Why Write an E-Book?
Post by Helene Malmsio
It’s not true that everything that has been said has already been written. Since that unfortunate axiom came into use, the whole universe has changed.
Technology has changed, ideas have changed, and the mindsets of entire nations have changed.
The fact is that this is the perfect time to write an ebook. What the publishing industry needs are people who can tap into the world as it is today – innovative thinkers who can make the leap into the new millennium and figure out how to solve old problems in a new way.
Ebooks are a new and powerful tool for original thinkers with fresh ideas to disseminate information to the millions of people who are struggling to figure out how to do a plethora of different things.
Let’s say you already have a brilliant idea, and the knowledge to back it up that will enable you to write an exceptional ebook. You may be sitting at your computer staring at a blank screen wondering, “Why?
Why should I go through all the trouble of writing my ebook when it’s so impossible to get anything published these days?
Well, let me assure you that publishing an ebook is entirely different than publishing a book in print.
Let’s look at the specifics of how the print and cyber publishing industry differ, and the many reasons why you should take the plunge and get your fingers tapping across those keyboards!
Submitting a print book to conventional publishing houses or to agents is similar to wearing a hair shirt 24/7. No matter how good your book actually is, or how many critique services and mentor writers have told you that “you’ve got what it takes,” your submitted manuscript keeps coming back to you as if it is a boomerang instead of a valuable mine of information.
Perhaps, in desperation, you’ve checked out self-publishing and found out just how expensive a venture it can be. Most “vanity presses” require minimal print runs of at least 500 copies, and even that amount will cost you thousands of dollars. Some presses’ minimal run starts at 1,000 to 2,000 copies.
And that’s just for the printing and binding. Add in distribution, shipping, and promotional costs and – well, you do the math. Even if you wanted to go this route, you may not have that kind of money to risk.
Let’s say you already have an Internet business with a quality website and a quality product. An ebook is one of the most powerful ways to promote your business while educating people with the knowledge you already possess as a business owner of a specific product or service.
For example, let’s say that you’ve spent the last twenty-five years growing and training bonsai trees, and now you’re ready to share your knowledge and experience. An ebook is the perfect way to reach the largest audience of bonsai enthusiasts.
Ebooks will not only promote your business – they will help you make a name for yourself and your company, and establish you as an expert in your field. You may even find that you have enough to say to warrant a series of ebooks. Specific businesses are complicated and often require the different aspects to be divided in order for the reader to get the full story.
Perhaps your goals are more finely tuned in terms of the ebook scene. You may want to build a whole business around writing and publishing ebooks.
Essentially, you want to start an e-business. You are thinking of setting up a website to promote and market your ebooks. Maybe you’re even thinking of producing an ezine.
One of the most prevalent reasons people read ebooks is to find information about how to turn their Internet businesses into a profit-making machine. And these people are looking to the writers of ebooks to provide them with new ideas and strategies because writers of ebooks are usually people who understand the new cyberspace world we now live in.
Ebook writers are experts in Internet marketing campaigns and the strategies of promoting and distributing ebooks. The cyberspace community needs its ebooks to be successful so that more and more ebooks will be written.
You may want to create affiliate programs that will also market your ebook. Affiliates can be people or businesses worldwide that will all be working to sell your ebooks. Think about this? Do you see a formula for success here?
Figure out what your subject matter is, and then narrow it down. Your goal is to aim for specificity.
Research what’s out there already, and try to find a void that your ebook might fill.
What about an ebook about a wedding cake business? Or an ebook about caring for elderly pets? How about the fine points of collecting ancient pottery?
You don’t have to have three masters degrees to write about your subject. People need advice that is easy to read and easily understood. Parents need advice for dealing with their teenagers. College students need to learn good study skills – quickly. The possibilities are endless.
After you’ve written your ebook
Getting your ebook out is going to be your focus once you’ve finished writing it, just as it is with print books. People will hesitate to buy any book from an author they’ve never heard of. Wouldn’t you?
The answer is simple: give it away! You will see profits in the form of promoting your own business and getting your name out. You will find affiliates who will ask you to place their links within your ebook, and these affiliates will in turn go out and make your name known. Almost every single famous ebook author has started out this way.
Another powerful tool to attract people to your ebook is to make it interactive. Invent something for them to do within the book rather than just producing pages that contain static text. Let your readers fill out questionnaires, forms, even crossword puzzles geared to testing their knowledge on a particular subject.
Have your readers hit a link that will allow them to recommend your book to their friends and associates. Or include an actual order form so at the end of their reading journey, they can eagerly buy your product.
When people interact with books, they become a part of the world of that book. The fact is just as true for books in print as it is for ebooks.
That’s why ebooks are so essential. Not only do they provide a forum for people to learn and make sense of their own thoughts, but they can also serve to promote your business at the same time.
Article reprinted with permission from Strategic Services. All rights reserved.
Helene Malmsio has been a successful business entrepreneur for nearly 30 years and has been operating Strategic Services group of Companies since 1987.
For more information on how to write and publish your own ebook, and to get your own copy of our free self publishing ebook, go to http://www.buybooks-online.com
Make A Comment: ( 1 so far )
One Response to “Why Write an E-Book?”
Donald Brown
November 25th, 2008
All of this is so very true because I myself am an e-book author. I have had the joy of producing an e-book and selling it online for profitt, and I am still doing that even as I write this.
E-books are the perfect avenue for people who are going into business for themselves online. They’re perfect because they allow the author to convey much needed information about their business to the customer and subscriber. I have personally found e-books to be a joy to write and create. However, I love to write, whereas somebody else may not love to do that sort of thing, so there are other avenues that they can explore that do not involve writing a single word for their e-books.
I have written an e-book that I think you will enjoy entitled, Tips Tools and Tactics To Have Your Own Info Product. This e-book can be found at the following here below.
Proven Tips Tools and Tactics To Have Your Own Info Product
I spent a lot of time putting this e-book together, and I have priced it low enough that anyone could afford it. I am a firm believer in teaching the right strategies and techniques when it comes to digital publishing because I love digital publishing and I want to share my knowledge with the world.
A matter of fact, just because you ahve written an e-book on a particular subject that may have other e-books about it doesn’t mean that you ahve wasted your time because everyone has a different view on things, and maybe your e-book may be the eye opener that someone needs to learn a particular technique, strategy, or concept.
So there may be hundreds of e-books on how to make money online, but yours provides that unique twist that makes what you’re saying totally different than what someone else has said referring to the exact same topic. Your unique position on the topic is what will make the e-book that much more exciting to purchase and read.
I have another product that you may be interested in called the Internet Marketing Speed Guide Series, which walks you through the basics of marketing online, and you can find this product by clicking on the link here below.
Internet Marketing Speed Guide Series
There’s really no limit as to what you can say, or do inside an e-book. A matter of fact, e-books are more interactive then printed books could ever be. You could never place links, order buttons, videos, or audios inside a printed book, but you can with an e-book. So go out there and begin experimenting with e-books, and who knows; maybe you will come up with a best seller!