of niche you want to hit with your book. What do you see as the unmet need in your local community? Are there specific sectors – such as education or parenting – that you want to focus on?
Once you’ve got an idea of your target audience, you can start thinking about the type of content you will include in your book. Be as creative as you can; think of something that hasn’t been done previously and that you are passionate about. Don’t just limit yourself to history and geography either; incorporate current events and personalities into your writing. Being different doesn’t mean that your content will be any good; it just means that you’ll need to find a way to stand out amongst the rest of the literature out there. The most successful and unique books are those that can provide something new to readers – and, more importantly, provide value to the community that they serve. When you establish yourself as an authoritative voice in your niche, you’ll be able to secure a significant portion of the market share; the more people that come back for more, the more likely they are to make a purchase if you continue to provide value. This is especially important for non-fiction eBooks since people are more likely to bounce off a fiction read – even if it is well written – than they are to lose interest in a series of factual articles. This point bears repeating: establish your authority in your niche, and you’ll be able to command a higher rate.
Know Your Target Audience
Once you’ve established yourself as an expert in your chosen field, you can start thinking about the type of person who will value your book. This is key because, as we discussed earlier, people aren’t always keen on reading about an area that they’re not knowledgeable about – especially if you’re writing for the general public. One of the best ways of making an eBook valuable is by including hyperlinks to external websites – such as government sites or museums – that offer further information about your topic. People love finding valuable information quickly and easily, and external links make your eBook more accessible to those who may not have the time to dive into your text. If you want to include these kinds of links, you will need to format your file in a way that is easy for browsers to find and click-through to the desired destination.
Find A Way To Present Your Information
As we’ve established, writing and distributing an eBook is a lot more than just putting words on a page. You’ll also need to think about how you want to present your material. Do you want to publish a traditional hardcover with glossy paper and a dust jacket? Or do you want to go the extra mile and experiment with different presentation methods such as eBooks or audiobooks?
One of the things that makes an eBook stand out is its flexibility. Since their inception, eBooks have been able to evolve alongside changes in technology and the shifting demands of the digital consumer. Thanks to this adaptability, eBooks are often preferred over traditional hardcovers since they can be re-purposed for various devices and utilized in a number of ways.
If you want to distribute your eBook to as many people as possible, you may want to go the extra mile and use different platforms. There are hundreds of different devices that can be used to read books, and some of them can only be accessed through special software or applications. If you want your eBook to be accessible to as many readers as possible, you may want to experiment with different platforms and distribution channels – like Amazon Kindle, Nook, and Google Play – in order to see which one works best for you.
Format Your File For The Most Suitable Platform
While it’s great that you want to experiment with different platforms in order to target as many people as possible, you’ll eventually need to pick one and stick with it. Choosing the right software depends on a variety of factors – mainly your budget and your technical ability – but it’s also important that your eBook looks the same regardless of the reader’s device. If you want to publish a traditional hardcover with a dust jacket and have the glossy pages glimmer on an iPad, you may need to invest in a high-priced stand. Ultimately though, it’s all about finding a balance between what you can afford and what your heart desires – and being able to update your file whenever necessary without having to start from scratch again.
Use SEO
If you’re relatively new to writing SEO-optimized content, take some time to learn the ropes before you start trying to “game” the system. Search engine optimization – or SEO – is a set of techniques used to increase the number of visitors to a website or blog by making the content more searchable to the engines (such as Google). The more visible your content is to the search engines, the more likely it is to appear on the first page of search results – above the organic (non-boosted) results.
SEO requires a little bit of technical know-how, but once you figure it out, it’s not that hard to implement. The main thing to keep in mind when optimizing your content is that the goal is to make it easily discoverable by the search engines – and, more importantly, the target audience you’ve chosen.
For example, if you’re writing an eBook on the history of the United States and you want to include a section on gender equality, you may want to use keywords like “gender equality” or “Equal Rights Amendment” (ERA) throughout your content. These keywords should appear somewhere in your text in order for the search engines to capture them. Don’t just throw random words in there either; make sure that your chosen words appear in context and can easily be tied to what you’re trying to promote.
Use Social Media
Did you know that many people have entire bookshelves full of eBooks that they’ve acquired thanks to the success of digital marketing and social media? It’s true! The rise of the eBook – and the increasing demands of the digital consumer – coupled with the relative anonymity of social media has led to a rise in self-publishing and independent authorship. While traditional publishers may still hold a firm grip on the literary world, those who want to break away from the traditional model can now find a way thanks to the increasing popularity of social media.
If you’re looking to write a book to promote your business or brand, you may want to consider self-publishing. The benefit of doing this is that you maintain complete control over the content and are able to experiment with different presentation methods (like eBooks or audiobooks) and platforms (such as Amazon or Apple) to see which one works best for you.