Steve Biko has released an ebook titled “How to Write What You Like”. This 40-page e-book contains a number of useful tips on how to write non-fiction in a way that makes the reader interested in what you have to say. Let’s dive into how to write what you like and how this can benefit you.
The E-book As A Medium
Writing an e-book rather than a regular book makes quite a bit of sense these days. With so much information being delivered digitally, why should anyone bother with physical books when they can get the content they want on their phones or laptops instantaneously?
While writing an e-book is not necessarily ‘easy’, it does give you the flexibility of publishing your book whenever you want (within reason) and allowing people to purchase and download it in whatever format they want. This can be extremely useful for freelance writers who might want to get their work out to an audience that prefers to read digital books rather than traditional paperbacks. It also gives you the flexibility to write the book that you want to write rather than having to write what someone else wants you to write.
The Art Of The Hook
One of the things that makes an e-book stand out is its strong, unique selling point — usually something that will pique the reader’s interest. This is why it’s important to create a unique hook that will keep the reader engaged. It’s tempting to just throw in a beautiful piece of copy only to pull the reader in for a while and then hand them a big fat pitch for your product (usually something to do with a sale or discount).
That’s a sure way to lose your reader’s trust. The better route is to offer them something of value first and then, when they’re interested enough to click through to your site or purchase your product, you can pitch them with an irresistible offer. This is known as ‘pull-not-pitch’. It is a much better approach and can help you develop a trusting relationship with your readers. If they like what they see, they’ll be far more likely to trust your recommendations in the future.
The Art Of The Pitch
Let’s say that you’ve written a really great e-book about raising chickens. You’ve done all the legwork and compiled all the content from your research and trial and error. You’ve even designed a logo and created a cover that you’re quite proud of. Now what?
The next step is to let others know about your great work. Who are you going to tell? Your friends and family are great, but they don’t have the biggest audience that you could potentially reach. At this point, you have a couple of options. You can either find a publisher or self-publish.
The first step in finding a publisher is to contact as many companies as possible to see if they’re interested in acquiring your work. You’ll notice that most authors try to work with a smaller number of publishers, as it saves them both money and effort. Having a smaller number of publishers means that you’ll have more opportunities to reach bigger audiences. If you do end up working with a bigger house, there’ll be more opportunities for you to earn far more money off your work. Having a diverse range of publishers is important in keeping your work as fresh as possible and preventing your material from becoming obsolete. The more varied your source of income, the greater your chances of having money left over at the end of the month. Not many people understand the power of having multiple earnings streams.
Self-publishing is, in most cases, the better option. It allows you to retain full ownership of your work, meaning that you can do whatever you want with it. The only downside is that, depending on how good your material is, you might struggle to find an audience. When you do find your audience, it’s usually because someone, somewhere, has mentioned your work in a blog or social media post. That’s not the sort of exposure that you can rely on if you’re looking for mass market penetration.
The Importance Of Timing
If you’re looking to make your e-book stand out, why not try to release it at the same time as another bestselling book that’s heading to the end of its print run? Chances are, that within a year or two, all the print runs for that book will be exhausted and you’ll be able to piggyback on the popularity to give your e-book some extra promotional visibility.
The trick here is to make sure that your e-book isn’t just another iteration of the same old thing. People are getting tired of seeing the same old stories retold with different fonts and graphics slapped on top. Stand out from the crowd by, for example, including your own photos of the animals that you’ve raised for eggs and comparing their growth curves against the most popular and best selling pet food brands. Your pet food comparison might not seem like the most original idea in the world, but the fact that you’ve included your own photos and made it completely objective will make a difference. It might not be the most original concept, but it’s certainly the most attractive. Keep your eyes open for similar ideas and look for ways that you can implement them into your own content.
Quality Over Quantity
One of the most important things to consider when writing any content is the value that you’re providing to your audience relative to the amount of time and effort that it took to create. Just because you have a lot to say on the subject doesn’t mean that you need to say it all in one piece of writing. Break up your content into smaller chunks and publish them regularly. This will keep your readers interested and, more importantly, it will keep you from running out of new material too soon. Remember: you’re providing a service to your audience by giving them useful information and inspiration, not just selling them something. As a writer, you have a responsibility to ensure that what you’re putting out is of good quality. People expect content to be well-written and researched, so take the time to do it properly. Don’t expect your friends and family to do all the footwork for you. There are plenty of quality researchers out there, ready and waiting to lend a hand for nothing more than the pleasure of seeing someone they admire. You never know when a little friendly help might come in useful. Your friends and family might not realize how much effort goes into creating a high-quality piece of content. The more you put in, the more you get back — quality content is inevitably worth the effort.
Focus On The Reader
When you’ve written your e-book, it’s important to consider the audience that you’re writing for. Who are you aiming your book at? The answer to this question will dictate the kind of content that you should provide. Are you writing for pet owners who want to know more about pets and their care, or are you writing for the veterinary industry who want to know more about treating animals? Are you writing for people who want to be inspired to cook creative meals or are you writing for people who just want to be able to read recipes easily?
The answer to these questions should, in most cases, dictate the content that you provide. For example, if you’re writing for people who want to learn to cook creative, homemade meals, you might want to include some DIY projects or simple, easy recipes that you’ve made that they can try. Creative hobbyists and foodies will love your book if you’ve provided them with the information they need to be able to pursue their passions. On the other hand, if you’re writing for people who just want to be able to read recipes easily, include some of the more basic recipes that you’ve mastered in your book. Easy recipes are much easier for people to follow than complicated ones, so including them will save you both time and effort. When writing non-fiction, it’s important to keep the audience in mind at all times.
Make It Fun
To keep your fans interested, you might want to consider making your e-book something a little different. Rather than taking the approach of most self-help or how-to guides, which focus on the problems that the reader is facing and the various steps that they can take to fix them, you can choose to approach it from a different angle. For example, you might want to consider writing a book about memes and how they can be used to improve your social media presence. You can take a very serious and informative approach to this subject or you can make it a bit more light-hearted and approach it from a humourous standpoint. This might change the way that people perceive the information that you’re presenting — if you can make a joke out of something that could be very helpful and, in some cases, lifesaving, then all the more power to you.