In a nutshell, writing an ebook is similar to writing a blog post, with one major difference: an ebook typically has a fixed length and usually has a few chapters (more on that later). As a result, you have to pack a lot of content into a limited space, and to make sure your readers get the most out of your book, you need to include the right amount of useful information without going overboard.
What Type of Content Should I Cover in an Ebook?
To write the perfect ebook, you need to cover all the essential bases, including the following:
- a brief overview of the topic (known as the promotion or the teaser)
- a detailed description of the product or service you are promoting (this is known as the value proposition or VP for short)
- an articulate explanation of how your product or service will solve a particular problem (your high-value content or HVC)
- a persuasive argument as to why your product or service should be purchased (your copy, or C for short)
- a reference to an authoritative source (such as a website, published book, or piece of research)
- a boxed section displaying all the essential information, including the cover image and table of contents (this is known as the front matter)
- a back matter that provides additional resources, including links to websites and published articles, surveys, and so on
- a bibliography, i.e., a list of all the sources you used (this is known as the back matter)
How Long Should My Ebook Be?
An excellent rule of thumb is to keep the overall length of your ebook between 6 and 8 printed pages, including the front and back matter.
Once you have worked out the number of pages, you can use a tool like Limitless to draft the perfect ebook in no time.
If you decide to go for an extremely short ebook, you might end up with nothing more than a bunch of keywords, which are essentially useless to anyone except for the software company that designed the tool for SEO purposes. The opposite is true for a long book: although your reader will have to wait a little longer to get to the interesting parts, they will be able to follow your argument without having any trouble.
How Many Chapters Should My Ebook Have?
The number of chapters depends on the nature of your content. For example, if you have covered a lot of new material in your book, you might end up with several chapters. Alternatively, if your book is an elaboration on a single subject, you might want to condense your material into a single chapter.
When deciding how many chapters to include in your ebook, you need to bear in mind the following:
- the number of pages in your ebook (if you are using a tool to compile your ebook, this will be the same as the output you get)
- the average number of pages your target audience will peruse (if you are using a tool to compile your ebook, this will be the same as the output you get)
- your goal in writing the ebook (will it be to sell your product or just to inform your audience?)
- the format of your ebook (if you are using a tool to compile your ebook, this will be the same as the output you get)
- whether you need a back matter (i.e., references and resources) or a front matter (i.e., a table of contents)
- how much space you have for your content (if you are using a tool to compile your ebook, this will be the same as the output you get)
- whether you want a single-column layout or a double-column layout (if you are using a tool to compile your ebook, this will be the same as the output you get)
- whether you want to include multimedia content, such as audio or video files, in your ebook (if you are using a tool to compile your ebook, this will be the same as the output you get)
- the number of words in your content (if you are using a tool to compile your ebook, this will be the same as the output you get)
How Am I Going to Market Myself as an Ebook Author?
Once you have written your ebook, the next step is to market yourself as an ebook author. This is a lot more complicated than it seems at first glance, so let us take it one step at a time.
If you are writing for the general audience, you are going to have to rely on conventional methods of promotion, such as flyers, magazine articles, and so on. To supplement these methods, you can take advantage of the fact that a lot of people search for ebook authors online, so you can gain some traction with online articles aimed at generating leads.
To build your online reputation as an ebook author, you need to do the following: